Although I've had my Bachelor's degree for less than a year, I've already begun considering going back to school for a Master's degree. Working in the SEO industry has sparked an interest in getting an MBA (a Master's in Business Administration for you initialism-inept readers). My desire to get an MBA doesn't stem from the notion that more degrees = better pay (though it does); rather, in this instance I feel that the knowledge I'd gain from such a degree would be a great benefit to the continuing success and growth of SEOmoz.
With that in mind, I attended an MBA information session at the University of Washington (my alma mater). I was immediately gung-ho about the Technology Management MBA Program. It's an 18-month long program and flexible for full-time professionals, plus it seems like it would give me the most applicable experience (given the industry I'm in).
Then I saw the cost of the program. $52,800. Holy. Crap. Mind you, this cost covers tuition, textbooks, class materials, registration, parking, and even meals, but nonetheless...that's friggin' spendy. My next alternative, the Evening MBA Program, is considerably cheaper at $13,410/year, but it's for a 3-year program. A program that's cheaper but twice as long and meets twice as often vs. one that's shorter but pricier? How does a girl choose?
Which led me to thinking...what is the ROI of pursuing an MBA when you work in the SEO industry? I'd thought I'd open the forum to any and all SEO professionals out there who can give me some input. Would pumping loads of money into a Master's degree be a huge benefit to me and to SEOmoz? Or do I work in an industry where the most successful experience is hands-on learning and time spent in the industry? Does Rand need to give me a whopping raise so that I can afford to go to school again? Would investing in my education pay off?
By: Rebecca Kelley
What's the ROI on an MBA When You're in the SEO Industry?
Public Relations
The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
hmmm... here's from someone who has earned ALL of the degrees and a professor. I am willing to bet about a month's pay that your current boss would whip the pants off of those professors when it comes to teaching you about this industry. When they have him or one of just a few people that I can think of professing at a school then that is the time to enroll.
If you want to know if you will get your money's worth don't base it upon the information sessions - they are professional salespeople. Instead march right into the school and visit face to face with a few of the professors and some of the upper level students. Ask them what you will learn and how what you learn will be relevant to your work at SEOmoz. If they totally knock your socks of then enroll. If they don't then save your time and your money.
Give them the test.
Bottom line in education.... it's not the name of the school or what you are studying. It is the enthusiasm and energy of your professors and their level of direct engagement with their students.
When you tell them that you are interested in enrolling their eyes should light up and they should talk to you with a tone of voice that clearly communicates... "Wow, here's somebody who wants to come here and learn this stuff... I can't let them get away without telling them about all of the fantastic things that we are doing."
If they can talk about what they do in their classes with the same fire that Rand talks about SEO and web marketing then you know that they have something worth paying for.
Actually, we're able to sit in on sessions and talk to the students in order to get a feel for what the program is like. I was thinking of looking into that if I wanted to further pursue applying.
Great idea... See if you can talk one to one with a couple professors. See if they are generous with their time and see if they can convince you that their program can deliver value according to your goals. If they can't make the case then either they don't have the needed enthusiasm for a great program or maybe the MBA is not what you want - at least not at that school.
Agreed, however, I don't think a masters would be to enhance your SEO knowledge but your overall business sense. Rather than optimization you're learning the constructs of building strategies, etc., etc.
I haven't read other comments so sorry, but an MBA here, in Montreal (Canada), would mean absolutely nothing to our SEO field.
If you had done a e-commerce master or something similar, that'd be an awesome killer! And come study here at HEC; you'll learn French (so you'll cover North America) + the classes are really really cheap + you can work for SEOmoz at NVI offices ;)
Think about it... I mean... really (no offense rand!)
A couple of more thoughts.
1) As you analyze this, avoid thinking about an MBA as a thing, or as a hard asset. It's really not something you can put in a closet and pull out years later and expect it to have value.
Think of it as a process, or more accurately, as part of a process.
People go get MBAs because they want to change something. Getting the MBA is part of the process they go through to make that change happen.
Usually, what they want to change is their career. There a lot of jobs where an MBA is an entry level credential, and quite a few where an MBA from a good school is the entry ticket.
In your case, that doesn't seem to be the thing. So the question is, what is it that an MBA is going to change in your life that makes it worth the effort?
For some people, being credentialed gives them a sense of confidence and stature. They don't put up with people treating them like idiots because, after all, they have an MBA. (For women, this can be especially helpful - my wife has excellent academic and work credentials, and it helps her handle arrogant jerks who might otherwise want to write her off as just another blond).
Think through what it is in your life that you want to change, and how the MBA can help you get there. As part of that process, you need to be prepared to take the step after the MBA as well as getting the MBA. Generally speaking, the first job after you get your MBA is as important to your career track as the MBA itself, and you need to think through the whole process.
2) You don't need to be in a hurry. Most people work four or five years before going to get an MBA; employers like it a lot better if you have that half-decade of work experience before getting the MBA. You can put the class instruction better in context that way, and you are more ready for a more senior job when you come out. Some MBA programs are letting younger people in now, but the edge in hiring remains with the folks who have worked for a while before getting the MBA.
Wow. A lot of great discussion and advice here. I love working in a field where there's so many intelligent people willing to share so much of their time and expertise.
Personally, if I get bored or feel like my options have hit the wall, I'll try to get into a top tier MBA program (and ONLY top tier) - but this field will not die out and SEO is still a baby with tons more gold to be had in the foreseeable future. I wouldn't want to miss out.
I think at the end of the day, you should pursue wheterver will expand your horizons the most, whatever will help you learn and grow more, in a way that you want to grow and learn. That could be an MBA or that could be reading 200 blog posts per day and networking at industry events. After digesting all this advice, go with your gut instinct - recognize what it is and go with it.
Rand brought up a very good point recently (I hope you don't mind me quoting you, Rand!)
If you attended a school whose name doesn't elicit breathless job offers from the uber-elite of the business world, your initial earning potential is probably less than an Ivy-League-or-equivalent graduate. However, is the student debt that one has probably accumulated from a Harvard-esque program somewhat canceling out that higher salary? Yipee in-state tuition.
Secondly, back to something I actually thought of myself, I have very little time for the university snobbery that goes on, most noticeably in the United States and Britain. The "Columbia's better than Northwestern's better than Gonzaga's better than UW" nonsense will never die; however, folks in the SEO world would do well to set themselves apart from this old-fashioned elitism. I'd rather hire a well-suited applicant from a "no-name school" than a ill-suited person who touts an Ivy League degree. But take a look at my alma mater, and you might find that I'm a little biased, too...
