What Next After BSBA -- Odd Choices For Comparison

[DBRENNAN118]

I will be finished w/my BSBA for June graduation. I've been loving the whole back to school thing, and want to keep it going after the BSBA is done. As such, I have a few options I've been kicking around w/my wife. They seem all over the map, but each has specific merit for me and my future. Would love some feedback, as I want to roll right into the next thing around July/August (giving myself a little vacation after a 9-month bachelors). I am most concerned about what would be best for career advancement.

1. MBA/MS Management. I'm not sure I 'need' this. I work in risk management/loss prevention field, and there are no MBAs in my field that I know of. I could use the advanced degree to break out of the ceiling I'm hitting (middle-senior management), but I've come this far w/no bachelors (20+ years experience) and the BSBA will already make me a stronger candidate. Would a MBA do that much more for me? Analyzing the time/cost commitment-to-benefit is a tough one here.
2. Certification. Was thinking either a grad cert in management, or PMP certification. The grad cert is just to strengthen my resume vs. the competition for open jobs. The PMP is kinda something I always found interesting, and it's such a hot thing to have right now - it couldn't be a bad thing, right? It might also help me move beyond my current ceiling??
3. Fluency in Spanish language. OK, sounds like out of left field, but...my wife is South American, and my kids are fluent. For my field, bilingual Eng/Sp is a benefit and would strengthen my resume. I also like to travel, so it could help me land a job that requires LATAM travel/oversight?? One negative is that I'd be forced to talk to mi Suegra (mother-in-law) more often

I need to pick one, and focus 100% until done - that's the way I function best. If I try to do Spanish part time, I will never be fluent - I need to approach like a formal program. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[adavis84]

I say hit the PMP first, then tackle Spanish.

Others will have more substantive things to to offer about the PMP's value resume-wise, but I went after the CAPM as project management certs were highly regarded in the work I used to do. Not having a bachelors is what kept me from the PMP. Incidentally, that fact is what sparked my going back to school in the first place.

There are ton of great PMP/CAPM study guides out there. I did a groupon for mine and found it very helpful (plus it provided 25 PDUs as well). If you're already in exam-smashing mode and have well honed self-study skills from finishing up the BSBA, you'll be in a very good place to tackle the PMP.

The fee for joining PMI, sitting for the test, and any study guides you may choose will certainly be cheaper than an MBA. You could always do the MBA afterward as well.

My wife is also bilingual and if/when we have kids, they will speak Spanish as well. I hope to bone-up on my Spanish before then. Once my back-to-school escapade is done, I'm going to tackle that, too!

My $0.02

[LaterBloomer]

First, I'm SO glad that I'm not the only one here with post-BSBA questions about, "Where next?"

Second, I think that adavis84 gave a sound recommendation if you're sure that an MBA isn't going to put an instantaneous boost in your career progression. My only concern about not getting the MBA is that in one of the agencies I work closely with, a master's degree went from," Wow!" to almost mandatory within a decade. (Okay, a decade is a long time and you'd get your MBA before then. My point is to make sure that you have it in place when it can do the most for your career progression.)

[DBRENNAN118]

First, I'm SO glad that I'm not the only one here with post-BSBA questions about, "Where next?"

Second, I think that adavis84 gave a sound recommendation if you're sure that an MBA isn't going to put an instantaneous boost in your career progression. My only concern about not getting the MBA is that in one of the agencies I work closely with, a master's degree went from," Wow!" to almost mandatory within a decade. (Okay, a decade is a long time and you'd get your MBA before then. My point is to make sure that you have it in place when it can do the most for your career progression.)

Might be a little late for that! Lol I'm 44. I figure with the 20+ years or experience and now the BSBA, the MBA may not help me as much as a 30-35 year old...

[topdog98]

If you want to do the graduate certificate to strengthen your resume, consider the graduate certificates from Harvard Extension School or maybe one of the certificates from Cornell.

[Daithi]

I can't really give you advice on which of the choices you laid out would be the best for you. However, I've been looking into my own options as well, and I can tell you what I decided for myself.

