The decision Between Exec. MBA vs. Full-time MBA - Part 2

Here is continuation of the part 1 of the discussion on Exec. MBA vs. Full time MBA decision

The problem of entry level positions:
Realize that most of the jobs available to full-time MBA are entry level positions especially if you are changing careers. So unless you have an appetite to take orders from somebody who is at least two or three years younger (even more in banking) don't even venture there. This is true for all career changers - whether you are in full-time or Exec MBA does not matter. Having said that I know two Exec MBA guys who directly transitioned to a VP level position into a VC firm post-MBA. This is never going to happen for a full-time MBA program student unless he/she has prior PE/VC experience.

I believe the decision between Exec. MBA and full-time MBA or even an MBA really boils down to what you want to do next in your career. If you are a techie who has stagnated in his/her current engineering position and if your goal is to move to general management position in a different industry/management consulting position roles - earlier your only option was to do a full-time MBA. However there are multiple options available to you that I suggest you consider (each of these options are based on specific examples I have seen and are ordered based on the level of difficulty in implementing each of these options)

Easiest - Try moving into a non-engineering/managerial position such as Product Management/marketing within your own company. This option does not even require an MBA. One or two years in such a role will tremendously increase your marketability for other general management roles across a diverse set of industry - This is from my own personal experience - when I transitioned from an engineering role in Telecom equipment company to Product Management role. Two years later I started getting calls for PM roles in very different verticals within the Tech industry such as internet (Google/Yahoo to be specific) and I didn't even have an MBA till that point. You will have even more opportunities across very diverse industries if you supplement this with an Exec. MBA. Think from the perspective of a prospective employer - would he prefer to hire somebody who has two-three years of general management experience + Exec MBA or simply a fresh full-time MBA with almost no general management experience!

Slightly tougher: Increasingly firms are realizing that there is a vast pool of available talent in engineering roles that is eager to venture and try out other general management roles. For example, McKinsey which already hires 30% of its associates (experienced hires) from non-MBA background is planning to increase it to almost 60% in coming years. Also firms such as Intel, Cisco etc are increasingly hiring non-MBAs for general management rotational positions.

Difficult: If you are not into transitioning into general management roles but into totally different industries such as banking, hedge funds etc, yes a full-time MBA makes sense. Because it is difficult to make that transition from engineering roles to these roles without a full-time MBA. As I stated above, there are few cases of people who have made the same transition from an Exec. MBA but for that you will have to be very committed.

Very difficult: Looking for that elusive VC job: First of all who said that going for a full-time MBA is the only way to get into VC. It may be definitely so for an entry level position but increasingly a lot of VCs (especially the early stage ones) are hiring for mid to senior level positions directly from the industry - the reason being Industry experience and contacts are much more relevant for being a successful VC than that MBA degree from top B-School. Your MBA degree is relevant to the extent your network from that school is useful. But for that you don't need a full-time MBA - Exec. MBA should suffice.

Hope this helps. I might sound too negative here for full-time MBA (after having completed a two year full-time MBA program) but I am taking this position for a reason - so many times I have seen the debate between full-time vs Exec MBA is so one-sided in favor of full-time that I thought somebody needs to bring in some balance here!