Hi,I am currently working as an analyst within a Big 4 strategy practice.Going forward, I'd like to develop my career within an internal strategy/corporate development team in the Retail sector.Later down the line (say 5-7 years time), I could see myself moving into a line management role.Would an MBA at a good school (e.g. London Business School) help to accelerate my career, and help me progress faster than otherwise?Part of me is sceptical of whether an MBA would help me achieve my career goals....my undergraduate degree was in Business Management, and I feel I'll get a good foundation in strategy-related work from my current job.However, I don't want to rule out an MBA without getting some feedback from more experienced consultants.I would welcome your thoughts whether an MBA would help me to accelerate my career progression,Thanks,Tom

Sounds like a total waste of time. Nobody appreciates qualifications or professional accreditations these anymore. If they did, you wouldn't constantly hear comments like "An Oxbridge degree is all very well BUT...." usually followed by something like "Oxbridge types usually have no common sense at all" or "there are many, many people from redbrick universities that are MUCH more intelligent than Oxbirdge types" as if said folk are "usually" more intelligent.Anyhow, just a thought/observation. Personally, I'd not waste your money. It only puts you on a crash course towards stress in the city anyway.

An MBA may offer some good long-term benefits e.g. access to alumni/student networks & further develop your knowledge of other topics e.g. finance, operations

Tom ow many years experience do you have to date?

Would also appreciate some advice here as I am facing a similar dilemma as Tom, but looking to move into the energy / petroleum sector in a couple years time.

Mars a Day,I have 2 years consulting experience.If I were to do an MBA, I will wait until I have around 4 years experience.Tom

Tom,If your big4 firm will support you studying for an accounting/finance qualification (such as CIMA) then I would suggest this would be more helpful to you, not to mention cheaper. You're right to say you'll have a strong business/strategy background in a couple of years but when looking for corporate development roles a finance qualification would serve you well and broaden your skills in a way an MBA would not. It's a big commitment but only for 2-3 years. If you start now you could still even complete an MBA afterwards from a much stronger position if you felt it would help.

I think that an MBA is unnecessary for you - your job will provide you an excellent training ground for your long-term career goals.MBAs are best for career changers, if you're not looking to change careers - I'd use the money to invest in stocks/property etc & use your time to network instead

Tom,Most careers goals can be achieved without an MBA, but having the qualification helps. It's like investing ~£80k to give yourself the best possible chance of success. In your case, Big Four strategy on its own may not be enough. You see a good deal of job advertisements in strategy stating "MBA preferred". You'd stand a better chance of succeeding by doing an MBA (top ten globally, of course which should be easy enough for you), then a couple of years in MBB, then into internal strategy (or into industry straight from MBA). Your career will always be what you make it, but the MBA will help.

I agree with the above post - the MBA will certainly be useful and will make this transition much easier. Without it you may struggle to move from Big 4 to the really interesting strategy roles as there will always be candidates from better firms competing against you.The firm I work for has a huge strategy group. It is filled almost entirely with people from the top few strategy consulting firms. Few, if any, from Big 4, and certainly nobody with CIMA or any of that - no clue what the benefit of that might be.Big 4, followed by MBA, followed by a different firm (Mckinsey, BCG etc) for three years, and then transition into industry is a fairly standard path

If you're looking to go into an in-house strategy tea, then a Big 4 strategy practice background is enough. I wouldn't recommend you to waste your time/money on an MBA. I'm ex-Big 4 myself, and I work in a strategy team for a FTSE 30 firm. Most of my peer group who decided to go into in-house strategy ended up at FTSE 100 firms, and have subsequently ended up at either more senior roles within these teams - or making a move into line management.Yes, you will be competing against MBB candidates, but once you reach the interview stage, the focus is less on which firm you trained at but more on your personality & ability to add value for your employer.

ab, the questions was "Would an MBA at a good school (e.g. London Business School) help to accelerate my career, and help me progress faster than otherwise?". It wasn't "Is an MBA necessary?"While, as you rightly state, an MBA is not necessary, the answer to the stated question is clearly yes