Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I have engineering background and am currently working as an Engineer in manufacturing. I am thinking of getting an MBA from a near by accredited university. That way I can keep my job and get it done. Any one on ICF who have done silmilar thing ? Did it help Career wise ? Any help or percpective is appriciated. Regards
Holysmoke Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I'm thinking of doing one too. Giving an entrance in a couple of weeks.
Stryker Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Hey, I dont post here much but have been a lurker for many years. I have a PEng and worked in manufacturing for about 7-8 years before deciding get an MBA. My recommendation would be to seriously think before hand what you would like to do after MBA. Are you planning to switch careers or advance in your current line of work? If latter do your research and confirm that a masters degree is actually recognized at your firm and industry. MBA wont teach you much that you dont already know but if you get it from a prestigious university it can open many doors for you. You will make a lot of contacts and if you play your cards right can help you land a high paying job. Engineers usually dont find MBA too hard. There is a lot of work but nothing earth shattering. The hard part is actually working within teams where your colleagues come from various professions and may not be as technical as you. Ask away if you any questions. Best of luck
Stryker Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 One more point - Make sure you have atleast 4-5 years of actual full time experience before you decide to go for a masters degree. In today's environment experience is probably the top factor that employers look at.
hari504504 Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Have been wanting to discuss this for some time I feel MBA from some random accredited university isn't going to take you that far, During my stint in HR that is what I felt. The name of the institution matters a lot ! - MBA is all about branding and networking Aim for the top-tier business schools or simply don't bother. The "getting it done" attitude towards it needs to be changed, its not a formality. If you are in it for the knowledge alone, why not get a professional certification like CPA or CFA
Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Author Posted February 2, 2012 Hey, I dont post here much but have been a lurker for many years. I have a PEng and worked in manufacturing for about 7-8 years before deciding get an MBA. My recommendation would be to seriously think before hand what you would like to do after MBA. Are you planning to switch careers or advance in your current line of work? If latter do your research and confirm that a masters degree is actually recognized at your firm and industry. MBA wont teach you much that you dont already know but if you get it from a prestigious university it can open many doors for you. You will make a lot of contacts and if you play your cards right can help you land a high paying job. Engineers usually dont find MBA too hard. There is a lot of work but nothing earth shattering. The hard part is actually working within teams where your colleagues come from various professions and may not be as technical as you. Ask away if you any questions. Best of luck Thanks for your reply. Did your MBA helped you ? Also, did you get it from Ranked college ?
Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Author Posted February 2, 2012 Have been wanting to discuss this for some time I feel MBA from some random accredited university isn't going to take you that far, During my stint in HR that is what I felt. The name of the institution matters a lot ! - MBA is all about branding and networking Aim for the top-tier business schools or simply don't bother. The "getting it done" attitude towards it needs to be changed, its not a formality. If you are in it for the knowledge alone, why not get a professional certification like CPA or CFA I am more over looking for growth in my own company. Does it matter if its an online program through a reputed college ?
hari504504 Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I am more over looking for growth in my own company. Does it matter if its an online program through a reputed college ? hmmm tricky bit. Most companies have high employee turn-over.. think about how it would look in your resume when one goes to another company. Not having one at all is a matter of choice, but having a half-baked one just sort of shows that you weren;t good enough to get into the good schools - or atleast thats how it would read. I am curious..Would an MBA really make a difference in your current company ? (I mean ANY MBA ?) . Have never seen a case of people getting promoted just cause they got their MBA regardless of where they got it from.
Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Author Posted February 2, 2012 hmmm tricky bit. Most companies have high employee turn-over.. think about how it would look in your resume when one goes to another company. Not having one at all is a matter of choice, but having a half-baked one just sort of shows that you weren;t good enough to get into the good schools - or atleast thats how it would read. I am curious..Would an MBA really make a difference in your current company ? (I mean ANY MBA ?) . Have never seen a case of people getting promoted just cause they got their MBA regardless of where they got it from. 1) I am not in a position to go for a full time MBA program (need to feed the family). And most of the other ranked MBA programs are costly. Saying that, I am not saying they are not worth. But financially, it is a hard stretch. 2) As for my current company, I have known couple of people who got their MBA's and were promoted or were able to move to business side. I don't think of MBA as a magical key to any corporate ladder. I think doing good work is key to any success. But having an MBA might equip me with extra skill sets (resume builder you may say) as I explore new opportunities.
