EMBA, business certificate, or something else?
June 29, 2015 5:00 PM

I've been working in the public sector for about eight years, aside from a stint at the start of my career in the IT and nonprofit sectors. I started my public sector career right after graduate school in public administration (in 2007), and I have been in government ever since. I'm thinking about the value of an EMBA or some other sort of business certification that can build some of the skills I didn't get.

I have a Masters in Public Administration, which I finished in 2007. While I enjoyed it, I didn't take a lot of the classes that I think would have benefitted me in my current career - I'm lacking a lot of the finance and accounting coursework that would have been helpful, since I did my MPA so early (finished when I was 26).

I'm 34 right now. I am interested in a program that builds skills, that would offer a part-time or weekend opportunity to study, and that is full of people further along in their careers, not people fresh out of undergrad or with only 1-2 years of experience. Less concerned about program prestige, and more about the ability to learn from an experienced cohort and gain skills/experience.

I have a solid career and make an excellent salary, and a huge salary jump isn't the primary reason to seek this out, which is why I'd lean towards cheaper programs or a certificate (particularly because I work in the public sector). I'm open to switching to private, though.

MeFi, any experiences or thoughts from doing a similar track? From those that have done EMBA programs, did you feel like they were worth it? And for those in the public sector - given the lesser chance of ROI, how did you decide to go or not?
posted by waylaid to Work & Money (1 answer total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
What's your career objective? Know that first. MBAs of all sorts are exactly as good as their track record in getting people just like you just where you want to go. No more and no less. Accept no vague or hopeful analysis.

Also, consider a real weekend MBA, with the full MBA curriculum, not the usually quite diluted (in quant-heavy) stuff of an EMBA.
posted by MattD at 9:00 PM on June 29, 2015


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