Great point, imo. Don't get a "general MBA," but get one heavily focused on finance, then marketing, more acctg and supply chain.
Engineering Career + MBA (Advice Welcome)
- Thread starter throwittoblythe
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This is a great point and one I've thought about. Initially, I wasn't going to tell anyone I was pursuing this degree. I justified it by saying "I'm paying for it and they don't own my nights and weekends." But, to your point, if it was discovered that I was doing it and kept it a secret, it would certainly be viewed negatively.
I plan to tell my boss (the founder) about it after I enroll. Not to seek his approval, but more to let him know it's something I want to do for my own education and it also does help the company in ways x, y, z.
About 17 years into my engineering career (BSME, 2006) and this is what I did - Master of Engineering Management through a, um, land grant institution just outside the State of Iowa. Included a minor in Business Administration.
Terrific program and it was part of what opened up some other opportunities within my current organization.
Wow! 9 months! I'm thinking it will take 2-3 years to do mine part-time. Classes are either online or meet in the evenings once a week, from what I see.
Did you end up staying in the same employer?
The outcomes I'm most seeking are the knowledge and the network. Did you find value in one vs the other?
That was essentially the schedule I had as well, an online course or two at a time and lectures from 6 to 10PM during the week.
I left my employer prior to starting courses, there was no way I could do 42 credit hours in that timespan and still hold a full time job. It was a dead end position that I felt I had wasted three years at and I wasn't exactly looking to waste more time which is why the accelerated schedule worked so well for me.
As soon as I graduated I moved out of the area, so the networking aspect wasn't quite as fruitful, but I found the knowledge and maybe even more so the growth in confidence to be invaluable.
Is that your vision, or was that also the vision of the person who hired you? Is the person that hired you in a position to help you do that? If so, maybe have a chat with them and see if the MBA will help accelerate the progression. See if the company will help pay for the MBA. If it's just your vision, then don't be surprised if the MBA doesn't translate to quick action.
That said, I think an MBA with technical background is a strong combination especially when working with others who have business experience but no technical expertise. Note I do not have an MBA and don't have a desire to get one. But I can tell when a company officer was a good engineer rather than an accountant / auditor / marketing person.
Thanks! Yes, this is great advice. Unfortunately, this is a job that I felt like we both had an agreement on what I'd be doing, but things are not panning out to what we agreed. Hearing that, you might think "go find something that fits better." Which is part of this process with the MBA. I took this role so I could learn these business skills on the job. It is not working out that way at work, so I'm taking it upon myself to go learn them.
It's possible these skills and time will help me in my current role. But I'm leaving the door open that I might find something else after the MBA anyway.
That's kind of where I was about 15 years ago when I was getting serious about starting a Masters. Everyone in my management chain was enthusiastic and supportive (to their credit), but I waited until AFTER I was nearly halfway through a program before asking how they envisioned the degree impacting my role. They basically said that my role wouldn't change, I'd just know a lot more about that specific topic. That played a role in my leaving.
If your current employer does tuition reimbursement, make sure you are up to speed on the terms for leaving in various scenarios. I had to pay back 100% of my tuition reimbursement to date, but I negotiated that as a sign-on bonus with my new employer.
Oh, and to the highlighted bit, if you like your current job and management, consider having a talk with them rather than just start looking around. Sometimes people get busy and/or forget about plans, especially if they aren't super concrete to begin with. I know I have this issue and I only have 1 dotted-line report.
Yeah good call. I'm still doing a little homework on how/where this degree would allow me to go. I'm not open to relocation but I would like to think employers would see a successful engineering mind that wants to apply that to business as an attractive candidate.
I really don't think reimbursement would even be on the table here. If it was, I'm sure there would be strings that I'm not willing to accept. If I was functioning in the role I envisioned (and we agreed to) I might ask for something because I know it would accelerate my development on the business side.
Great advice, as well. There's a lot going on here that is better left in my head. But your advice is quite sound. Thanks!
Another way less expensive option is to go to your current employer, tell them your interest, and ask to start shadowing the CFO, COO, etc. Tell them you’ll do it for free on your own time. Almost all decent companies that care about employee growth and employee retention will say yes immediately. And if your company doesn’t - time to start looking for a new job.
Solid advice. We are a company of 11 people. There is no COO. There is the founder and there is the rest of us. He’s a PhD/inventor type. When he was recruiting me to join the team, the discussions centered around me helping to run the business so he could focus on inventing/improving our technology. That has not happened in year 1; not even close.
