Organizational Leadership?

[Dwarfhamster]

Tell her to get a real degree! Like my Bachelors in Political Science!

*cries into crumpled up diploma*

Hey, I have a poli sci degree! Nothing wrong with that, I'm super successful. *Eats ramen noodles*

[Dwarfhamster]

If she is interested in staying in the nonprofit sector, perhaps find an MBA program with a focus on nonprofit work, or even a Master in Public Administration that has a focus on nonprofit work. Organizational leadership is a bit too broad, I think. It's one of those "I don't know what to do so I'll get a generic degree"-type degrees. A lot of returning students (those that left for a few years without finishing and opting to come back to finish their degree) often pursue organizational leadership for degree completion because of how broad (that is, generic) it is.

With a graduate degree, I think it's beneficial to be more specific.

[hellhamster]

Tell her to get a real degree! Like my Bachelors in Political Science!

*cries into crumpled up diploma*

Wew, who convinced you to go for that meme? MAYBE if you connected it with law AND you had the right connections...

Engineering and chemistry are the only things where it's really at kids. Everything else is oversaturated.

Heck, if you want money, the best thing you can do is learn a trade. Degrees are pretty much useless for the most part right now.

[Stelio Kontos]

Wew, who convinced you to go for that meme? MAYBE if you connected it with law AND you had the right connections...

Engineering and chemistry are the only things where it's really at kids. Everything else is oversaturated.

Heck, if you want money, the best thing you can do is learn a trade. Degrees are pretty much useless for the most part right now.

Law school was the plan afterwards, but due to a terrible influence in my life at the time (a really awful gf at the time) I was pushed into dropping out after my first year of law school. But that was a while ago. Almost 36 now, so I doubt going back to law school would be worth it.

I do well, I make six figures, but it's in a field that has nothing to do with Poli Sci. Most Greek immigrants to the US go one of two directions; the restaurant business or real estate. I am in real estate now.

[Celista]

Wew, who convinced you to go for that meme? MAYBE if you connected it with law AND you had the right connections...

Engineering and chemistry are the only things where it's really at kids. Everything else is oversaturated.

Heck, if you want money, the best thing you can do is learn a trade. Degrees are pretty much useless for the most part right now.

Chemistry is not super great in the US. Maybe if you have a biochem engineering phd...according to everyone I know, everything is saturated here. But that doesn't mean some career choices aren't better than others, assuming you have the aptitude/passion for a given field.

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Law school was the plan afterwards, but due to a terrible influence in my life at the time (a really awful gf at the time) I was pushed into dropping out after my first year of law school. But that was a while ago. Almost 36 now, so I doubt going back to law school would be worth it.

I do well, I make six figures, but it's in a field that has nothing to do with Poli Sci. Most Greek immigrants to the US go one of two directions; the restaurant business or real estate. I am in real estate now.

You're likely way better off in real estate.

[Theinquisition]

Hey all:

I met this woman who's interested in nonprofit work (she wants to be an executive director at a nonprofit agency one day) and asked me some questions about whether or not a graduate degree in organizational leadership would be beneficial for her career goals (I work for a nonprofit). I said I don't know because I've never heard of the field and the degree. When I looked it up, it seemed like something a lot of online schools offer, but not as much brick and mortar ones (except Arizona State).

I get the sense that it's a bullshit degree, but I guess it could also be akin to a general management degree and I would think that an MBA would be more beneficial in that regard. Anyone else know more about it?

Oddly enough, before I changed my major to Emergency management, I was a Organizational Management/Leadership major at ASU. Its also what I have my AAS in.

The degree focuses a lot on the human resource side of executive level leadership, I.E. developing employees, creating positive organizational cultures, project/ group management, and has a huge focus on Ethics and applied ethics in leadership.

I think it's a good degree to have of you are going to get into Non-profit management, or corporate level management. It really focuses on the strategic side of human resource development and Ethics in leadership. It's the type of degree that would have been really useful at organizations like Enron.

I don't think you're off base by saying it's akin to a general business management degree, it just places the focus on human development as opposed to the accounting side of a business degree.

I switched because I really like the idea of helping people prepare for a natural or man made disaster, and fits in well with the company I work for.

[Celista]

Oddly enough, before I changed my major to Emergency management, I was a Organizational Management/Leadership major at ASU. Its also what I have my AAS in.

The degree focuses a lot on the human resource side of executive level leadership, I.E. developing employees, creating positive organizational cultures, project/ group management, and has a huge focus on Ethics and applied ethics in leadership.

