I am 31 and have quite a well paying good job as a software engineer in Seattle for a company developing financial software for the telecommunications industry, but am not satisfied with that. It isn't that the job isn't good, but it isn't what I have been dreaming of. I get sick of doing brilliant things only to see our company screw up because retards in upper management don't know what they're doing. I just don't see myself as being a software engineer at 50. I also don't see myself staying with my current company longer than a couple more years max.

So I have been looking at a career change for a while now. I am quite interested in management (and am pretty good at it from the experience that I've had), as well as marketing, and finance. So I have been looking at doing my MBA.


Fortunately, my company will let me take my career in another direction. In particular I have two options:

a) Product management--the position would involve making requirements decisions about software development based on what specific customers (telecom companies) need and what the market needs generally. This position would be in Seattle. I would have no direct reports, but would have requirements control over financial systems through which millions of dollars flow. I probably wouldn't get a huge raise if any.

b) Engineering management--the position would be fairly technical-not actually that different than what I am doing now as far as mentoring more junior developers and encouraging/enforcing development standards, but it would be more official. This position would be in India. I would have about 20 developers reporting to me. I would actually have to take a pay cut in absolute dollars, but would have a significant raise in terms of purchasing power parity.

Both should be challenging and interesting in their own rights and both have differing advantages in terms of lifestyle. But I'm mostly concerned with:

1) How each would affect my MBA admission prospects

2) How each would affect my career prospects post-MBA

I am not entirely sure what sort of career I would like post-MBA. Either a management position with a tech company or a position with an Investment Bank (probably analyzing the telecoms industry since I know it fairly well).

My academic credentials are pretty good. I have a BA in Math and an MS in Computer Science from a top 25 school with a GPA of about 3.4 and wouldn't really settle for a mediocre MBA program.


So what do you guys think? Is one position significantly more attractive to MBA programs? How much more attractive? Do you think my resume warrants (assuming good GMATs) admission to a top 10 program? What about my prospects post MBA? I would guess that the engineering manager position would be more attractive to getting an upper management job in a current tech company or with a consulting firm, but that the product management job might be more attractive to an investment bank, but what do you guys think? How many years in either position would I need?

Oh and before you guys try to convince me to stay with my current company and move up--ain't gonna happen. I'm not the correct nationality to move up very high with my current company--shouldn't matter, but it does.

Thanks in advance for any advice--good or bad.