Tips on how I can best plan my future

[Mems88]

Hello everyone, I've been in the forum for a while now and tried to read up on everything. Now, I might need some tips from you on how to plan my future studies.

Currently, I am enrolled in about 6 master's programs at ENEB:

Master in International Trade
Master in Project Management
Master in Supply Chain Management
Master in Management and Team Management
Master in Big Data and Business Intelligence
MBA - Master of Business Administration
Many might wonder why I am pursuing 6 master's courses without having a higher education degree. For me, it's a good opportunity to acquire knowledge in these areas and gain an understanding of certain topics.

Furthermore, I have been working for about 10 years in a production company specializing in plastics and metals. In my current role, I lead a department with approximately 120 employees. This is why I chose specific master's programs that I listed here.

Your location: Vienna, Austria

Your age: 35

Type of degree you're looking for: I don't have a specific focus at the moment. Initially, I aim to have an official title that I can carry, as titles are highly valued in Austria. It could be anything from an engineer, bachelor, diploma, magister, or master's degree. The key is that it is recognized in the EU, and with the Hague Apostille, there is an agreement throughout the EU. It should be from an accredited school and eligible for carrying the title. Once I have the initial qualifications, I plan to study things that interest and excite me.
I love the old titles that one can use before their name. 

Current regionally accredited credits: 0

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS credits: 0

Certifications: Six Sigma/Green Belt certified by Danube University Krems, Internal Auditor Automotive from the Automotive Cluster provider, Quality Assistant from Quality Austria according to ISO/IEC 17024, and a few internal company certificates.

Budget: I would prefer the most cost-effective path.

Commitments: I have 2 children and a spouse. I am currently working full-time and can dedicate time to my studies on weekends and, to some extent, in the evenings when the children are in bed.

Dedicated study time: I can plan to study on weekends or in the evenings when my children are asleep.

Due to my constraints, I would prefer to study only online.

[bjcheung77]

@Mems88, Welcome to the board, I received your PM twice, great addendum, template, and extra details, here are my recommendations for you.  Reference, I have copy/pasted a bit of info from here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...TS-credits

1) Did you start on the Master in Management and Team Management? There is too much overlap with the rest of the classes, there are 3 degrees I tell people not to take and that is one of them, it's redundant with the rest of those... "if I take the Business & Corp Masters, the Digital Marketing & E-Commerce would be complete."  

"This is just an example, there are a couple more, Commerce Mgmt & Marketing as well as Management and Team Management both have only 3 additional courses in addition to the MBA, if I complete the Masters in International Trade & Masters in Hotel Management & Tourism, both of these would be completed!"

So, I highly recommend readers skip Digital Marketing & E-Commerce, Commerce Mgmt & Marketing as well as Management and Team Management, I suggest you do the Business & Corp Communications Masters instead of Management and Team Management.

2) Once you are done, get UK ENIC/NARIC evaluations, as per WIKI, it should come in as Bachelors and one Masters.  You can skip level 7's and do the Level 8 I mentioned here, please also read the link within that post: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid412949

In the end, you'll have evaluations of Advanced Bachelors and a Masters (BI/Big Data), you can end it with a Level 8 as I mentioned the linked thread above, you may want to review all the threads linked in full if you wanted to read everything.  I guess you're wanting to get a Bachelors? Using these credits, get UMPI BABA with a concentration of choice, at the cost of two-three months of Sophia.org and you'll have to work on the trifecta of certs, degree, experience.

[Mems88]

Thank you  @bjcheung77 that's really a good plan that I will pursue. No, I haven't started the Master in Management yet. Then, during the last promotion two weeks ago, I got a double package with the Master in Big Data.

I've sent an email to ENEB asking to exchange the master. I hope it works out. Thank you for the tip. If I complete the Master in Business & Corp. Comm. Would one automatically receive another degree Master in Management and Team Management? That would have been fantastic. I had inquired before, and I was only told that 40% can be credited; the remaining 60% of the course must be retaken.

Currently, I'm only working on the MBA, Master International Trade, and Supply Chain Management. I plan to pursue the remaining three afterward.

Regarding ENIC/NARIC, does it have to be in the UK? I read that there is also an ENIC/NARIC in Austria. Probably, I should assess it only when I have all 6 Masters from ENEB in hand?

Question about ENIC: Should I present the certificate from Universidad Isabel I for each master, or are the diplomas from ENEB sufficient?

• In the last promotion, I purchased a 'Physical' for 3 Masters (hard copy, apostilled, international shipment), allegedly issued by Isabel as a single Global MBA certificate (90ECTS).
  
• I also bought a 'Physical' for 2 Masters, issued by Isabel as a Double-Master certificate (72ECTS).
  
• And for the Master in Big Data, I purchased a separate physical diploma for 1 Master (60ECTS). 
  

Or should I try to get a separate certificate from Universidad Isabel I for each Master?

Thank you also for the tip about the Level 8 course; I've checked it out, and it seems very reasonable. I'll follow your mentioned approach. Is it worthwhile to take other Level 8 courses with the same provider? Does it provide any advantages?

Exactly, my second future goal is to have an official Bachelor's, and the BABA UMPI option sounds really reasonable and practical for me. 
,,work on the trifecta of certs, degree, experience" Do you mean I should take additional courses/degrees?