Whoa did I miss an announcement here? Is there a new SEOmozer? Welcome aboard Jane ;)
Joe
Yeah, we were gonna do an article about the fun times we had finding a new hire, but then I had actual SEO work to do. We'll officially announce it via blog entry or something.
Wow, already so many excellent comments, even as an MBA'd fellow myself, I don't have all that much to contribute at this point.
First, though, a quick review over what I perceive to be the potential values in pursuing an MBA:
1) More money 2) Broader career path opportunities 3) Faster advancement within existing career path 4) Learning specific skills that will be useful in SEO, other areas 5) Networking opportunities 6) Learning for learning's sake 7) Challenging and reshaping the learning process
1) More money Given the tuition costs and opportunity costs, I'm guessing that this'd not materialize for you in the field of SEO over the long haul.
2) Broader career path opportunities You've noted that you're interested in sticking with SEOmoz and staying in this industry, so, again, this isn't all that applicable in your case.
3) Faster advancement within existing career path It seems to me that hands-on learning and "experiencing" in this space would provide a more powerful/faster boost.
4) Learning specific skills that will be useful in SEO, other areas Highly doubtful that an MBA would help here, either. In fact, I think I remember about 2% of the actual material I learned in b-school. Most of what I learned, geekwise, I got by running my own Web server, my own e-mail lists, creating my own Web site, working on a politician's Web site, etc. Oh, and just playing too much on the Internet on the whole... all thanks to the delightfully powerful broadband connection I had in my dorm during grad school :). Back then, of course, such connectivity was a luxury NOT to be found in individual households, so one could argue that if I hadn't been living in a dorm getting advanced degrees, then I'd have been far behind technologically :D.
5) Networking opportunities This would, quite possibly, be enormously powerful for you. You already have obviously done a fabulous job of networking online and in person at SEO-type events. But the diversity of people (with an amazing diversity of backgrounds) you're likely to encounter at a b-school... well, that's just another world entirely. No comparison. With your people-skills, I have no doubt you'd be able to parlay b-school networking into something useful both for your career and your personal life.
6) Learning for learning's sake This one's hard to quantify in terms of "benefits." Did you enjoy college? Do you love the *process* of learning? Just stuff to ponder...
7) Challenging and reshaping your learning processes This one is actually different than #6. B-school -- and, to an even greater extent, law school -- teach you different ways to think and also push you to think faster, more efficiently. The stretching of your brain muscles, so to speak... this sticks with you for life. Unless you start watching too many movies with Keanu Reaves, listening to top 40 radio, etc. That's like eating fried twinkies. Fried twinkies covered in extra lard. Bad for the body, bad for the brain. But I digress.
Ammon noted: > I don't know a single firm that might refuse you a > position because you had a degree that they did not > require...
I respectfully but completely disagree. I've encountered, again and again, firms that avoid hiring folks they perceive to be overqualified or extensively qualified in areas unrelated to the essential tasks associated with a given position. In particular, you'd have to fight against the same bias I encountered: "Gee, he's really smart / well-educated, but he doesn't have commensurate experience." Read: he would have been better off actually working more, rather than studying under some stuffy profs who teach "because they're failures in the business world." Utter bull, but still...
jbwebs wrote: > There is no one on earth that would go to Kellogg > (Northwestern) or Chicago GSB over Harvard or > Stanford.
Okay, I'm going to completely disagree with this, too, and not just because I went to Northwestern and thought it was an excellent school ;)
Schools are viewed VERY differently depending upon: - Where the founders/primary HR folks of a firm you're trying to get into went to school - What area you studied (a specialty of the school vs. not) - Where you're trying to get a job (geographically)
Harvard may be "generically" prestigious, but if you want to work in the Bay Area, you're quite likely going to get much more value (networking, technical knowledge, etc.) getting an MBA from Berkeley or Stanford. Similarly, if you want to have a career in federal politics or do work with Washington thinktanks, you're probably better off getting an MBA from a school in or around D.C. Proximity IS typically quite important!
Whew... so I rambled on a lot more than I expected to :). Hope this was still helpful...
Ray Campbell gave an excellent overview about the types of major MBA programs. Let’s look at part-time or executive MBA programs.
First a little history. Prior to WWII few Americans went to college and many never graduated from high school. Most high school graduates and dropouts went directly into the workforce. Then came 1944. Soldiers began returning from the war and approximately 2,300,000 of them used their Servicemen's Readjustment Act benefits to attend colleges and universities. As the Korean and Vietnam wars continued funneling veterans into higher education a cultural shift occurred. By the mid-1970’s the primary goal of high school became college preparation.
This created a shifting in the respect that was conferred upon graduates of different education levels. For example the respect once given to an 8th grade education (when many farm children stopped attending school) was now accorded to a high school graduate. One needed to have a college education to earn the respect once accorded to a high school graduate. A Masters degree took over the place of a Bachelors degree. Even the revered PhD is not what it used to be.
Then in the mid-1980’s a small Catholic college in Denver, Regis, created an Executive MBA program, complete with curriculums, discussion outlines, books and all the accoutrements. Regis marketed their new program as a money-maker. Small and mid-sized colleges and universities bought it in droves. All the schools had to do was to buy some advertising then provide classroom space and instructors.
It did not take long for major colleges and universities to follow suit and create their own programs from scratch. In the 1990’s executive and weekend MBA programs flourished as standard MBA programs maxed out schools began creating specialty MBA programs, like the MBA in Nonprofit Administration, in order to expand their market.
Too often executive and weekend MBA programs are as much about moneymaking for the schools as they are about education. Typically, behind the scenes, they have lower admission requirements in order to fill (sell) seats. Classes are often taught by local businesspeople or retirees seeking a second income or looking to increase their own professional cache.
Trust me, the MBA in Internet Marketing is just around the corner.
Who benefits the most from executive or weekend MBA program? In my opinion it is people with some business experience who graduated with a non-business Bachelors degree. I have a BBA and I attended a weekend MBA program at a small regional college. The classes were virtually identical. The difference was that in the BBA program none of the students had real world experience so we were surmising and making it up as we went along. In the weekend MBA program people could inject real life experience into the conversations.
Depending on your personal and professional goals I think an MBA can be a very good choice. If you hope to run your own business or eventually lead a business and you do not have a business undergraduate degree it can be a very smart move. They key is to know what the classes are and what they cover, who will be teaching the classes and what their teaching styles are (interview students). Also know who will be attending. As mentioned previously, a good MBA program is a singular networking opportunity too. Make sure the program matches your expectations and goals.
