<p>Little about myself:I have a BA (criminology major, political science minor) from a public florida university, I graduated with honors and thus far I have 2 years experience working at a local police department. </p>
<p>Here's my dilemma, I plan on attending graduate school and I've narrowed down my studies to one of the following:</p>
<p>Masters in Public Administration
Masters in Business Administration
Masters in Information Technology
Masters in Forensic Accounting</p>
<p>I mean, assuming I went with the MIT degree, how difficult would it be to get into IT without any actual experience in the field (other than just the graduate degree?). Same question with the forensic accounting degree, how difficult is it to get into the accounting field without any direct accounting/auditing experience (other than the graduate degree?). </p>
<p>I could foresee myself continuing to work in the public sector or several years down the road, in the private sector. I'm trying to base my decision on what to pick based on future job opportunities, demand, opening doors, possibilities down the road, and salary ect (all the usual stuff). I do like law enforcement and plan to ultimately follow that route for now, though in a civilian (not LEO) capacity. </p>
<p>I don’t think theres any good school out there that offer a masters in forensics accounting, most of them are crap schools. I could be wrong though sounds like junk.</p>
<p>it’s basically a standard masters in accounting degree with a specialization in forensic accounting. Looks really interesting and i’ve had my eyes on the program for years, But the thought of IT or just a standard MBA is also very interesting. </p>
<p>though I keep hearing from some people that the IT field is dead while others say it’s fantastic. Accounting always seems to be fine though.</p>
<p>If you want a good accounting job, you should probably be eying better programs (no offense) because Dawgie is right, I don’t really know of any good accounting programs that offer forensic accounting degrees.</p>
<p>It kind of seems like you’re leaning between breaking into IT or accounting, so you should probably go for one of those two degrees. However, if you are going to do accounting, you should probably aim for just doing a generic master’s degree that allows you to sit for the CPA exam at a more reputable university.</p>
<p>Without an accounting undergrad, you will almost have to get a second bachelor’s to earn a MAcc. Given that that is 2+ years and you have no business background, the MBA sounds like a better idea. MBAs are tailor-made for liberal artists who want a second chance at life; MAccs are for people who already have accounting down pat.</p>
<p>Also, do you have any experience with accounting or computers? Do you have a strong GPA? Why aren’t you going to law school?</p>
<p>Here is an entire forum filled with 20-something burnouts with no will to live and no hope of getting jobs. Our own Dawgie ■■■■■■ them regularly, just to sober you up:</p>
<p>^Don’t pay any attention to him, he hates business degrees but loves to hang in the forums for them.</p>
<p>There are plenty of non-business students in MAcc programs and they vary in length but rarely exceed and often don’t even reach 2 years. MAcc programs are designed for students who have little to no accounting experience, so you would be fine.</p>
<p>I graduated with my BA with 3.7 GPA, not interested in law school. I work in law enforcement presently and I have experience with how the judicial system operates and lawyers, and I’m not interested in that kind of work. :)</p>
<p>That being said, I have no experience in accounting or IT. So I’m wondering how difficult it would be to ‘break into’ one of those fields (down the road) if I got a Masters degree in either accounting or IT but with little to no actual experience?</p>
<p>If neither the IT or accounting looks like a good option, I would just opt for the MBA or MPA (though from what I understand, the MBA is generally viewed more favorably). Again, because I have no experience in business, how difficult would it be to ‘break into’ a field in business (finance, banking, whatever ect) with just an MBA but with little to no actual experience? </p>
<p>I’m also factoring in future opportunities where I am currently employed, since I could potentially move into a finance or IT position within the police department or just transfer to another department completely within the municipality such as IT or finance.</p>
<p>First of all you just graduated from sub par school and easy major (no offense), and you probably don’t have a legitimate shot a top MBA right now. You should go for a top MSA school: UT, USC, Notre Dame, BYU, or UMich. Start studying that GMAT kid.</p>
<p>To clarify: I’m not interested in relocating for graduate school nor am I interested in getting into a ‘top’ MBA program. </p>
<p>I’m just curious as to how difficult it would be to ‘break into’ the accounting field or IT field with a masters degree, but little to no experience. Or would it be better to skip a masters degree in accounting/technology and just get a standard MBA?</p>
<p>Please, please get work experience before getting your Masters, and if you are going to get one make sure it’s an MBA. It has a much better return on your investment and commands a lot more respect than a regualar masters. I recommend an MBA in MIS or Operations Management. But not before getting some real world experience.</p>
<p>That’s one thing I was concerned about, if all I have is say…five years of law enforcement experience + an MBA, how difficult would it be if I wanted to do a full “career change” into say…the private industry (in a field completely unrelated to security or law enforcement)?</p>
<p>def not a ‘top’ mba program, if I were to get an mba it would be from a standard state public university. </p>
<p>I’m in law enforcement now and I like it, but I may want to change careers 5 - 10 years down the road. </p>
<p>Would a hiring manager still look at the law enforcement experience “positively”? Or would it be basically irrelevant as it has nothing to do with business/private sector? In other words, If I want to change careers and move into the private sector (in a NON-law enforcement/security capacity, ect) how difficult would that be with say… 5 years in law enforcement + a general MBA?</p>
<p>It would look positively, but not nearly as good as direct experience. Pretty pointless to do. Also going to a no name, non top 20 MBA is a waste of time and money. The benefits are marginally. You are better off doing an MSA which is about 1 year. Then again, it’s all about what you want to do. In your case you seem like a child that has no idea. Figure that out first.</p>