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Many junior military officers will be faced with the decision when they leave the service: do I begin my career in corporate America immediately - or do I pursue a graduate degree first (most often business school). This conversation is intended to help those faced with that decision.
Posted in these groups: 
Graduate School
MBA
Graduate School MBA
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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Sir, My personal choice would be for a graduate degree as it would make you much more marketable, while most junior officers already have much to offer with their military and possible command experience, so do about a few thousand others in the same arena from departing the 5 services at the current time, so the extra oomph from a business degree would or should push them further up the mountain of applicants to be beneficial.
Just my two cents. Hopefully this can bump it up for you to get more input.
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Having watched many of my friends transition after their first tour to jobs in which they took a big pay cut and had to polish up their business skills, I've become more and more convinced that Business School is the right answer for transitioning junior officers (especially with the GI Bill).
While we're our most marketable between 4-7 years of service (leaving after 10 and before 20 makes people wonder if you were forced out), we need to be honest about our strengths and weaknesses. While leadership experience is often outstrips our civilian peers, the ability to network and translate skills into a business language may not be readily apparent. B-School is the best chance you have of bridging this gap and added some vital skills and contacts to your repertoire.
While we're our most marketable between 4-7 years of service (leaving after 10 and before 20 makes people wonder if you were forced out), we need to be honest about our strengths and weaknesses. While leadership experience is often outstrips our civilian peers, the ability to network and translate skills into a business language may not be readily apparent. B-School is the best chance you have of bridging this gap and added some vital skills and contacts to your repertoire.
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Evening,
It all depends...(if you get an MBA you will know that is the most popular statement expected by the Prof)
I got my MBA from a top 30 school, one of only 57 Business Schools from over 9000, who have the triple crown of all 3 accreditation's, it was NOT online, it was an executive MBA with monthly travel, hotels, projects and self catering AND I worked a full time job at the same time, running an organization with over 3000 employees on two continents.
My MBA cost me an arm and a leg, I got it when I was 38, I am now 47 and it is literally paid off next month.
So whats the story? If you go, go big, dont get it just to get it! Going online becasue it is easy, if you go online it is becasue you have no time but you know what they say; if you need time, you make time.
Regardless what people say (and I know this since I hired 1000s of people) the origination of the degree DOES matter: Online, State sponsored, Ivy league or otherwise...BUT does it matter to me? I guess it does in a way but it all ended up much different than I expected.
The MBA taught me to analyze more, slow down and consider all possibilities, set up a SWOT and use Porters 5 Forces, the BCG and all those other nifty business models...in the end it ruined me as an entrepreneur. I had already set up and ran 5 of my own businesses before getting it, afterwards it took me 5 years to "unlearn" the hesitation.
You wish to be like others and do like others and work with others the same, then follow the system, there is NOTHING wrong with that, especially after serving in combat you sometimes WANT a routine...BUT if you are a strong enough person to drive through an MBA, you are a strong enough person to start your own business, using your intuition to drive it to success.
In the end look at the stats: Are the most amazing Entrepreneurs MBA grads? Usually not. SO I think the REAL question is: Who do you want to be in your civilian life, WHERE do you want to play the game? WHAT is the playing field where you feel most challenged?
Such questions will allow you to focus on what it is you really want, I can only urge you to not fall prey to taking the next best thing, accept only THAT what is your dream, you will never have such an opportunity for a life transition ever again (if you are getting out).
We all dictate our own reality, doing what I WANT with WHO I WANT and making sure my life and those in it with me are all happy and feeling needed and productive is my life passion!
If I may say a bit, please indulge me, there is a point:
I got out an E-5, opened a cocktail bar, then two more, then a club, at the same time I started working in the health club chain business by helping a South African company move to Germany, then Austria, sold my bars, went full time health and fitness, rose to Director of Europe, wrote a book, it went best seller, got my MBA, quit my job, went into a monastery in Austrian mountains for a long time, started doing TV talk shows and founded a German Political pressure group with two friends, now the largest in Europe and one of the other founders is in the EU Parliament, lived in 8 countries, worked in 30+ cities and currently live in Budapest and fly each week to another country as a self employed turn around specialist...becasue of my MBA? NOT A CHANCE, becasue I can! I am able! I know anything is possible!
