I did my MBA through the Queen's Executive Program. And I dispute the notion of "buying" the degree when doing the exec route. Our workload was massive, 40 hours a week, and I worked full time. The classes were every other Friday (so had to take vacation days and unpaid days off) and Saturday, and then the rest of the time was filled with team work and individual reading and assignments. It was the toughest 15 months of my life, and I consider myself a pretty smart and hardworking guy. You write the same exams and get the same degree as a part time MBA, so I don't know where this concept of the part time MBA "looks better on the resume" comes from.
I am an engineer, when I did my MBA I had about 7 years of experience in a plant and was making ok money. Since the MBA, which was 7 years ago, I have tripled my salary and I manage a medium sized operations group. There is no way I could be where I am without the "letters" behind my name. And frankly I learned a lot about business and finance, which are important as you move up the managerial chain. I guess for someone who has a business degree it might not be as useful.
In the end it is true that only your innate ability to interact positively with people, successfully deliver increasingly complex projects and lead a group of people will determine your professional success. The MBA just provided some tools for me to do well.
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