Earning an Online MBA Opened The Door To A New Career
When I was younger, I worked in a number of factories. It was decent money. The problem was that every time there was a slowdown or management was looking to trim costs to keep shareholders happy, there would be layoffs. Nine times out of ten, it wasn't the people in the front office who were being let go, it was the ones on the production line. After four or five cycles of this nonsense and moving across the country twice for jobs and new plants that were supposedly secure (but ended in shutdowns), I decided that the factory floor was not the place to be if I wanted a stable career. After investigating the opportunities in the job market, I concluded that an MBA would be my best bet, based on financial compensation and demand from potential employers for this particular degree.
The problem I was faced with was twofold: how to pay for my education, and how to complete my courses without having to uproot my family again to move to another city with a college campus that offered a competitive business program. I pondered this for a bit, and then hit on the answer. The solution was right in front of me in the form of my computer. Online degree programs have come a long way since the early days of distance education, with quality and accessibility dramatically improved. Once I started looking into the possibility in greater detail, I was very impressed with the offerings and the educational standards employed by some of these online facilities. I signed on with an online university that offered a recognized and respected Masters in Business Administration and I was able to work through my degree without having to move or enroll as a full time student on a traditional campus. I was able to keep my job to pay the bills while I earned my degree, while the convenience of online learning meant that I could come home after work, eat dinner with my family, spend some quality time with my daughter, then head to my den and participate online until it was time for bed. Other students would log on at the same time and we'd interact over our computers, exchanging notes and working together on assignments.
It was hard work, but definitely worth it. I graduated last year, resigned from the factory and started a rewarding new career as a district manager for a multinational insurance company.