I was a SGT from a poor family, I am now hobnobbing in European Politics, interviewed on TV about my opinion to the war, NATO, the UN and much more and I live in the beautiful city of Budapest, and travel each week on a plane to who knows where...I got here becasue I learned one thing on 27 June 1986 in Fort Know Kentucky while Drill Sergeant SFC Gilbert had his foot on my head with my face in the mud:
Anything is possible if your heart believes...since then nothing can stop me and I encourage you to look FIRST at who you really are, and not what you think you want to be. Fulfill your dreams, open doors and never think something is out of reach. What we went thru makes us special, dont forget that! Use it to your advantage fellow Warriors!
If any of you are so inclined, I offer free services to Vets, simply using my contacts to help, give advice or connect for a job, who knows. I did good in my life so I have been giving back for years, feel free to reach out for anything, who knows!
Steady on Warriors, I am proud to be associated with you all.
Steven
It all depends...(if you get an MBA you will know that is the most popular statement expected by the Prof)
I got my MBA from a top 30 school, one of only 57 Business Schools from over 9000, who have the triple crown of all 3 accreditation's, it was NOT online, it was an executive MBA with monthly travel, hotels, projects and self catering AND I worked a full time job at the same time, running an organization with over 3000 employees on two continents.
My MBA cost me an arm and a leg, I got it when I was 38, I am now 47 and it is literally paid off next month.
So whats the story? If you go, go big, dont get it just to get it! Going online becasue it is easy, if you go online it is becasue you have no time but you know what they say; if you need time, you make time.
Regardless what people say (and I know this since I hired 1000s of people) the origination of the degree DOES matter: Online, State sponsored, Ivy league or otherwise...BUT does it matter to me? I guess it does in a way but it all ended up much different than I expected.
The MBA taught me to analyze more, slow down and consider all possibilities, set up a SWOT and use Porters 5 Forces, the BCG and all those other nifty business models...in the end it ruined me as an entrepreneur. I had already set up and ran 5 of my own businesses before getting it, afterwards it took me 5 years to "unlearn" the hesitation.
You wish to be like others and do like others and work with others the same, then follow the system, there is NOTHING wrong with that, especially after serving in combat you sometimes WANT a routine...BUT if you are a strong enough person to drive through an MBA, you are a strong enough person to start your own business, using your intuition to drive it to success.
In the end look at the stats: Are the most amazing Entrepreneurs MBA grads? Usually not. SO I think the REAL question is: Who do you want to be in your civilian life, WHERE do you want to play the game? WHAT is the playing field where you feel most challenged?
Such questions will allow you to focus on what it is you really want, I can only urge you to not fall prey to taking the next best thing, accept only THAT what is your dream, you will never have such an opportunity for a life transition ever again (if you are getting out).
We all dictate our own reality, doing what I WANT with WHO I WANT and making sure my life and those in it with me are all happy and feeling needed and productive is my life passion!
If I may say a bit, please indulge me, there is a point:
I got out an E-5, opened a cocktail bar, then two more, then a club, at the same time I started working in the health club chain business by helping a South African company move to Germany, then Austria, sold my bars, went full time health and fitness, rose to Director of Europe, wrote a book, it went best seller, got my MBA, quit my job, went into a monastery in Austrian mountains for a long time, started doing TV talk shows and founded a German Political pressure group with two friends, now the largest in Europe and one of the other founders is in the EU Parliament, lived in 8 countries, worked in 30+ cities and currently live in Budapest and fly each week to another country as a self employed turn around specialist...becasue of my MBA? NOT A CHANCE, becasue I can! I am able! I know anything is possible!
I was a SGT from a poor family, I am now hobnobbing in European Politics, interviewed on TV about my opinion to the war, NATO, the UN and much more and I live in the beautiful city of Budapest, and travel each week on a plane to who knows where...I got here becasue I learned one thing on 27 June 1986 in Fort Know Kentucky while Drill Sergeant SFC Gilbert had his foot on my head with my face in the mud:
Anything is possible if your heart believes...since then nothing can stop me and I encourage you to look FIRST at who you really are, and not what you think you want to be. Fulfill your dreams, open doors and never think something is out of reach. What we went thru makes us special, dont forget that! Use it to your advantage fellow Warriors!
If any of you are so inclined, I offer free services to Vets, simply using my contacts to help, give advice or connect for a job, who knows. I did good in my life so I have been giving back for years, feel free to reach out for anything, who knows!
Steady on Warriors, I am proud to be associated with you all.
Steven
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Sgt (Join to see)
It depends on what? Your program sounds great, and likely boosted your career, but what specifically about your program helped you get your foot in the business world? Or, since you did an Executive MBA, did you already have a good position before pursuing your MBA?
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