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Career Help- Pursue an MBA or get a masters in some engineering degree?

evident

evident

Lifer
I've been out of college for 7 years- got a computer engineering bachelors with comp sci minor. Did programming for the first 3 years, then systems engineering, basically testing the software, writing requirements, and making sure the whole big system works. It's kind of boring but job pays well. Thought I would want to go back to doing software but it seems like I would be really behind since technology goes at a lightning pace. Havent done a programming assignment in 4 years. I was doing stuff w/ java, swing, and mysql but don't feel like i'd be able to get assignments done quickly anymore.

the systems engineering stuff I do is so domain specific that if i got laid off tomorrow, i wouldn't even know what to do. Sure the testing skills, writing requirements and working on huge systems can be transferrable, but its way too domain specific...

I was thinking about getting an MBA since i genuinely want to improve my knowledge of business in general. i think the skills i learn from that would be very transferrable outside of the industry i'm in and could even help me down the line should i start my own business.

is this a good idea? everyone in my company seems to get a masters in systems engineering but i don't see how it really benefitted them in the company either. getting a software engineering masters seems like another option to me, since I had a chance to manage a small software project and did enjoy doing it. i took software engineering courses as an undergrad and thought they were interesting. any thoughts/ opinions?
 
IndyColtsFan said:
I'd probably get another technical degree to widen your skillset to be honest. MBAs are a dime a dozen right now.
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Hmm what good is an education degree nowadays- technical or not?

IMO, real 'what you can offer to compapny' skill is more important.

If he wants to go for another degree, might as well make it management by going into MBA. It holds SOME weight if he decides to move up.

Let me know your thoughts.
 
Zeze said:
Hmm what good is an education degree nowadays- technical or not?

IMO, real 'what you can offer to compapny' is more important.

If he wants to go for another degree, might as well make it management by going into MBA. It holds SOME weight if he decides to move up.

Let me know your thoughts.
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An MBA from a top 10 program? Sure. Any other? Harder to say. I'll be honest -- I'm not impressed by the MBA. At all. It is one of those things where if you have it, it MIGHT help get you a promotion over someone else in your company, but it isn't going to get you a new job by itself in all likelihood.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
An MBA from a top 10 program? Sure. Any other? Harder to say. I'll be honest -- I'm not impressed by the MBA. At all. It is one of those things where if you have it, it MIGHT help get you a promotion over someone else in your company, but it isn't going to get you a new job by itself in all likelihood.
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My work no longer pays an amount that I could afford to go to a top 10 program. It would have been a no brainer if they did. The place i'm thinking about is conveniently located near my house and also has online courses, has a decent reputation, but no means a big name...
 
IndyColtsFan said:
An MBA from a top 10 program? Sure. Any other? Harder to say. I'll be honest -- I'm not impressed by the MBA. At all. It is one of those things where if you have it, it MIGHT help get you a promotion over someone else in your company, but it isn't going to get you a new job by itself in all likelihood.
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Yeah, I think MBA as a concept is flawed to begin with. Now that I'm actually older and encountered tons of people with/without MBA. It means jack as to how good of a manager he/she really is in practice.

Management & leadership is a natural skill imo. You may learn it to some degree, but that's about it.

I know plenty of managers with MBAs/titles in their sig. But they are just meh.

I also know managers (my current boss for one) who know how to speak eloquently, draw the line of ownership, delegate effectively and come down on them, etc. My boss just has a bachelor's degree.

As for this thread- Flawed or not, MBA next to your name is still fine, especially when your work pays for it + requires some effort from you.
 
You don't get a MBA for the education. You go for the networking that you can do in the classroom. A decent accredited MBA program should be filled with local bosses and up-and-comers, and will be a great place to load up your Linked In. Teamwork is the big thing in MBA programs now, so in one class after another you will be forced to work with others. If you have trouble networking on your own it is a huge help. I am pretty good at networking and after I got done with my MBA program I got a few job offers out of it. My one regret is that I did it in a market that I wasn't going to be in long term so some of those connections were useless. If I would have done it in a major market I would probably have a better job right now.

The education can be useful, but not really in a "start my own business" kind of way. You do learn basic business skills, accounting skills, a concept of finance, etc. But it is not like you learn the intuition it takes to really run a business. At best you can use it to leverage an internship in another field to get that sort of experience. Even in business school the curriculum is kinda ivy tower.

With an MBA more of what you learn is people management. Skills like a "how do I manipulate people under me to do things they don't want to do and think that they decided that they wanted to do those things?" A lot of it is focused on reducing bottlenecks and building consensus, but the actual math would make a STEM person blush. There is a lot of useful knowledge, but unless you have to capacity to understand nuances of a social situation (NOT a STEM person's strong point usually) some of it will be lost on you.

Overall I recommend it for the right reasons. It has helped me later in my career as a booster. By that I mean it has never helped me outright get a job, but it has been a good reason for the bosses to give me raise or promotion over someone who was there longer/more deserving/etc. If nothing else a MBA teaches you to sell the only real product you have in life- yourself- which I have learned in some cases can go a lot further than actual know-how.
 
Pretty much every engineer in my company that went back for a MBA ended up moving into some type of management role, while those few that have advanced / secondary technical degrees stayed right where they were. I would go for the MBA if you are looking for career advancement, especially with an eye on management, personally.
 