Of course, if you can scrape the $52,000 together I myself would call Todd Malicoat and ask him if you could buy a $50,000 stake in his business then use the $2,000 to make your early bank payments. If you have cash use the $2,000 to go on a spectacular bender and pay for yourself and 10 friends (believe it or not this can be a very wise one time investment).
Just for fun...apparently the University of Michigan has been bestowed the honor of being rated the #1 business school (based on a number of criteria).
As a Michigan grad, I heartily endorse those rankings - way to go WSJ.
Looking to finish an MBA this year and my own personal advice on it is to find out what type of student attends the school(s) you are interested in and what background the teachers have, in addition to the program's specific strengths and weaknesses.
The particular program I am in is doing almost nothing as it relates to my career in SEO, aside from some decent marketing education/specialization and networking connections with the professional community outside of the technology crowd (which may be valuable in the end). So I do look at it as a safety net and inroad to opportunities in other industries (especially internationally).
That being said, a colleague of mine went to a business school with a great program in entrepreneurial development. While that person may argue the benefits, I definitely know the networking connections with other individuals (in the graduating class) that are striving to succeed in their own businesses has been extraordinarily valuable for our SEO firm.
Bottom line is that I do not regret the experience and cost associated with getting the degree, but my work experience and growth since the start of the program (both through school and externally), would definitely lead me to investigate MBA programs much deeper than I initially had done so in the past.
Why take the class when you can read the books :^) https://joshkaufman.net/personalmba/
Thanks for that link, Hawaii! Great resources, there. I have a few of those books, and the list is very thorough.
I think at some point, in the near future, search engines themselves are going to change dramatically. They will have more "user experience" focus, and be more dynamic, and they will have much further reach into various types of multimedia documents. They will have smarter advertising, more interactivity, and more scale or reach across documents around the world. Results that require payment or subscription will also show as options. All of this will start with Google, but every other SE will follow suite. And then the SEO / SEM industry will change. Yes it will change, but it is not going anywhere. I think if you want to be an SEO hero, rather than an MBA it is more important to learn about the next level of search engines - getting into the Google brain. But if you want to change fields and get into top management of some firm, MBA is a good option.
My version of MBA from the UK has meant nothing to me her in 11 years...
I've been doing search for 7 or 8 years and have not been asked, nor impressed anyone with my educational background.
I reckon learn all you can from around the web and see what happens.....
Rebecca,
I would advise you to do what you are passionate about and enjoy. If you would really like going to business school and enjoy working in teams and learning new things across a variety of industries, by all means go. But I wouldn't go to enhance your resume. You won't learn much if anything about SEO at business school. I went to law school at night because I was interested in it and really enjoyed it, but I can't imagine doing graduate school if I didn't love it. Good luck! And be grateful you work for an employer you encourages openness and lets you publicly explore your options!
Lookie Me, dredgig up an old post...Rebecca what have you decided? I have two people that are considering going the MBA route and I was wondering what you ultimately decided.
Wilreynolds,
Since I'm sticking with SEO for now, I thought I'd take at least two years off from school and then see if I think it will be valuable to pursue an MBA. I've only been out of school for a year, so I wanted to see how my career advances without further education--if I feel that I need to get another degree in order to become more successful, then I'll probably go back to school.
"Living your life according to what sounds impressive on an obituary doesn't sound like much of a life."
No of course it doesn't Oatmeal, you are absolutely right. I wasn't trying to be quite so literal! ;)
When you're happy and doing what you love, it's hard to imagine doing anything else or moving on. But the reality is, for whatever reason, everything ends. Having that degree in your pocket can only be a positive, even if you remain where you are.
I can't think of one instance where it would be a hinderance unless of course you count the student loan debt it puts you in. ( but it's temporary!)
I have two regrets in life -
One: I wish I had dumped that sorry suckass excuse of a man who dumped me four days before our wedding - FIRST. (Great story over beer).
Second - that I never went to graduate school.
(lol) I know, the second one was predictable but it's heartfelt. I'm sorry if this all sounds so middle-aged mother-like but I come by it honestly.
Debra - add a link to your profile so we all know who you are :) Unless you'd rather remain anonymous that is...
I would tend to agree with Michael. If you're looking for formal education more applicable to your current position with SEOmoz then I would consider an MLIS. If you have loftier career goals where you see yourself doing something other than what you’re doing now, then an MBA may be the way to go.
Best of luck!
Additionally there is a huge hole in the industry for Technical Business People. By filling that hole you are creating yourself a nitch. I only know a few SEO's out there who have both.
Look at it this way Rebecca...- when they write your obituary what's going to sound more impressive? She had an MBA from U of WA or she did really good SEO?
Bite the bullet and get the degree.
I thought you were going to make the exact opposite point...
Same here. Curve ball...
Living your life according to what sounds impressive on an obituary doesn't sound like much of a life. I do what I love and what makes sense.
R.I.P Matt Inman. Died from a Que Bueno overdose. Lived life TO THE EX-TREME!
Dying of anything that might involve refried beans doesn't sound like anything I want to be a part of.
Some sort of Chili/Fritos combo, however ...
One of my 'tricks' when dealing with tough choices is to turn the question completely around and try a completely different angle or perspective.
So, let me take this away from what you gain for a moment.
I can't speak for Rand here, and am not even going to try, so take that disclaimer up front. :) So speaking purely for myself, when I take on a trainee or apprentice, one of the questions in my mind is "If I give them a head-start now, can they use it to push us both further and faster later?"
In other words, I don't want an apprentice who will always be in my shadow. I don't want an apprentice to learn almost everything I teach them and nothing more. I want an apprentice who will become a Master in their own right. One who will take what I can impart as a foundation to build on, not an end product. I want an apprentice to eventually teach me new things, and lead their own path to greater heights. That, truly, is the real measure of mentorship and teaching.
Will an MBA bring new ideas and innovation into SEOmoz faster than working from the inside? I can't say. But I can say that it is an excellent question to be asking.
I'm 100% behind that idea, Ammon. It's one of the reasons you'll see me pushing the folks here to find what they love and do it - I don't like the idea that everyone's just a clone of me and what I do, I want diversity and I think it's the best thing for a small company (or a large company) to have.