Stryker Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I left my job to get a full time MBA from Ivey School of Business. It is ranked as one of the top tier business schools in Canada although it cant hold a candle to some of the American business schools. The MBA definitely helped me in bumping my pay grade and landing a more managerial job. But it was all due to the networking I did during my time at the school. As for the question of whether an MBA would really make a difference in your current company. From my experience if it did the company would be pushing its employees to get their MBAs like most of the management consulting firms do. Otherwise the probability remains low that you would see any significant ROI. Another drawback is if you plan to leave your current firm other employers may discredit your online MBA degree. My advice would be if you are serious give it all you got. Go for a full time MBA at top tier school otherwise do it only to increase your knowledge base and don't expect any significant payback.
hari504504 Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 1) I am not in a position to go for a full time MBA program (need to feed the family). And most of the other ranked MBA programs are costly. Saying that, I am not saying they are not worth. But financially, it is a hard stretch. 2) As for my current company, I have known couple of people who got their MBA's and were promoted or were able to move to business side. I don't think of MBA as a magical key to any corporate ladder. I think doing good work is key to any success. But having an MBA might equip me with extra skill sets (resume builder you may say) as I explore new opportunities. just to understand the company culture - the other guys who got promoted, they got random MBAs ? Resume Builder it certainly isn't unless you get the right MBA.. Getting a poorly ranked MBA can work against you in most big MNCs when they are comparing two similar candidates Why not professional ceritifications ? .Depending on how you see your corp career progression you could do something in accounting or a CFA or maybe something in Marketing.. Main advantage is that they are all of reasonable cost compared to a full time MBA.. you can prepare for it at your leisure-you decide when you take the exams.. and no chance of "reader bias" for your resume..assuming you do something globally recognized like a CPA or CFA/FRM..nothing more heavyweight than that I would say. Just don't end up with something not worth the piece of paper it is printed on... lot of MBA grads around..especially in India, you need to differentiate yourself.
Yoda-esque Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Having an MBA (from anywhere ) helps if you are in Manufacturing and dont want to be on the floor for the rest of your career.
Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Author Posted February 2, 2012 Having an MBA (from anywhere ) helps if you are in Manufacturing and dont want to be on the floor for the rest of your career. Mind Reader :haha::haha:
akshayxyz Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Sorry..if this is already discussed...ask these questions to yourself, in that order. a) What do you want to achieve? b) Why/how do you think an MBA will help you achieve your dream/goal. c) Which MBAs/schools align with your goals / will add actual value. One more good thought-process that I read/heard somewhere - to figure your dreams/goals/path out...[iIRC/AFAIK, this is one of the first thought-experiment you are asked to go through after joining Stanford-GraduateSchoolofBusiness] a) Why you need MBA. Ask 'Why' to the outcome of (a)...repeat 'Why' 6-7 times...if you keep answering honestly, then only ask around to achieve that dream of yours.
Alchemist Posted February 2, 2012 Author Posted February 2, 2012 if some one has ACCA' date=' would MBA help him?[/quote'] What is ACCA ?
1983-2011 Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 What is ACCA ? Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
hari504504 Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 if some one has ACCA' date=' would MBA help him?[/quote'] for the branding and networking part..provided he gets into a top B-school. Can go quite far with it if you can pull it off. Not much knowledge-wise..nothing you can't pick up on your own during work exp
Ram Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 From my personal assessment, it seems like 95% of MBA graduates with prior work experience go back to doing the exact same thing that they used to do before. If anyone is under the impression that an additional degree can help execute a 180 degree (or even a 90 degree) turn in their career, I think that is a fallacy.
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