Planning for next steps after BSBA: MBA+MSML, MBA+Grad Cert, PhD?

[ThatBankDude]

I will be 100% honest here. I have spoken to friends of mine who work at Devon Energy in Oklahoma City and they have stated that most hiring managers do not care where your degree is from as long as you have experience and are competent in the needed area. I have personally decided that I am going to pursue a graduate certificate from either Cornell or Wharton as they are the best price wise. That said, I am a stickler on accreditation and I PERSONALLY wanted my MBA from an AACSB-Accredited program. Many could care less about that though. Lol


East Central University
Bachelors of Science - 2015
Biology

Southeastern Oklahoma State University
AACSB-Accredited
Masters of Business Administration - 2019
Management

As a hiring manager I completely agree. I usually don't even look at education, I look at what someone has accomplished and what they have the potential to accomplish for me.

However, these days I work in executive management, so experience only gets you so far... academic credentials are still important to other people in senior management and to boards of directors. Luckily this hasn't been an issue to me so far since I've had the advantage of being in at the ground floor in several businesses where the ability to deliver is more important than academic credentials. Plus I usually end up in a tech-management role like CTO, CIO, or VP of Engineering.

However, my interests lean more toward COO and CEO roles these days. Despite having decades of business operations experience most people can't see beyond my tech background, so I am hoping that adding some academic business credentials might help illustrate the diversity of my capabilities.

Yes, having an MBA from a lesser-known school doesn't really help distinguish anything, but that where I hope having the certs might be a differentiator since I don't have the time or interest in going into debt to get a really expensive degree that isn't likely to generate enough ROI to make it worthwhile.

That last paragraph resonated for sure. In what my wife and I have planned for our family, an actual degree from an Ivy League school or another top university is not in the playing cards. I cannot afford to uproot my family to move nor do I want to spend $200,000+ on a degree. If I was going to spend that much I would have gone to dental school or medical school! Lol

I agree though, I am hoping to get a Business Analytics and a Management certificate from an Ivy League school to help bolster my resume a little. At 26 years old, I am in no hurry though. I am in a leadership role with the financial institution I work at with an opportunity to become a VP in April 2019. That said, I do want to move into a President and/or CEO role by the age of 40. Ambitious goals but I am persistent.

Given your experience, I would find a brick and mortar school that is offers a MBA online that may be more well known to your employer. Then follow it up with graduate certificate(s).


East Central University
Bachelors of Science - 2015
Biology

Southeastern Oklahoma State University
AACSB-Accredited
Masters of Business Administration - 2019
Management