I will be graduating TESC this month (one more test to take) and am looking forward to a Masters Degree. I seem to have trouble deciding on what major and what school. I looked into Instructional Technology but don't know how marketable it is if I decide not to go into teaching. I also have troubles deciding what school. I have been following similar discussions on this board but decided to start my own thread. Here is what I am thinking of when trying to decide: 1. School should preferably be a B&M school. (I will attend online though) 2. I like some name recognition on the school (I looked into Organizational Leadership Technology at George Washington) 3. Price is an issue but I can pay out of pocket some and my TA will cover a lot of it (Military student) 4. What Graduate degree is marketable? I chose Intenational Business over Business Administration for my Bachelors, considering that I don't want to enter a saturated field (such as an MBA is among Graduate Degrees) Could anybody give me some feedback on their thoughts? What is a good school (if most people consider different things as a good school) Should I even worry about name recognition on a school? What about Instructional Technology? Would it be suitable if I enter the corporate world? What other degrees are considered a 'hot commodity'? Thanks so much already. Isassy
It would be good know what you really want to do with your bachelors degree. If you want to teach, then you should get an MBA with at least 18 hours in one subject, such as finance. I'm guessing that an MBA would be more marketable than instructional technlogy, unless you wish to teach or become a corporate trainer. Because it sounds like you are planning to switch careers, the stronger the name recognition of the school, the better for your job search. Does any of that help? What are your current thoughts on your next degree? Dave
I was thinking of not getting a high school diploma and getting something a little different because the work world is saturated with high school graduates. Ok, it's just an analogy. I'm thinking that there is a very valid reason why so many people want an MBA and why so many businesses hire them. It's just my unsupported idea though. It is an incredibly well recognized degree. Ask your friends and family what instructional technology is and see what you find out about recognition of that degree. I'm thinking that an MS in Instructional Technology will indeed set you apart from the MBA holders - it will identify you as a qualified instructional technologist who, in the corporate world, will work under the supervision of a couple layers of MBAs. If your objective is a career in education or training then an Inst. Tech degree is a great thing to have. If your objective is to teach at the college level then you'll find considerable competition for those gigs in Inst. Tech. If your objective is a management/leadership position in corporate America, an MS in Inst. Tech. may have very little utility unless you have the higher management experience to back it up. Take some time here to think about what you want to do with this graduate degree. I've studied inst. technology and it's a fascinating field that is changing rapidly. If training or ed design isn't what you're planning to do, it won't help you all that much. We look for name recognition in our choice of schools, shouldn't we consider what title recognition our higher degrees will have as well? That is, if a 'hot commodity" is what we're looking for. I'm thinking any engineering graduate degree from Stanford would be pretty darn hot...
Instructional & Performance Technology My MS is in Instructional & Performance Technology from Boise State (http://ipt.boisestate.edu/) My career field is instructional design, and my MS more then paid for itself. But, are you interested in instructional technology? If all you care about is money, then maybe the MBA option is for you. I never worked "under" an MBA; I work for the training manager/director or as a part of HR. As an instructional designer, I was completely involved with company operations and able to influence many processes, but I was always a (highly-paid) staff member. I'm not certain if instructional technology is the best path to higher management.
I suspect that somewhere up that ladder of management above the HR folk is an MBA or two. My point, like yours, is that an MS in Inst. Tech is probably not a path to management except maybe in training management with the right experience.
What do you love? What do you really love? If your life's dream is to be a distance learning director at a university and teach them how to set up online programs (and possibly teach courses in distance education & instructional technology as well) or maybe become a corporate trainer in private business, then by all means go for the instructional technology degree. If your dream job is to spend all day crunching numbers (either to approve loans if you're working for a bank or to develop financing proposals if you're working in the finance department of a non-financial business entity), then by all means go for the MBA in Finance. It's all up to you.
