When do you know it's time to get an MBA?

N2IT

I think it might be time gang

Today I was in a meeting with directors and C level employees and I hate to admit it and ashamed to admit it, but I was lost on some of the coversation exchanges today. ITIL, ISO, COBIT, none of it would prepare me for these types of meetings.

My bachelor of science is management and 75% of it I have forgotten. (Not all is foreign, assets = (liabilities + owner's equity) I still remember some of the financial ratios, but the practical knowledge is lacking. Is this something I will have to just grow into or will getting an MBA most likely be required? This concerned me so much I called a meeting with my boss to discuss this. He and I have a very open and solid relationship. Defiently mentor / student relationship.

Has anyone ever be in this situation? I have to admit I felt weak, it really sucked.

My apologies this should of been in the degree and education forum.

Turgon

N2IT wrote: »

I think it might be time gang

Today I was in a meeting with directors and C level employees and I hate to admit it and ashamed to admit it, but I was lost on some of the coversation exchanges today. ITIL, ISO, COBIT, none of it would prepare me for these types of meetings.

My bachelor of science is management and 75% of it I have forgotten. (Not all is foreign, assets = (liabilities + owner's equity) I still remember some of the financial ratios, but the practical knowledge is lacking. Is this something I will have to just grow into or will getting an MBA most likely be required? This concerned me so much I called a meeting with my boss to discuss this. He and I have a very open and solid relationship. Defiently mentor / student relationship.

Has anyone ever be in this situation? I have to admit I felt weak, it really sucked.

My apologies this should of been in the degree and education forum.

As I have said before, a lot of MBA's are not worth the paper they are written on and even if you do get one from a respected school they cost a lot of money. A credible MBA student has years of management experience going in and is destined for a strategic role in an organisation so would benefit from the education. Ideally you already have exposure to the commercials of business life and have large budgets to handle, costs to handle, large leadership responsibilities, business transformation aspirations and sales targets to hit or new business, innovation to exploit. Im not saying dont do it, people with working at Macdonalds do them these days but think about where it will really take you. You really dont want to be underexperienced and overqualified with an MBA, it just leaves you with bills to pay.

N2IT

Turgon wrote: »

As I have said before, a lot of MBA's are not worth the paper they are written on and even if you do get one from a respected school they cost a lot of money. A credible MBA student has years of management experience going in and is destined for a strategic role in an organisation so would benefit from the education. Ideally you already have exposure to the commercials of business life and have large budgets to handle, costs to handle, large leadership responsibilities, business transformation aspirations and sales targets to hit or new business, innovation to exploit. Im not saying dont do it, people with working at Macdonalds do them these days but think about where it will really take you. You really dont want to be underexperienced and overqualified with an MBA, it just leaves you with bills to pay.

My heart was telling me that.

I brought up the idea of another bachelors and he scoffed at that idea. He was MBA or don't get a degree, I agree as well.

I believe his opinion was that experience will rule out. Be patient and enjoy the ride. Believe me Turgon my mentor has 30 years of service management experience and has worked with very high profile clients. He made it as high as director at Accenture and has managed a 10,000 resource operation in India. I have full faith in him and believe I can learn from him.

I just am not 100% sure if that is the right approach, hence why I brought it up on this message board.

I have 2,300 USD left on my student loans. It will be nice when that is down to 0

Turgon

N2IT wrote: »

My heart was telling me that.

I brought up the idea of another bachelors and he scoffed at that idea. He was MBA or don't get a degree, I agree as well.

I believe his opinion was that experience will rule out. Be patient and enjoy the ride. Believe me Turgon my mentor has 30 years of service management experience and has worked with very high profile clients. He made it as high as director at Accenture and has managed a 10,000 resource operation in India. I have full faith in him and believe I can learn from him.

I just am not 100% sure if that is the right approach, hence why I brought it up on this message board.

I have 2,300 USD left on my student loans. It will be nice when that is down to 0

The MBA is useful but it needs to be in context of what experience you have and what experience you are destined to get. You are getting some good experience running a few things, perhaps get some results over the next year or two, push for a promotion and do it then?

