If you already have a job, why in the world would you be looking for another one? Why put yourself in the front of hiring managers, interviewing and discussing your skills and abilities when you already have a job? Actually, I think it is a good thing to keep yourself sharp. If you are looking for advancement and your organization is not promoting right now, interviewing for another position may help you get the money, or the promotion that you may be looking for. Today, I got a question from a reader.

Take a look:

How would I justify to the employer I’m applying with if my reason to look for another job would be to have higher salary ?

Here are my thoughts:

My first thought is, you don’t need to justify to the potential employer why you are looking for a new job. If you are looking for more money and that is your sole reason for looking for new employment, I would recommend that you step back and look a little deeper.

There are not a lot of jobs out there right now. So having a job, whether they are paying you all that you want to receive is not necessarily the reason to jump ship. Step back and look at the current situation. Do you like the job? Can you approach your current employer and ask for more money? The way you do that is to research the job you are doing? What do others make, from a salary perspective in similar organizations? Create a case for your value. Sell your value to the organization. If they believe you are adding value and you are under the market value for the position, you don’t have to leave the organization.

If you determine that you still want to leave, than you want to do the same for the other organization. Rather than leaving for more money, look for more responsibility. Talk about the value you will be to their organization. Discuss who you are what you will bring to the organization. If you have a value discussion, that will translate in to a higher salary and you never said anything about money! Please come back and share your story. I would love to hear the outcome of your situation!

So, you have a job and you want another one! That’s ok. Go for it. But make sure you don’t jeopardize your current employment situation.

Image Credit: sxc.hu

Degree or no degree, that is a question? Do you have an MBA? Are you pursuing and MBA? Should you pursue an MBA? Recently I found a post on BizLevity, one of our newer blogs here at the Business Channel, MBA No Guarantee of Success, Pace University Says. I am not attempting to discredit this survey done by Pace University, but it boggles my mind when I hear things like this. Ok, so many of the successful CEO’s don’t have an MBA. Is that the reason you shouldn’t get one? My life experience has taught me that education opens doors. Without it, you have no guarantee that anyone will answer the door or open the door if you don’t have a piece of paper that says you completed your education. An MBA is a key that opens different doors than your 4 year diploma.

Why bother getting an MBA?

*Because you want one

*Promotional opportunities

*Differentiate you from other equally qualified candidates for jobs you are competing for

*More options available to you, up to and including entrepreneurship

*Executive level positions

*More knowledge

*More money

None of these things are a guarantee that you will be successful. None of these reasons is a silver bullet.

According to an article by Eve Tahmincioglu, MBA Not Always Key to Landing a Plum Job, “A more recent poll conducted by Pace University professors Aron Gottesman and Matthew R. Morey found that out of 488 top companies surveyed only 159 had CEOs with MBAs at the helm.” I don’t understand why this would be the reason to suggest that the MBA is not necessary. An MBA will not guarantee a plum job, or success. You are the key to your success in business, with or without a degree, with or without an MBA. But don’t let naysayers sway you from pursuing an MBA or any other degree if that is what you believe you need to be successful in business.

Do you have an MBA? Why did you pursue it? How did it help you in business or in your current career? Share your story. Your comment will be your entry into the business channel contest this month. Click here for more details about the contest.

Image Credit: PicApp