Have Diploma in Electronics: Further Education Options: Business

Hi,

I have a diploma in Electronics and have been working in the Electronics field since I graduated. However, I have always had a keen interest in business and would like to get a business degree. The problem is I don't want to go back to full time education because I'm used to getting my pay check every week. I know very little about the procedure for going back to college. Could anyone advise me on my options in relation to starting a business degree from scratch and doing it part time. How long will this take me. I think if I had a degree in Electronics it would help as you can enter any degree course with greater ease if you already have a degree. Even if it is not related. Is this true ?? If so, would it be feasible for me to attain my degree in Electronics first before going on to try and get a business degree. I realise this will take many years study but I don't know how many. If I could Achieve the business degree from scratch in 5or6 years part time I would do it. If I could get the Electronics degree and then do a business degree in a total of 6or7 years I think I would also be happy to do that.

I would appreciate any advice on this.

Zapa.

Further Education

Have a look at the following;

Open University (www.open.ac.uk)
Trinity College (Evening programme in Business and Information Technology)
www.tcd.ie is Trinity College Website.

Also a wide variety of evening degree programmes with Dublin Institute of Technology, website URL is www.dit.ie

The DIT I think has an evening programme that includes Business Studies and also Electronic and Electrical Engineering Degrees.
Hope this helps, and there is also a booklet available in Easons and other bookshops called Evening Study in Ireland I think. It lists all the courses available in Ireland at all locations.
Andrew

Re: Further Education

You might also like to look at the Irish Management Institute's website www.imi.ie, I know they do quite a lot of evening courses.

Re: Further Education

Thanks for the two responses. They were very helpful.

However, I think the IMI is more geared towards people who are working in a management role. Unfortunately I am not. Their courses are also quite expensive.

An open university qualification may be the most practical option as I did not realise that most part time degree courses involve up to three nights a week. Some even involve one full day and two nights. I work shift so although I have more days off than a normal 9to5 worker my days off vary and I also work nights on occasion so I would not be able to attend the lectures consistently. This leads me to my next question. Is an Open University degree regarded as highly as a standard University/College degree ??

Re: Further Education

You should also have a look at http://www.cefims.ac.uk/

I was in a simialr situation (had a business degree, wanted to do a masters, but couldnt afford to give up the day job, and wouldnt be able to get half days every week to attend class).

The Uni of London offered the best part-time finance diplomas/masters available, they have been offering distance courses for many many years.

Im currently studying with them so if you have any questions Im happy to answer them.

Cheers

Fintan

Re: Further Education

Thanks Fintan,

I was hoping I would get more replies on this topic as I want to make sure I am aware of all the options before committing to anything. I just had a brief look at the site but they only appear to accept people who have a degree already (not neccessarily Financial/Business related). I only have a Diploma at the moment in Electronics. If I complete my degree in Electronics first then I would probably be accepted for the distance learning program. However that would leave me back at square one.

I received some literature from The Dublin Business School. Their courses appear to be the least time consuming of what I have looked at so far. Courses are run two nights per week in the evening. No full days involved. Also the courses are made up of Modules which must all be completed. The time it takes to complete the Modules seems to be, to some degree at least, up to the student. So if, occassionally, it was not possible to attend both nights on given week it may not be a problem.

Hi Zap,

Have you considered the "ACCA Diploma in Financial Management"? This can be done over a year in the evenings. I did it a few years ago when it was called the C Dip AF and found it excellent particularily if you intend persuing further business education such as an MBA or MSc in Operations Management.


aja





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Many non-accountants are daunted by the thought of managing budgets, making financial decisions or simply understanding the language of finance.

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This new qualification is aimed at middle and senior managers with financial responsibility, and is built around a unique, one year programme.

Based on ACCA’s highly successful Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance, which has been completed by nearly 10,000 managers worldwide, the Diploma has an established reputation. Many of these managers have taken advantage of the qualification’s postgraduate status to gain advanced standing towards MBAs and other masters qualifications.

The Diploma covers a range of key areas, including how to interpret financial statements, plan, manage and measure performance using budgets and other financial techniques, make financial decisions and manage all kinds of financial risk.

The ACCA Diploma in Financial Management is a highly effective way to overcome your fear of finance.

aja,

I hadn't considered the "ACCA Diploma in Financial Management". It does seem along the lines of what Im looking for. Do you know if it would stand to me if I went on afterwards to study for a degree in a University/College, i.e. would it allow me to meet entry requirements and/or be exempt from parts of the degree course ?? If you don't mind me asking did you pursue further related education after completing the above ??

Zapa.

Fintan - do teh university of london do undergrad courses by distance learning? Had a look at website but seems to be all postgrad. I was thinking of doing distance learning IT degree with oscail(DCU) but would prefer to do something with a bit of business too.

Novice said:

Fintan - do teh university of london do undergrad courses by distance learning? Had a look at website but seems to be all postgrad. I was thinking of doing distance learning IT degree with oscail(DCU) but would prefer to do something with a bit of business too.

Click to expand...

Hi novice

They do offer some check this link http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/undergraduate/index.php

The oscail in DCU is meant to be very good though, luckily there would be more options for under grad IT degrees than there are for post grad finace courses.

you should also look at the open university as well

Pretty bad report on oscail here.

hard to know what to do...

having read the thread you linked novice, I would say that uni of london are excellent when it come to course notes / reading materials etc.

the fact that no one in his class went onto the degree from the diploma, might be also due to studying part time for three years and having the prospect of another few years of study ahead of them, i could see why they decided to bail out.

Maybe you should consider a few on line it courses with FAS and see how you get on with that before taking the plunge?

That's my plan - get a few short courses under my belt.

I did an evening law diploma which I finished last year so I'm used to devoting my time to study.

London city seems a good option though.

Thanks for your comments.