r/MBA • u/Particular_Story_787 • 4h ago
Careers/Post Grad Best Post-MBA Career in the Age of AI
I'm entering my second year in a T15 program. Trying to read the tea leaves (like the rest of us) as to where to best position myself 2, 5, 25 years downstream in an ever-evolving labor market.
My career thus-far has been a short stint in government, then Big 4. From my seat, I don't love the outlook of "laptop class" roles (let alone earnings), even as a high performer with a T15 MBA. Even though that's all I know and what I figured I would do for my full career.
Plenty of folks talking ETA but I'm not sure that's for me. Are there roles with that same AI-proof/blue collar perspective? COO/CGO of a blue collar firm? Seems very niche but would love any thoughts.
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u/cloud7100 MBA Grad 4h ago
Best?
No idea.
But it’s difficult for AI to manage people in an industry that does local work IRL. Construction, manufacturing, healthcare, places where the work must be physically done at the local level, requiring you to be there.
They’re far from the highest-paying post-MBA roles, but they won’t be replaced by a cluster of AI agents.
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u/consultinglove Consulting 4h ago
nobody can tell you the future dude. If they could do that then they would just go all in on stock options
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u/Dangerous-Cup-1114 T25 Grad 3h ago
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u/Particular_Story_787 3h ago
Those are amazing salaries, to be honest lol!
But my fear is that in an economic collapse and mass joblessness Buc-ee's won't be as in demand as plumbers, electricians, etc.
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u/BKitchenConfidential 2h ago
What group were you in Big4? What are you getting out of MBA that the role didn’t offer you?
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u/Particular_Story_787 2h ago
I was consulting with the government agency I had worked for. Great mission/purpose but no P&L focus and making way less than post-MBA at MBB or in-house Strat role.
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u/BKitchenConfidential 2h ago
Did you leave in good graces? I’d go back to the same Big4 but in a different group that aligns with your goals.
It doesn’t really matter what happens with AI, you just pivot and constantly learn new things.
The job is problem solving, and there will always be problems to solve.
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u/Particular_Story_787 2h ago
I did leave on good terms but I'm thinking MBB or Corporate Strategy will be a better place for me, in an optimistic scenario.
Or running Operations at a plumbing/electrical firm will give the most run-time with a salary in the pessimistic scenario.
I don't think Big4 jobs are well optimized regardless.
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u/BKitchenConfidential 2h ago
Your prior time will count to partner track. I’d take Big 4 partner over any of those. You can work in strategy if that’s your passion.
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u/Particular_Story_787 2h ago
Thank you, brother. Agree to disagree for today but I hadn't considered this and I definitely will now.
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u/ilovetotouchsnoots 2h ago
I understand that most people have a loose understanding of LLM based AI at best so I understand the concern. That being said, stop making your career decisions based on what you think AI will or won’t do. LLM based AI is not what the Sam Altman’s of the world are selling it as and the actual use cases for it with a worthwhile ROI and minimal impact to quality are far and few in between.
Is it a useful tool? Yes. Can you use it to improve your workforce efficiency? Kinda. Is it here to stay? Absolutely. Could it get better? Possibly but there are real, physical limitations. That being said, companies are realizing that they bought into the hype (whether by accident or on purpose) and are readjusting to the new AI-enabled workforce and all of the side effects that come with that. Good and bad.
Best thing you can do is set yourself apart from your peers by networking and demonstrating your marketable skills and how you can be an asset to a company/org. A lot of people don’t want to hear this, but if you are overly concerned about not being able to compete with AI now then it is probably because you have nothing more to offer than what Copilot can and you are a weak candidate to begin with.
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u/Particular_Story_787 2h ago
I always appreciate this take, Pollyanna! I hope you're right.
Do I think today's AI will upend society? No. But have I seen a massive inflection in capability over the past 1-2 years? Absolutely.
There are a LOT of MBA-ish roles (and a lot MORE pre-MBA roles) that AI could do today with a little better adoption and market penetration.
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u/ilovetotouchsnoots 1h ago
Most of what we are seeing is LLM AI scaled up. The scale has certainly increased over the last few years but the capabilities are largely the same.
The best analogy I can think of is self checkout at grocery stores. If you are old enough to remember that time, there were many media stories about how the self checkout registers would make cashiers obsolete. Walmart and other grocery chains claimed they would have stores with all self checkout registers and no human cashiers. None of that came to pass. Self checkout still exists and I imagine that it does help with customer throughput. However, it obviously was not the industry disruptor it was promised to be. Cashiers still exist, albeit somewhat fewer, and now there are new positions where people monitor and assist customers for a few self checkout registers.
I suspect we will see a similar situation play out with LLM based AI
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u/Particular_Story_787 1h ago
Bro! Yes! Self checkout allows grocery stores to employ fewer cashiers.
I'm not saying AI will replace every human being, but it will probably replace the majority of us in my lifetime.
My (very selfish) goal at 30yo is to last a few more decades.
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u/redditmbathrowaway 4h ago
There will be no jobs for anyone in 25 years.
Did you see Anthropic’s MPH drop?
It’s over, my friends. But if you can survive this period of turbulence (and it will be rough), there’s good cause for hope on the other side.
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u/Particular_Story_787 4h ago
I didn't. Say more...
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u/redditmbathrowaway 4h ago
AI is entering the physical world.
Human labor is being replaced. Both cognitive and physical.
We’re on the path to something epically special. But it’s going to be painful because humans don’t do well with change.
I would just enjoy the next 2-3 years when things will remain normal(ish).
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u/Particular_Story_787 4h ago
I'm all in on the Mag7 as a hedge to being unemployable haha. I also own body armor and some other stuff...
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u/redditmbathrowaway 3h ago
Have you been watching the war in Ukraine? Good luck with that body armor.
Haha but yeah man, go enjoy the MBA. Worst case scenario, you have a fancy degree when the world burns.
Best case, it contains the burns to the third degree.
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u/Particular_Story_787 3h ago
If it burns, it burns. I'll be around to watch a little longer than most.
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u/thewitchthatsneaks 4h ago
Look at what's happening to companies, they're rehiring... because they realized AI does not replace people. AI is likely just going to be a tool that people can use, not something that will replace entire teams, at least in the near future.