I did guess as much, Rand, because it shows in the passion, enthusiasm, and creativity of your people. I would say, just from reading their posts, that they feel valued, even nurtured, and that gives them huge incentive (and confidence) to achieve.
That's a great perspective, Ammon. I can certainly see why Rand values your input so much. I'm still going to say that you're fairly unique in this respect, in my experience. I've had bosses that make it very clear that they don't want employees that will challenge them or offer outside perspectives. Sad as it might be, there are a great deal of middle- and upper-management types out there that got where they are by guile and deceit and are going to make sure that the people they hire don't end up passing them.
It sounds like you and Rand would be great people to work for; you're just as concerned about the development of your employees as you are the day-to-day results. It took me a while to find a company where that was the case, and you can't always tell until you're in the environment.
I agree with you, Rob. It is not the 'standard' perspective, which is why high-flying entreprenuers are so rare.
The secret of all of the great entreprenuers is not superb business skills. Many of them are middling at best at the day to day issues of business. What they have is the ability to spot potential, and more importantly, the ability to put the right team into key positions to realise that potential.
Every great entreprenuer has key people that they know are better at business management, human resource management, accounting, and all of the other skills that make a business bloom.
The entreprenuer can always be recognised by his ability to spot the places where putting the right team in place would yield stunning success and his totally ungrudging knowledge that he is not the best person for the job of actually running it.
IMO, hands on learning at SEOmoz would provide more success since training/learning and daily changes or initiatives in the SEO business can't be (at least yet) taught in any MBA program I know of. I think the real question comes down to what do you hope to ultimately do or transition into at SEOmoz if you had an MBA? How do you quantify the ROI between cost, time involved in getting the MBA to what it will provide the SEOmoz?
On the other hand, if Rand has no problems with you or others gaining higher education, and you wouldn't have too many balls up in the air working and studying, then you may be in a position to better yourself for long term success at SEOmoz. Gaining an MBA is nice and everything, but I agree with Rand - that the value is often second to actual success and track record in the SEO field.
Example: If I were interviewing for a big SEO firm and my track record of hand son experience brought in $5 million in business versus obtaining my MBA but missing out on that opportunity to bring in $5 mil, I think the interviewer would opt for raw numbers since they want to quantify their hire, i.e. what can this person bring to our company in numbers. Maybe an MBA would give you the same opportunities, but I don't usually see it happen.
I know if I went back to school for my MBA, I would have to sell my house, cars, motorcycle (yikes!), and in the long run, and MBA would not help me financially considering where I've been and where I am now. So, maybe my opinion is swayed a little since I don't have much of a choice and since I'm my own boss.
As always ... interesting post.
MBA for SEOs? .... My opinion is ... if you devote the same amount of time and money into learning SEO, going to conferences, books, etc, you'll be better off.
MBA in this case would be good for your "self esteem".
I wish I wrote about this topic on my blog. I'd rip the MBA "title" apart.
Not an MBA, or even a degree program, but this is interesting:
The SEO Intern Training Programme
Of course, I suspect that you are doing many of the things in this program already, but it might be worth getting a two week intensive course in SEO from a different perspective, and from a couple of folks who have extensive experience in SEO.
Rand was actually planning on sending me in November :D
Rebecca,
Rand may sock me for this but I say do it but not for SEOMoz or the SEO industry. Do it for yourself.
SEO is still so new and the future is pretty uncertain. An MBA will give you a brighter future with more options and more pay "just in case". If you are interested in persueing this, now is the time before you get committed (marriage, kids, etc.) and while you have the ability to raise the cash.
Even if SEO is still around in 5 or 10 years (let's all hope!) it will be much more competitive and structured. Right now SEOs have kind of a "rock star" lifestyle but bigger companies are starting to see value in it and invest in it - even for startups! They will be looking very carefully at the people involved and their backgrounds. Having an MBA can add a great deal of credibility to such a situation.
And even though I have a great deal of faith in Rand, his skills and leadership there may come a very dark day when he has to merge, close shop or do layoffs. Having a higher degree will help you if the worst happens. Whenever you work for other people be as prepared for the "worst case scenario" as posible.
Or even if you feel compelled to do it for the SEO industry, saying that one of my peers has her MBA helps all of us appear more credible.
Of course take into account what Rand said. Your local school may not be the best choice so whatever you decide investigate fully.
MHO
This I could agree with - if SEO tanks (which probably means the web industry as a whole is tanking), and SEOmoz doesn't have alternative revenue streams outside of consulting we can focus on, that MBA may be very valuable in finding another job that's going to earn you $20-40K extra per year.
It's doubtful SEO will tank but it could change dramaticly or evolve into something else. And of course I don't know about your other revenue streams (though I'd be surprised if you didn't have them).
But as long as you work for someone else you should be prepared - even if that someone else is very capable. No knock to you Rand.
Also, there is a posibility of getting bored with SEO isn't there?
*crickets*
Guess not...
My point is Rebecca should get the degree if that is what she wants but she shouldn't do it because you or I say "yes". She should do it for herself to look out for herself.
Personally I would love to get back in school right now but with a wife, 2 kids and a new business I think I'm pretty booked up! :)
Hey Rebecca - I'm not 100% on this, but it looks like I'm the first person with an MBA to chime in on here, so hopefully I can add another perspective. Frankly, I can't say for sure that the degree is really going to propel you further down your current career path or generate the ROI you're looking for in the SEO field. My guess is that at this time an MBA primarily generates indifference (perhaps even slight disdain?) from many in SEO.
There are a lot of facets to career progression, and if we talk narrowly about moving between companies/positions (just for the sake of argument, obviously you'd never leave SEOmoz!), then the value of the MBA is probably going to depend on how whomever you're dealing with views the degree (although the previous commenter is right that it does provide a 'safety net' of sorts, but that shouldn't be a primary reason behind your decision). Rand is right that there's a lot of brand name bias when it comes to an MBA, and, to answer a previous commenter, that stems from the fact that those industries are full of people from those same schools. It's a mostly closed network in some sense, so in VC if you look at a major firm's principal members, every one will have a Harvard or Stanford MBA. And where do they look when they want to expand their roster of new associates - they look exclusively at the current crop of Stanford and Harvard MBAs. If you're not going to one of those schools, you're on the outside looking in. The same goes, to some extent, for major consulting companies, investment banks, etc., etc.
