For better or for worse, I have taken some action on the education issue. I have not only signed up for a course, but filled in the forms, written in my card details for payment, and sent it all off. So that's it. I'm studying the first module for a degree in Mathematics and Computing Science. I shall see how I get on with that, and maybe step it up a stage or two once this is complete - some of the future modules dovetail together so they can be studied two at a time ... or maybe I'll hate it or find it all pointless. I don't know. But how else will I find out?
Besides that, on a whim I started investigating MBAs.
To be honest, I find the study of business-related things dull and of questionable utility. But I had a suspicion that it is the only route that puts any value on my life experiences so far, and could offer a leap into postgraduate qualifications in one move, with all the benefits in time saved and prestige gained and so on.
And so it proves. A reputable University, offering distance learning for MBAs, took my CV seriously enough to phone me to talk about my entry onto the programme, and of course send details ... which is where the plan gets holed below the waterline.
An MBA is an extortionate item. Really, a ridiculous amount of money. I can see why, and they all seem to be the same, which proves the point - someone on a decent wage, already in management but wanting to step up, is probably willing to invest quite a lot in something which directly benefits their career. Whether it's worth it is another matter, and honestly, with my lukewarm interest in the subject I have to say I'm not tempted to bet on it.
However, I must say it's done good things for my self-confidence. I like that someone has looked at my CV and said it's worth something and would enable me to skip being an undergraduate.
So at this point I feel able to hold my head up in my current degree-less condition, and study just because I want to, in a subject that suits me. Dilemma squashed, at least for now.
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2 comments:
In a degree course in Mathematics and Computing, you can at least be sure that you will learn a lot that you don’t already know, and acquire analytical skills beyond those you already have, so you will gain more than just a certificate.
I am less convinced about an MBA. A lot of business skills are learned very effectively on the job, and you may have learned a lot of them already, without having to pay through the nose to learn them again. Your experience might be enough to convince a future employer that you know enough about running a business, and a degree in mathematics and computing will certainly convince a future employer that your brain is in good working order. A combination of the experience and the degree would count for quite a lot.
I have in mind a person - a good friend as it happens - who earned an MBA some years back without it having the slightest impact on his career or earnings. Another acquaintance - I would not call him a friend - earned his MBA in night school and has gone on to a successful career as a software executive. My sense is that characteristics he was born with - his self-confidence, his ability to compel action in favor of his ideas, and his energy - have been more important to his success than has the MBA.
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