career path

Society Business and Career
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So I have a bachelors in business - marketing and S&L. I have been trying to find a job for over 2 yrs. I have been at my position for 1 1/2 yrs which is customer service (the low end of it). I am having no success finding higher positions within my company or any other that are related to my degree and field. I wanted to go for MBA but I don’t feel like I have adequate enough experience to get me into a good school. So I was thinking of going another route.

I was thinking of doing pharmacy. Do u think that I should try it? I have to take all the pre pharmacy requirements which may take up to 2 yrs. Then pharmacy itself is 4 yrs. Should I go for it or just stick with MBA?

Any other options out there?

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Re: career path

Learn some ERP , HR , Supply Chain package .
Siebel , Oracle , SAP , PeopleSoft , anything IT is still in high demand. Takes less time to learn and helps to get a job faster. If you learn some programming language the chances are even better.
I am saying that because you are looking for some drastic career change.

What happened to descendents of religious leaders?
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Re: career path

Pyaari, the job market has been tight in general for the last 18 months. This is a greattime for you to go for MBA if you can. because market should be better when you are done.

pharmacy is a great field, lots of demand for pharmacists, good pay, good security,

but this is not a question exploring difference between maket research or market mgmt type roles, these are very diff.

In the end it boils down to what you want to do.

4

I forgot to add that I work in a hospital, Kaiser, for those that may know the hosp. I know they have great benefits and so I am trying to stay with them. I am opening my choices to other places but it is just too difficult.
I know that taking all these different computer classes might open doors I can try that as an option. But I kind of want to finish up with my education too. I know I want to do an MBA but I feel like I have to wait until I get work experience. And who knows how long that will take. And mashallah I have a daughter I want to try to finish my education before having other kids.

X2: Even though the most work experience I may have is 2 yrs...is that good enough to try to get into a good school to do an MBA? I have always been excited about doing MBA, but after searching for a job I just feel like I am stuck at a dead end.

Kuhda Karay Tumhain Mohbbat Na Ho Ham Say.
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Re: career path

Pyaari83,
I agree with both Mirch bhai and X2 on this. Right now may be an opportune time to get more training and/or update your qualifications.

If I were to give you my advice, I'd certainly recommend going the industry route first for upgrading your skills before investing in an MBA. Based on your prior concentration from undergrad as well as your aspired career track, I'd suggest looking into industry endorsed programs including certifications. It doesn't necessarily have to be a technology based certification... there are other options such as project management, new product development, quality assurance, six sigma... these are the ones I can think of based on what I know about your interests in marketing and scm.

Adding these to your portfolio will certainly lead to some other avenues that you can consider pursuing.

I still think that an MBA is more worthwhile once you have adequate number of years of gainful work experience and are able to appreciate the collaborative knowledge sharing aspect of learning in the MBA.

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Re: career path

certifications would def be the betetr route, or not certificatiosn per say but specialized programs and coursework.

I did not factor in your professional experience.

however..I would diverge from Lucids POV here, he is giving the optimal solution, which is undergrad 4-5 years of good experience and then go to a good business school and come out and do well. I still think that is the best route

but, if it simply is not clicking for you, you can go to as good of an MBA program as you can, I dont think your undergrad uni has a reputation (good or bad) its just unknown and especially moving to a new state it is an unknown commodity and no alumni network.

Lucid's view is that you work 4-5 years get some solid experience get into stanford or haas and get a big boost..to do that u have to try, u have to get the certs typoe things to make you more marketable etc.

the other option is, and if you have the luxury to go in for a masters, maybe not at stanford or haas, but pepperdine, or irvine or some other major area uni which may not be fantastic but is in a tier or two above your undergrad and is plugged in to the local businesses. you may even want to go for an MS degree....and hold on to getting that top ranked MBA better.
The only reason I would consider that a viable option is based on ground reality of the situation with yoru experience to date, the economic conditions and job market. because if you stay stuck where you are, or have a marginally better position then that is not going to get you in a top 20 MBA program, and the question then is 3 years from now joining a top 50 program, or joining a top 50 program this year.

If I was in your exact situation i.e. undergrad uni and its standing in my current place 9(nd i could not locate back to where that uni is), the type of work experience, lack of opportunities especially with the economy, etc etc. I would make the most of this time and either start doing cert courses right away so when things improve I am more markeable and see a jump up, or really go for a top 50 program even if it is an MS..and not an MBA

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Agree with that 100%...

The only reason I am a little skeptical of people coming into an MBA program without at least 3 years of full-time work experience is because I've seen the negatives of this as a student as well as a professor. During my own time as an MBA student, I witnessed some of my colleagues being seemingly lost in classes and courses that built upon student discussions and case analysis based on people's work experiences.

Now as a professor, I see this with some of my students who feel alienated because they don't have much to share in terms of organizational cultures they've experienced or projects they've worked on.

An MS is a whole different ball game. Most programs generally tend to be more focused on coursework and applications of theory. In the courses I teach in the MS programs, I see recent grads doing pretty well - perhaps because there's more continuity in their academic pursuits - as opposed to someone who left school for a few years and was returning back for a graduate degree.

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Re: career path

Is it worthwhile at this time to go for MBA?
I did my MBA halfway and then quit because I felt that it was not worth it.

Should I start my MBA again or should I go for the PMP certification (I work as a business analyst with about 7 years experience).

Timepass - November 2012
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What are the top 50 programs??? Do you have any websites where I see what the programs are? And are you saying to do certification and/or one of the top 50 programs and then go back later and do an MBA?

