Hi Guys,

I am currently employed in an Oil&Gas Company in Italy. I am currently 30 (MEng. Electronics, GPA:3.7) and I have 5 years relevant work experience within the field.
I am really interested in Energy Sector but not fully satisfied with my current job, and I am thinking about attending a Master (with the potential for a career change/step up). Preferred Future Career path: Programme/Project Mngt. or Energy Mngt., in energy/renewables sector.

Given my work experience/age I looked for a 1year full time MBA but found only a few with Energy Concentration. On the other hand I found some interesting MSc courses in renewables (covering both tech. & economics aspects). What should I go for? Please consider I am not interested in becoming a banker or top strategic consultant.

Thanks in advance,

Paolo

It's difficult to answer your question if you don't tell us which courses you are comparing.

Have you read this: http://www.find-mba.com/article/314/can-an-mba-spark-a-career-in-the-energy-industry ?

Hi Jork,

thank you for the reply. I am undecided between 1 year Energy MBAs (e.g.: Aberdeen RGU's, Dundee's) and MSc Courses (e.g: Imperial College MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures and similar 1 year programmes in UK). I would definitely go for an MSc in sustainability/renewables covering both technical and economics aspects in the sector, but I am worried about my age (30) and relevant work experience(5 y.). Is an MBA the only meaningful education investment at this stage of my career/life?

Thank you again.

Regards,

Paolo

Hi Paulo,

Don't worry about your age - there are plenty of older people doing an MBA, and actually, i think it is look upon by the school as an advantage. the Age range in imperial c. MBA is 25-33 for example. i don't know how it is with Msc, but im sure it is similar.

My guess is actually that the MSc age is lower.

Paolo, I'd go for an MBA. The MSc is for someone with no or little work experience. Also careers are usually not as much emphasized on an MSc program. What about the new Global Energy MBA at Warwick? Or what about the schools with active energy clubs in the US or Canada somewhere, if you're looking at the sustainability side.

----"My guess is actually that the MSc age is lower"------

I'm pretty sure Evan is right, as most Msc. Students enroll directly after the bachelors(this usually means they are 22-26).

did you take a look at this new article?

http://www.find-mba.com/article/337/back-to-school-the-work-experience-dilemma

it discusses the age issue, and work experience question.

Dear Paolo,

I think you have started to answer your own question. This answer lies in your career development. The first step to take is to identify the new direction you wish to take. You should then build a few profiles of the types of jobs on offer down this new direction and identify the characteristics of the people in these jobs. Once you have build this profile in terms of education, experience, and so on. You then need to match to your own experience and qualifications. This matching process will help you identify the types of jobs you could get, the experience you need for other jobs and the education you may need to acquire. You can now determine how feasible your new path is and the course of action you need to take. If the route is not clear then I would try and speak with people in the role you are looking for to determine how they got there.

So you need to undertake research and some networking.

If the question simply comes down to education then you need to undertake the qualification that is best suited from your matching process. If there is a qualification the industry expects you to have - lets say a hygiene factor - then you need to acquire this. If you don't have it you won't get through the first phase of some job screening processes as this may be done by agencies.

In the debate about MBA versus MSc then both qualifications should give you subject knowledge. The MBA will be more focused on strategy, decision-making and leadership (assuming it is AMBA accredited) so will appeal to candidates with experience and in a management role already. You need to take the degree that best suits your new career path. In this context then the discussion about age is irrelevant.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Allan Scott
MBA DIrector

Good point about looking at where you want to be, and thinking pragmatically about the qualifications you need to get there. I actually can't think of a single instance where an MSc is better than an MBA in terms of job prospects. Am I wrong? Evan

Dear Evan,

I think if it is a general management qualification you would be mainly right. However if it is a specialist management qualification then the option may be to undertake the MSc. For example if you want to be a project manager which can be an exceptionally well paid job in the Energy industry then undertake an APM or PMI accredited MSc in Project Management. If you want to be a practising HR professional in the UK you will need to have at least a CIPD accredited postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management. The same may be true for Purchasing and Supply Chain management, Energy Finance (i.e. mid stream trading say) or Health and Safety amongst other positions you will find in the Energy industry. It all depends on what the industry expects and your career stage. Paolo's position is that he wants to go down another career route. He may find that a MBA is the right option.

However he needs to put effort into researching what his options are, determine if these are feasible and come up with a plan that he can pursue and drive himself to achieve.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Allan Scott