Engineering Career + MBA (Advice Welcome)

[throwittoblythe]

Has anyone here done an MBA well into their career and used it to make a career/job switch?

Background: I'm 15 years into a Civil Engineering career. I have a BS and MS in Civil from ISU. I'm a licensed professional engineer with technical and managerial experience. I spent the first 8 years of my career in technical roles. From there, I have primarily held roles in business development, sales, and engineering project management.

I'm interested in an operations management role (think COO long-term). I took a position with a very small company about a year ago with the plan for this role to grow into an Ops Director>VP of Ops>COO progression. At minimum, I had hoped to get real experience building/leading a significant part of an organization. BUT that's not really working out so far.

I'm considering an MBA to help me get into the specific role I'm seeking or transition to another industry to do this type of role.

Anyone done this? I'd like to hear your experience.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Can't imagine it would hurt your trajectory. My girlfriend is an accountant and is considering going back for Financial Eng. Super high paying and in demand field. Maybe consider that path as well?

 

[Gonzo]

Has anyone here done an MBA well into their career and used it to make a career/job switch?

Background: I'm 15 years into a Civil Engineering career. I have a BS and MS in Civil from ISU. I'm a licensed professional engineer with technical and managerial experience. I spent the first 8 years of my career in technical roles. From there, I have primarily held roles in business development, sales, and engineering project management.

I'm interested in an operations management role (think COO long-term). I took a position with a very small company about a year ago with the plan for this role to grow into an Ops Director>VP of Ops>COO progression. At minimum, I had hoped to get real experience building/leading a significant part of an organization. BUT that's not really working out so far.

I'm considering an MBA to help me get into the specific role I'm seeking or transition to another industry to do this type of role.

Anyone done this? I'd like to hear your experience.

Have you considered a Master's in Engineering Management instead of an MBA? I know CU Boulder has a good one that can be completed online, a buddy of mine went through it. He was an engineer and wanted to get into a similar role as you're looking at, so this program offers that upper management preparation but it's more targeted to the technology/engineering sector. Just a thought.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Have you considered a Master's in Engineering Management instead of an MBA? I know CU Boulder has a good one that can be completed online, a buddy of mine went through it. He was an engineer and wanted to get into a similar role as you're looking at, so this program offers that upper management preparation but it's more targeted to the technology/engineering sector. Just a thought.

Thank you. I've looked at those. I've been looking at part-time MBA programs here in Iowa, mainly. The reason is that part of the MBA benefit is access to a network for future job opportunities.

 

[wxman1]

Especially if your employer will pay for it I can't imagine it would hurt. The one thing I would caution on this is at least my employer requires you to stay at the company for at least a year after you finish or you owe it back to them. I get it but something to keep in mind.

 

[pulse]

I think you’re just in the wrong job. You need a better one, more along the lines of actual operations management. Not just a hopeful promise of one at a small company.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

Go crush the gmat and get into a top 10 MBA program. It might be worth it.......???? A simple cost benefit analysis will help you. Two years of lost salaries and benefits plus tuition and living expenses for two years. It will be be a big number. What is the enhanced salary and potential career earnings' increase? Only you can figure that.

If that is not possible due to family, timing, etc, then evaluate the best online for your preferred job growth or career change. ISU has an outstanding MBA for these situations and has tailored it engineers and other technical majors. They have the highest placement (99%, maybe 2nd to none) of all MBA programs.

 

[cycloneworld]

As someone who has made the same transition from engineer into management, I think you should decide what type of management role you want. If you want to go work in a Fortune 500 company, the MBA will probably differentiate you. If you want to work in small to medium sized company - experience will win out 100 times out of 100 over an MBA.

To us (100 person firm), the MBA wouldn't carry that much extra weight unless you were neck and neck with someone else. Factor in the cost and time it takes to get and I wouldn't recommend it without a clearly defined career path target.

 

[brokenloginagain]

I'd work backwards: what company do you want to work for, and where do you want to live? Then find an educational program that has connections (If you want to stay in Iowa, ISU probably a no-brainer).

Being 15+ years into your career, an MBA from Harvard or Duke isn't going to help you get a job in Iowa.

You might not even need a different degree - just find a better job where you can get training on the job to get the role you want over time.

 

[RLD4ISU]

My son has an AeroE degree and got his MBA about 5 years into his career. IMO for him, it opened up quite a few more opportunities.

Good advice above. You'll have to weigh out what you want for a career, where you're willing to live and if you feel it's worth it. Kind of different, yet similar - my husband regrets not getting an engineering degree many years ago. It wouldn't have changed what he does, but he would've been able to get where he's at a lot sooner with that degree.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Especially if your employer will pay for it I can't imagine it would hurt. The one thing I would caution on this is at least my employer requires you to stay at the company for at least a year after you finish or you owe it back to them. I get it but something to keep in mind.

Agreed. There would definitely be strings attached which I don't want. I've looked at the in-state programs and could likely cashflow the MBA with my current salary. That, plus wanting to possibly shift to something else when I'm done leads me to not asking them to sponsor me.

 

[throwittoblythe]

I think you’re just in the wrong job. You need a better one, more along the lines of actual operations management. Not just a hopeful promise of one at a small company.