How are the exams conducted? Are they similar to ENEB with written assignments on topics, or are there live Zoom discussions/live exams, as suggested by other providers?

I'm sorry for the many questions, and thank you for your time. Best regards.

[bjcheung77]

In brief, basically, any country ENIC/NARIC evaluation would do, it should virtually come out to be the same as previously shared on the board. Examples are on the ENEB WIKI, I would follow through with what ENIC/NARIC requires, if you can get the Isabel I info instead of the ENEB, that would be great, otherwise, your only option is ENEB transcripts.

The cost for each Level 8 diploma is more expensive than the double Masters degree from ENEB that evaluates as Level 7 diplomas, maybe even triple the cost, I would not go for too many and focus on your main goal of getting the ENEB done, then transferring those credits into UMPI BABA. You can add another Level 8 after you get your main goals completed...

BTW, UMPI doesn't have exams anymore, it's all assignments and assessments, projects, etc. Again, focus on the main goal of UMPI BABA by transferring all you have from ENEB evaluations, so do the ENEB first have it evaluated if you need recognition in your country by ENIC/NARIC. You'll need evaluations again to get them to UMPI, then finish off the general education classes with Sophia.org before you finish the residency requirements at UMPI.

[Mems88]

Hello @bjcheung77, some time has passed. 

Yesterday, I completed my remaining 3 master's exams with the questions.
Now I have to wait until I receive all the certificates with the Hager apostille: Unfortunately, this is required in Austria so that it can be evaluated.
My question is, is it possible to start the Level 8 diploma you suggested to me without evaluation from ENIC/NARIC? I'm reluctant to wait another 3 months for the certificates to be evaluated in Austria.
Or should I wait until I receive the digital certificates for the masters from yesterday (BIG, Project, and Business & Corp Communications Master) and then have them evaluated by British ENIC/NARIC because no notarial authentication is required here as in Austria. What would you suggest?

[bjcheung77]

@Mems88, Wait for the exam results and then go with that, I would spend some time working on something else while waiting these months. Don't rush into the Level 8 as I am looking at other potential Level 8 options that will do the same thing, but may be better than the current offerings from this company. I am eyeing CMI, OTHM, Qualifi options so far...

[Mems88]

@Mems88, Wait for the exam results and then go with that, I would spend some time working on something else while waiting these months.  Don't rush into the Level 8 as I am looking at other potential Level 8 options that will do the same thing, but may be better than the current offerings from this company.  I am eyeing CMI, OTHM, Qualifi options so far...

@bjcheung77

I received almost all of Isabel's certificates this week; only one is still missing. I expect it will arrive this week.

Since I need to present the diplomas with a Hague Apostille in Austria, it will probably take another 4-5 months until I get and can submit it. In the meantime, I would like to submit all of Isabel's diplomas to ENIC/NARIC UK to see how they will be evaluated. Do I need to submit all the diplomas and transcripts from ENEB and Isabel's diploma, or is just Isabel's diploma enough? Do you have a recommendation for a good NARIC UK site, or can I just use any that Google suggests? I might start Level 8, so I need the evaluation.

https://www.libt.co.uk/course/level-8-di...leadership


Or do you have another suggestion for what I should do in the meantime? Currently, I am working on my Six Sigma Black Belt through the provider MSI, which I can complete quickly.

[bjcheung77]

MSI? Management & Strategy Institute? I've used them before when they had IASSC, but when they decided to withdraw from them and create their own, I didn't bother getting anything more from them and stopped recommending them altogether (unless you're going for their freebie options they still have).

In regards to getting evaluations, there are only a handful for each nation. You go through the proper channels, it should work with both ENEB & Isabel, I wouldn't try skipping anything, the more details they get, the better they can do a full evaluation. Skip the Level 8 for now, until you get everything settled...

[Mems88]

MSI? Management & Strategy Institute?  I've used them before when they had IASSC, but when they decided to withdraw from them and create their own, I didn't bother getting anything more from them and stopped recommending them altogether (unless you're going for their freebie options they still have).

In regards to getting evaluations, there are only a handful for each nation.  You go through the proper channels, it should work with both ENEB & Isabel, I wouldn't try skipping anything, the more details they get, the better they can do a full evaluation.  Skip the Level 8 for now, until you get everything settled...

Hello @bjcheung77 Yes, exactly, it's the MSI. I found a cheap coupon for $90 for Six Sigma Lean Black Belt and Champion. Since I did a Green Belt in the past from a local company, I thought I could also do the Black Belt.

So today I received the last certificate from ENEB/Isabel. Therefore, I have received all the documents I need. I would submit all the certificates from ENEB and Isabel to https://www.enic.org.uk/. What do you think?

[Mems88]

Hello, @bjcheung77! I wanted to give you an update again. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for my diplomas with the Hague Apostille. According to the latest information, it will probably only be ready by the end of December or January.

On the bright side, I've enrolled in both Level 7 and Level 8 "Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership." I now have 15 months to complete them. The reason I chose both Level 7 and Level 8 is that I got a really good price! Thanks, @bjcheung77, for your tips and guidance. Once I've completed these two diplomas, I might look into pursuing a DBA or consider getting a BA from UMPI.