I read an article the other day, Never Hire an MBA. I laughed to myself as I read the article because never is a harsh word to use. The article was not factual. It was more emotional and definitely not thorough. For example:

The cost of starting a business was once very high. You had to rent office space, hire an accounting and payroll department, buy a telephone system, etc. This isn’t the case today. Someone who is good at running a business can start one on a shoestring budget and look just as big as anyone else. Computers are cheap, a lot of software is free, and you can outsource many parts of your business as you go and simply pay as you go.

Say what????

Guess what? All businesses are not online businesses. I suppose what he meant was “never hire an MBA for a online company”. Then he goes on to talk about why someone with an MBA is looking for a job. He makes the huge assumption the person wants his or her own business. My master’s is in Business Management but I was the rare one that had no intention of working for someone else. The people I know that have MBAs have no desire to work for themselves. They want and enjoy the corporate life. They have no desire at all to grow a company from scratch.

And exactly what type of business are they supposed to start on their own? Consulting is not the same as working in a corporate structure. What are they supposed to do, start a widgets company so they can manage it? Let’s be real, owning a company and managing one are two different things. It is not wrong to not want the responsibility of ownership. Reading on, the emotion just poured on…

For an MBA, the pretty piece of paper they have hanging on their wall can make them less careful.

If you are looking to hire someone, don’t overlook them simply because they have an MBA, but at the same time don’t over-value their degree and let it blind you to their actual real-life skills.

Sounds like someone who did not get the job or client because they did not have the degree. In the vein of keeping it real, in business (corporate world) not having the master’s degree is like trying to be an engineer without the certifications. Eventually the lack of certifications will cripple the ability to earn higher incomes. For many positions, or even consulting, you cannot get your foot in the door without the degree.

How about this: only hire those qualified

Most top-level professions have requirements, something that legitimizes a person as qualified. I do not agree with the assumption that having the requirement makes the person qualified for the job, but there should be some requirements in place. Honestly, unqualified or people who are not optimal for the position are hired often:

• Ever had the friend that used to give you free stuff? That is not good for the company’s bottom line.
• Ever seen someone get a job because he or she knew the right people, but were not qualified for the job?
• Let’s not forget the people who are granted promotions based on seniority, not skill.

I could go on and on. Online companies are finding out that so-called “social media experts” really have no idea what they are doing. They use the internet being relatively new as an excuse but the truth is, the internet is old enough that many of the mistakes from the past are being repeated today – which makes them avoidable.

It is what it is

The premise of the article is correct: do not hire unqualified people and do not assume someone having a degree or certification makes them qualified. However to say “never hire ” is an emotional statement, not qualified statement based on fact. The truth is there are many MBAs (or whatever) that are more than qualified.

I could easily say “do not hire someone that is a business consultant that does not have a business degree” (as it seems to be the situation of the writer), but I do not. Why? Because it is possible to gain business experience doing something else. My objectivity will not let me overlook that.

In your decisions, be objective and step back from the emotions. And do not write articles without solid foundations.

Makes you look bad.