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CAREER ADVISOR
In this issue, “Your Career Advisor” is responding to two questions from Egypt and Jordan; the first is “how to demonstrate my capabilities - after obtaining an MBA - to my current employers ?” ; and the second is : “ what is your advice on enrolling in a distant education program to obtain a Master in Computer Science”. All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to
advisor@skill-link.com
- would be addressed in this section every week.
Q1: How to demonstrate my capabilities - after obtaining an MBA - to my current employers ?
I recently obtained my MBA, but my current job does not give me the chance to apply what I learnt .
What should I do in order to express myself and show my employers how much I am capable of ?
I. A. Egypt
Replying:
Dear Mr. I
First of all, let us remember that practically an MBA does not create a new person, it gives its holder analytical tool to better handle various functions and address management or business problems. Therefore you should expect changes / more challenging responsibilities to be assigned to you gradually, this is the normal course of events.
In your particular case - and from the limited information you provided - this may or may not be happening. Assuming things are not changing, you may wish to make management more aware of what you can do and your interest to assume more responsibilities. The following are a number of suggestions you may wish to follow:
- the most direct way that you owe it to yourself to at least try once is to talk to your direct supervisor / manager and ask to be transferred to a particular job or to be assigned a particular responsibility (you think is challenging). You have nothing to loose, the worst thing that will happen is you will get a ‘no’ answer and usually with some explanation. At least you tried and it will deliver a message to your supervisor / manager that this guy is interested in change, this will not harm you.
- talk directly to managers you have a good relationship with and express your interest in getting involved in some of the temporary activities that take place in most organizations (besides your regular work), eg: participate in the team responsible for the testing or implementation of the new application system in your company / department; or help in a special event (exhibition, trade show etc…). This could be done in addition to your regular tasks; which may require you to work extra hours or on week end. This will show your commitment and will not affect your original responsibilities. Such an offer and its positive outcome should shed light on the ‘new’ you.
- You may to undertake (on your own initiative) a small project - outside your regular working hours - and show the results to the relevant manager(s). If you are in a business development (sales, marketing, customer service) related function you may develop a smart competitor analysis and the positioning of your company’s products / services versus competition. If you are in an accounting or administrative function you can develop and expenses analysis and suggest opportunities for savings and enhancing efficiency. And so on, even if the results are not spectacular, you will at least be able to demonstrate you can think, you can present your ideas and you have self initiative.
- By reading more about your function and your industry / market (magazines, books, reference material, visiting relevant web sites) etc… you may identify short articles that could be of interest to some of the managers. Presenting it to them with an “I thought you might be interested” note…. Will make them think of you and will single you out.
Of course none of the above is a sure path to changing your job situation, however in many cases they worked.
Q2: Going for a distant education Masters in Computer Science
I am a Jordanian who obtained my BSc degree in Computer
Science from the USA in 1985. I am currently working as system analyst .
Can you help in guiding me on how to get a master degree in Computer Science by correspondence (without
resigning from my work). I wonder if you know of any university that is fully recognized in this subject and preferably in the Middle East.
A.M. Jordan
Replying
Dear Mr. A
Studying while working is always an interesting option; also the IT field has developed dramatically since your university years in the mid eighties. Distant learning (as you call it ‘by correspondence’) has been made much easier know with the development of the internet. Several Arab states have announced online education initiatives, these will start for undergraduate degrees and may be later extend to cover post graduate topics / degrees. We are not aware of any such program in the field you indicated. However, beyond our region several reputable (and not so reputable) schools have what you are looking for. In this limited space we cannot list them all, thus we are presenting a sample - below - you could further explore.
Good Luck.
IMCS: Illinois/Internet Master of Computer Science
The Department of Computer Science of the University of Illinois (USA) has embarked on an ambitious program to deliver graduate courses and the professional master's degree, the MCS, using Internet digital audio and video technology. The Internet MCS (IMCS) program is flexible. You can enroll in individual courses for professional development on a non-credit basis or you can complete the MCS degree program. Moreover, because the IMCS transmits on-campus courses via the Internet, you can choose the time that best matches your schedule, while still enjoying the same high quality program offerings as on-campus students.
IMCS is the name of our off-campus program that offers graduate-level Computer Science courses over the Internet, along with the option of earning our professional degree, the Master of Computer Science (MCS), for those students who qualify for admission to this degree program. IMCS courses may also be taken for your own benefit for credit or no credit without enrolling in the degree program. The MCS degree itself is identical to that earned by on-campus students. The degree requires nine units
of course work and no thesis. The coursework for the degree is accomplished by taking courses on-line over a period of sufficient time to acquire the nine units. Courses are offered each semester (including a summer semester).
For more information and to apply, visit the following link:
http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/education/grad/degrees/imcs/
American College of Computer & Information Sciences
The M.S. program in computer science provides a fundamental understanding of theoretical and applied computer science, which will allow the student to begin exploring special topics and state-of-the-art subjects. It prepares students for advanced positions in industry application, development and research.
For more information and to apply, visit the following link:
http://www.aics.edu/catalogue/index.html
Note from the editor:
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality