I work in the IT field and I'm undecided if I should purse an MBA or MIS degree?

[CurlyP]

Hello Community - I need some advice!

I have been working full-time in the IT field since 2011 (so 4 years). I have worked various jobs from customer support, Helpdesk lead, IT contractual, and currently as an Information Assurance Manager (IAM) while performing Cybersecurity duties (all with the same company).

I currently hold my BA in Computer Management Information Systems. I am looking to go back to school for my Master's degree; however, I am undecided on which direction I should take, MBA or MIS. Many peers and mentors have given me mixed advice and have told me it all depends on where I want to take my career.

To be honest, I'm not looking to attend a top notch school like the OSU Fisher College of Business or William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business! I could see obtaining a degree from these type of schools if I worked in the financial or business sector field.

I am looking at taking classes in the evening locally where I live or online (not through Phoenix or something of that nature).

My long term goal is to make it in Executive Management. I also love the security side of IT as it is consistently changing to stop the adversaries. However, I am not sure I want to pigeon hold my self to one specific area (hence the CMIS degree). The reason I chose the BA CMIS route was to have a full understanding of both the business and IT side, and to learn how to leverage technology to make the organization more efficient and effective. The same holds true to the Master's degree as I want something that will make me well rounded for an Executive position in the IT field. With that said, since I do work in the IT field, does the MIS degree hold more weight?

One other variable to throw in the mix. All my full-time IT experience has been with the public sector working for our nations great military (I'm a Veteran myself). I do know public sector jobs don't care if you went to a prestige college or not. The only thing I am not sure if the path I should take and if one holds more weight in public vs private sector.

If anyone has any feedback they could provide me I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jaeusm]

The reason I chose the BA CMIS route was to have a full understanding of both the business and IT side, and to learn how to leverage technology to make the organization more efficient and effective. The same holds true to the Master's degree as I want something that will make me well rounded for an Executive position in the IT field. With that said, since I do work in the IT field, does the MIS degree hold more weight?

Sounds like you already know what you want to do. Go for the MIS degree. In some circles, an MBA is not viewed as a "real" masters degree. They're also a dime-a-dozen.

Truthfully, I don't know that you really need to pursue any further education. You already have four years of experience, which carries more weight than a degree, anyway. Going back to school means giving up a lot of your time and money. If you really want more knowledge, then just self-study. It's cheaper and less stressful.

 

[MidnightShadow]

Truthfully, I don't know that you really need to pursue any further education. You already have four years of experience, which carries more weight than a degree, anyway. Going back to school means giving up a lot of your time and money. If you really want more knowledge, then just self-study. It's cheaper and less stressful.

That depends on the hiring manager at the end of the day. If they are smart, they'll take experience over education. Education is mostly a watered down, lame way to make money these days. What I learned while getting my Associate's for IT had absolutely NOTHING to do with real world. I mean, it's not bad knowledge, but you don't use it, either.

That being said, OP, you really need to know what you would like to do. If you like your job, you'll be better at it and enjoy it more.

 

[Lexluethar]

I would personally do the MBA because it's more 'generic' in the sense that IT or not, MBA will help you.

Another poster made a good point, MBA's are much more common now aday's than an MIS so MIS may be viewed as better.

 

[Huckleberry]

Lets keep in mind that IT is very different form most other careers, in that education is generally less important than experience and job specific skills. This is quite different than a field like psychology where a Masters Degree is required to get almost any decent job.

So in most areas of IT (like Network Engineer, Security Analyst etc) going for Masters degree is usually bad idea. The problem is ROI (Return On Investment), you you likely end up with a very SMALL boost to your career at the expense of a very LARGE investment of time & money to get the degree.

However since your goal is to make it in Executive Management, ROI might be there. My suggestion to find out:
Find a number of people on LinkedIN that already hold Executive Management positions like you are interested in. Check out the education these people have and this should give you pretty good idea of what type of education in necessary.