I am in the information technology field, and I decided to go the MBA-IT route while intending to get a DBA next. Like yourself it probably won't help me much either as I also have 20+ years experience (ok, 30+). I could have decided on a degree that was more directly in line with my current field, such as a MS in CS, but at this point in my life I'm not getting hired for my college degree(s). I'm getting hired for my experience. I also could have gone with certification options in areas I find interesting and that are hot right now. Several nanodegrees from Udacity, particularly the Machine Learning nanodegree, looked really appealing. Nevertheless, I decided to go with the MBA-IT followed by a DBA.

The reason for my decision was two-fold. The first was costs. I just turned 50, so I don't want to spend too much getting degree(s) that I don't really need for my career or future. The second reason is that I wanted to provide myself with career options that were in a different field from my current field. In particular, I believe inexpensive online education opportunities will continue expand over the next several years. I'd like to be part of that future. I also suspect these online education companies will want individuals with doctorates if only for their own accreditation. At worse, having advanced degrees certainly won't hurt me.

(I'm intending to get my MBA from Patten University followed by a DBA from Southern California University.)

[TrailRunr]

If I were in your shoes, the foreign language option is what I would focus on. It has a guaranteed ROI. I'm doing the same thing too. I did maximize my chances for success by checking ratemyprofessor at every nearby community college and state university to find the absolute best professor. I decided against doing this online even though I almost always choose online classes instead of butt-in-seat.

So going back to the first two options:

"it couldn't be a bad thing" (to have a PMP)....
"but I've come this far w/no bachelors (20+ years experience) and the BSBA will already make me a stronger candidate. Would a MBA do that much more for me?"...

If I thought this, I'd ditch both #1 and #2 unless I had copious spare time and money or a stronger justification of how it could result in instant career progression. Is your employer willing to pay for any of this? If so, give serious consideration. If not, that should tell you something.

[soliloquy]

I finish my MSPM in May. Next stop for me is probably PMP and then Spanish. You are inside my head!

[rebel100]

I don't think anything you mentioned is a bad choice, but I will suggest the cheap MBA route might be the strongest option, here is why I say that:

It sounds like our backgrounds, you and I, are somewhat similar. At 37 I decided to reinvent myself, returned to school, got a paramedic certificate then an AS degree in EMS. I enjoyed the work, but quickly realized that being a medic on an ambulance is a young persons game...my back is still paying for this mistake. Once I realized that being a medic wasn't a long term employment possibility I started looking for options to make me a better candidate for something else. I figured running an EMS company or agency was reasonable so I went after my BS. I ended up, primarily because of this forum, at COSC. I worked my ass off for two semesters writing papers in between calls and studying while everyone else was asleep and earned that BS. It was timely too. I finished in September and the agency I worked for folded a month later...I parlayed that new BS into sticking with the company but in a hospital role. I became the emergency manager, and ended up working with Risk, HR, and eventually running Security and Haz-Mat too. Despite this, I hit a ceiling. My company doesn't promote folks to manager/director unless they have a masters.

Pretty much any masters can be made to work, but when I looked around I found the most utility was the MBA. Many have healthcare related masters, but I wanted options should I elect to leave and enter another field. The MBA provided that mobility while satisfying the all important "masters prepared" that I needed for my current employer. I chose WGU as the cost was low enough that my companies tuition reimbursement paid for nearly the whole thing. About 12 months after finishing the hard work paid off and I saw the promotion I was looking for. I would not be where I am had I opted for anything other than the masters.

On PM certification. I like it, but in and of itself it wouldn't have moved the needle for me. Your company may be different, but how many risk/security groups really have a formal project management focus? Even if they have it will being certified in it make you more marketable? I suspect the answer is no, but will defer to your experience with the employer. If you've seen folks make the jump with a PMP then by all means jump on it.

Learning a language is never a bad idea. You're not likely to be made the Executive Vice President of Latin America if you can't speak the lingo...but consider how much study will go into this when you could be setting the executive stage with an MBA or other masters...the certainty and length of return is just to uncertain to make this the choice IMHO. Sounds like it's something to work on to me, but not as a priority.

Just my $.02, worth what you paid.

[rebel100]

I finish my MSPM in May. Next stop for me is probably PMP and then Spanish. You are inside my head!

Now this kills two birds as it were...Masters in PM, I like that a lot.