Hello everyone!

I am curious what many of you may think, so feel free to chime in.

I am an American living in Germany. I have a pretty strong desire to continue working overseas, and possibly settling here in the EU or somewhere else. I was recalled to military service to come to Germany, and I have options to remain in Germany or elsewhere with my current civilian employer after completion.

I have a MBA from a decent school in the US, but I feel like the education was a bit of an extension on my BBA and set me up to me more of a functional to mid-level manager. While there are several senior and executive level professionals who have come out of my school, I still feel like I need more development and that will not happen in my current role with the military here. At my age, I am trying to work to accelerate my career a bit over the next few years to play catch up.

I had looked into many programs. Most are eliminated due to costs, time, or inability to use my educational benefits at them. For example: HEC Paris was too expensive for any of their programs or required more time than I could take away from work. Mannheim's EMBA schedule and costs were very workable but they informed me that I would not be eligible because German law would not permit me to to pursue a MBA at a public university because I already held a MBA.

So, after looking into my options that do not require too much time away from work, can use my education benefits and seem to have to enough of a curriculum difference from my previous MBA, I landed on the Frankfurt School's EMBA.

This is what I see as positives for the program:
- Curriculum is considerably different and seems to have a solid focus on executive skills
- I can do it with minimal out of pocket costs (mostly driving to Frankfurt...an hour away)
- The culture seems to be very strong and friendly while still trying to drive success. I can't put my finger on it, but it seems like they are working harder to be the best that they can in all facets.
- Alumni network seems highly engaged, but I will concede that they do not seem to have as many senior leaders in place as Mannheim or WHU.

I know that this is an unorthodox path, but I feel like it could be solid development and help me network better...not to mention help me understand more about business and even maybe find out what I do know. With my goals, I need to be willing to do what it takes to achieve them and if I can do them in the EMEA region, I would be even more happy.

Please, feel free to give me your opinion, criticism, or alternative ideas. I feel comfortable with this plan, but I may be missing something.

I think a lot of this depends on the value you offer to a potential employer, and what you can do to increase that value the most. Getting a second MBA to get executive skills training sounds like renting a hotel room to get travel-sized toiletries.  You could take a advanced management programme or senior executive programme at a great school and get a much more powerful alumni network. But, honestly, if you have a decent MBA and both military and civilian experience your executive skills might be less of an issue for you than acculturation and German language skills. 

PS Check out the second half of this book, written by a former WHU colleague who is now chancellor of the Munich business school: https://www.routledge.com/The-Essential-Guide-to-Studying-Abroad-From-Success-in-the-Classroom-to/Klassen-Menges/p/book/9780367235161 

[Edited by Duncan on May 12, 2021]

Duncan, 

Thank you for the reply. I have looked into a few executive programs. My largest issue with some of them has been either the time required away from the office or the lack of coverage of benefits. Do you have any good ones that I should look into?

Thanks!
Mark

What do you mean by "the lack of coverage of benefits"?