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Networking yourself

1,679 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Bayside Tiger Ag
Tex_Ag_2017
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AG
I am 1.5 years out of school and have been at my job for a little over a year. I have a degree in mechanical engineering but ideally do not want to do that forever. At some point, I want some sort of manager position or something more along on the business side. I strive to succeed but I don't see that from my coworkers. They seem completely content just being an engineer and being a nerd the rest of their life. I like my current job but feel there would never be any vertical movement and I am not sure if I will ever get a huge raise based on performance. The workplace is good for the most part but there is no accountability system in place. Luckily, most of the guys work hard.

I am wondering how to make connections for anything in the future 4 or 5 years down the road. I don't really know how to make connections with our vendors we have now or anything like that. I know that there is linkedin and stuff like that but how do I really put myself out there for the future?
Astroag
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AG
LinkedIn...fully updated...and add people in your field, at companies you want to work for, recruiters, ags in higher level positions

Join professional organizations and attend the conferences, etc
_______________________________________________________


If ya ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin!!!
Bayside Tiger Ag
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Another option is to use the next couple years to determine what drives you while studying for and taking the GMAT. Do well on that and you could pivot to an MBA program that will get you fantastic opportunities to network in the areas you're interested in.

It really needs to be a top 20 MBA program in order to be worth it.
Tex_Ag_2017
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AG
What is considered a top 20 program? And if I cannot get into one of these, are you saying it is pointless?
Bayside Tiger Ag
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Tex_Ag_2017 said:

What is considered a top 20 program? And if I cannot get into one of these, are you saying it is pointless?


You need to consider the ROI an MBA gets you, as well as what industries recruit at the schools you would be looking at. In most cases, many would argue that the ROI of a school outside the top 20 isn't worth it.

Look at rankings like USNWR or Bloomberg Businessweek to get an idea for which MBA programs would fit with you.
Woods Ag
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AG
What industry are you in now?
HollywoodBQ
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AG
Quote:

It really needs to be a top 20 MBA program in order to be worth it.
It does not need to be a "Top 20" MBA program. But, I wouldn't go to Texas State or University of Phoenix either.

When you get there, an Executive MBA - evening or weekend program will be fine.

I did the EMBA program at Colorado and I achieved my financial goals much faster than expected. I got laid off in February 2018 so I've gone backwards about 15 years career progression wise but, I did manage to get hooked up with a rocket ship of a start-up so... I should be back on top by this time next year.
HollywoodBQ
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AG
Astroag nailed it pretty well. Join professional organizations, go to conferences, meet folks at the bar. Heck, even talk to folks sitting next to you on airplanes. OK, maybe not the old lady who just wants to talk about her grandkids and their homework. But, you never know who you're going to meet.

Another thing that seems to be more popular these days is to go find some executive or senior manager who has an open door and ask them to mentor you.

That does two things for you. One is you can get advice and insight from somebody who hopefully got to where they are based on more than just their looks or who their brother-in-law is. The second thing is that you become part of that person's extended team.

I'll give you an example from my days in the Texas Army National Guard. The process to get promoted, etc. was reasonably straightforward at the lower levels. But, to get to the upper levels, you would need to have had the right sorts of job assignments and know the right people. There were many times where you might have 5 fully qualified candidates competing for a job but the one who would get the job was the one who had the relationship, network and affiliation with the hiring management so to speak.

One piece of advice you might get down the line and you might not want to hear is that you should quit and go work somewhere else because this employer can't provide the kind of opportunities that you're looking for.

In my brother's case, he worked for a family business. He wasn't family so he was never going to go any higher. In my case, I wanted to go from job A to job B with similar skills but there was no path from A to B so, I had to quit the company and go work somewhere else if I wanted job B.
nonameag99
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Tex_Ag_2017 said:

What is considered a top 20 program? And if I cannot get into one of these, are you saying it is pointless?
google
The Aggie number specified has already been linked with another TexAgs account.
Dark Helmet
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If you're looking to stay in your organization, it doesn't matter where you get an MBA as long as it isn't an online only school like Phoenix or...whichever. Flagship campuses are good and a lot of them have online programs nowadays because they know a lot of people only get MBAs to check off a box to advance so it's easy money for the university and free advertising among the student's coworkers.
Bayside Tiger Ag
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HollywoodBQ said:

Quote:

It really needs to be a top 20 MBA program in order to be worth it.
It does not need to be a "Top 20" MBA program. But, I wouldn't go to Texas State or University of Phoenix either.

When you get there, an Executive MBA - evening or weekend program will be fine.

I did the EMBA program at Colorado and I achieved my financial goals much faster than expected. I got laid off in February 2018 so I've gone backwards about 15 years career progression wise but, I did manage to get hooked up with a rocket ship of a start-up so... I should be back on top by this time next year.


OP wants to network. Many MBA full time programs outside of the top 20 are starting to go belly up, and full time programs arguably offer ideal networking opportunities that part time programs don't easily provide mainly because the class sizes are so much smaller.

I don't have anything against part time programs; it just depends on what OP is looking for and whether they can realize a net positive return from one.
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