Patrick Mayers, Dean

Keller Graduate School of Management

DeVry University
One Tower Lane
Oakbrook Terrace IL 60181

Dear Business Colleague,

In response to your request, enclosed please find your copy of ‘Career Success in a
Competitive World: Secure Your Future With an Advanced Degree’

This article, written by a leading business writer, reveals the latest skills and characteristics
that employers seek and outlines the value of earning a specialized graduate degree in today’s
competitive business environment. I hope you find it informative.

For over 30
30 years,
years, DeVry
DeVry University’s
University’s Keller
Keller Graduate
Graduate School
School of
of Management
Management has
hasbeen
been
committed to delivering
delivering relevant,
relevant, career
career focused
focused graduate
graduateeducation.
education.

• Our nationally respected curriculum features the opportunity to specialize in 15 different

disciplines to match your career interests.

• Evening classes at over 75 convenient locations and dynamic online courses are taught by
practicing professionals so you can quickly apply learning to your career.

• A highly flexible schedule includes six optional sessions throughout the year, enabling you
to balance work, life and graduate school.

We invite you to take a closer look at Keller and consider how our specialized graduate
degree programs could help advance your career. We deliver the credibility you expect,
with the flexibility you need—that’s our Keller advantage.

Wishing you the best of success,

Patrick Mayers
Dean
Keller Graduate School of Management

PS. To learn more call 888-535-5370 or visit us at www.keller.edu.

 C AREER S UCCESS IN A
C OMPETITIVE W ORLD
Secure Your Future With an Advanced Degree

By Alan R. Earls

I t’s not just a matter of getting ahead. It’s about not falling
behind.
When it comes to career advancement, every little bit of
education helps separate you from those who stopped learning
after they earned their Bachelor’s degree.
“The statistics show you will make money in proportion to the
level of education you attain,” said executive career strategist Martin
Yate, author of several bestselling career books, including Knock ‘em
Dead 2006: the Ultimate Job Seeker’s Guide.
There is an old saying about resumes — you should have one page
for every decade of work. That’s still true, Yate said, but now, he notes,
you need to make sure your experience is still relevant to
current business practice. What you did 10 or more
It is not years ago may be completely out of date.
“If you aren’t adding skills to your resume
just a matter constantly, then you are becoming obsolete
of money, but professionally,” he said. And with lifetime
employment a thing of the past, it is no
of moving in a longer the employer’s responsibility to make
career direction sure your skill set grows. It is up to you to
manage your career. That means becoming
that leads to connected professionally and understanding
satisfying the changes that affect your line of work,
including how technology is affecting your
work. industry and making sure you are pursuing post-
college learning in a way that will secure your job and
make you appealing to potential employers.
“Even if you haven’t got that additional degree yet, your resume
should say that you are enrolled in a degree or certificate program
and list the anticipated graduation dates,” Yate said, because this
sends a strong message to employers that you are someone who
is taking responsibility for your professional development, and you
are engaged and current.
“Statistics say we will change jobs every four years, so you will
become more desirable to your current employer and your job will
be more secure because you have skills,” Yate said.
MBA Outlook: Hiring on the Rise
For their part, employers recognize that to grow, they need good people
with up-to-date training — particularly those with management skills.
Indeed, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council
(GMAC), employers are preparing to hire significantly more new
MBA’s than they did in the recent past. Recruiters agree, saying they
plan to hire an average of 18 percent more MBA’s this year than last.
What’s more, MBA graduates this year can expect to earn an
average starting base salary over $80,000, according to GMAC, with
total compensation of approximately $100,000 when fringe benefits,
bonuses and other factors are taken into account.
Education Pays Many Dividends
It used to be that staking your claim to the good life was a matter
of either having a family connection or taking a long course at “the
school of hard knocks.” Fortunately, things have changed.
Professionals no longer wait for opportunity to knock — they go
out and find it, often by seeking further education in management.
To be sure, it is possible to be successful without a college educa-
tion. Examples include Microsoft founder Bill Gates. He walked out
on a Harvard education long before graduation. However, career
experts suggest the likelihood of success is much better with planning,
preparation and plenty of schooling.
“For most of us, the odds are very long indeed for achieving
the American Dream if you don’t have at least a college degree and
preferably an advanced degree,” said Yate, who has been involved in

