Evaluating my Options

[natshar]

My Thomas Edison Evaluations came in today! I'm over three quarters of the way finished with my degree (all LL through B&M CC credit and CLEP). After thinking about I have some options. 

I've been doing a great deal of career searching, applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs and figuring out what I would like to do. I would like to earn a BSBA in Human Resources, but the problem is I don't really have any of the business core and I'm long ways from earning that degree besides the general education requirements. I really want to earn a degree as quickly as possible, this will get me in the door (crazy how many jobs require a Bachelors degree) and then continue to work towards the BSBA. I currently have a study.com membership and plan on using them. If anyone is wondering I'm currently working a minimum wage job in the food service industry, trying to get out of it.

Here are my options:

Option 1: Earn a Liberal Studies Degree. Shouldn't take long, basically all I need are the upper level credits. 

Option 2: Earn a degree in Organizational Leadership. Will take slightly longer than the liberal arts degree, but less time than the BSBA. I still need UL credits anyways, so I'll just Organizational Leadership courses from study to meet this requirement.


I guess I'm wondering is:

Does a just a general Liberal Arts degree carry any merit where getting hired? How much better would an Organizational Leadership be?
Would it be redundant to get a BS in Organizational Leadership and then a BSBA in Human Resources? Or does this add value?
If you were in my shoes given the information above which would be a better option?

[davewill]

If you lay out your credits the advice can be more pointed. If you want the career that goes with the BSBA, in general, I'm going to recommend you do the extra work and get the right degree the first time. However, it's hard to judge how much longer it's going to take you. If you don't have ANY UL credits, then I find it unlikely that the BALS will really be all that much faster than the BSBA, but even if it's half a year longer, I'd say get the degree you really want.

I don't have much to say about the Org Leadership degree. I just don't know how it's viewed in the marketplace.

[natshar]

If you lay out your credits the advice can be more pointed. If you want the career that goes with the BSBA, in general, I'm going to recommend you do the extra work and get the right degree the first time. However, it's hard to judge how much longer it's going to take you. If you don't have ANY UL credits, then I find it unlikely that the BALS will really be all that much faster than the BSBA, but even if it's half a year longer, I'd say get the degree you really want.

I don't have much to say about the Org Leadership degree. I just don't know how it's viewed in the marketplace.

I agree but heres the thing.

All I would need to earn a BALS is:

-The American Government CLEP (how I'm fulfilling the civic engagement gen ed)
-Nine credits worth of US liberal studies (I have 3 credits taken care of and I assume the capstone counts as three for the fifteen UL)
- the cornerstone
-The capstone

A BABA would require about 60 credits worth of work. I agree with you. But if I'm so close to a degree it might be an accelerated path to a better job.

[MNomadic]

All the bachelors at tesu are going to require Civic engagement, cornerstone and capstone.

Yeah, if you know that having any degree will help you now then go for the bals since you could probably complete all those requirements in the time it takes you to do the capstone. After that, you could always work on the business classes you need for a bsba or skip straight to some sort of mba. As soon as you get the bsba or mba, it will completely supercede the bals, so the bals only holds value if it gets you a job in the short term. As davewill pointed out, it may be a better option to just skip straight to the degree that you want so you can get the job that you want, though. If you put your mind to it, you may be surprised at how fast you can finish it. I've read the blog of someone who, starting from scratch, completed an entire tesu bsba in under a year while working full time.

[natshar]

All the bachelors at tesu are going to require Civic engagement, cornerstone and capstone.

Yeah, if you know that having any degree will help you now then go for the bals since you could probably complete all those requirements in the time it takes you to do the capstone. After that, you could always work on the business classes you need for a bsba or skip straight to some sort of mba. As soon as you get the bsba or mba, it will completely supercede the bals, so the bals only holds value if it gets you a job in the short term. As davewill pointed out, it may be a better option to just skip straight to the degree that you want so you can get the job that you want, though. If you put your mind to it, you may be surprised at how fast you can finish it. I've read the blog of someone who, starting from scratch, completed an entire tesu bsba in under a year while working full time.

I agree you have some good points. Maybe I'll think about the MBA. Since I agree the liberal arts degree would be worthless once I get another degree. But I'm so close. I'm thinking of taking the November capstone and I'm planning on taking the CLEP in two weeks. I'll take the dsst and study.com for UL credit. I could easily be done with my degree by the end of January once the capstone ends. It wouldn't be possible to finish a BSBA that fast.

That is makes it so tricky. You are right all degrees require cornerstone, capstone and civic engagement. However, the business capstone and liberal arts are different so I'd have to take two.

