Is it a good idea to get an MBA after a few years of experience to get to more senior positions?

[mowa]

Im thinking of finishing my BA in math, then a MQF/MFE, then 5-7 years of work, and then going back to get an MBA. Is that a good idea?

Sorry, I know I’m planning very far ahead but I’m just gauging future prospects though!

 

[MichaelLewis]

Im thinking of finishing my BA in math, then a MQF/MFE, then 5-7 years of work, and then going back to get an MBA. Is that a good idea?

Sorry, I know I’m planning very far ahead but I’m just gauging future prospects though!

In my opinion, an MBA is worthless. And I have an MBA so I am speaking from experience. The material is far too broad to actually provide any sort of knowledge depth. There are also far too many MBAs these days who think they know how to run a business.

With that said, it’s really only useful for connections. So you’d have to go to Stanford, Harvard, or Wharton. And you should be more interested in investment banking or consulting over quantitative finance (where it really won’t be useful).

 

[Kev-X]

This is actually something I'm looking for an answer too. From what I've seen, quants usually end up doing a Ph.D. for career progress or to get into better roles rather than an MBA. However, what if someone wanted to get into investment banking roles a few years after being a quant (for whatever reason), has anyone heard of people doing that?

 

[MichaelLewis]

This is actually something I'm looking for an answer too. From what I've seen, quants usually end up doing a Ph.D. for career progress or to get into better roles rather than an MBA. However, what if someone wanted to get into investment banking roles a few years after being a quant (for whatever reason), has anyone heard of people doing that?

The typical investment banking path is undergraduate to analyst. Or MBA to associate. I’ve not seen people go from quant to investment banker. Maybe my sample size is small though. I expect most quants might find investment banking less interesting simply because it’s less quantitatively rigorous and more relationship based after a certain level. The actual modeling required from an investment banker isn’t all that challenging.