Alan R. Earls is President of the Boston chapter of the American Society of Business Press Editors, and has written for The Chicago
Tribune and The New York Times among others. He is a regular contributor to The Boston Globe on the topic of higher education
and Connections, the journal of the New England Board of Higher Education.
 the world of job searches and career management for 30 years and
has had his books translated into 17 languages. To underscore the
point, Yate cites figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
showing that with a high school diploma you can expect to earn on
average around $1.2 million over the span of your career and, with an
associate’s degree, about $1.6 million. By contrast, a
Bachelor’s degree yields on average $2.1 million
Don’t just go and a Master’s a whopping $2.5 million
in lifetime earnings (those in business
back to school. Go fields tend to do even better).
Above all, Yate said, technology
back for a course or
is rapidly changing the nature of
degree that will help work, so if you aren’t learning new
skills every year, you are being paid
you achieve the level
for an increasingly obsolescent skill
of success and secu- set. “And at some point this will
affect your employability,” he said.
rity you want in “Employers really appreciate people
your life. who invest in their future,” Yate added.
And education holds the key.
Individual Learning Impacts Organizational
Success
For their part, employers benefit from having employees acquire more
advanced and up-to-date skills. For instance, several years ago, a major
U.S. aerospace company examined its own investment in worker educa-
tion to see whether it really yielded bottom-line benefits. Somewhat
to its surprise, the company found the benefits were clear: people who
pursued further education became more valuable to the company, got
promoted, got raises and also became more loyal.
Recently, the American Society for Training and Development
and IBM examined executive attitudes about the importance of support-
ing employee education. They found that in general, CEOs recognize
that employee development is critical to meeting business goals.
“According to our findings, learning is seen by senior executives to
have a significant impact on a number of business outcomes, including
revenue, productivity, turnover, and innovation,” said Tony O’Driscoll,
research learning strategist at IBM Almaden Services Research.
Selecting a Relevant Graduate Program
Someone who already has extensive business experience or an under-
graduate business degree might find that traditional MBA programs
do not offer the focused professional training necessary to become
an expert in a particular domain. Furthermore, recent survey data
from the Graduate Management Admissions Council shows that
demand is particularly strong for Master’s graduates with special skills
— finance and accounting expertise being particularly good examples.
C A R E E R S U C C E S S I N A C O M P E T I T I V E W O R L D : Secure Your Future With an Advanced Degree
Specialize Your Skills to Enhance Your
Professional Qualifications
If you decide to explore a program beyond the traditional
MBA, there are many specific degree opportunities,
concentrations or graduate certificate options to consider,
depending on your particular career interests. For example:
Accounting or Financial Management
Career opportunities in these fields have seen dramatic growth in
the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley, the government mandate for stronger
internal controls and regulatory compliance by public companies.
In addition to fueling the demand for CPA’s, there is a growing
need for internal audit managers, Certified Fraud Examiners and
financial executives with more specific qualifications, such as the
Chartered Financial Analyst.
Human Resource Management
HR is a crucial field shared by all kinds of business. It requires
that professionals be able to grasp broad strategic issues, govern-
ment mandates, and company policies while also exhibiting a
flair for personal communication and attention to details that
make for successful HR programs.
Project Management
Today’s economy is built on services. Many of those services
– IT projects, design services, consulting relationships – are
conducted on a project basis. Project management demands
excellence and the ability to multitask – skills that are required
across a growing number of industries.
Public Administration
While MBA’s seem to get more attention in the corporate
sector, an overlooked but equally important opportunity exists
for advanced managerial skills in health care management,
government operations and nonprofit organizations. Individuals
in these environments often must exhibit great leadership and
creativity to solve problems with limited resources. While
public administration may not be a booming industry, it is a
steady source of jobs year after year and provides tremendous
opportunities for professional growth.
Technology Management
Technology is the underpinning for innumerable aspects of
society. Managing technology-driven activities and people
requires special talents and the ability to not only talk the
talk, but walk the walk. And as technology becomes ever
more important, opportunities continue to grow. While
some technology management positions are being outsourced
or even “off-shored,” companies still need managers who are
able control and oversee those relationships.
2
 Johanna Rothman, a management consultant and co-author of
Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management, said she is wary
of plain-vanilla MBA programs because they are not sufficiently
focused. Graduates, she said, “can read financial reports... and they
might even know how to facilitate strategic planning — but they
don’t really know how to manage people.”
“There is a tendency for people to feel like they must be on the
defensive if they don’t have an MBA,” said Daniel. J. King, a Certified
Career Management Consultant and founder of Boston-based Career
Planning and Management. King said getting a degree or furthering
your education is important but should be put in context, because it
is ultimately your skills and your ability to convey your knowledge
and confidence that matter, he said.
“The MBA is not the cure-all,” King said, explaining that
“getting specialized in an area like HR can be a good approach.”
A Master’s degree can come in handy, he added, and some Master’s
programs have the advantage of being even more focused. Indeed,
according to an article that appeared in Business Week
titled, “Who Needs a Whole MBA?” more
Learning prospective students are considering the
is seen by option of focusing on a specialized
Master’s program.
senior execu- In the article, journalist Mica
Schneider points out that, while the
tives to have a
1990s saw a huge proliferation of MBA
significant impact programs, there was also a less-noticed
growth of specific business Master’s
on a number of
programs. Focused Master’s programs
business out- are particularly suited “to those who already
have a business background but want to