So it's not that an MBA from UW is worthless by comparison, but it's not going to give you the golden ticket to access those industries - I doubt you care about that. Regionally, and particularly in Seattle, there are scads of UW MBAs in any number of industries, and just as the Stanford MBA exposes those students to their network, the UW MBA opens up a more focused, regional one to students who go there. You'll also be going to school with and working with incredibly smart people who (if my experience is any indicator) are going to provide a huge part of the value you'll derive from an MBA.
There is great value in the experience. Of course there's no substitute for on the job experience in any industry, but it's also hard to substitute for an immersive and focused program that challenges you to broaden your thinking about strategy, marketing, finance, organizational behavior, et al. And it's not as though you can't go after the degree while staying actively involved in and deepening your experience in SEO. That way you're still on top of the latest in SEO, and you're becoming a heavy hitter in the broader business areas that are as just as vital in an SEO business.
In the end, you can be wildly successful whichever route you choose. I know that for me the MBA was a means to rapidly switch gears and push my career forward much faster than I could have otherwise; it also helped me develop a well-rounded set of skills, and to think about business issues in a more comprehensive and effective way. You're not looking for the former, but the latter factor may make it worth your while - I know that if Rand was lucky enough to keep you there after you completed an MBA, it would help make you even more valuable to SEOmoz than you already are. Sorry for the long-winded answer, but I hope it helps.
Thanks for your input. I was hoping to get some feedback from someone who had an MBA.
I might be wrong, but Harvard & Stanford MBA programs are very hard to get into, expensive and hard to finish. It's a very small doorway to squeeze yourself through. If you make it to the other side, it's a big win.
It's assumed that if you're smart and tenacious enough to accomplish that, you could probably do and learn other new things as well.
Giving people a job is an expensive risky proposition. Hiring a Stanford MBA is seen as a safer bet than someone who graduated from a "party school".
I was told this by someone with an MBA who tried, but couldn't get in to either school so he went to Duke.
At least from the schools I've seen in the midwest the programs are light years behind. They will teach you fundamentals of managing someone else's fortune 500 company as a bean counter-- and that is what you want go for it but some how I don't suspect that is what you want to do.
I have plans to go for my MBA a few years out of school. As being a senoir right now, I have some time to think about it. I want to see where I'm at career wise too, to see if I even need the MBA to where I want to go.
It's a good idea to be thinking about MBAs though.
My advice, for what it's worth:
Don't do it, you don't need it.
I probably agree... but the profs at these schools should be able to clearly convince her one way or the other in a face to face discussion. My bet is that they "don't get it" when it comes to their value in her situation. But I could be wrong.
I don't think anyone's going to debate that what you learn hands-on in the industry will benefit your pay, growth potential and earning potential therein. But, if you're thinking of getting out of the webdev/SEO/online world, that degree will mean something in your paycheck.
As for getting paid more inside SEO, specifically, I think you'd find that almost every single hiring manager and CEO of companies, large and small, in our field and the web field in general, will be more impressed (and pay out more), if you devote that same time and attention to accomplishing amazing things online - and building your profile in the industry.
It's not that an MBA is a waste - it opens a lot of doors, but you have to find people who respect it over job experience and actions and that's a tough thing to find in our industry.
ONE NOTE: If you can get an MBA from Harvard/Stanford or 3-4 other schools in that league, there are a lot of VCs and investors who'll take that experience, combined with your SEO/web background and give you a ton of cash. However, a UW MBA is looked at by these people (in my experience) as nearly worthless. Biased - yes... True when it gets down to brass tacks? Yep.
Rand, coming from a non-business related major (Geography), how come a Harvard/Stanford MBA is regarded so highly, while a UW MBA is "nearly worthless?"
Good question. Why is one like the triforce while the other is crap? I thought that the UW Business Program was fairly highly ranked in the nation.
Don't get me wrong - UW MBAs are well regarded by many folks, but by the very elite in the business & investment worlds, those schools have a cache that you can't acquire anywhere else.
It's one of those weird things where you hear these guys talk about someone and they'll say "I hired this smart kid, Harvard MBA..." or you'll hear "I talked with this smart kid, no-name MBA..." and then you find out it was UW or UCLA or Vanderbilt and you're thinking... "really, that's a no-name school?" But that's how they perceive it.
This is how I felt after I received my MBA from WP Carey (AZ state)...worthless? Not really. Useful in SEO? Not really.
The main case that I'd state is that if you have a business undergrad, don't bother getting a business MBA, especially from the same school, because it'll just be a repeat. If I had to do it all over again, I would have done a dual bachelors in economics and computer engineering, then maybe a masters in psych.
Cygnus
100% agreed... been there done that... WASTE OF TIME!
Thanks for qualifying that, Rand. The UW Business School is one of the best regarded business schools in the country, short of the few that you mentioned. While a Harvard MBA might be a license to print money, and a sure-fire way to attract VC cash, I think it's unfair to say that a UW MBA is "nearly worthless," but just that a VC isn't likely to take an MBA on it's face from a school like the UW as they are from an Ivy League institution. You'll need more, such as work experience.
Just to throw my two cents into the equation ... unless you plan on going to work for a major corporation where an advanced degree can mean a significant pay bump, I'd probably skip the MBA if ROI is the primary motivator. Why? Because you'd probably do better starting your own company, and if you're running the show, your graduate degree doesn't mean quite as much as having a solid business plan and smart people backing you up. Sure, a VC might not just hand you fat stacks of cash, but that's not the end-all, be-all.
I'm a year from finishing my Business degree at the UW (Go Huskies!) while working full time, and I've already been considering getting an MBA as well, but only if I can find one focusing on International Marketing. I'm taking a class in International Marketing this quarter, and the curriculum at is so cutting-edge, the book we're using is Xeroxed from a pre-release text book not due out until next year. Given the trends in globalization, I figure international marketing is as smart a focus as any.
If you're still serious about pursuing it, check out the UW Bothell's MBA program. Same price, but a bit more accessible, and the environment is much more intimate.
I had a nice, long post explaining why the top schools are as well regarded as they are, but I lost it because my login timed out. Of course, now most everything I was going to say has been said by others. So I guess I won't be rewriting it.
There is one commonality among all business programs. No matter where you go, you will eventually get sick of Harvard Business School cases. You'll beg for a case from somewhere else. Eventually a professor will give you one - probably one from INSEAD. You'll never beg for another non-HBS case again.
I love working in the SEO industry. I'd like to stay working in this industry. I'm concerned that a Master's won't fast track me in this industry like it would outside of it.
