GET AN ADVICE

Education is no longer limited to school or college days but has become a continuous process of training oneself to be able to compete in a rapidly changing environment. Executive education programs/Continuing Education Programs come in handy in such scenarios. However, there are so many programs available today that it becomes difficult to take a call as to which program one should choose. Choosing the correct program helps you leverage your career and gives you good return on the time, effort, and money spent or, simply put, a good return on investment.

To make the right choice one needs to have a correct perspective, for example in the management domain one should not compare an Executive Business Management program with a two year full time program. Each program is designed keeping in mind the target segment and the time for which faculty interacts with the students. Therefore, a two years full time program--where a student is available to the faculty 24*7-- cannot be compared to a program where student-faculty interaction happens only a few times in a year. In addition to this, Executive education programs enroll individuals with work experience, i.e. individuals who have a hands on perspective of the market. Once again, you cannot compare this target audience with a set that is fresh out of college.

Note that interaction with the faculty could be face to face - in a classroom environment, online, on a satellite based platform or simply an amalgamation of all. In my interaction with various faculty members over the years, I have realized that they enjoy delivering classes for executive education programs as the classes allow two way interaction. Also, you have students from across various industry vertices, across geographies in these classes, who can add value to the class, which is sometimes as much as that added by the faculty.

In a nut shell, opt for a course which can add value to your profile. Do not unduly worry about placements bu look at the learning a course offers rather than just the certificate value. Understand the fact that the top institutes everywhere are valued and respected because they have consistently delivered value to their students.