[Robm129]

Greetings all. Curious to the opinon of the BMW forums.

I'm starting my transition from the military and will be out with 10 years of active service. Sadly 10 years (3 combat tours + 1 korea tour) equals a pat on the back and the post-9/11 g.i. bill. I'll be 32 when done. Is this a good time to grab an MBA (undergrad in Marketing) as a full time student or jump straight to the work force and start figuring out what exactly I'm wanting to do with this next phase then pursue an executive MBA down the road?

[John 070]

I would have to say work force. There is a lot of discounting of law degrees, MBAs, etc. nowadays, however, imho they are still valuable. Just that the decision is more critical today.

If you're able to get into an "elite" b school, then that's different, but they usually are looking for some experience in the working world...

[Robm129]

Originally Posted by John 070

I would have to say work force. There is a lot of discounting of law degrees, MBAs, etc. nowadays, however, imho they are still valuable. Just that the decision is more critical today.

If you're able to get into an "elite" b school, then that's different, but they usually are looking for some experience in the working world...

I feel confident that a Top 25 b school is doable. However, I'm hearing rumors that if it isn't Top 10 it isn't worth my time. Then I have to factor my ROI. The post-9/11 gi bill will cover some cost but not all, forcing me to dip into what I've saved up in preparation for transitioning out of the military.

[RJ_]

I would say use whatever benefit you can get from the service, if that includes education, do it.

MBAs have become a little watered down, but they still hold value and distinguish you from peers in most companies. I agree with the sentiment above that a top school is necessary to impress at major corporations or way up the ladder, but everywhere else it is still a good qualification.

Can you do the MBA part time while gaining experience?

[Robm129]

Originally Posted by RJ_

I would say use whatever benefit you can get from the service, if that includes education, do it.

MBAs have become a little watered down, but they still hold value and distinguish you from peers in most companies. I agree with the sentiment above that a top school is necessary to impress at major corporations or way up the ladder, but everywhere else it is still a good qualification.

Can you do the MBA part time while gaining experience?

I could go the route of an exectutive MBA. I do agree that the benefit is there and I don't want it to go to waste. It is essentially my severants from the military. A full time program at a great school will cost me 2 years. Putting me at 34 and applying for my first real job.

[bosstones]

When the job market sucks, a lot of people goes for a Masters (lots of MBAs) since they can't get a job to gain work force experience. You certainly have earned every bit of what you having coming to you w/ the GI Bill (thank you for your service, btw) so it would be a shame to waste it.

My personal opinion is that a MBA from a top tier school can open doors for you but not necessarily enable you to walk through it (e.g. you graduated but don't interview well or otherwise lack in the follow up intangibles). I also think that your military experience can still give you a leg up over your typical undergrad.

If you go the route of work force experience followed by MBA, be sure to inquire about tuition reimbursement from your prospective companies. Personally, I would probably go this route. It leaves the GI Bill on the table and might take an extra year or two to finish (depending on life stuff and company reimbursement plan) but you would be getting solid civ work experience in parallel and can consider work to be kind of like lab for your course work. Unfortunately, going to school part time while working gets you prorates the GI Bill.

What I don't know, though, is if you can use that prorated amount towards tuition that a company might not cover (e.g. company has a 10k/yr cap but you take 15k in courses....could the GI Bill residual cover that last 5k or is it forfeit due to any company reimbursement?).

[Torgus]

Thank you for your service 1st of all.

My vote is MBA. People can take a job away from you, no one can take your education away from you. There is always the option of a part time MBA but I know a guy who did it and it seemed pretty rough especially with a full time demanding job, which if it is a good job, you likely will be working more than 40 hours a week anyways. Get it done now and out of the way is my vote.

[kprocivic]

I'm working on my mba and working full time and it sucks dog shit. I should have finished this shit the first time.

I say workforce then have your job pay for it.

[insanecoder]

Yes there are alot of people going for and thinking of going for an MBA
At this point if you can grab a job its better unless you can get into a top-tier business school.

[EALm4]

Workforce. DOD Gov contracting job w/ TS-SCI clearance and you'll be set for life. Especially since you're in NOVA. That's an absolute no brainier.

Contact someone at Hero 2 Hired and get on with Booze, BAE, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop or Lockheed

MBA is a waste of time especially if you get it from a school that's not AACSB accredited (for business majors).. Professional certifications are more highly valued now.

Get on with a firm that'll pay for higher level education. Then also use the GI Bill and get paid to go to school.

[Robm129]

Originally Posted by EALm4

Workforce. DOD Gov contracting job w/ TS-SCI clearance and you'll be set for life. Especially since you're in NOVA. That's an absolute no brainier.

Contact someone at Hero 2 Hired and get on with Booze, BAE, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop or Lockheed

MBA is a waste of time especially if you get it from a school that's not AACSB accredited (for business majors).. Professional certifications are more highly valued now.

Get on with a firm that'll pay for higher level education. Then also use the GI Bill and get paid to go to school.

When talking around to people in the area, this is the general response. Most people in my shoes are finding comparable income or a little more to what I'm at now.

