MrDub

Depends. I have had two jobs in the US so far. The first asked for an official copy of my degree from my uni in Irl (could be forged I suppose !). The next company asked me to sign a form allowing them get the uni documents for themselves....

ladylisa

The MBA is for my OH. I'm too bloody honest to lie..I even get nervous when I know I'm telling the truth.

BigDavyG

Yep, I had to sign one of those forms, but given that they completed the check in a day I very much doubt that the company my employer used actually bothered their arse to check with my uni back home.

ladylisa

Are you on an L1 visa? My OH is and his company lawyers had to produce reams of documents to get him his Visa. I'm not sure how easy it would have been to have forged degree records.

I know there are many fake companies producing degree certificates but I think many employers are onto them now and know their names. I watched a documentary type programme where this lady that had worked for a company for trillions of years obtained her 'MBA' through one of those companies, she said she had to produce work to qualify for it which justified her position however the company sacked her and she subsequently lost her home, car and morning latte at Starbucks.

franc11s

I concur with your statement. I DID NOT mean to imply that it's not worth bothering with the MBA. I got carried away with the context of the other postings (including my own).

I support furthering education using many forms (reading, degree courses) on top of experience. The UK in fact, encourages day release to combine the two. I support that 100%

BigDavyG

Nope, I got a GC through the lottery, so the USCIS checked all my stuff but my new employer didn't seem that interested, maybe cos I worked for a subsidiary of theirs back home (though I did not transfer between the 2).

MrDub

No. thats fine i understand....Im trying to decide whether it is worth while for me to do an MBA hence the questions. I go back and forth all the time. Americans collegues around me say 'yes, it is a must'. So I appreciate hearing your comments too.

Cheers

Lizzi

My OH hasn't experienced this with UK companies. He also left school at 15 but worked his way up the food chain. More and more recruiters are now specifying degrees and MBAs before they even get onto thier experience requirements. It may not be so here, but an MBA is a very definite plus to a job in the uk exec job market.

nun

The value of an MBA really depends on your previous qualification, what sort of work you do and where you are in your career. If you are going to do one it should be with a definite goal in mind rather than just getting some letters after your name. Some MBAs are specialized, say towards technical/engineering management or financial operations so choose a course that will be useful. Also I'd strongly recommend a course you can actually attend with classmates rather than online, as you learn as much from the other students as the teachers.

I did a one year MA in "Technology Management" at University of Maryland, but found that the best training I got was the inhouse courses offered by my employer, so take advantage of those if they are offered.

franc11s

My problem is, despite my previous successes arter too leaving school at 15, is that I was and always have been a terrible studier and abysmal exam taker. I don't have a good memory and put a lot of my buisiness success down to PDA's, computer memory, my wife and my secretary. I failed my driving test here in the USA because the questions were too easy and therefore I thought they were trick questions

My lucky break in life came when someone saw something in me (at 17) and took me on board to work in a training dept of a computer company (changing tapes, cleaning ash trays and data entry). This person let me loose on a computer and then I self taught myself computing whilst there in my spare time (and gazillions of unpaid overtime).

There can be no doubt in business, experience means the most. There are times, for certain functions an MBA or other degrees are essential. It's a shame if ANY business puts education first because I would have gotten nowhere. I am a slow learner. My trait is that it takes me longer to learn anything than anyone else BUT that when I do finally "get it", I "get it" better than most.. that has been the biggest contribution to my success. I am just a dumb ass and for some reason.

I am ALL for EDUCATION, it just didn't work for me. There are numerous and better examples of successful "drop-out" who have gone TONS further than I.

Bottom line is, as someone else put it in this thread. It's all about the type of job, your age, your background and for me, quite a lot of luck. There are a lot more examples of success from people WITH a good education so it depneds on YOU.

neil

I would imagine that whether it's worth while depends a lot on the culture of the company. If you'd like to stay with that company and get promotions and the only way is to get the piece of paper for an MBA then do it. If you're thinking of leaving that company to get promotion then perhaps it's less important.

I assume that if they are offering to pay (at least part of it) then they believe they will get some benefit from it and therefore it may be in your interest to do it.