Explain the careers these majors afford

August 11, 2008 8:05 AM

I really would like to go back to school to extend my education, but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what majors will afford what opportunities.

I'm a 26-year old from Central New Jersey. Since graduating I've had 2 steady jobs in the past 6 years and the rest have been piecemeal contracts in the IT industry. I do not hold any certifications such as CCNA, MSCE etc. The industry is so shaky that I'm convinced I need to either really extend my skills or perhaps switch career tracks.

I have been considering an MBA, but my biggest hurdle so far has not been finding a program but rather understanding what an MBA would allow you to do job-wise. I'm not a very numbers-efficient person, nor do they very much interest me so a finance focus would be out of quest. However Marketing or Business/Management concentration seems quite interesting. Can someone tell me more about what kinds of jobs and careers you can get with an MBA?

I've also considered becoming a teacher, perhaps for Technology or Computers. I have heard that the route to being a teacher post-college is not that difficult if you have a BS in a field. Does anyone know more about this?

I have been looking into getting my CCNA although the studying I've been doing for the CENT and CCNA exams is going very slow. I feel like the material is much too complicated and technical even for myself. I have really enjoyed managing projects and people so I have considered getting my PMP certification for project management as well. Anyone have any experience with this profession? Can you tell me about some of your experiences?

posted by PetiePal to work & money (4 comments total)

Given that MBA stands for "Master of Business Administration," it stands to reason that people get that degree after some amount of work experience in order to move up the management ladder. And that's exactly what I've seen it do, although these days it seems MBA degrees fall from the sky, so its advantageousness may be diluted depending on school reputation and the like. An MBA is generalist and is applicable to just about any corporate structure.

If you enjoy project management and working with people rather than the real technically detailed content, an MBA may be more in-line with your abilities anyway; I know there are plenty of MBA programs with concentrations in project management, but I can't say about specifics.

I don't know about the teaching track, but it stands to reason that community colleges have lower teaching background requirements beyond a 4-yr degree, so you might consider that as a starter area.

Can you visualize yourself in an ideal job setting? Like exactly what you're doing and the responsibilities you have? That would help narrow things down.
posted by Ky at 8:29 AM on August 11, 2008

Well so far I've worked as a help desk analyst, tech support analyst, Business Analyst, project manager, systems administrator, network support, hardware/software support, telecommunications, trainer, technical writer and PeopleSoft/Remedy Administrator/Change Control Consultant. I've really enjoyed working in teams, managing projects and people (I've had experience managing on-site and international teams for hardware/software rollouts and deployments). I would really like to become a project manager but all I know about the PMI/PMP certs are that they are very very intensive.

Ideally I'd like to oversee technical people as I have a good ability to bridge the gap between non-techies and techs. I would not be happy programming (in fact I'm pretty bad at programming and do not enjoy it at all) or sitting in a cube all day developing. Managing and projects interest me, as well as strategic technical planning or future visions for a company or process improvement (such as SAP etc). I think Networking is interesting but I'd rather be managing projects involving it as opposed to actually configuring routers, which I have a strong feeling you've got to start in the trenches first before you can manage those sorts of things.

I've worked in more than a few industries inlcuding Insurance (AIG), Pharmaceutical (Merck & Pfizer), Corporate backend of a retail company (Louis Vuitton), Technology (Nokia) and Education (University tech support).
posted by PetiePal at 8:59 AM on August 11, 2008

MBA is a bit to broad to consider. Most MBAs have a major focus area. You might be interested in a major in organization design, but find finance to be a snore.

One thing you might consider is visiting a program near you and talking to someone in the placement office. They can give you the stats of last year's class: industry, field, salary, bonus. That may help you. They can also show you the current job postings.

I do a job that sounds pretty close to your interests. I consider my MBA to be an excellent investment; however, I'd suggest that you give a lot of thought to what you want to do before you select a program. If you want to consult, then you should pick a top tier school. Do you know which schools have the best faculty and connections for your goals? If you want to have an internship in a specific field/company you'll want to start working on that in September. There are so many variables. Unless you know what you really want it'll be hard to stumble on the best choice.
posted by 26.2 at 9:40 AM on August 11, 2008

I have been considering an MBA, but my biggest hurdle so far has not been finding a program but rather understanding what an MBA would allow you to do job-wise.

Ok, stop considering it now, then. You might find that a job you want would require or benefit from an MBA; start considering it again then. But until then, don't consider that kind of debt and life interruption until after you know what it's for.

I started my MBA following a good IT career from the same perspective: not "What I want to do requires this" but "This will open some doors for me" without thinking much about what the doors were. Long story short, I withdrew after a couple months and thankfully little debt, got a great mixed hands-on and IT-management job in a better city, and things are back on track now.

Here's what I learned from mine, which was not at an ivy-league business school: It's a certification, not a "master's degree" (this was strike one for me, and I feel silly for not realizing it); like technical certifications, the content will help you out, but you could probably learn it on your own, and the real benefit is opening the door marked "MBA Required"; and behind that door is primarily strategic/business consulting gigs.
posted by mendel at 10:59 AM on August 11, 2008