Bachelor Degree Required

Bachelor Degree Required

Seeking advancement in my company seems to have the term "Bachelor Degree Required" assigned to it. Without a degree it's not impossible to be promoted, but it's more of an exception than the norm. At times, should the applicant have sufficient years of equivalent experience and be known by the group hiring, the requirement can be waived. With the constant change in company policies, the equivalency option may be removed. Then what am I going to do? With so many younger people entering the work place with degrees in hand, it is more and more prevalent that I complete my education.

A college degree combined with several years of experience should help ensure my personal marketability. "There are more jobseekers with college degrees than there are openings for college-level jobs." Mittelhauser, M. (1998). I must obtain my degree or see my career future greatly reduced. After all I don't want to be caught when someone comes in and says "Out with the old and in with the new!"

What are the key areas you are looking to learn and/or in which you are seeking greater competence?

By the completion of my degree I want to have increased my knowledge and decision making abilities as a manager. The assignment in team learning has already given me a better understanding to the importance of "Team" in the work place. With career advancement comes the responsibility of leading, and a leader has to be able to assess the abilities of each team member. I want to know how to bring ideas and concerns of teammates to light, as well as how to integrate those bright ideas into a workable plan.

I need to understand the aspects of critical thinking, and how to apply it. Being able to question who, what, where, when, why and how is just the beginning. Taking the answers to these questions and learning how to applying them towards the improvement of business or product is the harder part. For some change is a hard thing to accept. The problem of implementing a change is often more human than technical. How to install changes and have the changes accepted is a skill I need to improve upon.

In management you must have the ability to correctly identify the personality traits of others. Identifying these traits helps identify the type of management that will be required. Understanding the tendencies of your staff will help in the management of them. Having a good blend of personality traits working one project will be more beneficial than having to many of the same type. The adage "To many Chiefs and not enough Indians" applies throughout the work place.

Overall, I am seeking knowledge that will help me be a competent manager.

How do you anticipate the program helping you in your current position, and what will be your ambitions/goals once you complete our program?

The education received from Phoenix University will provide the stepping-stones to life long learning abilities. Many of the leaders in today's market place have forgotten to learn. They need to remember that just because they did it this way before does not mean it is the way to do it today. In a quote found on the Insight Assessment web site Derek Bok, past president of Harvard University, once stated, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." The ignorance of a senior manager that