Conversely, I don't know what the stability of this field is like. Will I be forced to find a job outside of the industry because it's struggling or shifts in such a way that I'll need to get a Master's, anyway? By then I may be older and have different priorities, so I'm afraid I may miss the prime opportunity in my life to knuckle down and do more schoolin'.
Rand and I once disagreed on the value of a Marketing or Business degree before, and I guess we may again.
Fact 1. I don't know a single firm that might refuse you a position because you had a degree that they did not require, but know several companies that simply won't hire any staff without a degree. A degree will widen your career options for life.
Fact 2. Taking a degree is a very well established way to build a network of contacts in related fields. You will personally know other graduates, and may be glad of that when they are the head of marketing for some company that needs SEO services.
Fact 3. A good degree course is not about what they teach you in that field. It is about what the teach you about the learning process itself, and about yourself. Even if the other knowledge dates, what you learn about learning doesn't.
I don't think anybody is ever going to tell you that you *need* a degree. You don't. Not in this field, and not with the experience you are gaining with SEOmoz.
It is not a question of need, but rather a question of value and desire. The value to you and to SEOmoz of you having that MBA. Your own desire for it. There is certainly no case that you having an MBA reduces your value. So to SEOmoz and Rand himself, it is a case of whether they value your time too much to spare any of it. That then is a simple matter of prioritizing and scheduling.
I can't help suspecting that in a few years time you'll be taking your MBA however this conversation goes. I just suspect that you want it, desire need neither reason nor rationalisation.
Ammon,
Careful with listing things as "Facts", because you immediately give people a reason to argue with you. :)
There are a lot of fields where advanced degrees can hurt you. In fact, a common joke about education is that getting your Ph.D. is the quickest way to never work again. The important thing is whether or not the degree is related to the field you're working in. If you have an advanced degree unrelated to the job you want, people will always wonder you'd be using the job as a steppting stone.
Also, while I'd also agree that a program isn't about knowledge, I'd also say that it isn't even about the process of learning (which I would say is merely retained knowledge). The difference between a good school and a mediocre school is in the application of that knowledge. Harvard has recently started giving away course materials on their website, and we had a debate on this at the UW. Why would they do that? Because they're trying to illustrate that very point; you can't compete with Harvard when it comes to application.
However, your second fact is spot-on. The biggest gain many people have from any degree is the networking potential, and that's a place where the degrees from places like Harvard and Stanford really shine. The lesson to be learned here is ... join the Alumni Associations and things of that nature.
Rob,
Do we need any further reason for (civil and respectful) argument than being in a thread of comments perfectly suited to such debate? Isn't the only other thing to just make a "me too" post? :)
You said: "There are a lot of fields where advanced degrees can hurt you. In fact, a common joke about education is that getting your Ph.D. is the quickest way to never work again. The important thing is whether or not the degree is related to the field you're working in. If you have an advanced degree unrelated to the job you want, people will always wonder you'd be using the job as a steppting stone"
That's where we do indeed disagree.
Let me introduce you to a pretty talented young Doctor by the name of Pierre Far (he posts at Cre8asite as ekstreme, and posts his thoughts and projects at ekstreme.com). Pierre just finished a PhD in microbial genetics (whatever they are) at the Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, England.
At the same time, he realised that he wanted his career path to be in web development of some sort, as that's where his passion lies. I support him 100% in that. I have seen it before a few times - not least because many taking Science degrees become disillusioned by the politics of the science community. After all, shouldn't science be based on, well, science, not who you studied under, or who co-authored your papers?
I view his degree as a positive bonus. Not because it makes getting a job in WebDev or SEO any easier for him, but because it quickly rules out the kind of blind fools who could miss his potential just because he'd got the wrong degree. being able to quickly eliminate such morons from being potential employers is a clear boon in enabling Pierre to discover real talent and skill.
Of all the people I mentioned he was looking for a job to, not one of them questioned his PhD, and they all realised what is does show is a lot of hard work, dedication, talent and ability. Not one person said, "Nah, he's got the wrong degree". :)
Real life does not always match commentary opinions, does it?
Oh, I've been known to argue just for argument's sake, sometimes about things I don't beleive in order to see how someone handles a challenge. I just meant that stating something as "Fact" seems to be begging for a fight. :)
While your example is excellent, I think that there are a couple of possibilities ... one, that folks with advanced degrees in hard science are simply more valuable overall, and are shown to develop skills usable in a variety of fields (such as finely honed critical thinking), as opposed to arts degrees. Of course, another possibility is that you simply have a great deal of respect for people with advanced degrees, and that the people you would tend to cite as examples would be the exception rather than the rule.
Of course, I'm willing to accept that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. :P
Possibly.
Of course, Bill Slawski and Adam Lasnik both have law degrees. Not really a "hard science" in any classic sense. But there's something about a law degree, all that study of case law and case histories, that make law students truly exceptional researchers I think.
Certainly, having known Bill as a colleague and friend these years at Cre8asite, I have tremendous respect for his ability to research his way through vast amounts of material, some of it incredibly complex, and more importantly, to refine it all into usable information.
I can think of other SEOs with legal qualifications too, such as Ian McAnerin. I guess the exception is not quite so exceptional. Sure there are many many more SEOs of note without such degrees. But they are, at least in all the ones I have met, the people I would call exceptional.
I seriously would never dismiss someone or view them as a weaker candidate because they had a degree that didn't directly relate to SEO. While business and marketing expertise do, most assuredly, directly relate to SEO as it is today.
The SEO industry is growing out of its cottage industry roots. The industry is experiencing transition, and today's market is not tomorrow's market.
Far too many SEO companies are proudly crowing about the fact that huge ad agencies are hiring them -blind to the fact that the client is not coming directly to them, and it is the Ad agency that is retaining control of the campaign and indeed the client. Guess how those Ad agency boys are qualified - Yup, degrees.
Clients at the highest level still like degrees. They worked darned hard for theirs, know its value, and want to see that same respect and commitment from those they accept as business partners in any meaningful sense.
Having the degree can help you in many ways outside of direct SEO application, not least in getting bigger clients and bigger budgets for the SEO business you do. Having the degree cannot honestly hurt you in any way unless you build unrealistic expectations upon it.
The degree will not make you more valuable in all situations, but the degree itself will never make you less valuable, even if it sometimes makes others feel inferior, or that their job offer is beneath you. That part is something that a good attitude and honest approach will make a non-issue in seconds.
