Forum: General Forum (3 Comments)
Career Guidance for Masters
Posted by - GudduVerma - on 30 May 2013 - 5:26pm
Hi Thomas
Hope you are doing well !!
I am 26 and have done my computer engineering.Unfortunately not with flying colors, and after that I started working in sales/marketing of IT product and services. Though I had done well in my 10th and 12th standard.It’s been 1.6 years now that I have been working. Having an inclination more towards management field ,and not holding any masters degree I commenced with this field .Now, I am not finding my job that much interesting, and could not see much growth in future without Masters degree. I have done good at my work and have received professional accolades .
Although, I have a penchant for Marketing, but do not have the lucidity in terms of choosing the right stream in marketing for me to pursue my job.I am little confused ,how to move further.?My question is that should I do MBA/GMAT /Executive MBA
or some other master courses like MIM etc. Having this much of work experience what you suggest?- If I apply for foreign education then can I get good foreign universities and which countries I should consider in terms of better job opportunities and career growth.
- Since, my engineering scores are not that good so can I get good colleges in India also on work ex basis.
- Should I increase my work experience more ,and learn some foreign language or other stuffs for the value add if applying for foreign univ or may be Indian colleges.
- Is doing MBA(Part Time) while working a good option,considering it will help me to fetch good opportunities and good rise in career/job growth.
- What are the other options I can look for?
Thank you for your time.
Regards
GudduPosted by - GudduVerma - on 1 June 2013 - 10:21pm
Thanks a ton Thomas, for giving me the insights. Definitely this will offer a good help!!
Posted by - Thomas Graf - on 1 June 2013 - 12:04pm
Hi Guddu,
thank you for your question. I can understand you reasons for doing a Master's course. This degree may provide you with several benefits: more knowledge and expertise, more reputation (particularly if your future employer likes your school), and ideally also a network (for instance, exposure to future employers).
Now the question indeed is: Which Master? The key question you need to answer, in my opinion, is whether you want to pursue a rather general management education or a rather narrow education in a specific management field.
- The general education path (Master in Management, Master in Business, MBA) provides you with an overview of many managerial functions and an introduction to key decisions managers and project managers have to make. You may be able to specialize a bit in your advanced semesters by taking some electives - but you will stay on a rather general (superficial) level, which may be good if you are not sure that you want to become a specialist.
- The specialized education means that you decide for a Master in a specific managerial area, for example: Master of Marketing, Master of Finance, Master in Accounting etc. Here you gain in-depth knowledge in that area only - and you goal afterwards is to apply for a job in that area.
At your current stage, I recommend you to take an MBA program and a Master in Marketing at the same school and compare the curricula. You can do this for two or three schools, just to understand the differences.
Once you have clarified that question, the next step is the right program type and structure:
- If you want to pursue a general management Master, you can ignore Executive MBAs. These programs are for senior managers with leadership experience. In my opinion, you should also ignore Masters in Management (MIM) or Business as these programs are for graduates or people with only few work experience. You, however, will likely have 2.5 years of work experience or more when you finally start to study your Masters (given that it takes time to apply, to do the GMAT, etc.) - hence, in your case the MBA is the right program - either as a full-time MBA or part-time MBA.
- If you want to pursue a specialized Master, you just need to select your area as a first step. FOr some masters, e.g. the master of finance, there are indeed programs particularly for people with work experience and others for gradaduates - but since you are interested in marketing, you shouldn't be concerned with that issue. Instead, I expect that you can apply for most if not for all Masters in Marketing.
So far for the basic questions you need to solve first. As for your other questions, this is getting more detailed. It makes indeed sense to study in a country where you want to work later on - simply, because ideally the school has a regional network to employers.
Learning a foreign language in my opinion is always great as it allows you to communicate with other people in their language - but in terms of career it is just a nice ad-on (unless you want to become an interpreter...) and probably will not solve your key challenge right now: Which education do I need right now to find a more satisfying job?
If you think that your academic records are not strong enough, I would rather try to achieve a good GMAT score (minimum 600, ideally 650 or more). With 650 or more you indicate that you are better than somethign like 85% of the GMAT takers worldwide.
Doing a part-time MBA is a good option - but career-wise a full-time MBA offers more potential. Of course, I would always prefer doing a part-time MBA at a renowned school over a full-time MBA at a no name school. But if we ignore reputational differences among schools for a second, a full-time MBA offers a closer network to employers, sometimes even in-company projects, career fairs, and overall more activities from schools to help you find a job.
Now you have a lot to think about. But given the state of confusion that you signaled to me, I think these inspirations should help you move on.
Best wishes
ThomasBy Thomas Graf
