by Jarrett

Hundreds of thousand people have been laid off… Economic Stimulus Package… Buy American… These are headlines that we see in every news site. What does all this have to do with an MBA? If I told you I didn’t totally have a handle on the answer, would you keep reading? Going back to the year 2007, everything seemed so much clearer.

My crystal ball was telling me that the global economy is growing so quickly that more Starbucks were opening outside the U.S. than inside the U.S. So, I asked my crystal ball where the next big stage for economic prosperity was (Crystal ball = imaginary drop of rain (this is Seattle, though, so I don’t have to use too much imagination)). My crystal ball told me that it’s the global economy where my MBA will be needed. Don’t get me wrong, the need for the global MBA will not go away, but the world has changed drastically from what it was in 2007. The Fortune 100 companies that I was entertaining as places to put my global MBA into action have nearly all announced layoffs or hiring freezes.

Nearing graduation, I once again find myself trying to stare into my crystal ball for visions of where to go to in the future, but I can’t seem to defog it. There are no guarantees out there, but a few promises. Without getting into the politics of it all, “green” business seems promising, by commanding almost $100,000,000,000 (I just love seeing all those zeros) of the economic stimulus package. These are in an array of different industries, but primarily have to do with construction and energy. I wish they would have offered a “green” business course during my MBA. Another area that has seen some support is a “Buy American” effort which doesn’t help my global MBA, but could add manufacturing worker and management positions back in the U.S. And then, there are the industries that we haven’t even heard about that will emerge as giants in the future like Microsoft did in the 80’s.

My point is that although the future is far from clear right now, it doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunity. The challenge will be to find the opportunities and be prepared for them once you find them. My undergrad business professor (Rick Gibson, ERAU) would say that the definition of luck is where opportunity meets preparedness. An opportunity is worth nothing if you are not prepared to take advantage of it. Getting prepared means getting the right experience; and, in today’s world, getting the right experience starts with the getting right education.