I'm actually going through this process at the moment, but from a little but further down the road. I'm 7/16 of the way through an MBA at Virginia Tech (and doing fine grade-wise, somewhere in the 3.9's), but with a 5 year old, my wife heading back into the workforce, and with trying to get the SEM program running on all cylinders at my company, well I just don't know that it's worth the expense, and by that I mean both money and time.
The main reason for me doing it is to get that piece of paper with MBA on it, which will most likely be useful at some point down the road. Now I do have a Masters in IT (from Tech as well), so I am covered in that respect, but still I don't like leaving this unfinished.
As for you, Rebecca, if you decide to do it, do it now!
Business Week MBA Rankings (2004)
Some conventional wisdom on the MBA thing (gleaned partly from my own experience, partly from being married to a MBA / Biz prof):
1) The time to get your MBA is when you want to change jobs, not when you are all happy in the one you are in. If you wake up tomorrow and decide you would really rather be doing TV ads in the big ad agency or have a more fully rounded marketing job for a consumer products company or maybe even drop PPC arbitrage for the analytically similar but much better paying work of options trading, then you go for the MBA. It will give you an entree into firms that will look at you from the MBA program, but who won't look at you from your current job. (They won't be as interested in looking at you ten years out of the MBA program - they like to hire fresh from school and train you in their system; the peak hiring moment is while you are in the program.)
2) There are three kinds of MBAs - nationally prestigious MBAs, regionally prestigious MBAs, and MBAs. Plain old MBAs have value in some organizations where a masters is part of the formal job description. Regional MBAs often swing big weight in the local market - Vanderbilt counts for a lot in Nashville, and I'm betting UW opens doors in Seattle. Nationally prestigious MBAs open doors everywhere, and can get you into places other degrees won't, like top investment banks and VC funds. The nationally prestigious list isn't just Harvard (which most people think has faded from its days as #1) or Stanford (which rules in the Bay area but isn't so visible in NY) but also schools like Northwestern and Chicago, which more years than not outrank both Stanford and Harvard.
3) If you just want to learn about business, follow the advice of investor Jim Rogers, a semi-zillionaire and business professor. Forget the MBA, and put the same amount of money into starting a business. You will get more from the experience than you will ever learn in any MBA program. It's not like what they teach in MBA programs is classified - all they add is structure and feedback, and things like making payroll provide plenty of structure and feedback.
4) If you are sure you want to stay in SEO, there is no way that leaving the industry now to get a degree will provide a good ROI. It's a key time in a growth industry, and the opportunity cost of jumping off the merry-go-round is a lot more in this space than if you were working at Ford or GM. Put the same amount of time into blogging and building a personal brand, and you will be ahead of where the MBA would get you. Besides that, this industry is decades away from being the kind of industry where paper credentials count more than link juice. (Do you think Danny Sullivan's job prospects are hampered by the lack of an MBA?)
5) Part of what you get out of business school is the contacts you make, both in the professors and the other students. In that regard, quality of the school counts a lot. My wife's classmates at a top ten business school went disproportionately on to fancy jobs - just the biz school part of her rolodex will put her in touch with CEOs, CFOs, entrepreneurs, VCs, investment bankers, and so on. That benefit will vary a lot by school (and not strictly by ranking). You do want to expect that you biz school friends will end being players, and not owner-operators of a single Subway sandwich shop franchise.
6) If you do decide the go the MBA route, don't limit yourself to considering US programs. There are a lot of great programs in Europe, and multinationals hire from them equally with the US programs. Some also are shorter - I met a guy a while back who got a Fulbright to get an MBA at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, which is just a one year program. The nightlife of Madrid + prestigious MBA + prestigious fellowship = pretty good deal.
I wasn't planning on leaving the industry to go back to school. I was looking to be a part-time student so that I could kill myself balancing work and school without sleep (something I did when I was an undergrad).
From where I sit, that would be a bad idea.
1) After all the money and all the sacrifice, you will not have advanced your career in this industry. No one in this industry much cares whether you have an MBA. If it was that kind of industry, you wouldn't have leading SEOs posting videos at YouTube of themselves running naked around a traffic circle.
2) You will have missed some, if not all, of the most important benefits of getting an MBA - the chance to try different industry sectors during summer internships, the chance to spend lots of time with folks with experience in all those different sectors, the chance to make a whole new set of friends and contacts far removed from your current set, the chance to take advantage of the glorified placement service that most MBA programs are. The whole MBA process is aimed at lifting you out of where you are now and placing you where you really want to be. If you are already where you want to be, what's the point?
Trust me on this - you are only young once. Don't bein a hurry to jump pointlessly through pointless hoops. Enjoy your youth. Buy a used sailboat and spend the time exploring Puget Sound instead.
Well, if you don't want to stop working, don't want to relocate, and still want an MBA, you might consider Thunderbird. My International Marketing instructor at the UW is an Alumni Ambassador from Thunderbird and speaks very highly of them (as you might expect an ambassador to do).
Looking over some of their on-demand MBA programs (complete with week-long abroad studies), it might be the way I end up going.
"schools like Northwestern and Chicago, which more years than not outrank both Stanford and Harvard."
I almost pee'd my pants. There is no one on earth that would go to Kellogg (Northwestern) or Chicago GSB over Harvard or Stanford. Look at profiles of any top VC or IB or PE or hedge fund and you'll see 99% are Stanford or Harvard. Rankings, shmankings, Harvard and Stanford are King.
Going through the process right now, applying to HBS, there is a lot of BS out there, let's stop spreading it here ;-).
We will just have to agree to disagree. I have known a lot of people who turned down Harvard or Stanford or both to go to Chicago or Northwestern.
Harvard has faded since it was THE business school back in the day of the man in the gray flannel suit. A lot of people, rightly or wrongly, are not in love with the case method. That it ranks as high as it does in the rankings has more to do with inertia than anything else. Stanford has its niche, but in all the years my wife was in investment banking I can't recall one managing director in either of her top five firms with a Stanford MBA. They run deep in certain areas, particularly in high tech, but there are other areas where they just aren't a factor. I personally know one really bright Stanford MBA with better than average grades who spent about year trying to find a job in financial services after the dotcom that was his first job went bust; even then, he didn't end up at the kind of top tier firm he might have with a similar record from Chicago or Wharton.
Not to say that Stanford and Harvard aren't both great schools, because they are, but don't go imagining that they live in a league of their own, because they don't. If anything, I suspect that if you look back over the last ten to twenty years you will find a lot more people at Harvard who got turned down by Chicago than the reverse. I also would not go into any MBA program thinking that you are a made man when you have the degree, because in the end all you get is a ticket to the game.