I guess my main concern is that I have one child right now. And eventually I will want to have more. I am just concerned that by the time I get my experience and complete other stuff that when I want to go for an MBA I won't be able to do it. I know I have a lot of help so there is someone who can watch my daughter. So I kind of wanted to finish up with my education so that way when the kids grow up I know that I have a degree that will inshallah get me back into a good job. The job I have right now I could have gotten with or without my degree which is sad.

~~~Missing Someone~~~
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Re: career path

My 2 cents. Pick some thing you love doing. Some time it takes a while to get a job.
If you do some thing you love, you will keep your self busy doing things.
That will take you some where WHILE having fun.

Sorry every one I just read the title and posted. Did not read any ones opinion on the matter.

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there are many rankings out there, here is one of MBA. for MS programs, there may be other lists.
My view is that aside from these lists, there are local universities that graduate a lot of people, are very welll integrated into the business community and have a huge network of alumni. again using the example of LA area, usc and ucla are def great, but if that is out of reach then pepperdine, irvine and even northridge are good options.

I would say go for it, it may not be the optimal solution, but it will defintely put you in a better position in a couple of years. Job market is going to be absolutely pathetic thsi year and will take time to recover, if you start your Masters now, you will be compoleting it just when things are improving. There is a reason why many ppl go back for degrees when job market is sour.

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Depends on what you want to do, if you are a BA and headed to the role of a project/progam manager, PMP would be very useful, MBA will help you at that level as well as get to a higher level or other mgmt roles above or lateral to a prog manager role but upwards mobility will defintely be helped.

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Pyaari - Business School Rankings and Profiles: EMBA, Executive Education, MBA, Part-time MBA, Distance MBA

You really have to set your priorities. It’s really really hard to go to business school, work and raise kids but not impossible.

I also suggest that you do get some work expereince under your belt. You also have to ask yourself - why do you want an MBA? What are you going to utilize it for?

You get more from your MBA with work experience.

I will tell you one thing - timing is never perfect in terms of going back to school. You just have to.

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Depends where you want your career to go? Do you want to be a project manager?

PMP is very different than an MBA because it's very project management focused. It's also much less time consuming.

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regardless- in 2 years time pyari83 will be in a better position with an MBA versus having 2 more years worth of experience in customer service.

all advise is from an optimal perspective, but she is not in an optimal situation. if she had 2 years experience in some major consulting firm, ad agency.

all advise in this relies on a couple of things that in the next few years she somehow finds a better role, whether that is by certifications or whatever, and then get experience in that role and then go for an MBA.

looking at the current job market, i think it will be tough. I am a very strong proponent of a few years of good work experience before MBA, but right now she has no guarantee of that.

Pyari, I hope you realize I am not putting you down in any way. I am just having a realistic look at your situation and the surrounding market and trying to find an answer that is more applicable to your needs and situation than optimal situations.

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Ya I understand...I Know u have been helping me since over 1 yr. And I know u have a lot of work experience and u can see the situation differently. Maybe its just not in my kismat to have a high level job right now...I have tried so hard and did everything but it just seems like I am stuck at the same place.

Just one question. I know that I have a bachelors and I always thought oh I will get a good job no worries...but looking at my current situation I see things differently. I am just kind of scared going into an MBA now. I have heard stories where ppl don't have work exp and they go for an MBA, but when they are done they have a hard time finding work because the lack of work exp. Do u think I may be stuck in that situation?

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another question. If I do cert can I just go to comm college or is it better to go to uni to get it? Does it really matter? Do employers look at cert the same way as they would with degree's?

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Re: career path

Pyari - MBA is an investment. It going to take time and money (it isn't cheap).

You need to ask yourself - why are you getting an MBA? Is to get a promotion? Is to have access to high paying jobs? What are you going to get out of your MBA.

what is a high level job? a manager? a director?

The first thing that a employer looks at is work experience and skillset. It might be worthwhile for you to do some certifications.

It will make you markerable. I would hold on that MBA for a while

mujhy alvida keh do....
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Anything you do if it is going to have the name of an institution attached to it, then go for the best possible one you can go to.

Other stuff like pmp or business analyst certifications, it's the organization thAt grants it that is important, where you took any courses means nothing.

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I was in the same situation as you in some ways I.e. I graduated at a time when job market sucked, I convinced the company I was doing an internship to give me a project, and worked on that. It paid peanuts but the type of work was fantastic, I then convinced their new subsidiary in Pakistan to bring me on as a consultant, pro Bono.

While some of my fellow grads were in real but low profile jobs, I got some good experience on my resume at 22, worked on global project, working with world bank. ADB, etc.

With just over a year of experience and internships, I got into the top Uni for marketing in USA. Too bad I could not afford it and went to a diff Uni, even though years later I came back to kellogg for executive program.

Anyways, I stopped my MBA, when I turned my internship with a major pharma company into a year long project. I wouldnot have had accessto that had I not been in my MBA programme. I also started abusiness exporting off lease hardware to eastern Europe, which was great for a year but then was not sustainable. That failed business was always of interest to hiring managers.

Think longer term, right now you as a new grad have a tough battle, the uni location and your location complicate things.

At some pointin time continuing todo what you are doing will hurt you, not now but another 2 years perhaps.

If I see a resume from someone who has been in customer service for that long in a non degree level, I will automatically wonder...how good are you, why did u not go do something else, why could you not find something else.

Now currently it may not hurt u as much because anyone with half a brain knows how tough the job market is. But I don't know if hiring managers will factor that in.

In short, u need to get past the current status quo. There are multiple options given, see what works for you and go for it. Honestly speaking...if finances are not an issuetry getting a role with a non profit. They are hurting for people, and while they may not pay much or even if youdo it pro Bono, the goal will be to get better experience.

I would much rather hire someone who had good part time experience and went for an MBA, than someone who seemed to be stuck in a rut.