Hello,

I am currently in my last semester at Iqra university and doing BS CS with majors in software engineering with a CGPA of 3.3/4.  Although I love this field, i would like a mangerial role in my career like a project manager or senior project manager. I have talked with executives and they say that an MBA degree is required. The query is that which specialization field should i choose when applying for an MBA degree? I was thinking of Management, Marketing or MIS but i need your opinion. I want to select a field that works best with BS CS..Thank You

Thanks

Posted on September 28, 2008 at 01:26 am

1. Mariam Azeez on September 28th, 2008 at 1:27 am :
   

   Hi Tariq,

   Thank you for sending us your query.

   It is often thought by a lot of fresh students that MBA or any other managerial degree (MIS, Marketing) is the only way to become a manager in future or at least is the easiest way to secure a managerial role. That’s not true at all. All the fresh MBA’s usually start from scratch as any software developer do. They go into the training program and start from the bottom. It requires several years of hard work from them before they actually get a role where they get to manage a small team. It’s very unlikely that any company would let a fresh MBA graduate manage a team of 10 individuals when that person himself doesn’t have any domain expertise.

   A lot of students have started doing an MBA right after their bachelor’s degree which we don’t usually advise particularly if you love the field you are in. In your case as you said that you are comfortable being in the field of Computer Sciences, we strongly advise you to think over about doing an MBA right after your bachelor’s degree. MBA degree is usually beneficial after getting enough expertise in your field which one usually gets with 2-3 years of work experience.

   Almost all top business schools throughout the world prefer candidates having at least 2-3 years of work experience. This help person get enough expertise in his/her field to actually go ahead and accept more responsibilities.

   As far as becoming a project manager is concerned, even with a traditional software developer role, you can become a team lead in 2-3 years and a Project Manager in 5 years. If you really work hard, there is nothing stopping you to become the Project Manager in 3 years. In the end it really depends how soon you become an expert in a particular field and is ready to accept responsibilities and a challenging role.

   If you are still unclear about what exactly you want from your career, I would advise you to sign up for the career counseling course with us (http://www.pkstudent.com/careerservices.html) where one of our senior pkstudent.com consultant will hold multiple sessions with you to discuss your long term goals and will prepare a thorough report on what should be done to achieve them.

   Wish you best of luck with your career.

   Thanks and Regards,
   Mariam Azeez
   Senior Consultant @ pkstudent.com

2. Qasim on September 29th, 2008 at 1:46 am :
   

   But the question still remains. Which specialization field should i select for my MBA?

3. Mariam Azeez on September 29th, 2008 at 1:53 am :
   

   Hi Qasim,

   I interpreted your query as how you can become a senior manager by doing any of the business degree which I believe is only possible by gaining significant experience in your area of field.

   If your question is what field you should chose then I would say pure MBA (with emphasis on Management) is the kind of the degree that you should be looking for and that too from a very reputable institute in Pakistan (e.g LUMS or IBA) or from abroad.

   Having an MBA degree will help you get the right business aptitude that is often required by senior managers.

   Let us know if you would like to engage our services to help you with your MBA applications.

   Thanks,
   Mariam Azeez
   Senior Consultant @ pkstudent.com

4. Qasim on October 7th, 2008 at 2:18 am :
   

   Hello. I have one more question. What is the difference between an IT Manger, Project Manager and a Business Development Executive. Can u highlight their key features and requirements..Thanks.

5. lilly on November 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 pm :
   

   i only want ti know that is mba in financs is better then any other specialization