<p>I needed some advice at this juncture since am quite confused. I just graduated with a BS in IE last month here in Boston with a 3.7 GPA and need to decide between continuing with an MS in IE at my current school here in Boston or just taking a job offer. My eventual long-term goal is to be move into management and more on the business side of things since engineering is not my passion. </p>
<p>The offer is for an international aviation company and entails working on the shop floor of an MRO and helping come up with better facility layouts, production planning methodology as well as some inventory analysis work down in Dallas, TX. The pay is average and the job description itself doesn't excite me (since I was looking for core-supply chain/biz development/tech sales positions). My fear is that if its the kind of work that I don't like really like doing, I won't be able to do 100% justice to it and be outstanding at it.. </p>
<p>I could potentially do the MS full-time and look for full time positions upon completing it early next year. Being an international student, the MS tends to open more doors from a visa sponsorship standpoint which I had issues with this recruiting season. </p>
<p>So do I take the job in the type of work that doesn't really excite me or do the MS full-time and look again next year with the hopes of a better economy and easier visa sponsorship due to the advanced degree? I could do the MS part-time online but that would take 2 years at minimum and be harder to juggle with my daily duties at work.</p>
<p>My family is willing to support me financially regardless so no financial constraints as such. Any advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>You should probably take the job and see if you like it. If you don’t like it after a year, either get your master’s or try to stay for a promotion for management.</p>
<p>Sounds like your career goals might be better served by an MBA instead of and MS but work experience is usually a plus to get into a good MBA program. Take the job and get your experience then you can make a better decision on whether an MS or MBA is best for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses guys… My only concern with taking the job is that since it is not in my direct line of interest and possibly not my forte, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do a stellar job to get amazing recommendations and thereby hurt my chances of getting into a good business school or moving to a new job… i’m not sure if Im thinking about this the right way! Till date, i’ve always worked hard but I just feel that I perform best when I’m working on something that I’m interested/motivated to do… not sure… <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Would the job be something you despise, or is merely not the “perfect” job? You won’t necessarily get the “perfect” job, but if you get an acceptable one, that can help you get experience that can help you get the next job, or help you decide on a focus area for graduate school (i.e. whether you want to do MS in IE, MBA, or MFE*, and which subarea within each degree program).</p>
<ul>
<li>MFE = Master of Financial Engineering, a degree program aimed at quantitative finance, for which someone with a BS in IE should be well prepared for, if that is of interest.</li>
</ul>
<p>take the job. It’s shortterm
your long term goal is something else.
However, your longterm goal could sink your shortterm needs. </p>
<p>If you weather the opportunity cost in attending go to grad school. Not many people like freshly minted MBA or MS Eng without any work or project experience.</p>