Oh buddy...your intuition skills are off the charts. I won't get into all of it, but you are 100% correct. I was in a good job that I liked and was doing well. But this one came along and was promised to be getting on the ground floor of a growing company. Help build the business and learn the operations/business skills on the job. My vision was that at the end of this path, I could be the COO of a decent mid-sized company which sounded pretty cool.

1 year in, I'm basically a project manager. A well paid project manager, but a PM none the less.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

Agreed. There would definitely be strings attached which I don't want. I've looked at the in-state programs and could likely cashflow the MBA with my current salary. That, plus wanting to possibly shift to something else when I'm done leads me to not asking them to sponsor me.

Correct- do on your own and then no strings attached.

 

[SCNCY]

Correct- do on your own and then no strings attached.

Couple things to consider.

1. If you use company money to pay for your MBA and leave early, you'll just have to reimburse the company for what ever the tuition costs are. This is what I did. Actually, my company had a 2 year vesting period, but since it was a part time MBA that takes about 3 years, my first year of tuition was already vested, so I just had to pay the balance of two years. In my opinion, I don't see any difference between doing it yourself and using company money; company money would essentially be an interest free loan. Additionally, your company cannot force you to stay and work; you'll just have to pay them back what ever you owe.

2. If you decide to get your MBA without help from the company, it may raise questions that your looking for an exit. I'd assume your manager would know your getting your MBA.

 

[carvers4math]

My son has an AeroE degree and got his MBA about 5 years into his career. IMO for him, it opened up quite a few more opportunities.

Good advice above. You'll have to weigh out what you want for a career, where you're willing to live and if you feel it's worth it. Kind of different, yet similar - my husband regrets not getting an engineering degree many years ago. It wouldn't have changed what he does, but he would've been able to get where he's at a lot sooner with that degree.

My son got the MBA concurrently with Aerospace Engineering BS. It increased his debt quite a bit as we couldn’t PLUS loan him then for two of his five years, but he wanted to be done with school when he was done with school. Both employers he has had since would have paid for it if he didn’t have it. He did start both places at a higher salary since he had it though.

He still winds up having to get the Six Sigma stuff though which he thinks is less helpful than his MBA. Hopefully black belt is the end of that crud.

 

[CYphyllis]

It's been a little over a decade since I got mine, so things have likely changed quite a bit, but MBA programs can vary substantially in structure. Iowa/ISU were two year programs while a few smaller options in state would allow you to stack courses as you saw fit. I took classes with people who were fives years in, on the flip side I finished the entire MBA program in a little over nine months. ****** nine months, but absolutely worth it in the end.

You have to figure out what works best for you and how high your burnout tolerance is for case studies.

With that being said, getting an MBA was by far and away the best thing I've done in terms of career trajectory.

 

[CydeofFries]

I got my MBA after having an engineering degree and working both in operations management (shift and department) and engineering at a manufacturing plant. My regret with getting one was getting one while focusing on operations management. I didn't need a piece of paper to say I knew how to manage, I've already done it. I wish I would have done more finance/marketing courses to really round out my knowledge rather than justifying the experience I already had. That and the pandemic really ruined the in person experience I was looking for.

So if you have never worked in management, it would be useful in that regard, especially with an emphasis on that. But I also know people looking into Engineering Management, but I can't say anything on that experience.

 

[DSMCy]

Couple things to consider.

1. If you use company money to pay for your MBA and leave early, you'll just have to reimburse the company for what ever the tuition costs are. This is what I did. Actually, my company had a 2 year vesting period, but since it was a part time MBA that takes about 3 years, my first year of tuition was already vested, so I just had to pay the balance of two years. In my opinion, I don't see any difference between doing it yourself and using company money; company money would essentially be an interest free loan. Additionally, your company cannot force you to stay and work; you'll just have to pay them back what ever you owe.

2. If you decide to get your MBA without help from the company, it may raise questions that your looking for an exit. I'd assume your manager would know your getting your MBA.

Could also try to negotiate what you owe with the new company, see if they'd pay for the tuition balance.

If your company offers tuition reimbursement, I'd take advantage of it, even if you don't plan to stay with the company.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Could also try to negotiate what you owe with the new company, see if they'd pay for the tuition balance.

If your company offers tuition reimbursement, I'd take advantage of it, even if you don't plan to stay with the company.

I can save everyone some time here. We are very small so I'd be shocked if we're in the cash position to reimburse any tuition. Also, another employee asked for support last year and the founder gave an emphatic "hell no."

That, plus the strings attached, mean I'm planning to pay for it myself.

 

[throwittoblythe]

I got my MBA after having an engineering degree and working both in operations management (shift and department) and engineering at a manufacturing plant. My regret with getting one was getting one while focusing on operations management. I didn't need a piece of paper to say I knew how to manage, I've already done it. I wish I would have done more finance/marketing courses to really round out my knowledge rather than justifying the experience I already had. That and the pandemic really ruined the in person experience I was looking for.

So if you have never worked in management, it would be useful in that regard, especially with an emphasis on that. But I also know people looking into Engineering Management, but I can't say anything on that experience.

Good insights and I agree. While I can certainly grow in the leadership/management department, I've do some decent experience there. Where I'm lacking is the basic business skills that one gets from business school. Cash flow, valuations, risk, legal, etc. These are things lots of people learn on the job but I have not had the chance to do that. That's part of my motivation to pursue the MBA.