Advice on doing a masters,

gabgab

Hi guys,

I have a business studies degree 2.2, and have been in fulltime employment for approxamitely 2 years. I am looking to do a masters so I can work in a more professional environment and better my career prospects, earning potential.....

Does anyone know, or have experience of the Smurfit business school Masters in Finance/International business??

Thanks,

DublinWriter

If you like business, then do an MBA.

Henly in the UK run probably the most respected distance-MBA programme. They run an office out of DCU now.

Alternately, you might consider doing an MBA fulltime at TCD/UCD for a year if you can afford it (as you won't be working for that year).

Sheffield-Hallam run quite respected MSc courses with placement in the second year.

gabgab

Have you done one yourself? The one with hanly sounds interesting with the placement as make jobs a little easier to secure if your already placed!!

If you have done one, or are in business with people that have done one I would appreciate any feedback....

DublinWriter

gabgab wrote:

Have you done one yourself?

I'm midway through a two-year part-time business/IT MSc in Trinity.

I toyed around with doing an MBA, but it really wasn't for me in the context of my career.

I know several people who've done MBAs both full and part-time and it's no cakewalk either way. It's a major commitment and requires *a lot* of work.

If you are going to do an MBA make sure it's from an 'accredited' college. The most presigious European one is the Insead MBA in Paris.

Google around and you'll find lots of options and opinions.

gabgab

Cheers Dublin,

Thanks a million for all your help!! Do you mind me asking wjhat your doing? I have a honours business studies degree from DBS and am in full time employment for the past 2 years. I have gotten stuck in a rut with current job which is sort of business solutions customer care etc....

I am looking at doing one for a number of reasons, mainly because of the progress I am making and where I see myself in 5 years both in terms of working life quality and earning potential, the options I have available to me are very limited with a basic business degree.

Are/were you in the same sort of position? Any suggestions?

DublinWriter

It's a fairly specialised MSc and I'll let you know in PM what it is as I like to retain my anonymity on here.

It's almost important to make a 5 year career plan or else you'll just drift.

A lot of MBA courses won't admit you unless you're already a senior manager and/or over 25.

An MBA is also a lot more impressive to a prospective employer than an business-based MSc/MA would be.

I've been self-employed for the past 8 years, having gotten tired of climbing the greasy corporate ladder. While I've enjoyed this route, I've now gotten into a bit of a professional rut myself.

Because of that, I'm looking at other avenues, one of which is lecturing. I also do a bit of freelance writing for publications in Ireland and the UK and working on two novels.

Music was also my first love, and I've started doing session gigs with a few bands for the first time in ages.

I guess I'm at that classic mid-30's crossroads and I'm trying to keep all my options open, but I don't want to end up as a jack-of-all-trades by just tinkering with all those other avenues.

In your case, I'd suggest you get some big name corporate experience under your belt for the next five years. It looks good on the CV. You're still young enough (22?) to go for the graduate recruitment rounds of Accenture, KPMG, IBM etc etc. It's harder to get into those places when you're older, despite what age-discrimination laws might decree.

I was very lucky to have worked as an employee for small family run companies and large multi-nationals. The lessons you learn from both are invaluable and you only learn them after you've worked in both scenarios and can compare and contrast.