Gotcha. Then ask to shadow him and/or force the conversation. “Hey, we had discussed my role a year ago when I was hired and I don’t feel like we are moving towards the responsibility levels we discussed. Is that still your plans? Because it’s still something I want to do.” If you have demonstrated your value and he runs a good company, he’ll want to retain you to keep you happy. Talent, especially engineering talent with management desires, is hard to find and you should have plenty of options if he doesn’t respond well.
Then your Plan A is you get what you want. Plan B is you start looking around to find a job that better aligns with your interests. Plan C you go get your MBA and stick it out while looking for a better job. You have tons of good options.
My two cents, anyway.
I was in the same boat as you and decided to go back to school and switch careers. I got an MS in marketing and an MBA as kind of a two for one deal. I was able to keep working and go to night/online classes. That helped alleviate some of the student loan burden but it was a ***** for 3 years, as I really could only take 2-3 courses a semester.
In my experience the MBA was well worth it. Not so much in getting a job but enhancing my career/getting my foot in the door for new opportunities. About halfway through my program, I was able to get an entry level marketing position at a startup to cut my teeth. I only caught this company’s eye due to the company knowing I was pursuing an MBA.
Once I hit Director-level, headhunters saw MBA on LinkedIn and started hitting me up. I was eventually able to parlay the degree (and work experience) into a VP role. If you’re ultimate goal is to be a COO, I think once you reach that executive level an MBA (or Masters) is almost a point of parity.
In my experience the MBA was well worth it. Not so much in getting a job but enhancing my career/getting my foot in the door for new opportunities. About halfway through my program, I was able to get an entry level marketing position at a startup to cut my teeth. I only caught this company’s eye due to the company knowing I was pursuing an MBA.
Once I hit Director-level, headhunters saw MBA on LinkedIn and started hitting me up. I was eventually able to parlay the degree (and work experience) into a VP role. If you’re ultimate goal is to be a COO, I think once you reach that executive level an MBA (or Masters) is almost a point of parity.
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I think what you would learn would help you in that role. But my two cents from being in management at a large firm and seeing many similar roles filled - the focus on filling a key role like that is way more on experience and leadership skills than anything else. And of course you’ll be expected to market and probably manage projects too, which it sounds like you are already used to doing.
I went BS in EE and ME at ISU, then decided to get an MBA from our new conference pal UH to enhance my career opportunities; I worked in Houston at the time. One semester in, I switched to MSF and liked it so much I gave up on engineering and went for a PhD in Finance. You might just find that you end up liking the biz side of the world more than you ever did engineering, go in to this new venture open minded and make your long-term decisions after you get a feel for it a semester or two in.
One year is awfully fast to expect to be in a COO type position.
My wife has a BSIE and went back to get an MBA after a few years in the workforce. In my opinion it really didn't do a whole lot to help her career. It took her 10 years after getting it to get a promotion. Part of the problem I think was at the time there were tons of engineers going back to get an MBA and it wasn't really something that made her stand out vs her peers. I don't think an MBA is a bad thing, it's just not necessarily a rocket to promotions.
I went back and got my MBA from a local (at the time) business college. I did it for several reasons, most of which agree with yours -- plus my company paid for it. I wasn't looking to leave the company as much as make sure my profile stood out.
In the grand scheme of things, I don't know that it's helped my personal career that much, but I do really like having it on my resume. And what you do appreciate are the nuggets of knowledge you gain from taking the classes in the process. However if you are already managing projects, some of these topics will probably be repetitive compared to your existing experience...while the classes may offer a little more depth.
It took me about 2-3 years taking 2 classes at a time in night school, per semester. I'd still do it all over again, but might choose a higher profile school -- or one of the "Executive MBA" programs instead.
All that said, I have to say it was a lot easier to complete than I thought. Engineering school was 1000% more difficult for me.
In a nutshell, you won't regret it one bit either way.
In the grand scheme of things, I don't know that it's helped my personal career that much, but I do really like having it on my resume. And what you do appreciate are the nuggets of knowledge you gain from taking the classes in the process. However if you are already managing projects, some of these topics will probably be repetitive compared to your existing experience...while the classes may offer a little more depth.
It took me about 2-3 years taking 2 classes at a time in night school, per semester. I'd still do it all over again, but might choose a higher profile school -- or one of the "Executive MBA" programs instead.
All that said, I have to say it was a lot easier to complete than I thought. Engineering school was 1000% more difficult for me.
In a nutshell, you won't regret it one bit either way.
