Question for Folks with MBA / Grad Business Degrees

[GardoneVT]

I think it all comes down to the company if it adds any value. A girl I worked with 2 jobs ago got her MBA and it has done nothing for her career; same job, title and pay.

The last company I worked for ($7B O&G company) did not believe that MBAs were a value add and would not pay for employees to get one.

I would try to decide where you want to wind up and do your research if the MBA would be beneficial.

This.

Advice on this is of course subject to the readers individual circumstances. However , for the younger folks an MBA isn't as big of a value add as it used to be for the previous generation. I think some commentary here is from a generation of guys who came in the workforce when even bachelors degrees were rare, and graduate degrees rarer.

Nowadays? I'll put it into perspective like this. A coworker's husband from an old job is getting a PhD. I'm actually outpacing his post-graduate earning potential in my current position despite having a relatively plebeian bachelors . By comparison, an analyst my current firm just hired has 15 years applied experience and a 2 year technical degree.

If one can get an MBA for free or nearasdammit with little opportunity cost to their career, go for it. I wouldn't rearrange my lifestyle to earn one at the expense of real world experience. A year working at Firm X even as an intern will go a lot further then a year spent in graduate school.

Down the road I'll use the remnant of my GI Bill on an MBA if time allows, but frankly by then I'll be too busy paying for more important stuff like a wife and kids.

[Duelist]

I do not have an MBA, and am not likely to ever pursue one. That said, I have an associates, bachelors, and masters in three somewhat separate disciplines that are related due to the path my career has taken. I paid/am still paying for my BA. My AAS and M.Ed were paid for by employers.

I got the job I have now due to prior experience and my M.Ed. The employer that paid for my M.Ed gave me a raise for getting it, and kept me on through several RIFs because of it, though eventually, when I was laid off, the people they kept did not have masters degrees. They were also not maxed out on the pay scale - I had become too expensive to keep when they had to make the final cuts. I was a better instructor and curriculum developer for having gone through the program.

That said, I got it while working full time. That was a challenge with two kids and a spouse who also deserved my time, and got a lot less of it while I was in school. To compound that, I got it through the University of Phoenix. Ten years ago, that did not have the associated taint it seems to have acquired. The college of education is accredited by the same standard body as everyone else's, but it still seems to be a tainted degree to some people.

As a result of that, and the fact that, while I love what I'm doing right now, I don't really have the right Masters for it, I'm in the process of applying to a state university to get a second M.Ed. My employer created my job out of two part time jobs in order to get me on full time - and I only make about half what I used to. I appreciate what they've done for me and my family - they hired my wife, too - but I am being very realistic about my situation when I say that in a few years, I will probably have to move on. If I want to stay in this field and be fully qualified and employable in the long term, I need this additional degree. So, my partial post-9/11 GI Bill is going to be used for it. And I'll probably have to curtail activity in some other interests for the duration. For example, I plan to stop reloading 9mm whenever I have active classes going, shoot less, surf the Internet less, and I'll probably probably reduce, eliminate, or change how I teach my guitar lessons.

There are a lot of reasons why you might pursue additional training or education. If it makes sense in your current or future career path, especially if someone else is paying for it, it's kind of hard to resist taking advantage of it.

[farscott]

The ins-and-outs of how money works is one of the things I'd really love to learn. People start slinging financial lingo, and unless it has the word "dollars" somewhere in it, I have no idea what's going on.

Regarding having a skillset: I have a BS, MS, and PhD in computer science, so I'm trying to figure out if an MBA would compliment those, or if it would leave me in a disjointed netherworld that's not really one or the other, and thus not especially useful to anyone. Knowledge obtained would still be worth it though, if for no other reason than being able to teach my future children useful things.



That's something I'm looking at. There are a number of excellent part-time programs up here in D/FW that I could try to weasel my way into. However, my present employer wouldn't cover those (not that I'd mind paying out of pocket if it were worth the effort). Were I to use the business school on the other side of campus, I'd probably end up more of a full-time student, since I'm already here during the day anyways.



Well, that's the trick: I'm so clueless, I don't even know where to aim.

I believe than an MBA can enhance you current skillset, especially over the long haul. One never knows how things might go, and the ability to fluently speak the language of finance is a good thing to have, both personally and professionally. If you ever have to make payroll, the MBA can be very, very helpful.