N2IT

Turgon wrote: »

The MBA is useful but it needs to be in context of what experience you have and what experience you are destined to get. You are getting some good experience running a few things, perhaps get some results over the next year or two, push for a promotion and do it then?

Your first sentence is exactly my concern. My experience up until this role hasn't really required that much financial knowledge. Now however it has become a large part of what I deal with. My engagement manager who I directly report too, does a lot of the mining and dashboard design with the financials and other data into knowledge. But....I've been told from several others from my company my manager feels I am coachable and feels I will make a strong engagement manager in 3-5 years. I am only 5 months in so.......... (He has told me this directly)


This morning I was thinking about my options and I really could only come up with three that made sense.

1. Fork out N amount of dollars and spent X amount of time along with the GMAT to get my MBA
2. Read books and self train myself. When I encounter terminology, strategies, etc do research beyond the WIKI level.
3. Stand pat and be patient. Let the knowledge come and don't stress.

Those are the 3 I have come up with at this point and time.

I will say my manager did say you need the foundation level knowledge and then you can grow from there. Obviously foundation is very subjective and knowledge is as well.

Does foundation mean bachelors or something else?
Does knowledge mean service management or finance/accounting?

Turgon thanks for going back and forth with me on this topic. I really do appreciate it.

powerfool

An MBA is a very solid thing to move your career forward when you are starting to get into leading project and management. There are a lot of people out there that "poo-poo" on MBAs, and they have good reason... there are a lot of folks with MBAs and they aren't better off for it; this is mostly because there are a lot of poor MBA programs out there. If you are going to do an MBA, go to the absolute best school that you can. That also doesn't mean to give up quickly and say you can afford a better school... find a way to afford it (either by getting your employer to cover more, or by saving up some money).

Honestly, I wouldn't settle for anything less than a Top 25 school for an MBA. It makes all the difference. I hope by the time I finish my MBA, I will be making $125-150k a year, and I think it is realistic. Unfortunately, I haven't started my MBA pursuit, yet... I keep putting it off for the very reasons I gave... I could not afford it. I now have an employer that will contribute to my education, and they will give me the necessary flexibility to complete my desired program.

The last thing that you must realize (and I would imagine you are already in the right state of mind). The MBA isn't really going to be what makes you successful, as with any degree or certification. What will make you successful is your dedication to excellence, achievement, and value. That being said, people that pursue those ideals tend to get the credentials to match.

Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about things. As soon as I finish my MS in Cybersecurity Policy, I am on to an MBA.

powerfool

Oh, also... your relationship with your manager. I think that is absolutely awesome, and he sounds like a great mentor. The one thing you need to keep in mind, however, is that remaining his employee too long will stall your career. Learn as much as you can from him as his employee, and the second that you hit a fork in the road where one option is new opportunity and the other is another backseat ride, you have to move.

That being said, leave amicable when you do and try to maintain the relationship throughout your career. Just because he may no longer be your boss, one day, doesn't mean he can no longer be your mentor.

businessbecause

Hi All,

I saw the thread title and I think that some of the content on this website might help. In particular these stories:

Why MBA?

Sian

BeginCOBIT

If you have quite a few years of work experience but have gotten to the point where the job adverts for the next level up require an MBA and you have been told that the reason you did not get the job was because you did not have an MBA and the guy that did get it had one THEN that is the time to think about getting an MBA.

The next question is, in order to get the job you want do you need an MBA from a top-25 school or will any MBA do ?

The answer to this question will determine how much money your MBA will cost, and possibly how long it will take you top get it.

Some MBAs can be obtained through distance learning or on a part-time basis; an approach which would allow you continue with your current employment and can greatly reduce costs and negative financial impacts on your family.

Bottom-line: Getting an MBA is not a guaranteed ticket to anything, except a big chunk of debt, so before to do an MBA think long and hard and make sure you remove those rose-tinted glasses which always makes the future look so perfect and wonderful. Sometimes a smaller, more focused, certification can be just as effective as an MBA in the eyes of an employer looking for something particular... such as Finance for Non-Financial Managers, People Management, etc...