to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide). The master’s program, on the
other hand, caters to those aspiring to carve out a
long-term project management career or move into
a more senior role in the field. Still others move
on to doctoral programs at other schools, with the
intention of pursuing careers in research and academia, says Dr. Sankaran.
To help degree-seekers meet more targeted
career goals, UTS has recently tailored some of its
curricular offerings to appeal to subsets of the project management field, including systems thinking
and management of complex projects. It even offers
a specialized degree in project risk management.
For many prospective students, choosing the
right school requires assessing both personal needs
and professional goals. When Mr. Bredenoord
decided to pursue his MBA, he first looked at highly
reputable programs in the Asia Pacific region, near
his then-home of Singapore. Two factors turned
him off that path. He was most interested in coursework related to leadership development, change
management and corporate strategy development,
but none of the programs seemed to offer curricula
that would help him advance his project management career in these areas. Then there was the price
tag: The nearby schools he looked into cost as much
as € 50,000 a year.
The University of Cape Town, on the other
hand, offered a modular program that met Mr.
Bredenoord’s professional needs and only required
two weeks of class time three times a year over a
two-year period. Even taking into account flights
to South Africa—not incidentally, his home country—the program was cheaper than those he’d
already rejected. He also was able to participate in
an exchange program with the Rotterdam School of
Management at Erasmus University in Rotterdam,
Netherlands.
Mr. Bredenoord’s advice—other than to be cost-conscious—is to dig deep into a school’s alumni
network to find “role models,” graduates who have
landed positions and built careers similar to what a
prospective student is looking for. Where they’ve
gone can be a good indication of where future
graduates may go as well.
When it comes to the ROI of his MBA,
Mr. Bredenoord points to those networks as
the single biggest benefit. “The ability to build
those personal relationships, you can’t put a
number on it, but it’s a definitive gain,” he says.
“I’ve kept in touch with people from my pro-
gram. When something comes up, or I have an
idea about something, it’s easy to pick up the
phone and call them.”
After all, as he points out, the vast majority of
people in graduate programs are there because they
want to learn a specific skill set, and that creates
strong bonds within a cohort. Those relationships,
not the fatter paycheck and corner office, may
be the most enduring benefit of heading back to
school. PM
Project Management
Educators: Take
your coursework to
the next level with
the curricula and
resources available at
PMITeach.org.
