Jul

27

Is the MBA Worth It?

Filed Under Business & Career, MBA

Top 20 Universities

So I finally received my letter of acceptance from a top tier Business program. According to a Business Week article citing a research paper called the “Economics of Knowledge,” the United States is home to 17 out of the 20 top universities in world. Seattle is ranked 17th.

It took me a number of tries to get the GMAT, including hours of studying and enough caffiene to sterilize a championship horse, but I finally made it. I hadn’t studied that hard since I took the exams for my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification, but after a few months and long weekends you start to develop a study habit. Now the fun begins in the Fall.
My GMAT Study Method

I have outlined my study method for the GMAT for those interested in taking it. This is my personal thoughts, rants and suggestions. It worked for me. However, the best way to overcome the gauntlet known as the GMAT is to find and create your own method that most suits you.

  1. Schedule the exam (Early! Sometimes they get overbooked and you might have to wait for the next month…or so)
  2. Do your research
  3. Take a couple of practice GMAT exams (Figure out early where you stand)
  4. Study
  5. Retake practice exams
  6. Focus on your weaknesses
  7. Time Yourself
  8. Take the real exam
  9. Rinse and Repeat…

Schedule the GMAT

Before studying for the GMAT, SCHEDULE YOUR EXAM. In fact hit control T on your keyboard, open a new tab and grab your wallet. (translation, put your money on the table) When you put a deadline and financial risk on the line it makes you step up to the challenge. I have been thinking about Business school for several years before committing to it. Once you pay there is a heavy reschedule fee. It costs the same as paying to retake it. What better motivation to take an exam after dropping close to three hundred dollars.

Research

Do your research. Some of the best research on the GMAT was through mba.com, blogs, forums, and other students who have taken it. If you are looking for a couple of good links to blogs and forums shoot me an email, I have them book marked.

Take a practice GMAT

The three practice GMAT test preps and books I used were Kaplan, the Official GMAT Review and mba.com. If you have time take two practice exams before you start studying. This will give you a bench mark of where you are compared to what you need to learn. If you were like me and haven’t studied seriously in awhile, it takes some getting used to in order to sit over 3 hours and take a test. But the important part of the GMAT is being mentally prepared and staying confident during the exam. The exam is a not only a test of your verbal and math skills, but your test taking skills. i.e. learning not to panic and day dream while taking your exam.

STUDY STUDY STUDY
Start studying now. Studying is an artform, not something you just do. I suggest picking up a book or doing a quick web search, using live.com of course. ;) Some of the best tips that helped me were:

Retake the Practice Exams

Every Saturday take a full practice exam. It takes a few weeks to see a score difference, however, stick with it long enough and you will improve. Taking a practice exam each week will also teach you the discipline to manage time and take a grueling test on a beautiful Saturday. As soon as you wake up, jump out of bed and take 3 to 4 hours in the morning to test. I spent the remainder of day watching seasons of Entourage, Rome and The Wire on DVD anything to not fry what was left of my brain that day.

Focus on Your Weaknesses

As the test date comes closer be sure to spend your energy on the items you missed during testing times. My strengths were in the verbal section, so I spent most of my time on the Quantitative portion. Understanding how you learn is very important. Since I am a visual learner I rented a SAT math DVD from the library, you probably can get it using Netflix or Blockbuster. This was a tremendous help. It was like having a world class teacher tutoring you in person. You can stop, start, pause and especially rewind them. The set I used was called Algebra Math Tutor. The video’s were dated but math was still the same. Email me to grab the list. Trust me I went through dozens of math videos to sharpen my long forgotten algebra skills.

Time Yourself

Buy yourself a digital egg timer for $2 bucks. When taking practice problems in the book time yourself on each section. Remember each question you should only be spending no more than a minute and a half on the quant side. This digital egg timer also comes handy at work. You can set it for an hour and make sure to get up and stretch after it beeps.

Take the Real Exam

Stay confident during test day. Even though you think you blew it, stick through it with confidence. You will be surprised how well you do when just staying composed and confident throughout the exam. It is truly a long grueling experience, but the best thing to do is to get it out of the way and move on with your life.

Rinse and Repeat

Some people are excellent at taking timed exams. For me, it took sheer perseverance. Think the tortoise and the hare approach.
Is the MBA Worth It?

So is an MBA worth it? Yes, depending on your goals. Do your due diligence and research it for yourself. If you are interested in networking with like minded peers, marketing yourself, becoming well read and prepared to take on challenges, go for it. Someone once explained it to me this way…How old will you be in two to three years with an MBA? How old will you be in two to three years without it?

Best regards,

Bernard R. Ablola
See you at the top!

Jun

18

My First Day At The New Job and Why I Need My Own Jet and Off to Chicago

Filed Under Conferences, Business & Career, Marketing

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Just touching down in Cleveland.

I’ve made a major move in the past few weeks, and I haven’t been able to talk about it until now. Today, the official department announcement was made, as of July 3rd I will no longer be the Internet Marketing Manager of MPS. We’ve made a ton of progress in the last year and a half at the group, and I will miss all the great people on my team.

With that said, I’m very excited to tell you about my unofficial first day at my new job, working with one of the most successful information marketing legends in business today. Just 18 days ago I replied to an add on online and today I boarded a private jet, brainstormed with one of the sharpest marketing minds alive today, on our way to an exclusive, two day, members only - closed door mastermind event, with a room full of multimillionaire entrepreneurs and the living legend himself, Dan Kennedy. How’s that for a good start.

I don’t officially start until July 9th, but I’m sure that after these next two days my brain will be buzzing in a million different directions and I will have notebooks full of ideas to put to work.

The event goes until Wednesday, and after that I will be right off to Chicago for the American Marketing Association (AMA) Search Engine Marketing Event - the notes of which I will be sure to post on SEMJax.org. It’s a sold out event and pretty good line up of speakers. I know Stephan Spenser won’t dissappoint, and Neil always has some good stuff to share on social media. And with another recent career change, I wonder if Vanessa Fox will be there, representing Google as planned.

Unfortunately, after flying on the private jet, my Southwest flight to Chi-town will be a big disappointing “back to reality”. It’s so nice being able to walk right on to the plane, take a seat in any one of the huge comfy leather seats, and walk right off with a car waiting at the end of the stairs to take me to my hotel.

I may or may not post notes from the inner circle event. I wouldn’t want to give away any trade secrets… shhh! But keep an eye out just in case.

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