Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights.
My husband is an engineer in the struggling oil and gas industry. He is concerned about the stability of his role as well as feeling in a rut.
Due to the downturn in the industry the type of work available is less challenging on a day-to- day basis and there are less opportunities for career development as everyone who has a job is clinging onto it.
He is keen to future-proof our income and has decided that embarking on a self-funded part-time MBA is the answer.
I know he has the mental capacity and motivation to study and work as he completed a specialist master’s course while working a few years ago. But this was a big challenge for our family as he worked and studied hard while I also worked and was essentially a single parent to our young children.
He is a bit of a risk-taker and thinks: “What’s to lose?”
My thoughts are the £17,000 course fees we’d need to borrow and the two years of family life we’d miss out on.
Is it worth the risk? Would having an MBA without direct business management experience open up other industries for him to work in at management level?
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
