If you have decided to pursue the correspondence MBA because you feel
that this decision is the natural progression of you career path, you
are not alone. When you feel stagnant in you job, the degree can be the
jump-start you are looking for. Perhaps you have not been promoted in
many years, or you are not getting the type of salary adjustment that
you feel your hours and dedication warrant. Obtaining an online MBA can
be the wake-up call your employers need to remind them that you are on
the fast track. Most correspondence MBA students stay on in their
current field - in fact, many continue with their same company. A
correspondence MBA program is perfectly suited for you if you are
looking to gain more experience at managing people and teams. There are
two main reasons behind this:
1. You will a lot of practice with
team project in B-school. Also, when you attend on a part-time basis,
you need to develop your time-management skills very quickly and
acutely. If you can juggle all this, you are learning far more than what
is in your textbook or in your class notes.
2. You will be able
to apply what you are learning over longer period of time. Leadership
and team-management skills are not only taught in business school, they
are implemented. As time goes on, these skills are drummed in to the
students who truly learn how to apply them as they are learning. This is
very different from attending a one or two year's full time program
without applying your knowledge as you are learning it - and potential
employers realize it!
It will take you longer to complete the
correspondence MBA. You may think that you can wait three years or more
to change career, but those three years is a long time to put your
life's ambition on hold. If you decide that the program is taking too
long on a correspondence basis and consider switching to full-time
status, be advised that not all schools will allow you to do so.
If
financing degree is an issue and going correspondence is the best way
for you to proceed, make sure that you carefully read your company's
policies and procedures regarding tuition reimbursement. You want
to make sure that you have not implicitly agreed to stay on with your
firm for a given period of time during the completion of program in
exchange for the financing of your degree.