Are Masters Degrees and MBAs going to be mandatory 5-10 years down the line?

That's because you learn almost nothing useful in college.

I majored in petroleum engineering and I've used like 1% of what I learned.

You won't get a better job by learning more useless stuff.

I finished my MBA at a top 10 school. Program was fast, expensive, and useless. In the process of completing the CFA, which is far more valuable and cheaper. It would be laughable if it does become mandatory.

Pretty much the case in Europe

Also let us be real. This isn't really about qualifications.

It is because there are so many people out there running around with useless degrees that requiring a graduate degree for entry level roles is one way that HR reduce the size of their resume stack.

Will it improve candidate quality? Probably not. It does make HR's job easier which is about all that they are incentivized to do in most organizations.

Our world loves credentials over competency now. It used to be much easier to get jobs without "checking all the boxes" with pieces of paper. Look at the growth in prominence of the CFA. Look at people's email signatures. We all have LinkedIn connections with more letters after their name than in their name.

It seems like now companies (especially large ones) just have a "mold" for each candidate and strictly hire from the same mold.

Supply and demand. More and more people competing for a smaller pie. Bear in mind that we millennials are the echo boomers. Look up US age demographics. I suspect people graduating from undergrad in 10 years will have it easier (assuming # of entry-level openings remains constant)

I was talking about this at work with some coworkers. They said their work is below their degree level but would you take a PhD more serious than a Masters student when looking at quant research? Of course.

It comes down to my PhD grad is better at calculating the vol of this time series than your Masters grad. Guess what Matlab did most of the work. Some places do research but not all research is created equal especially if there is no peer review.

I have worked with some people who can't build a decent model who graduated with a Masters in EE (MIT) and have a CFA. The model has issues listed in the CFA Level 1 books. WTF is all I can think to myself, how did you manage this.

I get dinged so much for lack of fitting the mold it isn't even funny. To get a better job I am going to have to network with someone who can twist HRs arm - or wait to finish the CFA.

You are implying that they aren't now. Have you looked at the job requirements for upper mid level management at a major firm lately? A friend of mine started a recruiting business and she told me that having a masters degree is pretty much required these days if you want to transition into a senior management track.

The Masters Degree is what the College Degree was 25 years ago is what the High School Degree was 45 years ago. It's the barrier to entry for any real advancement. Part of this is that firms can demand that their employees, especially management track, have these credentials. Part of it is that over the last 25 years, aggregate high school graduation has increased by more than 10%, thus making the high school degree far more standard, and thus non-differentiating. In order to make yourself stand out, you need an advanced education (namely the college degree), and then you need to differentiate yourself further by getting a Masters. It's just a sign of the times because now more than 30% of the country has a college degree, and in finance, where everyone has a degree, the Masters degree can be used as gate, since not everyone has one. I think that the masters will still remain as a barrier to entry, but it won't become like a college degree where everyone must have one.

Like Charlie Munger said, wisdom and knowledge lie in books, not in the classroom. I am starting my MBA tomorrow and I already know I won't gain much practical knowledge in the classroom. I will learn more on an 3-month internship than 2 years of bschool.

others have said this, i'll say this again, in general your network and actual relevant internship/work experience BY FAR are the most important things to worry about and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

for specific paths, yes a CFA and/or Masters/MBA are up there as well, but completely depends on your situation

Somewhat confused on the focus on this thread. In general, I don't see why BB IBD would all of a sudden change their pool of applicants to this. They have introduced accelerated analyst to associate routes that would've previously required an MBA for most people. It seems like they are moving towards hiring employees at the associate level who either worked in FO before at another bank or were previously an analyst who decided to stay instead of going to PE. This may be an unpopular opinion but I don't really see the need for most people to get a MA or MS when their is usually minimal incentive in pay to do so (ex: school teachers).

If we're talking PE, corp fin, etc. I can see the MBA being required or highly encouraged to move up the ladder. I know that most MDs in BB IBD have MBAs but it really looks like firms aren't exactly encouraging it and instead are focusing on employee retention.