s/o of Reasonable salary for a JD...MBA?

[sarabi]

I just read the reasonable jd salary thread and will admit I was a little shocked that 40K is largely considered reasonable for a 1st year associate. I've been a lurker for a while and know that many of you all also think that the MBA isn't a wise decision anymore either.

I worked in Non Profit out of undergrad and made less than 40K. Went back to get my MBA from a good school. My first salary out was about 60K. I wasn't thrilled with it, but it did the trick, I guess.

What do you all think is a reasonable expectation for a 1st post mba job?

[Deleted]

I dont think there is one. People work for all different types of companies with an MBA-even more so than law school.

DH has his MBA, but he got it to help him market his company better- he runs a small business. So his salary didn't go up merely because he got the degree- its gone up because he applied what he learned and that brought in a lot of business.

[fbf2006]

It's really hard to say. It depends on so many factors. What business school you go to, what industry you end up in (consulting, private equity, investment banking/management, fortune 500, non profit, etc), what profession (marketing, finance, IT, etc), how much experience you had beforehand (especially if you don't end up in a top MBA program), etc.

[ESF]

I agree with cosmos. I think a reasonable salary is more than you were making before. Most people get MBAs to advance their current careers. You don't usually get a JD to advance a career, you get one to get a career. So you can't compare the two at all.

[sarabi]

Aug 15, 2012 15:43:59 GMT -5 ESF said:

I agree with cosmos. I think a reasonable salary is more than you were making before. Most people get MBAs to advance their current careers. You don't usually get a JD to advance a career, you get one to get a career. So you can't compare the two at all.

I hadn't thought of it like this. Good Point!

[Deleted]

At my last job, a CW went to a lesser known school and got his MBA, paid for by the company we worked for. When he graduated he asked for a 25K raise. To do the same job he had been doing-I don't think it works that way in most cases.

[catbus]

As others have said, this will vary so much depending on industry, experience, market, the school the MBA is from, and if it's a specialized MBA. So many factors.

H is an IT analyst for a large company. He currently has a B.A. In his time in IT there (~5 years) his pay has gone from just less than $40K to a bit over $60K (working through three levels). He plans to enroll in an MBA program starting fall 2013. He hopes to earn ~$90K after completing the program. He may have to move to another company to make that kind of jump. The potential in our market with the program he's interested in (a technology MBA at an excellent school), is significantly higher. If he does even moderately well, he could find something paying $120K-ish right out of the program.

But then I've known people with general MBAs with no specific experience who got the degree because they assumed it would mean more earning potential... and it does, theoretically, but the best job candidates with MBAs are ones who also have experience. Many good MBA programs, including the one H is interested in, will not even consider a candidate without X years of professional experience. This, I think, is where JDs and MBAs really differ. It's totally standard to go straight to law school for undergrad, but it's a little weird to go straight to business school from undergrad.

[Deleted]

I got a new position in my company paying $67k plus a small bonus. I thought it was glorious. I went to a crappy local program. I mostly got the promotion because I am awesome at my job. But the MBA didn't hurt.

[minniebee]

My H has an MBA. His first post-MBA job was a $30,000 salary increase over his previous job, but I honestly don't think the salary increase was solely due to the MBA. A master's was not required for the job. He was already well into 6-figures at that point anyway, so $30,000 extra wasn't a huge deal.

He recently finished another master's program that more directly related to a salary increase because he got a degree that is a bigger deal in his field than an MBA and is more rare. The program he just finished is one of only a few available in the country. Tons of people have MBAs, but very few have an MBA plus his latest master's degree.

[pumpkin]

I think the MBA salary depends a lot on your industry, whether or not you are staying in a position, etc.

I happen to have both an MBA and a JD and have to say that in my higher MCOL area, even when he job market was good, starting at that 40K wasn't unreasonable, but that depended on what you were doing.

[fbf2006]

Aug 15, 2012 16:00:41 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

Yeah MBA salary is so variable. Quite a few on here, including me, got an MBA sort of as a way to pass time vs an investment. It really has netted me very little so far, but I am glad to have it for when I want a new job.

If you are coming from a top school (top 10-15) and from a full time program I think 100 base with possibility of 20% bonus seems on the low end of normal in my experience. Similar to JDs, I would say the people making big dollars with MBAs generally earn every penny through working ridiculous hours but there are exceptions (including some who post here!)

Even if you go to HBS, it still depends on what industry/profession you end up in after the program, and some do pay less than $100K.

[oukapu]

I was already an engineer and used the business classes to round out my knowledge, so I didn't see a pay increase. I wasn't looking for one.

[Deleted]

I have 2 masters degress, including an MBA. DH makes more than merits an MBA from a 3rd tier school. Moral of the story? Experience >>>>>>> education.

[fbf2006]

Aug 15, 2012 20:23:12 GMT -5 @envinoveritas said:

I have 2 masters degress, including an MBA. DH makes more than merits an MBA from a 3rd tier school. Moral of the story? Experience >>>>>>> education.

Not always true.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2012 20:23:12 GMT -5 @envinoveritas said:

I have 2 masters degress, including an MBA. DH makes more than merits an MBA from a 3rd tier school. Moral of the story? Experience >>>>>>> education.

I have found the same - I have a MS and DH has a high school diploma, and I make around 5k more than him. He has about 1 more year of experience than I do, but that's the only difference. Makes me glad he's paid fine but sad I went through hell to earn little more than someone without my education does.

I'm in a field more similar to what you'd do with an MBA though and started at 45k, MCOL at a non-profit. I would think if you have experience, a great school, and a private industry you could reasonable expect to start out higher... but I really don't know that there is a "usual" since this varies so much by particular job, area, etc.

[SJ]

So many factors here.

I went through a Top 5 MBA program and my base salary jumped from $60K to $100K. I absolutely could have leveraged it into a lot more, but I work on the retail side of finance (yay for market hours!) and I chose to stay with my firm (they also paid for my MBA). I think I would have seen an even bigger jump by switching firms, but I have a great situation and plan to stay for the foreseeable future.