Best segue from MBA Finance into management?

What would be the best segue from an MBA in Finance to working in International Project Management/Financial Management? I was contemplating after this MBA getting either an M.S. in Accounting (additional side job opportunities/marketability) or an M.S. in Project Management. Liberty’s M.A. in Management and Leadership is affordable. Or I saw the PhD at NCU in Financial Management (I know, I know, the utility of the PhD from there isn’t always fabulous but I’m not interested in tenure). I’m interested in that for consulting work and in business circles. Adjuncting would be cool, but not something that must happen.

My current situation: employed full-time with 2 little girls at home, my husband is from Europe and we are looking to move back to his country or the UK in probably about 5 years. I fluently speak French, Spanish, Serbian, English (obviously lol), and am trying to learn German. I will be done with my MBA from Ashford in Dec 2011. After that I already have resigned myself that I will HAVE to get another degree after. Our budget for OOP expenses is limited (read: almost non-existent lol)

What I like: Project Management, Estate and Financial Planning, some accounting. I want to lead people and work on large financial projects. I am sort of reading up on risk management as well.

TIA!

 

I would think work experience might do more for you than another degree.

 

Agreed. Experience will trump any degree. The line of work you're looking to get into is competitive and the people in that line of work tend to have strong pedigrees when it comes to the schools they have attended. The best way to differentiate yourself is to get several years experience in the field. Do you have experience working in finance?

 

I have 6 years in finance, 2 years in sales, and 2 years in State Government.

None of that is really applicable, but I can spin the 6 yrs I did financial/mortgage analysis if need be. I'm trying to market myself more to an international audience not just domestic.

 

6 yrs in some financial analysis/mortgage selling and processing. Nothing international, all domestic.

Is there a "big name" school with DL that would help? I came up with U Mich Dearborn's M.S. in Finance, but it's not the AA campus so not very prestigious. I know Indiana's Kelley is pretty well-known here, but how could I afford it?

 

The best advice I ever got was from an undergraduate professor I asked about graduate school, and he told me it was wise to find a way to get hand on experience working directly in the environment and with the people who were doing what I thought my degree would enable me to do. one of these people could end up a mentor, write you a letter of recommendation, and become references/contacts for after you have your degree. I followed this suggestion, and quickly decided to pursue another field, saving me year of wasted time and effort.

 

Not really. A few smaller state schools have MS-Finance programs available online. Youngstown State, Univ. of Colorado-Denver. But no schools with global reach. You could try Univ of London. I know they have a program designed in conjunction with LSE.

 

I just noticed that Heriot-Watt EBS has an MSc in Financial Management. Hmm…interesting. Looks like $1445 a course and it’s 9 courses (with a possible exemption for 1 course)? So that would be $11,560-$13,000 roughly?

 

I believe University of Surrey has an MSc in International Financial Management available by distance learing.