U.Buffalo Mini MBA

Well, actually, it is related to what you asked. You asked:

"How will it look on a resume?" and "I am wondering which value it would have in the Job Market"

People here on this forum aren't the only ones that share these opinions of a "mini-MBA". The hiring managers at the jobs you apply for might as well. I've asked around in the last few days to some of my former peers in the high-tech world (director level and up) about this certificate and it's been a mixed reaction. Most said it wouldn't sway them either way but a few laughed at it and said the person applying would really have to know their stuff to get hired as they thought listing a mini-MBA makes it sound like the applicant wanted the name of an MBA on their resume but didn't want to do the work. None said it would be a tiebreaker in the favor of the person with the mini-MBA. One actually suggested that you list it on your resume as "Coursework, University of Buffalo, Business Administration" and leave off the whole MBA thing completely. I actually like that suggestion.

People here aren't the only ones that can't get around the name. Some of the people you hope to work for can't either. This information is all directly related to what you asked in your posts.

 

Thank you for taking the time to ask.
Great answer; I can buy that..
I like the suggestion "Coursework, University of Buffalo, Business Administration"

 

Here is an interesting fact:
I found 2,039 results for "Mini MBA" on Linkedin.
Most are at the VP level and above, check it out....

 

I think you'll find many of those people have the skills of an MBA earned in the trenches on the job. If you have the skills and experience of an executive then no-one would question it as they would be hring you for your experience anyways. It's interesting that those people would feel the need to get a mini-MBA, however.

Also, remember that not all mini-MBAs are the same. Some are 14 weeks long.

 

I understand your point; I have over 15 years of experience as an executive VP level and hold numerous designations in my field.
This was meant to be a resume booster....
Would this be a game changer..?

 

Yes, it probably would. I don't think that certification will make or break your resume for a job. You are going to get hired for your experience, not your education at this point. You can list it as mini-MBA and as long as you have the skills to back it up, I don't think anyone will say anything. They might ask why you felt you needed to get it at all with your experience, however. I doubt they would though. If you had that experience and interviewed with me, I wouldn't even care if you even had a BS degree as long as you could do the job.

If you didn't have that experience and maybe only 3 years of job history after school and listed a mini-MBA, that would raise all sorts of eyebrows I'd think.

Why did you choose to get that certification with your experience?

 

The reason is:
1- I wanted to use the some of the free yearly tuition provided by my company and enjoy having ongoing projects to work on
2- I already have several industry designations and wanted something different to "spice up" my resume.
3- I had considered doing an MBA but didn't feel it was the right time because of other priorities
I am now looking at other certificates to continue to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement before the year is over.
Thank you,
Pilot

 

That's the perfect answer if anyone ever asks why you earned the mini-MBA. Just tell them your employer said they'd pay for it and you aren't the type to turn down free education as you always strive to learn more to stay sharp. Turn it into a positive during the interview.

 

You never know where "Mini-MBA" might get you, HR people don't always read the resumes they present.

A friend of mine did a search a few years back, HR had done the leg work and when they interviewed the one candidate (ok no-one on the team read the resumes till the day of) listed he had an MBB, the requirement was a masters so the figured is an alternative title. (Many in this region have an MBE Masters of Business Economics)

Although hearsay, I am told the interview went as:
Hiring Manager: So what is your Masters degree in? This MBB is what?
Candidate: oh it's not a masters, I have a Master Black Belt (Six Sigma).

Now the job was operations based and if had spun it better he might have got the job. It really shows that HR is merely scanning resumes rather then reading (or understanding) them. Personally I got a letter once from an HR Dept that thanked me for my interview (never had one tho) and said the could only hire someone what was a "Certified Generalist Accountant" despite my resume saying I was a "Certified General Accountant" they felt it was not the same (and that the former designation didn't exist in my region).

 

I'm a VP executive working at a mid-size company and currently taking the mini-MBA program at UofB. My work experience and education (Ph.D.) are the core of my qualifications. My reason for taking the program is to supplement my knowledge, and I do believe that also it enhances my resume. If I like what I learn in this program then I will consider the Exec MBA program in the future. I list this under education section as "mini-MBA Certification," so that it doesn't come across that I'm trying to portray it as a degree. I think some people may be annoyed by this min-MBA because it diminishes the value of a real MBA, especially if it is portrayed as a degree.

 

Diminish, no. I just have the overwhelmingly urge to mock anything entitled "mini-MBA"... There was nothing mini about the effort or expense of achieving an MBA, so I can't comprehend what a earning a "mini-MBA" would entail.

 

MBA Warmup

I would say your best bet for MBA warm up is focused courses in math and building excel spreadsheets

 

I am looking at taking this program and entering it under Training/Certifications. I am trying to get into federal employment and being as competitive as it is out there, you need every edge you can get. When you have kids, deaths in family, long work hours, some of us don't have the resources or the time to get a full fledged MBA, so this seems like a doable cert. I start my Masters program in Jan and my time will be capped, this looks like a decent "Introduction" course into Business Admin at the Master's level. I will add that my sis-in-law is head of global talent for a Fortune 500 company and has her MBA from Duke (Fuqua), she is not a real believer in these type of courses. She also doesn't realize that fed employment and their HR looks at things a little differently than the corporate world. I've talked to numerous HR personnel and they say the more quals the better BUT what you have done is basically the dealbreaker. It's amazing how egotistical some of the MBA holders on here are. You'd think you were engineers. This thread started w/a simple question and evolved, it was a simple question. For some, it may be a good fit. I'm going to give it a shot, after all, there is no guarantee that you'll get employment w/an MBA. I used to work w/a Commander (Navy) who was sharp as a tack w/an MBA from Stanford and he had a hard time getting a job in 2003. Start w/small steps and then take bigger ones.