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

One such working professional is Amye Cole, Senior Admissions Counselor at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nevada. In 2005, Amye decided to go back to school for her MBA while working full time. It has been almost two years since she completed her online MBA program, and in that time she changed jobs, took on more responsibilities and watched her career blossom. She talks about her experience with an online MBA and how it helped her stand out in the business world.

Q: Why did you decide to go back to school for an MBA?

A: My university degree is in the humanities, in religious studies, with a specialization in gender issues. It’s such a focused title and it doesn’t have a direct application to the work I do now. I felt that I needed to develop skills that I could use in a business context. My job involves management and strategy, and I work closely with the marketing department. The MBA offered me the opportunity to develop my formal training in these fields.

Q: Why did you choose an online program?

A: At the time, I lived in a small town and there were no MBA programs within driving distance. Also, I chose an online degree due to the variable hours. I needed to work on my own hours because I travel a lot. I needed the flexible hours of an online program.

Q: There are many online MBA programs available. How did you choose yours?

A: I looked for accreditation. As a college admissions counselor, I know how important accreditation is. The school I think is accredited by four boards. It is based in Salt Lake City.

Q: What was the basic format of your MBA program?

A: I did an accelerated program. It took a year and a half. I could only take one class at a time; two was too many, since he worked full time.

Q: Can you name some of the classes you took?

A: I took all these great courses on understanding business from a management perspective: human resources, organizational behavior, financial management, and leadership.

Q: Describe an online education. How does it work?

A: You read a selection of textbooks and post comments in a discussion forum. We post questions, or answer the teacher’s study question, and chat with each other online. There were weekly rehearsals, and the teacher gave feedback. The teacher did not grade anything; there was a committee that reviewed all the essays and gave them all numbers, from 1 to 5, which corresponded to a pass/fail rating.

There were also several important exams throughout the program. They were difficult and you had to get a score of 75-80% to pass. These exams were administered at a site approved by the proctor. The last six months of the MBA were the capstone program and then we took the standardized C-MBA exam.

Q: What did your final MBA project entail?

A: To top it off, I did a business analysis of my previous employer, Squaw Valley Academy. I analyzed the business objectives of the company from a holistic point of view. The goal of the project was to understand how everything fit together: budget, marketing, human resources, etc.

To go back a minute, in the MBA program we learned a 10-part plan for understanding how a business works. The ten steps included accounting, finance, marketing, leadership, management, ethics, strategy, information technology, project management, human resources, operations, organizational behavior, communication, and business law.

To wrap it up, I had to focus on each objective individually and describe how it applied to the business I was analyzing. So, for example, I talked about how the company decided to invest more in search engine optimization and internet promotion. That marketing goal increased the number of customers, which in turn impacted human resources by increasing workers’ wages.

Q: And then did you do the C-MBA?

A: First I had an oral defense for the capstone. The defense took place over the phone: a conference call between my mentor, myself, and a committee of faculty advisors.

Then I took the C-MBA test, a standard test that all MBAs can take. The C-MBA covered all the courses and objectives that I had studied. Taking that test helped validate the rigor of my MBA program. I put it on my resume, actually. Some people question the value of an online MBA, so the C-MBA is an objective way to show potential employers that you’ve mastered the material. I did exceptionally well in human resource management and leadership, which were my areas of concentration in the program.

Q: Looking back, are you glad you got your MBA online?

A: Without a doubt. There were certainly times when it seemed to take up every minute of my free time. I was traveling a lot for work, in a new relationship, and thinking ‘God, is it really worth it?’ However, my friends who had MBAs encouraged me to keep going and I’m so glad I did.

Q: Do you think you use the title in your current job?

A: I can’t say enough about how much I use it on a regular basis. Organizational behavior courses in general were helpful in seeing how large organizations are set up. My old company had fewer than 25 employees; here it is about 60 in all. So I realize I’m using the perspective I got in the MBA program: I get to see how departments work together and in some cases I take on those roles. The company is still small enough that it can play different roles.

In a large company of 100+ people, you tend to focus on your specific role within your department and lose sight of how it fits into what other people are doing. I think as an employee it can be easy to have a narrow focus on a day-to-day basis. I feel lucky to have an MBA because I now have a broader understanding of how the business works as a whole. So, for example, now I work together with the marketing department and I have a better understanding of how long it takes to do certain things, etc. I can work more effectively with them because I understand their position.

Q: Since graduating, you have changed jobs and been promoted. Do you think the MBA played a role in that?

A: Without a doubt, the MBA helped me change jobs. Employers appreciate that you have a business degree, it gives you credibility. MBA people are well known for having that general understanding of how a company works on many levels. My college degree was so focused that it would have been difficult to break into new industries without a practical degree. Also, the fact that I was working full time and going to school full time showed that I can balance many projects at once.

Q: So would you recommend getting an MBA online?

A: Yes. I feel like I got a solid and rigorous education. I have a much broader understanding of management and have been able to take a more active role at work as a result. I have also increased my purchasing power.