I'll hit up Hero 2 Hired. I've heard good things about Military Mojo. I would like to avoid the Military Officer head hunters. It seems they are all self-interested, which makes sense.

I think I can get my PMP covered while I'm still in.

[WreckerX5d]

I would just get the MBA out of the way as soon as possible, the Post 9-11 has an expiration date (although it is something like 10 years) and you really can't predict where civilian life will take you if you plan to complete the degree later down the road.

[MKSixer]

Get the MBA. I regret not getting mine but I'm an outlier and the stats don't work in my individual case.

This is old data but I'm in a hurry now. Do the math. Get the MBA.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ifetime-salary

[Willsbma]

Re-enlist

[Mr. Liu]

Your service in the military will be more useful in finding a job than an MBA that is lower than top 20.

[Sephiroth]

It sounds like you are trying to figure out what you want to do when you grow up. School is great at exposing you to different areas, and internships to 'try them out'.

Don't fall into the trap of picking what is easily available to you. Figure out what will make you happy.

[Flying Ace]

First of all, thank you for your service.

This is a tough call and you need to answer some questions first before I can opine, based on my observations, here are your considerations:

-What do you even want to do?

MBA is not a golden ticket, far from it. Not all business careers "pay out" with a MBA. If you want to go into investment banking or business/management consulting, then yes, MBA, but it MUST be from a top 5 school.

Other careers actually would pay out if you get a Masters in something more technical, like Accounting, Finance, Data, Statistics, Info Sys. I recommend sticking to a technical masters degree than an MBA, especially if you can't get into a top MBA program. Not all MBA programs pay out! A MBA degree from University of Phoenix is NOT the same as a MBA degree from Kellogg. A Masters Degree in Account from San Jose State carries 10X more employment opportunities than a MBA from a #15-#50 school.

Also when you apply to a top MBA program, you better get your story straight. They're going to ask you what you want to do...

-Top priority is given to former military members
Based on my observation and conversation with a friend to went to Columbia GSB, MBA programs has allocated a disproportionate amount of spots to ex-military. So this works in your favor, but still is not a guarantee. Remember, MBA admissions is assessing your likelihood of being employed and whether you fit their culture and cut of their student body and whether they offer you the best chance of what you want to do. Basically, they want to report every year that 99.9% of the graduating class was placed into fields x, y, z, with average salaries of $200k+, etc. They don't want you to be the unemployed or under-employed outlier. It doesn't help them "compete".

-What did you do for the military
Basically, what's transferable? If a lot of your skills are transferable, I would say, you're good to go straight into employment or MBA. If your skills are not transferable, then you need to go into employment to develop your skills, and maybe acquire some technical certificates.

I'm talking about hard skills here...

For example, if you worked in logistics, whereas you're the guy running the optimization programs for logistics, that's a hard skill and immediately transferrable to the workplace (think distribution and fulfillment jobs at ANY corporate retailer).

If you worked directly in budgeting and accounting in the military, then your hard skills are immediately transferrable to almost ANY employer, big or small, retail, or services.

If you work in IT security, or "hacking" of enemy networks, etc, then you have immediately transferrable skills in IT security fields.

If you work with complex military software systems, like radar system, communication hardware, fixing airplanes, or electronic combat systems, then your skills are immediately transferrable to military contractors who services these hardware. In this case, you'll likely work as a civilian contractor supporting the enlisted counterpart.

All the above jobs I mentioned are all $100k+ jobs that doesn't require a masters or MBA.

[fareast1]

Cohorts
That is what the MBA is all about. A few others have said the same thing. If you can get a pedigree MBA, it is the best option. If you are going to take classes at an unknown business school, don't waste your time. If you are considering the MBA to help leverage a better job, and have little interest in the coursework, you would be better off jumping right into the workforce. Thank you for your service.

[BMW F22]

Find a job in a field you like at a company you like/admire and have them reimburse you for school. You can work FT and go to classes at night. I did that for just over 2 years. It was tiring on some days but it went by fast.

[Ross61]

I didn't read all the posts but this is my take based on personal experience - go for the Executive MBA from a school which accepts the Yellow Ribbon/Chapter 33. The program includes E5 BAH for the area, pays for school, and $1,000/yr for books. You earned it brother.

In the mean time, get a yob as a mid level manager or something. the EMBA will take 23 months and from there, sky's the limit.

[Robm129]

Thanks all for the responses. A few of you have basically ponited out some of the facts that I'm still working toward. The Military has been great at developing great work ethic, problem solving, leadership, and management. There is some truth to not knowing exactly what I want to do specifically, that is where the MBA option seems viable as a two-fold approach at learning and figuring out the future. On the other hand, as someone mentioned earlier, based off my resume and location I have a good foot into jobs already.

Current approach is to pursue both avenues. I plan to take the GMAT regardless and apply to the schools I'm interested in. Also attend job fairs and start dropping my resume. Fortunately, I have more than a handful of ex-military friends who have all taken different approached and can offer up advice.

[M3 Number 86]

Nothing is more valuable than work experience. When I see people with no experience and an mba I immediately think he couldn't get a job and therefore went to school.