So hear me out.
I've been on the fence about whether or not an MBA is worth it for me for the last year or so.
Here's my story:
Mechanical Engineer, soon to be P Eng.
27 years old.
All my jobs have been a combination of business and engineering.
My current role involves managing the business side of engineered products, such as:
- maintaining price lists, based on market conditions, margins, costs
- overseeing all technical documentation published online
- analyzing marketing trends and the competition
- lead projects on new product development(essentially project management)
- assist with sales calls and product training
- customer support
- sales forecasting
- help create sales tools
- and a whole lot of number crunching in excel spreadsheets
So as you can see, my current role is very heavy on the business side of things. Is it really worth it for me to go to school for an MBA when I already have real world business experience? I've had engineers tell me that they want to get an MBA just to get a job similar to mine.
There's also the issue with salary. I don't know too many Engineers who got their MBAs, but I know a bunch of ppl with Business Degrees who did, and they don't make that much. I've seen as low as $55-70K, and I already make a little bit more than that. Do engineers have access to better paying jobs with their MBAs? The only feedback that I've heard is that MBA's help if you want to get into consulting. Can anyone provide a salary range or examples?
Another thing I should mention is that my field is relative stable, and there seems to be a constant shortage of qualified ppl. There's room to grow and it's not like I'm dying to switch fields.
It also seems like with so many ppl getting MBA's, the value of an MBA has gone down. Getting an MBA has a very high oppurtunity cost, and I'm just not sure if I can justify it given my circumstances.
Any feedback would be appreciated, especially from Engineers with MBAs
Thanks
I've been on the fence about whether or not an MBA is worth it for me for the last year or so.
Here's my story:
Mechanical Engineer, soon to be P Eng.
27 years old.
All my jobs have been a combination of business and engineering.
My current role involves managing the business side of engineered products, such as:
- maintaining price lists, based on market conditions, margins, costs
- overseeing all technical documentation published online
- analyzing marketing trends and the competition
- lead projects on new product development(essentially project management)
- assist with sales calls and product training
- customer support
- sales forecasting
- help create sales tools
- and a whole lot of number crunching in excel spreadsheets
So as you can see, my current role is very heavy on the business side of things. Is it really worth it for me to go to school for an MBA when I already have real world business experience? I've had engineers tell me that they want to get an MBA just to get a job similar to mine.
There's also the issue with salary. I don't know too many Engineers who got their MBAs, but I know a bunch of ppl with Business Degrees who did, and they don't make that much. I've seen as low as $55-70K, and I already make a little bit more than that. Do engineers have access to better paying jobs with their MBAs? The only feedback that I've heard is that MBA's help if you want to get into consulting. Can anyone provide a salary range or examples?
Another thing I should mention is that my field is relative stable, and there seems to be a constant shortage of qualified ppl. There's room to grow and it's not like I'm dying to switch fields.
It also seems like with so many ppl getting MBA's, the value of an MBA has gone down. Getting an MBA has a very high oppurtunity cost, and I'm just not sure if I can justify it given my circumstances.
Any feedback would be appreciated, especially from Engineers with MBAs
Thanks