Software Engineering - BS in Comp. Science & now considering MBA -- Opinion

Author

BS in Comp. Science & now considering MBA -- Opinion

sherry

2005-09-23, 7:57 am

Hi guys,

I got my BS in 2003 and now working as a Soft. Eng. for Raytheon for a
little over a year. I've been considering to get MBA to further my
career caz. I hate the turtle pace progression with ONLY BS DEGREE.
However, I can't seem to find a source where I can see what types of
jobs are there for this combination (BS+MBA), what kind of experience
is required to really benfit from MBA, or Salary.

Has anyone out there considered or done any research ... please, share
the knowledge.

Thanx in advance,
..........!

EventHelix.com

2005-09-23, 7:57 am

This is off-topic here.

A BS+MBA combination would be useful in consulting companies like
McKinsey.

--
EventStudio System Designer 2.5 - http://www.EventHelix.com/EventStudio
Sequence Diagram Based System Design and Modeling Tool

H. S. Lahman

2005-09-23, 6:59 pm

Responding to Sherry...

> I got my BS in 2003 and now working as a Soft. Eng. for Raytheon for a
> little over a year. I've been considering to get MBA to further my
> career caz. I hate the turtle pace progression with ONLY BS DEGREE.
> However, I can't seem to find a source where I can see what types of
> jobs are there for this combination (BS+MBA), what kind of experience
> is required to really benfit from MBA, or Salary.

The M in MBA is for management. So the obvious parlay of both skills
sets is in the management of technical activities. Think: Project
manager; Software Manager; Engineering Manager; CTO. Also, most
technical consultants need at least passing knowledge of business issues
to sell their proposals and integrate within existing organizations.

*************
There is nothing wrong with me that could
not be cured by a capful of Drano.

H. S. Lahman
hsl@pathfindermda.com
Pathfinder Solutions -- Put MDA to Work
http://www.pathfindermda.com
blog: http://pathfinderpeople.blogs.com/hslahman
(888)OOA-PATH

William

2005-09-25, 6:58 pm

"H. S. Lahman" <h.lahman@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:SRVYe.52$y64.47@trnddc06...
>
> The M in MBA is for management.

Actually it's Master of Business Administration.

> So the obvious parlay of both skills
> sets is in the management of technical activities. Think: Project
> manager; Software Manager; Engineering Manager; CTO. Also, most
> technical consultants need at least passing knowledge of business issues
> to sell their proposals and integrate within existing organizations.

By itself the MBA wouldn't qualify you to be a technical manager,
but if you also have the technical savvy it certainly wouldn't
hurt. Otherwise you'd be looking at non-technical positions first,
just as in any other company.

However, if your software product is business-related, then your
MBA skils would apply, probably, to things like architect or
system designer, etc. You might not even need much technical
knowledge (any more than a building architect needs in-depth
engineering knowledge) - someone else can handle that. -Wm

H. S. Lahman

2005-09-25, 6:58 pm

Responding to William...

>
>
> Actually it's Master of Business Administration.

I was being facetious.

>
>
> By itself the MBA wouldn't qualify you to be a technical manager,
> but if you also have the technical savvy it certainly wouldn't
> hurt. Otherwise you'd be looking at non-technical positions first,
> just as in any other company.

The OP was specifically asking how existing software skills could be
parlayed with an MBA.

>
> However, if your software product is business-related, then your
> MBA skils would apply, probably, to things like architect or
> system designer, etc. You might not even need much technical
> knowledge (any more than a building architect needs in-depth
> engineering knowledge) - someone else can handle that. -Wm

True. I made an assumption about the OP's goals.

*************
There is nothing wrong with me that could
not be cured by a capful of Drano.

H. S. Lahman
hsl@pathfindermda.com
Pathfinder Solutions -- Put MDA to Work
http://www.pathfindermda.com
blog: http://pathfinderpeople.blogs.com/hslahman
(888)OOA-PATH

William

2005-09-26, 6:59 pm

"H. S. Lahman" <h.lahman@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:5IAZe.3984$WT3.684@trnddc03...
> Responding to William...
>
>
> I was being facetious.
>
>
> The OP was specifically asking how existing software skills could be
> parlayed with an MBA.

I know, and I don't think I was clear enough. I meant that for most
of the technical management positions you named, the MBA might not
be applicable. I don't think an MBA program, as opposed to targeted
management courses, would focus on the specific skills you'd need,
although it would certainly help in the non-specific areas. (I don't
think I've ever met an MBA in any of those fields, actually. Seems
like an MBA is a ticket out of the technical management arena and
into higher-level management where the differences aren't as great
between companies in different markets.) -Wm

>
>
> True. I made an assumption about the OP's goals.
>
>
> *************
> There is nothing wrong with me that could
> not be cured by a capful of Drano.
>
> H. S. Lahman
> hsl@pathfindermda.com
> Pathfinder Solutions -- Put MDA to Work
> http://www.pathfindermda.com
> blog: http://pathfinderpeople.blogs.com/hslahman
> (888)OOA-PATH
>
>
>

H. S. Lahman

2005-09-26, 6:59 pm

Responding to William...

>
>
> I know, and I don't think I was clear enough. I meant that for most
> of the technical management positions you named, the MBA might not
> be applicable. I don't think an MBA program, as opposed to targeted
> management courses, would focus on the specific skills you'd need,
> although it would certainly help in the non-specific areas. (I don't
> think I've ever met an MBA in any of those fields, actually. Seems
> like an MBA is a ticket out of the technical management arena and
> into higher-level management where the differences aren't as great
> between companies in different markets.) -Wm

Don't try to sell that to a Sloan School grad. B-) Some wags have
argued Sloan should provide an MNC degree -- Master of Number Crunching.
[Of course SS grads tend to feel jobs like Engineering Manager are
beneath their talents; they want to go directly for CEO. B-))]

I agree that one doesn't see a lot of that combination. However, I
could argue that one of the reasons the software industry is in the mess
it is in today is precisely that -- there aren't enough software
managers around who really understand management. FWIW, I think an MBA
should be _at least_ as important as a CS degree for any line position
above Team Leader in a software organization. (Dilbert's PHM
notwithstanding; competence counts.)

Depending on whose data one looks at 40-70% large software projects
fail, which is a mind-boggling rate that would be unsustainable in any
other industry. The most common causative factors cited are usually
variations on bad management, bad technical risk assessment, or bad
estimation. All of those things are process issues and that's what good
managers do: ensure good processes.

I agree that Accounting 101 isn't going to be directly relevant to a
Software Manager. (Though I could argue that understanding issues like
capitalization are important when doing something like trying to sell a
budget.) But I see things like Accounting 101 as just providing a
practical context for acquiring the right mindset. Thus I would not
expect a CEO at a Fortune 500 to be posting debits any more often than a
Software Manager. However, I would see them having pretty much the same
overall management problems (aside from the technology spin).

*************
There is nothing wrong with me that could
not be cured by a capful of Drano.

H. S. Lahman
hsl@pathfindermda.com
Pathfinder Solutions -- Put MDA to Work
http://www.pathfindermda.com
blog: http://pathfinderpeople.blogs.com/hslahman
(888)OOA-PATH

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