I'm currently a software engineer and looking at staying within the technical/programming IT field for the forseeable future. I'd like to do an MBA to increase my knowledge of businesses/commerce in general. For instance being able to understand the economy much better, finance/stock market or how companies operate.

A career change isn't what I want and the roles I'm expecting to get are along the lines of senior software developer, senior software architect, etc. I don't wish to be an IT manager or CIO so as I said---technical roles only.

What I'm concerned about is that for senior technical roles, a masters in CS might be seen as an appropriate masters vs an MBA. If I wanted to be an IT project manager then yes, an MBA might be more suitable.

Another reason I'm against masters in CS is unless you work for orgs like NASA, you wouldn't need any of the advanced subjects in a masters. I find that even in senior technical roles, undergrad CS degrees are more than enough. Let's not forget that probably 90% of software development roles out there are not with research companies.

I wanna do an MBA but would it work to my disadvange?

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Technical career starts stinking after 8-10 years , you would have to report to some stupid guy and work as per the gantt plan prepared by the guy.

I am in the same situation. Currently I am a software developer but i'm going for a BS/Computer Science -- and a BBA/Undecided. Then i'm going for my MBA.

I think 10 years from now I might be done with programming all day and want to move up the corporate ladder. I would get your MBA.

An MBA is useful, first, to help you understand business, second, to help you understand your own management, and third, to manage your own future.

I had technical only interests from the seventies until the mid nineties. It was a job that did not challenge me much in terms of technical skills, but was quite interesting, in terms of interaction with other people that changed my attitude toward leading others. I am not suggesting that you must take that path, but people do change over time. Having an MBA background can be helpful at many levels, and if you ultimately want to use it at a professional level as well, it will be there. I'd say go for it!

I’m on the same boat. I believe that there are times in every software engineer's career where they have thought about the business folks and taking up an MBA program.

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