I know you probably can’t be CEO of Pfizer with an online MBA or CTO of Siebel with an online MBA in IT, but are these credentials considered sufficient for most manager/director-level jobs? They seem to be accredited and legitimate but I can’t avoid the impression that they look like diploma mills.
Not all online degrees are created equal. The answer to your question in large part depends on the institution issuing it.
Many respected brick and mortar universities offer online degrees, which are just as valid as any other degree from that institution. University of Phoenix also has some good online programs,
On the other hand, there are plenty of diploma mills out there that will give you a degree in exchange for your credit card number.
The key is accreditation. Find out what organizations the school is accredited with and check them out.
What kind of manager/director level job do you mean?
Do you mean manager of the local Best Buy, or managing teams of professionals in a business scenario, or managing a team of programmers on a contract, or what?
The managing teams of professionals in a business scenario one.
Who knows then. . .despite workers’ complaints to the contrary, managers are not all just people who got where they are because of their connections.
They typically started working at a company, and moved up through the ranks by being there a long time, or displaying some degree of competence. At least, that’s the way it is here. They aren’t just “managers” hired for managing with no idea how the underlying business and operations work.
I don’t know what kind of companies are out there going, “oh, we need someone with a degree – any degree from anywhere – to manage our employees”.
It just doesn’t really work that way. The online places that actually sell these degrees probably have a different take.
I thgink your worries shouldn’t be about whether your online masters is worth anything but more whether doing a masters is worth anything. My girlfriend spent over £3,000 studying for a masters from a very reputable institution and still can’t find a job. over a year later. She is over qualified for most of the jobs in our area and the rest of them are pretty much inaccessible due to flourishing NIPOTISM. Anyone who says it doesn’t exist is truly, truly mistaken
Same in my area in Texas. Having a Master’s Degree from a Reputable University is like having a conviction on your record. You have to lie like hell to get a job at Bust Buy, Temp agencies, etc… in order to get a job to survive during lay-off times.
I’m getting my masters online, through Eastern Michigan University.
It’s Educational Media and Technology, and is ONLY offered online.
The key is accreditation.
If the school and program are accredited by a regional Association of Schools and Colleges, it’s valid. If it’s not, you run a real risk of paying a chunk of money for a degree that was printed by a guy sitting in a trailer somewhere.
Right. However, if it’s REAL cheap and not by a complete fly-by-night outfit, it could be worth the bucks just to add to your Resume.
Let’s face it- there are only a very few Colleges with great prestige. There are a few others that the person hiring you may not know by name, but can guess about- anything that starts with “University of California…” is a good bet not to be spurious. So, if your degree isn’t from Harvard & co, or from a recognized State Colleg/Univ, the “el Cheapo” degree might serve as well.
Do note that non-Academic religious degrees can be perfectly acceptable even if not from an Accredited insitution. They also can be worth nothing.
Even MBAs who are hired as managers generally have a lot of work experience in a particular industry prior to school. Even if you get an MBA from Harvard or Wharton, you usually don’t start off managing people. You go and join an investment bank or consulting firm as an “associate” alongside 50 other MBAs.
I wasn’t asking whether MBA’s are worthwhile, I was asking whether the online ones are as good as others. I have loads of industry experience but I’m one of the few who doesn’t have an MBA or other type of masters degree, that’s why I’m asking.
From your posts, it sounds like the MBA is a requirement, whether stated or implied, for a management position. Will the people you intend to manage believe you are more competent because you have an MBA among your credentials? Possibly. Will the person who screens your resume know the difference between an MBA from online or not? Possibly, but at least the MBA acronym is present.
The coursework is likely as difficult as brick and mortar MBAs - in my opinion, probably tougher. It is what you make of it. I’m a brick and mortar MBA and having peers and classmates around for assistance made it easier for me to bear the load. It was also very helpful with sharing/learning real world experiences from others and tremendously beneficial from professor and student debates and interactions on many topics.
Also, the value of the peers and classmates is very strong as business is almost fundamentally networking (it’s not about ‘what’ you know at certain levels as much as ‘who’ you know). Some of my MBA classmates hold executive positions at many corporations across the country now.
If you’re not concerned with business networking during your MBA schooling as much as you’re concerned with learning key theories and doing the work to strengthen your knowledge, it doesn’t matter where you EARN the credential. The value will come from the effort you make to improve yourself while you are in the course.
There will ALWAYS be people who are biased - if you are circulating your resume - particularly if the reader of the resume earned their degree one way or the other.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck!
IMHO, no. You really want to have an MBA from a top 20 or so business school. I also think that working in groups and networking are an important part of a business school education. That’s something you can’t get online.
While they’re not 100% online, I have heard of some pretty high-ranked schools that have a program (Usually something like an “Executive MBA”) where you only need to spend a few weeks each year in residence.
I don’t think there would be any problem there.
But I do want to do a slight hijack and say that what msmith537 said is something to really consider if you’re gonna go for the gold. For real big out-of-the-gate salaries and all, I would think this is necessary. But if you’re not trying for the fast track to CEO of a major company, then one MBA is pretty much equivalent to another.
As long as they are accredited, of course. (Speaking of the USA here)