Personal Update ..
General, MBA, VinepixI have been so busy that blogging has not been happening much. A couple of quick updates -
SMU PMBA Progress
First, my MBA at SMU is going well. The part-time program is structured to fit well with the busy life of a working professional, but its still a lot to chew on! Last night I wrapped up a presentation skills class, but I still have another few weeks of Decision Analysis and Financial Accounting II before spring break.
Like other schools, SMU divides up each semester into two modules. So you have four classes per semester, although you only take two at a time. The first semester I took these classes -
Financial Accounting I - This is a great intro but a lot of work. For anybody else taking this class my advice is to do all the problems. If you power through it - and I know its like 6-8 hours a week of work - you will know the material and do well. Its so important to get a strong foundation for future classes.
Managerial Ecoomics - A great class for getting the 10,000 foot view of economics in business. Again, do the problems. This class is a lot of work but not as much as Financial Accounting (at least it wasn't for me).
Managerial Statistics - I didn't care for how this class was taught. It was basically a big Excel class with a little theory sprinkled in. Unfortunately I don't feel like I learned that much - but I also think that is partially my fault .. this class made me realize that its not enough to focus on what is in the syllabus, and what the professor covers in class - you have to go beyond what is covered in order to really understand the material sometimes.
Organizational Behavior - This is the class I have enjoyed the most so far. Great instructor who made the class engaging and fun, but even more, there's so many topics covered in the class that crystallized behaviors or problems I'd seen in the past in the workplace. The materials and methods covered in the course are going to benefit me for the rest of my life.
Okay, enough about SMU ... like I said, great program, I have a great group of peers to work with, and am enjoying it all around.
New Job @ Gartner
What else is going on? Well, I started a new job a few weeks ago. Until recently I was working at the Fed in Dallas, doing web development on some interesting internal projects. I have no idea how much I can say about them, so I won't go into detail! Anyway, I had a great team and a great boss and the Dallas Fed was a great place to work.
Having said all that, working at the Fed I was getting broader and deeper with my technical knowledge (not a bad thing) but I was not really able to fill some of the holes in my resume - the "skills portfolio" was incomplete. I did not get to do a lot of strategizing about technology, communicating about technology, presenting, etc. While I could pursue some of this in my "free time" (I don't really have any right now), my core job did not involve expanding my skills into non-technical areas.
As of 1/19, I started at Gartner as a Senior Research Analyst, covering Web & Cloud Application Development. Basically, this means that I get paid to have a defensible opinion ;)
All jest aside, Gartner is very serious about putting out the finest research possible in the area of technology. We try to help our clients get the right technology-related insight to make the best possible technology decisions, every day. (Yes that was taken almost verbatim from the marketing literature, but its the truth.)
I feel like I have stepped into a think tank surrounded by geniuses. I'm on the phone a lot with my peers and these folks are all so smart, I'm just glad I have them fooled!
Yesterday I gave a short presentation on IT decision making and Gartner for my presentation skills class, so I will cover the points here - they make a good case for why Gartner is so important:
- technology is complicated and getting more so (you know this if you are visiting this blog, technology work is not getting any easier, just more and more complex)
- technology is important and getting more so (again, there's not a soul in any company today that can do their job without the tech working right - globally, we'll spend more than 3.3 trillion on tech this year!)
- technology decision making is really difficult because of the high visibility/importance and high complexity attached. Most IT decision makers are pinned down by short-term tactical problems, and are not in a good position to make the high-level strategic decisions that they're really supposed to make. Gartner is the partner in that situation that can help navigate the waters.
I had a hard time leaving the Fed because of the "total value equation" for me there - great benefits, great people to work with, and a great boss. However, the opportunity to join an organization like Gartner was too good to pass up. I am surrounded by smart people who are dedicated to helping our clients make better choices about tech. I get paid to research and debate about tech, and ultimately once my research has been vetted, to help clients use it profitably. I really believe in the product Gartner is selling, and I hope I can help carry on the tradition.
VinePix Project
Okay, enough about SMU and Gartner .. I am also working on a project in my "free time" (cough) called VinePix. VinePix is a social networking site for wine lovers. We have a pretty rough beta going right now with a few users, but its open to whoever would like to participate, so feel free to join. http://www.vinepix.com
The idea behind VinePix is that we wanted a simple way to keep track of wines we've enjoyed, and be able to share them with friends. Once you set up a VinePix account, you can use your handheld phone to send in pictures of wines that you're drinking, via email. You can tag them with keywords and rate them - do it when you send them in, or come back later on and add your tags and ratings. Your friends on the site can comment on the wines, and you can explore wines by tag.
Many of the other wine sites are difficult to use because they are so complicated. I love wine but I am not a "true" expert so VinePix makes it easier for me to discover new stuff I might like, while sharing with my buddies the great bottle I may have had last week.
Okay, I think that's about enough. Thanks for reading and catching up with me.
Eric
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Beer from a fire hose
MBA"Grad school is like drinking from a fire hose; the good part is, when you get to grad school, the fire hose is filled with beer."