One warning: as a technical individual, the content of the coursework will not be an issue. What can be an issue is that most assignments/projects for the MBA are group projects. So selecting the right group and interpersonal skills are big deals. The wrong people on a project can result in a painful experience. I strongly suggest working with others who already have years of experience in industry working as opposed to full-time students as the latter will typically not have the focus and drive that you expect.

[okie john]

...

But on the flip side, if I can take a five minute walk to get to one coherent program where people explain it to me in person for free... it kind of seems like a waste not to take advantage of that. There's one guy in the department who basically collects Master's degree as a hobby: he has three of them now.

So the growing consensus seems to be: it could potentially be useful at some point, but is rarely a game changer, and wouldn't be of any special use to me specifically.

It used to be fashionable to get a law degree. Then it became fashionable to get an MBA. But neither of those is the differentiator it used to be.

That said, if I could get one for free, then I'd do it. What you become afterwards depends as much on who you were going in as anything else. I've worked for a bunch of MBAs over the years, most of whom got their degrees just after finishing a BA. They could talk a good game, but every single one of them was Second-Lieutenant level clueless when it came to the kind of stuff that really mattered day in and day out. The folks who picked up that degree after a few years on the ground were head and shoulders above them.


Okie John

[98z28]

...

Regarding having a skillset: I have a BS, MS, and PhD in computer science, so I'm trying to figure out if an MBA would compliment those, or if it would leave me in a disjointed netherworld that's not really one or the other, and thus not especially useful to anyone. Knowledge obtained would still be worth it though, if for no other reason than being able to teach my future children useful things.

...

Well, that's the trick: I'm so clueless, I don't even know where to aim.

You're a prime candidate for a masters in analytics. When business programs say analytics, they mean shredding "big data" to find value. Analytics programs combine finance, statistics, econometrics (economic/financial modelling), and programming. It's a very, very hot field right now. Few people can do it and large employers are willing to pay very good money for people who can.

Texas A&M has a good part-time program: http://analytics.stat.tamu.edu/

[David S.]

Personally I would not invest the time or money into an advanced degree with no definitive path for it to repay that investment. If you are just looking to broaden your business knowledge there are tons of online resources you could use for free and at your own pace. If you don't know how you will use the MBA to advance your career not having one won't hurt you.

What's that classic line from Good Will Hunting? "...you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you could have gotten for a dollar fifty in late fees at the public library."

I totally agree with Bratch. I would critically evaluate the value of a formal degree. The value of formal education is in serious decline. Enrollment is steadily declining as costs increase, the imminent student loan bubble, universities are giving their material away for free, industries like Google are building their own tech schools because college aren't teaching their future employees anything useful. Employers are placing less emphasis on having a degree.

How much could be learned by working through an MBA reading list or Itunes U online courses? Or just get to work actually starting a small side business and figure it out as you go? (that's what I'm doing)

[GardoneVT]

You're a prime candidate for a masters in analytics. When business programs say analytics, they mean shredding "big data" to find value. Analytics programs combine finance, statistics, econometrics (economic/financial modelling), and programming. It's a very, very hot field right now. Few people can do it and large employers are willing to pay very good money for people who can.

Texas A&M has a good part-time program: http://analytics.stat.tamu.edu/

Banking Analyst here.

He's gonna need experience. ASAP.
PM me for more details. Suffice it to say an MS in Analytics looks good, but an MS in Analytics looks a lot better after five years of practical BI experience.

[rob_s]

MBAs, and graduate degrees in general, seem more impressive or intimidating to those without than than with them.

[okie john]

MBAs, and graduate degrees in general, seem more impressive or intimidating to those without than than with them.

Same with HR department screeners and HR software.


Okie John

[98z28]

Banking Analyst here.

He's gonna need experience. ASAP.
PM me for more details. Suffice it to say an MS in Analytics looks good, but an MS in Analytics looks a lot better after five years of practical BI experience.

Just to clarify, traditional analyst jobs in finance are very different than the predictive analytics jobs that are hot right now. Here's a bit of background information:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/piyankaj.../#5c78d9a62d62

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/tag/predictive-analytics/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/wharton-...ing-1462381445

Aren't you glad you asked us, Chance? We'll have it all planned out for you by next week.