Life/career advice needed (Getting a Masters degree)

[Ashful]

...the best route would be to find a job in his field with opportunity for advancement where his desire for a Masters would be appreciated and maybe even accomodated somewhat. There are places that will help with tuition, or let you work from home one day a week to allow you to take night courses or save commute time so you can do correspondence work.

I got a portion of my BSEE paid for in this way... started working in a low-level engineering role, while they payed for me to take courses at night. It can be done, in theory... but takes damn near forever, while taking up your only time away from work, and leaving zero time for family. Maybe some companies offer a better deal, or time off to do homework, but none I've ever found. I eventually found I had to stop working and go back to school full-time, if I wanted to finish my degree in any reasonable amount of time.

I suspect statistics support what I found, but I've never looked into it. I can say I've known dozens of people who have tried to do the part time / evening school thing, while working full time. Most give up after after several years, with very little accomplished. In fact, in my memory, I cannot recall a single one who completed their degree, without biting the bullet and going back full-time at some point.

 

[Badfish740]

I got a portion of my BSEE paid for in this way... started working in a low-level engineering role, while they payed for me to take courses at night. It can be done, in theory... but takes damn near forever, while taking up your only time away from work, and leaving zero time for family. Maybe some companies offer a better deal, or time off to do homework, but none I've ever found. I eventually found I had to stop working and go back to school full-time, if I wanted to finish my degree in any reasonable amount of time.

I suspect statistics support what I found, but I've never looked into it. I can say I've known dozens of people who have tried to do the part time / evening school thing, while working full time. Most give up after after several years, with very little accomplished. In fact, in my memory, I cannot recall a single one who completed their degree, without biting the bullet and going back full-time at some point.

This was a major reason for me considering the part time job-I've personally seen two coworkers at my current job who attempted a Masters while working here full time and didn't finish. One finally left in order to finish (she was single and pretty unattached so it was an easy choice) and one is still here in the same boat as me.

 

[Hearth Mistress]

I wouldn't say it's been luck, I'm far from a "lucky" person. I've put up with my fair share, and then some of BS. Worked in retail for a long time, 50-60 hrs a week, 6 days a week, never enjoyed a holiday for years. Worked for pigs of humans (both men and women) but never once compromised my integrity or morals, ever. If you haven't figure it out yet, I'm not a "yes sir" type of person, I will challenge people and their "directions" if warranted, respectfully, at the right time. None of that is "luck" it is ability to seize an opportunity and put yourself in front of the right people. That's not something someone can teach you, that's experience and intuition.

My boss hired me because he surrounds himself with people who are head strong, he lets us do our own thing, with success or failure, his support never waivers. Granted, it took me 20+ years and a bunch of crappy jobs before this one to finally find a company where I fit in, not the "lone nut"

My advice to anyone in what they feel is a dead end job, you have skills, you have a lot to offer and if you are not in a nurturing environment, keep looking. If you think there is opportunity, put yourself in front of the people that make decisions. The ONLY person that cares about your development plan and career goals is you.

You can say I "lucked out" but if it wasn't for me having the courage and self confidence to reach out to my bosses boss's admin to get a meeting with her, the VP of my division, knowing she was coming to town, I'd never have the opportunities I've been blessed with these past few years. In her 15+ years, no one ever was so forward. Not only did she accept my meeting, she brought along her boss, the president of my division too. THAT was the start of my success, nothing to do with luck...just bravery

 

[BrotherBart]

Like Hearth Mistress says, ya have to kiss a lot of frogs. I actually never told any prospective employer about my MBA or the year of law school.

Of course I didn't have kids so I could launch off of a few cliffs hoping to catch some wind under my wings. Fortunately I did. And was doing it in the seventies and eighties. Doing it today I would probably end up living in a refrigerator box somewhere.

 

[Ashful]

Hearth Mistress, don't misinterpret what I say. You obviously have the chops to be where you are. But thinking back to your original story, you were lucky that your former CEO had chose to have that "early in career" leadership program, and take the time to meet with you. Without that sole meeting, you may have still done well (finding other opportunities), but might not be exactly where you are today.

I've done very well for myself. A lot of it was dumb luck. Some of it was making choices that put me in the right place at the right time.

 

[jharkin]

I suspect statistics support what I found, but I've never looked into it. I can say I've known dozens of people who have tried to do the part time / evening school thing, while working full time. Most give up after after several years, with very little accomplished. In fact, in my memory, I cannot recall a single one who completed their degree, without biting the bullet and going back full-time at some point.

I believe it. My company ran a program for a while in partnership with a local business school (Babson college) where we could get a Management certificate - basically 1/3 of an MBA with an emphasis on the tech related courses. This was for engineering managers. It was copletely paid for and the Babson professors even came to our office campus to teach on site. It took a bit over two years at one course per semester and summer.

I did the entire course, and at the end you had the option to enroll at Babson and finish the MBA. Just happened to be when the kids arrived and my wife left work and it just hasn't worked out financially or time wise for me to finish. I find that the courses I took plus my engineering degree and on job experience are more than enough to be an effective engineering manager. Maybe if I wanted to start my own company or go interview for an executive role I'll regret not finishing, but for now....