I think it's a good degree to have of you are going to get into Non-profit management, or corporate level management. It really focuses on the strategic side of human resource development and Ethics in leadership. It's the type of degree that would have been really useful at organizations like Enron.

I don't think you're off base by saying it's akin to a general business management degree, it just places the focus on human development as opposed to the accounting side of a business degree.

I switched because I really like the idea of helping people prepare for a natural or man made disaster, and fits in well with the company I work for.

Thanks for your insight, appreciated.

I can see how emergency management could tie in well with your military background, as well (not sure if that applies to your future career goals or not).

[INVASMANIXOXOXO]

I would also say an MBA is a better choice. Celista why was law school a negative experience? I am considering that route for myself at the moment.

[Spectral]

I get the sense that it's a bullshit degree, but I guess it could also be akin to a general management degree and I would think that an MBA would be more beneficial in that regard. Anyone else know more about it?

I think MBAs are mostly bullshit degrees too, but they sure seem to help. I'd suppose it'll mostly come down to who you can meet with whatever this certification is since it's almost certainly not going to teach anything meaningful.

[I Push Buttons]

We live in the world where "Community Organizer" is sufficient to be a US Senator and then President.

And then taught and practiced law for a decade and a half.*

[Theodarzna]

Hey all:

I met this woman who's interested in nonprofit work (she wants to be an executive director at a nonprofit agency one day) and asked me some questions about whether or not a graduate degree in organizational leadership would be beneficial for her career goals (I work for a nonprofit). I said I don't know because I've never heard of the field and the degree. When I looked it up, it seemed like something a lot of online schools offer, but not as much brick and mortar ones (except Arizona State).

I get the sense that it's a bullshit degree, but I guess it could also be akin to a general management degree and I would think that an MBA would be more beneficial in that regard. Anyone else know more about it?

It sounds like a Business school thing, and IMHO Business Degrees are a complete waste. So I'd say this sounds like a bullshit degree.

[Celista]

I would also say an MBA is a better choice. Celista why was law school a negative experience? I am considering that route for myself at the moment.

Law is not about right or wrong or correcting social ills. I'd like to say that it's a great career for people who like paperwork (and for some people, being argumentative/contentious, although you spend very little actual time arguing) and have no invested interest in whether a client is guilty or an asshole. But, most (but obviously not all) people who need attorneys are both. For that reason, most good attorneys are assholes with little moral compass, and you spend most of your time defending assholes. The poor downtrodden everyday man can't afford your legal fees.

The best part about law school was spending so much time around obviously intelligent people, which is wonderful from a personal growth perspective as much as it is humbling. Several of my classmates already had PhDs in the sciences, and were interested in IP law specifically. The good/bad part of law school is that most people in competitive law schools graduated at/near the top of their class, so your special snowflake status is stripped from you quickly (although law school administrators will pat you on the back and remind you about what a special snowflake you are for choosing such a lofty profession on a regular basis, presumably to bolster their retention numbers).

If you care about the welfare of the everyday person, our legal system is incredibly depressing. Employment law, tenant law, animal rights/environmental law (if you care about such things) are all simply sad.

The primary reason you shouldn't go is because the job market is terrible. I read somewhere in the last six months that new law grads outnumber available jobs requiring a JD on a ratio of 2:1. Law schools fudge their employment numbers by encouraging people into "JD-advantaged" positions where you don't need a JD at all.

If you do go, go to a tier 1 law school (my law school was tier 1 at the time), or cross your fingers and hope you graduate at the top of your class. If you get into a top firm, you're going to be working long hours in a stressful environment with the pie-in-the-sky hopes of ending up in a partnership one day. Nonprofit law is very difficult to get into. No matter what you do, make sure you go because you truly love the law, not because you're looking to earn big bucks. You can make just as much or more money being a dental hygienist nowadays, which requires an associate's degree (no seriously, look it up).

Law teaches you many useful things but an expensive degree is really not necessary unless you're committed to practice, and setting out your own shingle is more difficult than you may realize, unless you're willing to go chase ambulances or have an exceptional network (like you belong to daddy's country club or something).

There are a lot of articles out there that will help you decide, good luck.

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I think MBAs are mostly bullshit degrees too, but they sure seem to help. I'd suppose it'll mostly come down to who you can meet with whatever this certification is since it's almost certainly not going to teach anything meaningful.

I think they can help from a networking standpoint. But if it's not a top school (or a school with a good reputation in a city that you never plan on leaving, ever), then forget it.