Advice for a career changer...online MBA or non-credit certificate?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by scotty, May 31, 2005.

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  1. scotty

    scotty New Member

    I'm an IT pro looking to cross into the business admin realm. I have not yet decided whether I want to get into accounting, finance or HR. I just completed the Grad Cert in Foundations of Business at UMass Lowell. I liked the program, although their scheduling was so bad that instead of doing six 8-week courses in 6 months, it took ten months (two courses at a time). Regardless, I need some advice.

    1) I have heard it said that an online MBA is not very effective for someone with no substantial business experience trying to make a career change. The rationale is that a B&M education will give you better experience and networking opportunities, I believe. I am looking at the online MBAs at UMass Amherst, Tennessee and Florida. Does anyone here have a wise opinion on the idea that distance MBAs are a waste of time for career-changers?

    2) I am also considering doing another distance certificate in a more focused area, such as accounting or finance. My reasoning is that such a credential might land me a job in the business sector, at which point I can begin my MBA and by the time I am finished, I have a couple of years of experience under my belt. I am looking at certs offered by eCornell, but they are not for credit, which bothers me a bit. They also seem geared toward pros already working in the field, not career-changers. Anybody got any input on the resume value of non-credit certs to someone without experience? What about the value of credit certs, such as those offered by Penn State?

    If it makes a difference, I am 38 and looking to find a new, solid career. I am bored with computers and find it hard to keep up with the computer nerds who spend 19 hours a day in front of computer screens. Any personal experiences or advice from those who have been in similar situations would be appreciated.

    Scotty
     
  2. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    To ease into the business world, you could use Project Management experience. All IT project require some PM experience. There are also several MBA / PM programs.
     
  3. scylla

    scylla New Member

    I second Randell's advice. If you have a strong IT background but want to make a move towards the business side, I think that picking up a project management certificate or some other type of PM designation would be the best first step. It won't cost you as much, won't take as much time, and will give you a chance to see if the business side of things is really where you want to be (sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side).

    Why make a change to a completely unrelated career in finance or accounting? Why not leverage the knowledge and experience that you have built up over the years to become an IT project lead or project manager? Is it IT itself you hate? Or is it the type of IT work you do? In other words, if you were spending your days managing IT projects, documenting business requirements, coordinating meetings with the business users, managing vendor relationships, putting together gap analysis and risk management documents, etc. (AND doing absolutely NO coding or functional spec writing), would you be happier?

    I work in a "technology" department. However the staff in my department are entirely made up of buisness analysts, project leads, and project managers. None of us do any coding. Instead, we manage large technology project and smaller enhancements/ initiatives on behalf of the business. We work closely with developers and most of us know basic coding, SQL, etc. - but none of us actually do any of the programming ourselves. If you picked up the necessary business skills, I think you could be a real asset in this type of department. Like I said before, why throw away all of that experience?

    Here's one site that you may want to take a look at if you decide you want to pursue a project management designation (Project Management Institute):

    http://www.pmi.org/info/default.asp

    Their PMP certificate is quite highly regarded here (Canada). I believe it's recognized in the US as well.

    Hope this helps.

    Mel
     

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