从MBA中，你期望得到什么？

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Stepping onto the right carrer path

Prospective MBAs need to ask themselves what they expect from their degrees and future careers, says author Ira Wolfe

From Businessweek by Ira Wolfe, Success Performance Solutions

Ira Wolfe is founder of Success Performance Solutions, a 10-year-old consulting firm in Lancaster, Pa., that offers career and preemployment testing. At 44, after realizing that dentistry was not for him, he dabbled in consulting and discovered self-assessment tests. He soon decided that his life's work would be to help others discover their passion.

The author of two books -- Understanding Business Values and Motivators and The Perfect Labor Storm: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away -- Wolfe says that today's MBAs are lucky to be living in the trial-and-error era. "You can be a job hopper and employers will value the different experiences you have had, as opposed to the past, when going from place to place was looked down upon," he says.

Wolfe himself is pursuing a master's degree in leadership and ethics at Duquesne University but might switch into the MBA program instead. He recently talked with BusinessWeek Online reporter Francesca Di Meglio about how MBAs can better shape their future career. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

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Q: What advice do you have for those who are undecided about getting an MBA?
A: The first question I would ask is, "What do you hope the MBA will do for you?" It's certainly a requirement just to get your foot in the door for some jobs, but many people go after degrees without really knowing why they decided to pursue education in the first place.

Q: What should MBA students do to prepare for the job search?
A: You should think through your career path. Getting an MBA doesn't necessarily guarantee success in a knowledge-based economy. [Students] need to look at the MBA as a way for improving their knowledge base and translating that into tangible skills.

Walk through some questions: What do you want to achieve? What are your expectations? What is it about that MBA that will allow you to be unique? How will this job make you a better employee and person?

Q: Are self-assessment tests a necessity?
A: Absolutely, they are. Intellectually, many people understand what they want but aren't sure about the emotional factors -- is this going to be a satisfying career? We help people realize whether they want to work in a large or small company, the industries that interest them, how well they will fit into different organizations.

These self-assessments look at their skills but also their communication style, ability to be a team player, preferences on company size, and the kinds of organization they would like to manage. You can be an MBA working at a small family-owned business and feel exhilarated or you can be CEO of a major corporation and be very unhappy. It depends on the person.

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Q: How does one get motivated?
A: There are certain things that tend to excite you. What rewards did you get when you were growing up that you felt good about? What things were you discouraged from doing? Money is certainly a motivator. Sometimes, it's not the money that is a motivator but what money can buy.

Motivation comes from within, and the self-assessment can help you determine what it is that keeps you going. In my book, we talk about the six buckets that people have. One of them is a conceptual bucket -- people are motivated by learning and problem solving. One is money, and it's the return on investment that charges your battery. Another is social, where your goal in life is to give back to the community and your family.

Understanding what it is that keeps you excited helps you fill your buckets. The biggest de-motivator for people is following a path that someone else set for them. Everyone wants something different out of life -- and you have to figure out what it is you want for yourself.

Q: What's the biggest mistake people make when searching for their niche?
A: They look at the prestige involved in a particular career, but they don't recognize that they might not be satisfied in that path. I changed careers at age 44. I had a very successful dental career from everyone else's perspective, but I was really unhappy. I was a professional in the community, made a nice income, and had lots of flexibility, but I didn't enjoy going to work everyday.

I probably work three times harder than I did before, but I love what I do now. The biggest mistake is thinking that if you get this MBA and then that job, you'll be happy. Understanding who you are and what you want to achieve will help you get set on the right path for you.

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Q: What kinds of careers spark the most interest and passion?
A: That's a tough one. I have people who are passionate about doing dentistry and others don't understand why. Sometimes it's not about the job itself. One of the first people who called me up was an attorney from Georgia because he felt burned out. Once I spoke with him for a bit, I realized that it wasn't the law that bothered him, it was the environment. He was working for a fairly large firm with its particular causes, and it wasn't the right place for him. If you choose the right career path in the right environment, you'll be happy.

Q: What kinds of careers cause the most burnout?
A: Many people in health care, certainly in nursing, experience burnout. People become nurses to help people. When they get into a health-care system that's short staffed, and they don't have quality time to spend with patients, they get frustrated. Caring for sick people in a sick organization is a bad combination.

On the flip side, so much of preventing burnout has to do with how the organization treats employees and whether they get the right rewards and recognition. Good managers can foresee this.

Q: What's your no. 1 bit of advice for job searchers?
A: You must understand yourself well. The other piece of advice is to network and talk to people in different positions. That can mean joining a Chamber of Commerce or calling up someone and asking if you can take him or her to lunch to talk shop.