We are constantly distracted by the desire for Novelty and the discipline of repetition. Ever since I made my personal phone public, I am getting calls from young engineers and Finance professionals (less than 2 years of experience) with worries that they would be stuck in a monotonous career as a Software Engineer, Associate Analyst or an Engineer in a declining Oil & Gas industry. It is an instinctual call that the future is not safe - not just from a life satisfaction point of view, but because tools and technology can replace your job with the right data.
I have shared about Pain and why it should indicate that you are in the wrong career, but any moment of discomfort is not Pain. Even if you get into a dream career, repetition of at least 6000 hours and scrutiny at the highest level is required if you want to be among the 1%. Unless, AI is integrated to our input (visual, audio), we need repetition to develop contextual awareness, and eventually the knowledge to solve complex problems.
You will experience some form of pain while performing at the top percentile. That is not an indication that you are in the wrong profession. It's just the sign that our limited input options (screens, mouse, keyboard, and internet) and attention is not sufficient to connect two diverse concepts and build imagination.
No AI can imagine what the world would be in 1-year, but many of you right now can imagine multiple post-MBA paths. It is the biggest gift that you have.
What is your top 3 potential post-MBA career paths?
If your current job limits imagination, build them with extra-curricular. Be part of non-profits. Imagine a different world for the less fortunate. Talk to the on-field volunteers. Get an understanding of the major roadblocks. Set a plan - administrative or marketing. And throw yourself into functions where you have limited experience. Nothing happens in the comfort zone.
Our unique advantage over AI is our predictive capacity. We are constantly guessing the immediate world, external events and analyzing their impact on our future.
In the next 5 years, we will have tools and platforms that would reduce the monotonicity of our daily activity. Your preparation for the job market - post-MBA in the next 5-10 years should be to develop skills that are not easily replaceable by AI or technological platforms.
Functional skills in Finance, Diagnostic, Accounting, and Technology will be the first to be replaced.
Cross-functional and Social Skills is hard to replicate.
Our perception of the world is not an analytical problem that can be fed with millions of data points. Our ears and eyes are capturing millions of concepts even when we rest. Asking the machine to capture your facial muscle movement, heart rate and then predict your mental state is unlikely to be perfected because we humans who feed these data are poor readers of emotions.
We read people and emotion much better in the right context. Expose yourself to multiple contexts and experiences.
What cross-functional skills do you want to develop with an MBA?
Let us brainstorm here
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.