A widely-demanded credential in financial services is the MBA. The key question is how necessary it is.
Many jobs for which an MBA is either required or strongly advised do not really need it. Rather, it frequently is used as a filter to reduce the candidate pool to a manageable size, weeding out (though not necessarily with complete success) less qualified applicants. Indeed, in many respects, requiring the MBA for certain jobs is an alternative to administering a standardized test as a screening device.
The fact of life is that, without an MBA, you are somewhat limited in your career prospects, especially if you expect to work in major corporations.
