When it comes to career advancement, performance is just half the equation. The other half is education. But who has time for you to get yourself a higher degree? Fortunately, self-paced online programs are helping increasingly more working adults build their credentials.

One of those working professionals is Amye Cole, Senior Admissions Counselor at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada. In 2005, Amye thought we would go back to school to be with her MBA--while working full-time. It's been almost two years since she completed her online MBA program, plus that period she's changed jobs, taken on more responsibility, and seen her career blossom. She covers her online MBA experience and how it's helped her receive her own in the industry world.

Q: Why have you opt time for school for an MBA?

A: My undergraduate degree is in the humanities--in Religious Studies, which has a concentration in gender issues. It's this type of focused degree and contains no direct application to the job I do now. I felt I needed to construct skills I could utilization in a company context. My job involves management and strategy, and I always work with while using marketing department. The MBA offered an opportunity to create my formal training in these fields.

Q: Why do you choose a web-based program?

A: At the time I lived in a very small town, and there weren't any MBA programs within driving distance. Also, I chose an online degree because of the variable hours. I needed to operate on my own time schedule because I travel a great deal. I needed the flexible schedule of an internet program.

Q: There are a whole lot of online MBA programs on the market. How did you choose yours?

A: I sought out accreditation. As a college admissions counselor, I know how important accreditation is. The school I chose is accredited by four boards. It's based out of Salt Lake City.

Q: What was principle format of your MBA program?

A: I did an accelerated program. It took a year and a half. I was only able to take one class at the time--two was too much, since I worked full-time.

Q: Can you name just a few of the classes you took?

A: I took every one of these great courses on how to understand business from your management perspective: human resources, organizational behavior, financial management, and leadership.

Q: Describe a web-based education. How does it work?

A: You read a selection of textbooks, and post comments with a online community. We posted questions, or answered the professor's study question, and chatted with each other online. There were weekly essays, and the professor gave feedback. The professor didn't grade anything--there was obviously a committee that reviewed all essays and gave everyone numbers, 1-5, that corresponded to your pass/fail grade.

There were also several major exams through the entire program. They were difficult, so you had to get a 75-80% score to pass through. These exams were administered at a proctor-approved site. The last half a year with the MBA was the capstone program, therefore we took the standardized C-MBA exam.

Q: What did your MBA capstone project entail?

A: For the capstone I did a business analysis of my prior employer, Squaw Valley Academy. I analyzed their business objectives from your holistic standpoint. The point in the project would have been to appreciate how everything fit together--budgeting, marketing, recruiting, etc.

To backup a few minutes, within the MBA program we learned a 10-part policy for focusing on how a company worked. The ten steps included accounting, finance, marketing, leadership, management, ethics, strategy, it, project management, hours, operations, organizational behavior, communication, and business law.

For the capstone, I were required to focus on each objective individually and describe how it applied to the business I was analyzing. So, by way of example, I brought up how a company made a decision to invest more searching engine optimization and Internet promotion. That marketing objective increased the quantity of clients, which in turn impacted human resources by increasing worker salaries.

Q: And then you took the C-MBA?

A: First I had a verbal defense for the capstone. The defense was conducted within the phone--a conference call between me, my mentor, and a committee of faculty advisors.

Then I took the C-MBA test, an ordinary test that most MBAs will take. The C-MBA covered all of the courses and objectives I had studied. Taking that test helped validate the rigor of my MBA program. I wear it on my resume, in fact. Some people question the need for a web-based MBA, therefore the C-MBA is an objective method to show potential employers which you mastered the material. I did exceptionally well in management and HR leadership, that have been my regions of concentration within the program.

Q: In retrospect, are you currently glad you have your web MBA?

A: Without a doubt. There were certainly times when it appeared to undertake every minute of my leisure time. I was traveling a whole lot for work, in a new relationship, and I would think 'gosh, could it be well worth it?' My friends who had MBAs encouraged me to stay out, though, and I'm so glad I did.

Q: Do you find that you simply use the degree within your current job?

A: I can't say enough about how precisely much I use it regularly. Organizational behavior courses in general were beneficial to observe large organizations are set up. My former company had lower than 25 employees; here it's all-around 60 total. So I find I'm while using perspective I gained inside the MBA program--getting to be able to observe how departments come together, plus some cases accepting those roles. The company is still sufficiently little that I get to wear different hats.

In a large company that could reach over 100 people, you tend to spotlight your particular role inside your department and lose sight of how it fits into what other individuals are doing. I think just as one employee it is usually all to easy to possess a narrow give attention to the day-to-day. I feel fortunate on an MBA because I have a broader understanding now of how the organization works all together. So as an example, I work alongside the marketing department now, and I use a better comprehension of just how long it will take to have specific things done, etc. I can work more effectively with these because I understand their position.

Q: Since graduating you've switched jobs and been promoted. Do you think the MBA played a job because?

A: Without a doubt, the MBA reduced the problem change jobs. Employers appreciate that you simply have a very degree in business--it provides you with credibility. MBA folks are well known to have that general understanding regarding how a firm functions on many levels. My undergraduate degree was so focused who's would have been tough to plunge into new industries with no practical degree. Also, the belief that I was working fulltime and going to varsity fulltime established that I can balance many projects at the same time.

Q: So you would recommend getting a web based MBA?

A: Yes. I feel being a got a solid, rigorous education. I possess a much broader knowledge of management, and thus I've been able to take over a more active role in the office. I've also increased my earning power.