Good luck on your application.
You're right, Stanford isn't known for people going into IB. And anyhow, anyone who is an MD at I-Bank and hasn't moved buyside by then is a Stanford failure, there is your explanaiton.
And you can stick to your opinion, I'll stick to the facts. HBS FOR THE WIN.
Despite some signs that you might be yet another insufferable Harvard grad in the making (can you tell I'm a Yalie?), I still you wish the best in your application. It would be a shame to have all that enthusiasm go to waste.
Nowhere in this discussion have I seen any mention of what happens if you can't show up for work some day. How long would seomoz continue to function if Rand had an unfortunate encounter with a drunk driver on the way home this evening?
You are perfectly positioned to find niches and build websites which generate passive income. Done well this would gradually reduce your need for salary income until a job became a choice.
This is why I never understand the reason any decent SEO would ever work for someone else. There is SO much money to be made from working on your own sites. Why build someone else's business when you could be building your own passive income.
How do SEO/SEM companies keep and retain their employees? Once they learn enough about SEO, they realize the Internet is like the old California Gold Rush right now.
sorry to change subjects, but back to the MBA question... as someone else mentioned, do it now while you are young and you have time in your life. It's a lot harder to do when you get older and have additional responsibilities.
I for one who has a Bus Admin Bachelors thinks workin in seo is education enough. Especially if doing it fulltime.
I am constantly learneing everything fom marketing techniques to coding to you name it, whatever the job/client calls for.
SEOmoz had a similar discussion about all this awhile back
I think what it boils down to is what type of person you are. If you are outgoing, personable, friendly and make contacts easily, consider yourself a great saleperson based on these traits then there is no need for an education. If you tend to be quiet, a little shyer than most or not as articulate in communicating your point across, then perhaps you need to go somewhere to learn those traits. There is always the 'school of hard knocks' and I'll tell you, going through what I went through during dot bomb - going from one of the new ecommerce VC fueled elites to experiencing first hand what a market downturn does to you and a company was probably more than equivalent to a Harvard, Stanford or Wharton MBA. With that said, what Rand said about going to a top MBA program if you intend to raise VC cash is very true - the first time around - during that period life would have been much easier if I would have 'had a pedigree' and I probably wouldn't have had as much trouble raising capital as I did during that timeframe because I would have garnered more respect from the VC community.
What ended up happening however is that the VC's surrounded us with MBA's to pepper our management team with, and it was the advice from those Ivy league guys and from the Harvard and Wharton VC's and investment bankers themselves that ended up killing the company, going against the direction that I wanted to go in but instead listened to MBAs who should have known better and ultimately, had I chosen the paths I wanted, we might have actually made it. To give an example, I wanted to partner with a little company called eBay because I had a gut feeling they were the ones that would sustain the industry but the MBA's wanted to partner with a little known auction company because the MBA's knew the founders from B school. That auction company went under eventually and it turned out that eBay not only partnered with a competitor but funded them as well to the tune of $15MM.
Fast forward a few years to the present and not only do I now have VCs as clients (examaning their new portfolio companies for SEO potential) but they now view my experiences during dot bomb as a badge of honor and the fact that I'm at the top of the SEO game as a real reason to fund my new venture and now the process of funding and building a company is much, much easier and not once have any of the top tier VC's I deal with even asked about my education, nor do they give any indication whatsoever that they even care.
So it all comes down to drive and passion and whether you have that fire within to make it happen regardless and whether you are willing to make sacrifices because whether you choose the MBA route or the entrepreneurial route you will have to make those sacrifices either way, its just your choice of which type of pain you're willing to endure.
Thanks for the insight, Joe. And I don't know who this "E Bay" is, but I'm sure you're better off without them ;)
I wouldn't bother. In the world of web marketing, and particularly in the world of SEO things changes so quickly that the best place to be is in the work place. I have a similar story as Rand as I didn't finish my studies, instead I started working. I think the most important piece of paper you need in this industry is the results that you have achieved. My clients are not going to care whether I finished a degree, they want to know I can do my job and get them to the top of the Search Engines.
Besides, you seem to have the most important quality you need for this business already, and that's PASSION! Having the drive and passion to achieve something is half the battle, you won't give up until you have the answers.
You also have a great boss that can teach you more about SEO than any of these poncey university professors that might not have had hands on experience at all. It's one thing preaching, a totally different thing actually doing!!
Do, or do not, there is not try!
Good luck with your decision.
I'm applying to HBS right now, app is difficult and it is quite a bit more expesnive than U Washington. But the oppourtunities ocming out of HBS are immense. If you want an MBA go for a top 10 and be prepared to switch careers if you want a good ROI. If you plan on staying in SEO/SEM it's worthless. If you someday want to own your own business, something big, apply for the top MBA.
@ the person who said HBS/Stanford are hard to finish... WRONG! Getting in is the hardest part, the work isn't hard and anyone allowed in should be able ot breeze by. Besides, most employers don't ask for grades from those places and most top MBAs have non grade disclosure.
Rebecca,
I've always heard that unless your career is plateauing, you don't need an MBA. My wife completed her MBA last year from a top 50 program and had a hard time getting back into the workforce, despite the fact she had 7 prior years of marketing experience. The problem was that jobs that didn't require an MBA thought she was overqualified and that she would jump ship; jobs that did require one wanted someone with more higher-level experience. She eventually found a great job and the MBA helped her get it, but it was not as easy as either of us had expected.
Don't get me wrong, I've often wanted to go back for one myself. The knowledge that I gained through my "MBA by proxy" is very useful but the degrees are relatively common these days. I agree with Rand that the top 5 programs really make a difference, especially in light of the networking opportunities that degrees from these schools provide.
One last item to consider is time commitments for school versus industry knowledge that you gain everyday. From seeing what my wife went through I can promise you that you will not be able to stay current with the industry, school just takes too much time.
Hope this helps, good luck.
This greatly depends on the types of clients you are trying to attract. The larger firms that deal with huge amounts of dollars passing on their site, say a huge ecommerce brand will look for this type of training. Smaller and mid sized companies in most cases should care less.
My boss is a Harvard MBA, and I have learned more from him in the past 7 months than I have in my past 7 years in the industry. Understanding and predicting revenue in thousands of directions is a huge deal. In my current position I feel that I would be more affective if I had this type of education.
I have 20 units to my name scattered across different night schools. Up until this point it has been meaningless in my life.
Joseph says it perfectly, and I can speak from his example, since I work there.