Many years ago, the company I worked for paid 100% of the cost for an MBA. If I had it to do over again, I probably would do it. I'd never pay for it myself, however. As poofyhairyguy said, it may not help you get a new job but might boost you at your current company.

poofyhairyguy said:
By that I mean it has never helped me outright get a job, but it has been a good reason for the bosses to give me raise or promotion over someone who was there longer/more deserving/etc.
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See, I have a problem with the bolded. If someone is more deserving, they should be the one to be promoted.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
See, I have a problem with the bolded. If someone is more deserving, they should be the one to be promoted.
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Sure on paper the labor market should be a perfect meritocracy, but just like everything else reality and politics comes into play. Bosses have to justify salaries just like their employees have to justify department budgets, and someone having an advanced degree is an easier sell to their bosses. Hard work is hard to put on a resume.

The sad truth of it is that few metrics exist in many fields to determine the most deserving. Maybe in something like computer programing the better or more organized programer is obvious, but a lot of the time a lot of good work in fields goes completely unnoticed by the bosses, who aren't omnipotent beings (thank God). That is why who you know is so much more important than what you know.

In fact one thing my MBA training taught me was to work smart and not hard. Nowadays I put a lot of effort into making sure my work gets noticed, and when I get my claws into a project that can make me look really good I run around and try to get as many opinions as possible under the guise of teamwork when I am really just pushing up my visibility. My comment about more deserving was from my perspective as a grunt- IE at my level I can see the good work that goes unnoticed. From the boss's perspective so many employees are replaceable or interchangeable that just being a known commodity is a huge benefit for your career prospects.
 
I learned this the hard way.

I thought working VERY hard & diligently would get me promoted naturally. Of course, I put all my eggs in one basket- my boss. I wanted to make sure I was his right-hand man and worked my ass off.

Well, my boss got laid off and I was left alone in terms of networking. I was eventually laid off too.

Never again. Your manager doesn't give two crap about you. No one in the company has your best interest in mind. Only you do.

Now I make sure I wisely sell myself whenever I accomplish something. I've also learned to delegate effectively. And I always network past my boss- both laterally and up the chain past my boss.
 
poofyhairguy said:
Sure on paper the labor market should be a perfect meritocracy, but just like everything else reality and politics comes into play. Bosses have to justify salaries just like their employees have to justify department budgets, and someone having an advanced degree is an easier sell to their bosses. Hard work is hard to put on a resume.

The sad truth of it is that few metrics exist in many fields to determine the most deserving. Maybe in something like computer programing the better or more organized programer is obvious, but a lot of the time a lot of good work in fields goes completely unnoticed by the bosses, who aren't omnipotent beings (thank God). That is why who you know is so much more important than what you know.

In fact one thing my MBA training taught me was to work smart and not hard. Nowadays I put a lot of effort into making sure my work gets noticed, and when I get my claws into a project that can make me look really good I run around and try to get as many opinions as possible under the guise of teamwork when I am really just pushing up my visibility. My comment about more deserving was from my perspective as a grunt- IE at my level I can see the good work that goes unnoticed. From the boss's perspective so many employees are replaceable or interchangeable that just being a known commodity is a huge benefit for your career prospects.
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Definitely agree there and that was something I have been pretty good at in former jobs -- making sure my work got noticed and advertising myself.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
Definitely agree there and that was something I have been pretty good at in former jobs -- making sure my work got noticed and advertising myself.
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You and I had a similar discussion on this prior.

This is so valuable. I'll be sure to teaching this to my kids. Loyalty doesn't pay today.
 
Zeze said:
I learned this the hard way.

I thought working VERY hard & diligently would get me promoted naturally. Of course, I put all my eggs in one basket- my boss. I wanted to make sure I was his right-hand man and worked my ass off.

Well, my boss got laid off and I was left alone in terms of networking. I was eventually laid off too.

Never again. Your manager doesn't give two crap about you. No one in the company has your best interest in mind. Only you do.

Now I make sure I wisely sell myself whenever I accomplish something. I've also learned to delegate effectively. And I always network past my boss- both laterally and up the chain past my boss.
Click to expand...

All of those are great points, and for many those are lessons that can only be learned in the school of hard knocks. The MBA curriculum never told me to what to do, it just became obvious to me how to best survive in the system once I learned what management was looking at.

Too many people have what I call a "Career Fairy Godmother" mentality. They just put their nose down and do hard work assuming there will be some reward at the end. Honestly I see a lot of females in particular that are bad about that. That is why I am glad Satya Nadella got called out for his karma comment. But some people actually believe it.
 
MS in engineering, with out a doubt. MBA's for 99% of engineers are totally useless. Unless you know for a certainty that you plan to stop your technical work and become a manager type, there's almost no reason at all to pursue an MBA.

Additionally, most places only pay for advanced degrees if it's in your career field. MBA is generally not paid for... most of the time it's on MS in engineering.
 
The career path is divergent. Do you enjoy engineering work or do you want to be a manager? An MBA will not help you at all in securing another engineering job. Its really what type of work you are wanting to do the rest of your life, we can't answer that.
 
I think it depends on if you want to go into management or not. If you have no interest in management, then get a MS. However you should look closely to the benefits of either degree. I think the school work is basically worthless, so its really just a matter of how much either degree will help your career. I've had my Masters for 5 years now and its been completely worthless. However if you want to go into management, getting an MBA is a way to show that you're committed to that path.
 
Only bother with the degree if you intend to pursue management. It's still a significant factor for the majority of executive and leadership positions. I've worked with my fair share of Fortune 500 company VP's with no degree, but the reality is the networking and overall right time right moment they had is probably something neither you nor I would achieve.
 
If you think an MBA is somehow going to lever you up to another step and can go to a decent program, sure. I wouldn't say they are a "dime a dozen" as there are a lot of MBAs but not a lot of good MBAs.

I have mine since it was about the only way I could leverage into finance. However, many of my peers do not have them. Heck, my boss doesn't have one and he is one of the most thoughtful, and well regarded, guys in my area (while being 5 years younger than me). He probably won't ever need to get his.
 
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