With these words of sage wisdom, Michael Caplan, director of student services, closed out the end of the PMBA 2010 orientation session. I hope that I am able to live up to the fun and hard work that this phrase implies.
Over the weekend I met my study group (great folks by the way) and learned more about the vast resources the SMU Cox School of Business offers its graduate students. From talking to friends and family who attended other MBA programs (mostly full-time), its clear there's not much quite like this anywhere else, even at top Ivy League schools (much less anywhere else in D/FW).
Another thing Mr. Caplan talked about was having "no regrets" about the PMBA experience - taking full advantage of all of the non-classwork offerings, from social programs to business leadership center seminars. As one who is given to procrastinate from time to time, I really intend to push myself in this area and utilize the goodies I am paying a lot of money for! I expect to be extremely busy for the next couple of years but I will try to keep blogging about ColdFusion related stuff as much as I can. I have a couple of posts I need to finish out in the next week or two before classes start, but after that the pickings will get slimmer than ever.
Of course I will also periodically write stuff about my SMU PMBA experience and how that is going. My first classes are financial accounting and managerial economics - I've taken accounting before in undergrad but I expect this will be a more challenging course, and managerial economics is all new to me - although I hear there's quite a bit of calculus involved (shudder).
I also just started using Facebook (I know I am way behind the times on this), so you can find me on there too.
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Finished my SMU PMBA application.
MBASo, today, 4 days before the final deadline I submitted my fully-completed SMU application for the class of 2010 PMBA. I have learned a few things from this experience and would like to share them with anybody who might be interested in pursuing this process.
First, the GMAT is not something to be afraid of; if you did well on the SAT you have all you need to do well on the test. My advice is to take a practice test before you start studying so you can figure out where you are weakest; then, target that area with preparation. The areas that are easier for you should not be ignored, however. I found that the Kaplan book (I got the 2005 one from the library) provides good test taking strategies and a reasonable math primer, which can be referenced while you are doing problems. Additionally, plan to get your hands on the most recent problems book from the GMAC, as it is chock full of retired test questions. For me the quantitative portion of the exam was the most challenging so I worked several hundred problems as preparation. Finally, be sure to take full advantage of the GMATPrep software available on MBA.com. It is the only practice software that uses the same algorithm as the real GMAT you will take on your test date; other vendors try to reverse engineer the algorithm but ultimately the odds of them getting it right are slim to none. If after your first test you feel comfortable with the test format you should be able to study for 20-40 hours spread over a month and get a pretty solid score.
I am only applying to SMU because I don't feel that the other MBA programs in the Dallas area offer enough for me to warrant the time investment. It is actually more about the time than the money for me. At 33 years old I am about ready to start cranking out kids but my wife Laura and I have agreed to hold off until I am done or nearly done with my degree before getting started (assuming I am accepted). The cost is nothing to be trifled with but I feel confident that this degree is going to pay for itself in the long run. If you place a lower value on your 'excess time' than I do you might consider other programs (if you are in the Dallas area). UTD has a fairly respected PMBA focused on project management (when finished you also get your PMP certification) so this could be a good option for some folks.
The other reason I am staying in the area is also related to age .. but this time the age of my career. I have worked in IT for 12 years and have been pretty lucky with my job choices. The opportunity cost for leaving the workforce for a couple of years to do a full time program (not to mention the dislocation it would cause my wife if we were to move somewhere else) is simply too high at this point. Again, if you are 5 or 7 years younger this may not be as big of a concern. Another factor is my weak undergrad academic record; while I am not going to disclose my GMAT score on this blog, I can say it was a strong score, and if I had a strong undergrad background to match I would be sorely tempted to shoot for a top 5 full-time program. My sister attended such a program herself and the quality of her classmates was truly exceptional (she is pretty exceptional herself).
Okay, on to the application itself. Like other schools, SMU requires a litany of details including essays, recommendations, etc. I suggest you start seriously working on your application at least one month before you plan to submit it. For recommendations you need to talk to those people at least 6-8 weeks before you want to submit the application and be sure to tell them about relevant deadlines. It would not hurt to give them an idea of what you are planning to do after your MBA as well. I personally do not like the idea of writing a recommendation for someone else but some people do that too. SMU has an online format that asks the recommender(s) specific questions, so writing a custom recommendation is not necessary.
Your essays should be proofread by people who know you very well. We all tend to be a little myopic regarding our perceived strengths and weaknesses - the fact that I think we are all myopic about ourselves is in itself somewhat myopic ;). At any rate you will be surprised when someone you care about tells you your essay is not very good but chances are they are right. Don't get upset at these people who are trying to help you out, but do ask for specific examples to support the criticisms levied at your essays. You will probably spend as much if not more time writing your essays for your first application than you did preparing for the GMAT!
Well that is about all I have to say on this subject. I worked very hard to put together the best application package I could, and I feel very good about my chances. Once I find out if I've been accepted, I will post here so anybody interested knows if I will be seeing any daylight for the next couple of years ;)
Eric
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