Brian Witcher ⋅ Orange, CA Sazerac ⋅ 13 years experience

Jeremiah,

Have you considered a part time MBA program? If so, I could share my experience as I am currently involved in such a program and have classmates who are active military.

As far as "right degree" from the "right school", it depends on what you're looking to get out of the program. From what my experience has been in the past two years, I have gained as much if not more from the classroom and peer environment than from the actual professors. This is something that might be difficult to replicate with an online degree.

Brian

Cedric Cook ⋅ Richmond, TX IBM ⋅ 19 years experience

Jeremiah, I'd also add as you subtly stated, think of your education as an Investment. Money well spent is something that you'll look back and be proud of.

Jeremiah Kern ⋅ Fpo, AE U.S. Air Force, Technical Sergeant ⋅ 12 years served

Thank you for all the replies. Tom Cal, I am shying away from the "diploma mills", yet need to keep the costs down. I have heard that getting a Master's from a different school than where you got your undergraduate degree is preferable. So with the colleges that are represented at my current location that leaves me with Oklahoma (first choice) or University of Maryland University College. At OU I would do their 100% on-line Administrative Leadership MA.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

What are your goals?
What criteria do you think are important when selecting a school, and how might you determine the criteria you should consider?

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Also, Jeremiah, I might add that a hiring manager won't come out and ask you, "Are you a good team player," or "would you insist on being the leader," even though these questions are paramount in their interview.

Just like, they rarely ask you, "what have you done wrong in your previous jobs," or "what complaints do you have about your previous employers," even though these questions are also very important in their interview.

To win in an interview -- it matters little what University you got your degree in (in most cases) and it matters much how you answer these four questions:

Get a good friend to help you practice a mock-interview. While in the interview remember these four cardinal rules: (1) never confess to any mistake you ever made -- ever; (2) never complain about any co-workers for any reason -- ever; (3) always portray yourself as a great team player -- always; and (4) always portray yourself as willing to lead ONLY IF PERMITTED BY MANAGEMENT.

Like I said, they'll (almost) never come out and ask you these things, but these are always on their minds. If you break any of these four rules during your interview, your interview is basically over at that moment -- you will not be called back. Reflect on this awhile, and you'll realize that you can't blame people for not wishing to risk hiring any person who breaks one of these four principles during the initial interviews.

Get your degree. Get your current certification. Then, portray yourself as a Team player in a good company that really needs to hire. You'll make good money that way.

One more bit of advice -- have at least a dozen little stories about yourself that you can call up to answer questions. Interviewers (almost) never want to hear the answers, "yes" or "no" to their questions -- they want a little story about yourself. So, when they ask you if you are experienced in project management, they don't want to hear, "Yes." They want to hear, "Let me tell you about a successful project that I managed." Then, make the story very short and sweet; i.e. tell what the challenge was, and how you overcame it -- three sentences max if you possibly can. They'll LOVE it. You'll get the job.

Finally -- I suspect that you asked about the "right" college because you don't see that your military experience counts as the "right" college. Veterans have an advantage, not simply because of Government rules, but also because many hiring managers were also in the Military.

Being in the Military (with an honorable discharge) is a *guarantee* that this worker is *disciplined* and will put the Company first, even if it hurts. This is the *apex* of what it means to be a Team player. Also, every Company in the world has an organization chart, and that chart is originally modeled after the Military organization chart. So, you have an advantage by being accustomed to successfully working in a massive hierarchy.

(The main difference is that in the civilian world, one cannot call his superior officer, "sir." It's a civilian rule -- however, that doesn't mean that you don't *treat* your superior officer like a superior officer, even though you must call that officer by his or her first name. But it's a very important civilian rule.)

Best wishes,
--Paul Trejo

Chris Escobar ⋅ Germantown, MD AECOM ⋅ 7 years experience

Different people will tell you different things on this topic but one thing that I think most people can agree on is that having the right degree from the right school is always a good thing. However it's not the only thing that will get you where you want to be, it's just a peice of the puzzle. I say this based off of my own personal experience so you may want to take it with a grain of salt however I do believe it to be true.

I am of the opinion that the most important thing is to get your foot in the door at a good company (a company with opportunities for professional growth). If you find a company like that AND you are strategic in how you execute your work you will eventually end up in the position that you desire. What do I mean by "strategic"? I mean the following:

* Having a solid foundation as a reliable and hardworking worker.
* Having a positive influence on others in every sense of the word.
* Interfacing well with executives as well as lower level workers.
* Stirring inovation and forward thinking into the mix.
* Maintaining positive business relationships with EVERYONE.
* Make sure your boss and his/her boss know the details of ALL of your successful accomplishments at work, don't be shy about this one.
* Having a strong initiative to learn and teach yourself at work. Can't wait for someone to explain things to you.

There are so many other things that I could put on this list but I think these are some of the most important ones that I can think of now. These things sound so basic and most people who read this will probably say that this goes with out saying. However you would be surprised how many people don't actually do this in practice. These are all things that are not generally taught in college which is why I think they serve as key differentiators (amongst other college grads) to make you stand out at work and help propell you up the corporate ladder to help you quickly reach the position you seek.

With all this being said, if you got a broad degree from any university you could still be very successfull and compete with anyone on the job market.

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Jeremiah, in my opinion, after working in private industry for forty years, including multinational companies and large corporations, the "right" degree and school are usually secondary to a hiring manager. Of course, this depends on the situation, but I'm speaking about most cases.

What is most important is the self-interest of the company -- are you a team player? That's always top priority. Then, are you too much of a team player that you never want to be a leader? Then, are you too much of a leader that you'll leave the company and compete with them? These questions are critical to the hiring manager.

In the old days, being from the "right" school meant being from the "same" school. One could often rely on School Spirit to ensure team playing and loyalty. But in modern times, in a global marketplace, these are not reliable measures anymore.

When it comes to a degree -- any degree is always better than no degree. After that, it's the certification that is all-important for technical jobs. So, that leads me to the most important issue raised by your question: What exactly is the job that you seek -- is it technical or managerial? This makes a lot of difference in your quest for credentials.

Best regards,
--Paul Trejo