comes.
specialize in a particular field,” Schneider said.
Seek Training in a Field that Interests You
Furthermore, specialization can also be a way to reflect a personal
strategy. “I think the driver for the individual needs to be whether
this is what you want — not whether this is where the jobs are
today,” King said. “If you are only going to drive your decision to
invest in education based on where the jobs are, you will always
be changing direction because the hot jobs change from year to
year,” he added. Many people who make lots of money don’t like
what they are doing, he pointed out. “We all want to make money,
but it shouldn’t be a Monday-to-Friday grind.” In other words, it is
not just a matter of money, but of moving in a career direction that
leads to satisfying work.
Furthermore, depending on your resources and goals, King said
certificate program can also be useful. “I think any kind of knowledge
is good, you will end up getting something out of it — the key is to
look at what you ultimately want to gain whether it is a prestigious
credential or simply applied skills,” King said.
C A R E E R S U C C E S S I N A C O M P E T I T I V E W O R L D : Secure Your Future With an Advanced Degree
No matter which program you decide on, King said you need to
be able to explain its relevance to yourself and an employer — and
tie that to your experience.
Professional Designations Help Fill Organizational
Requirements
“In today’s post-corporate governance reform environment,
organizations are seeking candidates who have demonstrated their
skills and commitment to ongoing education by earning advanced
degrees or professional designations,” said Ryan Sutton, national
practice director at Robert Half Management Resources. For profes-
sionals in the accounting field, for instance, specialized skills and
up-to-date knowledge allows them to provide more value in their
roles — whether in public accounting or private industry, Sutton
said. For example, the certified public accountant credential is
typically required for certain positions in the accounting and finance
profession, while the more generic MBA degree is preferred by many
businesses for manager-level roles.
Indeed, a 2005 survey conducted by the American Institute for
Certified Public Accountants showed Master’s degrees in accounting
were up by about 24 percent over the prior year’s period.
“Obtaining a Master’s degree in accounting can further distinguish
a candidate in the marketplace,” Sutton explains, “particularly if the
position requires knowledge in a niche area such as tax or forensic
accounting.” It also indicates to prospective employers that a potential
hire has the requisite skills to perform a specific job or provide a
certain service, he adds.
Specialized Skills Boost Entrepreneurial
Opportunities
For his part, King, a career management consultant, said specialized
programs are worth considering, though he warns that some project
management tasks and HR functions are subject to outsourcing “when
organizations find that... it’s more cost-effective to bring in a consult-
ant.” The work is still being done, he adds, it’s just not being classified
3
as an in-house job, and those with the right skill sets can work for the
fastest growing employer in the country: “Self.”
“It used to be that ‘consulting’ was a code word for ‘unemployed.’
but that’s not so anymore—there are some who consult as a bridge
to the next job, but many more are finding that they can do better
financially on their own and have more flexibility as well,” King said.
Thus, in addition to finding plenty of opportunities within large
accounting firms and corporations, those with financially focused
Master’s degrees can consider growing job sectors such as personal
financial advisers, he said.
In short, there are many opportunities to take a business career
into interesting, rewarding, and potentially lucrative directions. And
many different ways to get there–ranging from certificate programs
to MBA or specialized Master’s programs. The choices are wide and
the potential rewards are significant.
Conclusion
Author Yate said as we continue to move into a global economy,
anything that sets you apart from the competition will secure your
employability and make you more flexible. But you must take the
initiative. You must choose courses and programs that are relevant.
“If you are not sure what to take, talk to your boss, make an
appointment with HR, or go to a meeting of your professional group
and see how things are changing,” Yate advises. In other words, don’t
just go back to school. Go back for a course or degree that will help
you achieve the level of success and security you want in your life.
Never Underestimate the
Power of Networking
If it is true that you can’t be too rich or too thin, it’s
also true that you can’t be too connected. Author and career
consultant Martin Yate said we all need to become better
connected professionally through membership in relevant
associations and organizations. It doesn’t hurt to leverage
your education as a means for further expanding your net-
work either: fellow students, alumni and faculty members
help you stay attuned to changes in the world of business
and to the disciplines impacting your career.
For more information about Keller Graduate School of Management
• Call 888-535-5370
• Visit www.keller.edu
How to Choose the School for You
Reading materials provided by schools are an important
start in evaluating courses and programs. Career management
consultant Daniel King advised speaking with alumni, too.
Take advantage of any kind of “get acquainted” sessions
offered by the schools. Of course, it’s smart to get to know
faculty members as well. If possible, they should have
real-world experience.
In this day and age, adult learners – who are becoming
the most important constituency for higher education –
have a right to expect programs that are flexible enough to
accommodate their career and life issues. Most institutions
recognize this reality and will make you feel welcome.
Deciding on the school that you want to attend is a
first step. From, there it’s important to understand
how complex the admissions process is. Just about
every reputable graduate school will require that you
hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college
or an equivalent degree from a school outside the United
States. Some will prefer that you possess a related degree or
coursework as well as demonstrated ability in mathematics
and verbal/writing skills as demonstrated in standardized
tests such as the Graduate Management Admissions
Test (GMAT), the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
or some other assessment technique.
Be sure to look for qualities that suit your
needs and schedule, such as:
• Specialized degree programs
• Certificate programs
• Curriculum planning to suit your needs
• Faculty with real-world experience
• Convenient location to your work or home
• Online learning options
• Weekend and evening classes
• Flexible financial aid packages
DeVry University operates as Keller Graduate School of Management in New York.