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andrewsmith980
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MBA in my 30s? 06 Mar 2014, 11:44
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Hello,

I have been considering doing an MBA for some time now. I have a Bachelor's degree that I earned in 2005. Although I have some experience in the private sector, most of my work life has been sepnt as a political aide to several Members of Parliament. (I live in Canada). I have held positions ranging from executive assistant to Communications Director.

I am looking at making a transition to the private sector at some time. In fact, I have considered the possibility of going into business for myself. I have had an entrepreneurial drive for some time and it is certainly a better way to make money than working in politics.

I have a couple of questions and I thought that this might be a good place to ask:

1) I'll be truning 33 in a few months and I was wondering if that might be a bit too old to do an MBA?

2) How would MBA schools view politcal aides when it comes to work experience? Would they prefer private sector experience?
Keeping in mind being a political aide is very different than government jobs (nothing against government employees, but the two worlds are very different). Political aides have almost no job security, live in a continuously changing environment and rely on their political acumen to survive.

3) If I am fascinated by the thought of being an entrepreneur, is an MBA helpful?

Thanks for any advice here. I thought that this forum would be a great place to ask this type of question.

Cheers,

Andrew
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drae
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MBA in my 30s? 07 Mar 2014, 18:39
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Hey Andrew,

Unfortunately I do not have an answer to your second question but 33 is definitely not too old to do an MBA. I have a brother pursuing an MBA right now who is 35. 33 is little older than the average age but i've heard of classes with a 42 year old and even one with a 60 year old student.

I hope this helps.
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MBA in my 30s? 07 Mar 2014, 21:54
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Moving topic to a more relevant forum... You are most likely to get your questions answered over here... :)
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MBA in my 30s? 10 Mar 2014, 04:03
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andrewsmith980
Hello,

I have been considering doing an MBA for some time now. I have a Bachelor's degree that I earned in 2005. Although I have some experience in the private sector, most of my work life has been sepnt as a political aide to several Members of Parliament. (I live in Canada). I have held positions ranging from executive assistant to Communications Director.

I am looking at making a transition to the private sector at some time. In fact, I have considered the possibility of going into business for myself. I have had an entrepreneurial drive for some time and it is certainly a better way to make money than working in politics.

I have a couple of questions and I thought that this might be a good place to ask:

1) I'll be truning 33 in a few months and I was wondering if that might be a bit too old to do an MBA?

2) How would MBA schools view politcal aides when it comes to work experience? Would they prefer private sector experience?
Keeping in mind being a political aide is very different than government jobs (nothing against government employees, but the two worlds are very different). Political aides have almost no job security, live in a continuously changing environment and rely on their political acumen to survive.

3) If I am fascinated by the thought of being an entrepreneur, is an MBA helpful?

Thanks for any advice here. I thought that this forum would be a great place to ask this type of question.

Cheers,

Andrew
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Hey Andrew,
Let me get to your Qs one at a time:

1) Not too old. If you apply to two-year full-time MBAs it may give you a certain disadvantage, but you aren't too old, especially since given your work experience, this decision and the reasoning for you waiting so long makes sense.

2) Depends who you worked for and how successful you have been. But in general a strong political background can be very very good. Schools tend to like candidates who have worked in politics.

3) Well, it helped me :).

Best,
JF