Maybe you’re thinking that this is just the time to head back to school. If you know what you want, you should consider the newer, more narrowly focused programs that have been springing up recently. They’ve been especially noticeable in business schools.

Since 2001, the number of business students enrolled in specialized programs has increased by four percent per year, so that today they make up more than 20 percent of enrollments. At MIT, for example, a master’s degree in finance zeros in on the needs of specific jobs, like asset management.

Many of the more focused programs are offered by schools located in areas when industries are concentrated. Rutgers, located in the pharmaceutical heartland of New Jersey, offers a degree in pharmaceutical management. The University of Oklahoma, in the state that pumps oil on its capital grounds, offers programs designed to appeal to companies in the energy business.

In addition to being more focused, many of these programs are also shorter than the traditional MBA. The MIT program, for example, is for one year, not two.

Sounds good so far, but there’s a catch. Those specialized programs make you more and less hirable at the same time.

Show up at an oil company with that degree from Oklahoma, and you’re likely to be a prime prospect. Put that same degree on your resume when you’re seeking employment with a pharmaceutical company and you don’t look as good.

That’s why going for something narrow is a good choice if you know what you want to do. Otherwise, you risk spending time and money to wind up no better off than you are today.

If you know what you want to do to earn your daily bread, narrow your focus. Just be sure to pick a program that increases the odds of getting the kind of job you want.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 11:47 am and is filed under Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.