If you’d like to explore why the kind of degree doesn’t exist in the form you describe, look into the book _Managers not MBA’s_.

MBA programs typically do NOT feature the soft skills in their curriculum. It’s interesting that so many say the people who advance the most in industry are those with the best people skills. Yet if you look at the offerings, how many MBA programs include classes on how to assemble a team?

Look also how many people get promoted, the IT field itself being notorious about this. It’s not the person who’s good at handling team issues, it’s the best programmer. This also happens in sales, e.g., the best salesperson becomes the sales manager. It’s 2 different skill sets between doing the job best and managing people who can do the job best.

The assumption made by those promoting you is people skills are secondary, you’ll learn them as you go along. Sadly, nobody really trains you on how to handle these people issues, esp. as mentoring is pretty much extinct.

I’m convinced (especially every time I hear the false cry of managers that “I can’t find anybody who’s qualified”) that many times these managers who may have the highest positions haven’t got a clue about their most important skill of hiring. If managers were evaluated on producing quality workforces like they are on numerical spreadsheets, you’d see some progress.

Meanwhile, if you really want to learn about this, nothing wrong with the informal route. See that book, and another one of my personal favorites which is for people without degrees, _Proving You’re Qualified_.

I’ve been in various roles in IT for over 30 years. The degree has been invaluable to me in working with customers and users. It helps me understand their needs so I can translate that into a business solution using IT technologies.

Do you need the degree to be from an top ten school? Unless you are looking to become the CFO of a Fortune 500 company, in my opinion, NO. Rarely and I even asked as to the origin of my degree. As for those who sneer at the online programs, I assure you they are as tough and time consuming as the bricks & sticks schools, if not more so as face time is substituted for written work.

My reasons for wanting the MBA initially were the same as the questioner – I wanted to get more education so I could climb the corporate ladder. Well, I don’t want to climb that ladder anymore (sorry about all those “ladder” references, Nick – I know how much you love that site ). Right now, my reasons for wanting the MBA are the following:

1. I changed for the better as a person while working on my bachelor’s, and I suspect I’ll change some more for the better working on my MBA. It’s not what I’ll learn or what I’ll do after getting the degree, it’s who I’ll become.

2. It gives me flexibility with what I can do in the future. If I decide later I want a PhD, then having a graduate degree already can make it easier to get into a program. If I find a job that shows preferences towards applicants with a master’s degree (and I’ve run across several), I’ll have one.

3. What I might learn while getting the degree – and it’s not so much what I learn from the program itself, it’s what the program opens my eyes to that I can use in my life and career. I’ve found whenever I’ve studied anything, either in school or on my own, that it’s often the references to other material and studying that other material that is the most beneficial in my life. Example from my own MBA program – it isn’t the supply-chain analysis of Chrysler from a few years ago for that presentation in my Managerial Accounting class that was important, it’s answering the questions from the other students about why Chrysler had to sell out to Daimler that was beneficial. I had to look deeper at the company and how they did business, which taught me a lot more than the research for the original project.

4. Bragging rights – only about 10% or so of the population (at least in the U.S.) has a graduate or professional degree, and I’d like to be part of the 10%. Well, it’s not about bragging so much, but just knowing that I’m part of an elite group.

5. It gives me an opening to leave the IT field, which is one of my long-term goals.

As for a top-rated school – it’s great for developing those contacts. Go there if you want to run for President of the United States, or head up a Fortune 100 company. If you see yourself as running your own business, you don’t even need the degree. If you want to climb the corporate ladder and become an IT manager, go the cheaper route. In fact, they may not even care if you have your MBA.

Here’s something to think about – the city of Omaha has produced more people worth over $100 million than any other city in the US (Warren Buffett and pals, etc.). Only two of those mega-millionaires have a master’s degree, and one is Buffett himself. Ref: http://www.amazon.com/Making-millions-Instructions-George-Morgan/dp/0970386605/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251381107&sr=1-1 (sorry, it’s a locally-produced book, and not much is available on Amazon – the title is “Making Millions, Instructions Included” by George L. Morgan).

(Honest, I didn’t put him up to this.)

Top schools mean more than lessor ones. I have actually audited courses at many universities, both traditional and online. There is a difference. If I see Univ of Phoenix, it tells me the person did not have the drive to do an evening program at a “regular” school.

I agree MBA hire other MBAs, but so do BA/BS, Ph.Ds, etc. When reviewing resumes, one thing I consider is the school. Granted it depends on the position I am hiring, and experience does trump education, but it makes a difference.

Also, if you go to a big school, you get a large alumni network, which is huge in the work world.

I always encourage people that ask, after working for 5 years, an MBA from a top school in their area is a good move. But again, you need to be moving out of that employer. Only in rare instances, do they value that.

You are more likely to get you salary bump from b-school recruiting; you can go from $75K a year to $150K easily from a top 20 school. That is unheard in most companies.

1. The value of an MBA lies in what you learn from getting it. How you use it is up to you. Whether it pays off in salary is not always clear.
2. Before you get an MBA, ask your employer (or the one you want to work for) whether they value it and why. I think this is absolutely key. I frequently talk about the importance of asking the “ultimate customer of education” what education they value. The ultimate customer is the employer that hires you. But see (1.) above. Education for itself is fine, as along as you know why you’re doing it.
3. MBA’s hire MBA’s.

Good stuff… let’s have some more!