IT professional, decide the best specialization for part time MBA

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

I am an indian software engineer having 6 years experience in java. I am thinking of doing part time MBA but want to decide on branch.

I can go to google and read about these branches but that is generic advice. I am a software engineer so in my case what these branches lead me to.

I know how doing part time MBA in IT specialization can help me: It can help me accelerate my current career. Now I also want to know how the other branches would help me. For example how would doing a part time MBA in "Internation Business" help me. What would happen after that since my current field is Similarity what would happen if I do a part time MBA in HR or marketing or operations.

[Campbell Ritchie]

We cannot know what your particular interests or skills are. I suggest you start by writing down what you would find most interesting.

[Ulf Dittmer]

I know how doing part time MBA in IT specialization can help me: It can help me accelerate my current career.

Possibly, or possibly not. Business knowledge is good to have, but I wouldn't imagine it to have a substantial impact on someone who is focused very much on the technical side. So you'll have to grow into a different role to really make use of it. What that might be depends highly on the environment you're in, and your interests. If you're a developer now, typical roles might be architect, tech project lead, project manager, team lead, etc. You need to decide in which direction you want to head, and which steps (like taking classes) would support that.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Campbell Ritchie

We cannot know what your particular interests or skills are. I suggest you start by writing down what you would find most interesting

My interests is some work whether there is time for family life too(not just sitting in office late hours and weekends).

I know part time MBA can have limitations in its impact.

Now suppose after being a software engineer for 6 years , I do a part time MBA in International Business specialization, what may happen now? I know impact would be little but what may happen if I do in a branch other than IT like International business and that too part time mba.

[Ulf Dittmer]

My interests is some work whether there is time for family life too(not just sitting in office late hours and weekends).

Tongue-in-cheek response: if that is the main requirement, maybe a career outside of IT/tech is a better option. :-) But seriously, Campbell was asking about your professional interests.

I know part time MBA can have limitations in its impact.

Not sure what you mean by that. After you earned a degree, it should not matter how you obtained it (assuming it was a good program).

Now suppose after being a software engineer for 6 years , I do a part time MBA in International Business specialization, what may happen now? I know impact would be little but what may happen if I do in a branch other than IT like International business and that too part time mba.

By "now" you mean after you obtained your degree? That goes back to what I said earlier. As long as you are a developer, the impact is likely limited, as you said. If you want to switch careers to something else where there is a need to know about business administration and international business, then obviously such an degree would come in handy. I'm getting the feeling that I'm not understanding your question correctly, though,

[Campbell Ritchie]

Ulf Dittmer wrote: . . . Campbell was asking about your professional interests. . . .

Yes, I was. But your reply made me doubt (as it did Ulf) whether you should be going for this MBA at all.

[Satyaprakash Joshii]

Ulf Dittmer

I'm getting the feeling that I'm not understanding your question correctly, though,

I have 6 years exp in IT.


If I do part time mba in IT ----I know what can happen

If I do part time mba in "International Business"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

If I do part time mba in "Marketing"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

If I do part time mba in "Finance"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

[Ulf Dittmer]

That is a question none of us can answer. If you're looking to change your career in some way, then what you can achieve depends chiefly on the passion and commitment you put into it.

I think you're missing the point, though: instead of asking "If I get degree X, what can I do with that?", you should ask "What do I want to do?/What do I want to do differently?", and as a follow-up "Is there a degree that can help me with that?".

Do you want to go into marketing? Do you want to go into finance? Do you want to do business cross-country? If those are the primary objectives (more important than, say, working in the tech field); then maybe a degree can help ... but it still depends on how much you put into it. If, OTOH, working in the tech field is important to you, maybe there are other ways you can pursue some of the career steps I mentioned before.

[Chan Ag]

If I do part time mba in IT ----I know what can happen

If I do part time mba in "International Business"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

If I do part time mba in "Marketing"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

If I do part time mba in "Finance"---- Can you tell me what may happen in this case?

No, nobody can answer those questions. What can happen -- nobody can tell.

Nobody knows how passionate you are about learning new things and to follow things through to their completion.
Nobody knows your circumstances and your willingness to keep going.
Nobody knows how much to trust in your abilities; nobody knows how much you trust in your abilities.

Nobody but you can answer some of those questions. At least better than others.

As people have suggested in your other post, a course is just a course. It is meant to give you knowledge. Done properly, study of any kind on any subject will make your more knowledgeable, and hence more aware. That indirectly affects other things and one of those things is it *might* improve your job prospects. But that is no guarantee.

Not everybody who has graduated from a well known university after studying a great course has made it big -- at least people haven't been equally successful.
Often it is not the course, but the individual that matters.
We have many well known examples of people who've made it big but they didn't have any of those fancy degrees.

And last - our world is too dynamic for anybody to not consider the worst. The skills that were the hot skills a few years back might not add much value to your resume today and yet that's not the worst that's possible. But yes those skills are skills... they made you more knowledgeable... you'd know how to apply what you learnt in the process... And that is why we study things .. anything.

So I agree very strongly with what people have suggested to you already multiple times -- it may be better to just study what you like to study without expecting any return on the investment ( time, money and other things ... ).

[Chan Ag]

Often these MBA courses require you to write an SOP - a statement of purpose. In an SOP you're supposed to write why you want to do a particular course and how it may add value to your profile.

Have you considered writing one such SOP for yourself.

Generally writing down things helps us not lose focus and to list down all important points. That may sometimes also help us decide.

Disclaimer : I occasionally have a weird way of looking at things. So my suggestions are sometimes better ignored.