I've definitely got options. But problem is always just picking one and sticking to it.

[davewill]

Assuming you have no relevant experience, the BALS will get you general office jobs. The BSBA will get you started on your career. The Am Gov, Cornerstone and a Capstone are needed for both of them. I guess it depends on a few things:

1. How fast do you think you could get those 60 credits done?
2. How strongly do you want the HR career? Just an idea, or something you have your heart set on?
3. How unhappy are you in your current situation? Does staying where you are for the length of time answer from question 1 seem like a reasonable time investment in a career or like torture?
4. If you do the BALS, would you then go on to more education to get the job you really want? Would you be disciplined enough to do it?

Ideas in no particular order:

Get an associate's right now and use that to get a better paying job, either as a manager where you are, or in an office somewhere. Then finish the BSBA. I'm not a big fan of associate's degrees, but it should help you do better than minimum wage.
Find a company that would take you as an intern while you're finishing your BSBA.
Quickly finish the BALS, get a better job, then start on the BSBA as a second degree.
Finish the BALS, try to get a job somewhere in an HR dept and work your way up.
Get the BALS and a job, then keep fishing around to see what direction you really want to take your career.

Are you a good at sales? Headhunters are easy places to get hired if you have a degree and will allow you to network with lots of HR professionals. It's a grueling, commission based environment and not for everyone, but people that are good at it can be making $70k+ a year quickly.

There's never only one path to success. All of those are viable paths.

[MNomadic]

"But problem is always just picking one and sticking to it."

Very true. Not a day goes by that I don't think about switching degrees and such, but I've got a plan to get my degree and need to stick to it.

---

Another good point, if an associates can improve your job situation now, then consider picking one up and then continue on to your bsba.
If , as you said, you're, "over three quarters of the way finished with my degree" then getting an AA from TESU might be as simple as doing the AM gov clep, the cornerstone and paying the graduation fee(and residency waiver).

[davewill]

I almost forgot...The best degree is always the one you will finish. If you have any doubts that you would finish the BSBA, then do the BALS.

[dfrecore]

Just an FYI - you need 18cr of UL for a BALS, not 15 (which you need for the BSBA).

If you have been applying for jobs, then you know what those jobs are asking for. If the jobs you really want require a BSBA, then get that. If the jobs you really want require "any degree", then get the BALS.

BUT, I will say that a BSBA is going to be more useful in general than a BALS, if you want to work in the business world. Even if you don't specifically need a BSBA for a business job, having one will get you more points than someone without one. Also, it depends on where you are in your career as to what value it holds. The further along you are, the less the degree matters. If you're just starting out, the degree matters a LOT. Because you have nothing else on your resume to make you stand out from everyone else.

[allvia]

If you lay out your credits the advice can be more pointed. If you want the career that goes with the BSBA, in general, I'm going to recommend you do the extra work and get the right degree the first time. However, it's hard to judge how much longer it's going to take you. If you don't have ANY UL credits, then I find it unlikely that the BALS will really be all that much faster than the BSBA, but even if it's half a year longer, I'd say get the degree you really want.

I don't have much to say about the Org Leadership degree. I just don't know how it's viewed in the marketplace.

I agree but heres the thing.

All I would need to earn a BALS is:

-The American Government CLEP (how I'm fulfilling the civic engagement gen ed)
-Nine credits worth of US liberal studies (I have 3 credits taken care of and I assume the capstone counts as three for the fifteen UL)
- the cornerstone
-The capstone

A BABA would require about 60 credits worth of work. I agree with you. But if I'm so close to a degree it might be an accelerated path to a better job.

The Capstone does not count towards the 15 AOS UL for the BALS.  The BALS requires a total of 18 UL (3 being the Capstone): https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/liberal-studies

It is said often here that the the best degree is the one you finish, so I'm going to go against the posts here thus far and say finish you're BALS - You are So Very Close - get it done.  Being able to 'check the box' that you have a college degree will open opportunities that are simply not available to you now - maybe even find a job with a company that will pay for 'the MBA'.

Also, even with the BSBA-HR you're likely going to start with an entry level position until you gain some experience in the field - something you don't have now.  Most of the HR people I know actually don't have a degree in HR specifically. I'm not saying having a degree in HR doesn't have value - probably more valuable if you already have some career experience and looking to move up; the sort of experience that many here getting the HR degree already have.

I'm not sure if all these courses can be tested out -- someone with more knowledge will have to chime in, but maybe the HR concentration within the BALS is an option - https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/human-res...management

Good luck whichever path you choose!