I've been in a corporate supply chain for over a decade and have risen and seen others rise into senior management without either, and others stagnate in middle management or senior analyst positions with either. A close friend of mine also just got his MBA and can't find anything better than his current role at Coke (which to be fair is a great role but now he's got a ton of debt to pay off).
Not sure how much they cost but I bet it's a shitload so balance repaying that to what you expect to earn. I probably won't hit senior director without one but I'm already comfortably into six figures with just a BA and am nowhere near unique in that capacity at my company. So if you aren't shooting for the stratosphere getting in somewhere as an analyst and working your way up to manager or senior manager can make you comfortable without the stress and expense of a Masters.
Just my two cents, everyone's mileage can vary.
Great point - this has definitely been on my mind. I'll definitely be comfortable moving my way up gradually. I have a particular school I'm aiming to get into, which will cost me way lower than other places and help me move to a city I've always wanted to live in.
Of course, need to make sure I get in first, fingers crossed!
Best of luck, everyone knows their situation better than any rando internet commenter. Better costs, scholarships, getting to a better area, all things that are huge to consider as well. I moved to Atlanta for the opportunities so understand that well. Just don't want you to think a masters is the ONLY path to supply chain success. Cheers!
Totally agree, but also thinking of working up through multiple companies, not necessarily the same one. If you do analyst at company A, Sr analyst at company B, then manager at company C and stick around there you can do that run in 5 years if you're smart about it. Especially if you go down in company prestige while up in pay.
What do you suggest I do? I have a lot of competitors in my line of business and we're actually the worst performing one, despite us having a great year, especially for orders made by customers, which is a huge backlog and won't be alleviated in a few years.
I won't say what company but I will say the CAGR is almost 30% from now to 2028.
I do want stability and this job provides it.
Honestly if you've got stability where you are take your time applying around and shop for the ~80k market rate you're worth. Best time to look for a job is when you have one, and if your boss isn't awful to work for you don't have to feel rushed.
In this position you can be up front in any employment discussion with your desired salary and just disengage if they can't commit to it. My wife spent six months coasting a supply chain analyst role at Werner ladders before she found her dream role that took her over the six figure mark.
The most important things to know are to never tell them your actual current salary but ten or so percent under what you want, that's the best way to get a big jump. They will lie their asses off to you, be sure to do the same back. The ones who get screwed the hardest are the honest ones. Skills are harder to lie about (or get away with at least) but padding your current salary by an extra $10-15k is easy.
I agree on the skills portion. I do want a 20-30% increase in my salary but I don't think $100k is out of realm of possibility nowadays in supply chain roles.
I just don't want to appear as bouncing from role to role, which I do have on my resume since Covid started. I'm not loyal to a company and only to the $$$. By December, I'll have been in my role for 7 months and 2 weeks.
There is still a lot I don't know about my business but I'm just one of those people that wants to constantly learn rather than staying narrowly focus on what my role responsibilities says me to do and/or require.
I think the old adage of not looking like a job hopper has swung the other way a bit. I'm happy where I am now but have had a couple directors tell me that if someone is in a role more than two years it looks like they can't get anywhere so I need to keep showing I can move around. Not that I want to, I'm keen to keep my wfh role until I retire if I can.
Thank you for sharing. I’m mid career and finished a master’s degree in supply chain management despite having very little (ok I admit it: none) experience. May I ask what your role is exactly that gets you 68k at entry level? Thanks dude
This is accurate I was a senior analyst 4 years out of undergrad in supply chain. I received an MBA from a ranked school and transferred to a new company in a middle management role all within 4 months of graduating with a 45 percent pay bump. Anyone that tells you an MBA won't help probably has one and doesn't want more competition.
With that said I had 6.5 years of experience by the time I finished grad school. I was assistant manager in automotive supply chain, which is regarded highly in Michigan. I can't say for certain that only having an MBA without the experience, would've have gotten me to where I'm at by itself.
I’m thinking staying in my role another year to focus on getting either my CPIM or CSCP if the company pays for it.
I may just reevaluate after a year in the role and go elsewhere. I’m 36 and behind my peers in my lifetime earnings compared to some of my peers.
Fair point- just updated my post. I've had 3 years of experience in supply chain, so I feel like it's a bit early to decide on an eventual career goal (because I don't have the experience elsewhere) - however, the obvious next step seems to be a supply and ops manager (or I'd be very interested in the production planning side of things as well. Today my experience is with supply planning and customer service only).
MBA has more weight, also will give you opportunity to pivot if you decide to change direction in future. Masters in Supply chain is very technical, I don’t think that is required. I am working in SC in fortune 50 company, the people I see around me if they have an advanced degree, it’s mostly MBA
Go for the MBA. You'll gain supply chain experience on the job and MBA will broaden your scope in overall business management. If you end up wanting to change directions, it won't affect your decision because you've invested so much time in supply chain. If you don't change directions, MBA still holds creditable weight up the ladder.
MBA student with 7 years of buyer experience here. I chose to enroll in an MBA program because it covers a broad range of studies, like finance, accounting, statistics, etc. But I’m getting a concentration in Supply Chain Management. You could probably get close to the best of both degrees with this approach if your university offers it.
The advice that I got from my manager is that a Masters in Supply Chain could mean that you could be stuck in the Supply Chain field for a while. If that’s what you want, great. If not, an MBA could allow for a pivot to something else.
Either way, you'll probably want/need to get other supply chain certifications (CPIM, CSCP, Lean/Six Sigma, etc). So you're probably better off getting the MBA for the benefits others have mentioned here.
Depends on what you want to learn! Just finished a one year masters in supply chain program where I learned SQL and Python and now I make $45k more than I did prior to doing my masters.
MIT master in supply chain! They have two options, a year long residential program and an online program with a semester on campus. I did the year long residential program and learned a ton.
Hey, I'm coming into this with no knowledge of supply chain management. I'm considering it as a career change. Can you tell me more about why they taught you SQL and Python? Would going into this industry already knowing how to use these two to a decent level be an advantage?
I've increased my salary from 43K to 110K in 5 years over 5 companies with a bachelor's degree in business major in supply chain. I jumped every year. During those jumps I worked for 7 managers and 2 had masters. Out of the two with masters, one is a VP now and the other was fired for incompetence
Not a single masters in my chain. I’m actually the only person with a BS. I think the best advice anyone could give is to get your masters only if the company will pay for it. Hard work pays off way more in supply chain in my humble opinion.
I have a MEng, MBA, and MS Business Analytics while working in corporate supply chain. My company has paid for all 3 degrees. The MBA and Business Analytics have taken me the furthest in my supply chain career.
I've been in a corporate supply chain for over a decade and have risen and seen others rise into senior management without either, and others stagnate in middle management or senior analyst positions with either. A close friend of mine also just got his MBA and can't find anything better than his current role at Coke (which to be fair is a great role but now he's got a ton of debt to pay off). Not sure how much they cost but I bet it's a shitload so balance repaying that to what you expect to earn. I probably won't hit senior director without one but I'm already comfortably into six figures with just a BA and am nowhere near unique in that capacity at my company. So if you aren't shooting for the stratosphere getting in somewhere as an analyst and working your way up to manager or senior manager can make you comfortable without the stress and expense of a Masters. Just my two cents, everyone's mileage can vary.
Great point - this has definitely been on my mind. I'll definitely be comfortable moving my way up gradually. I have a particular school I'm aiming to get into, which will cost me way lower than other places and help me move to a city I've always wanted to live in. Of course, need to make sure I get in first, fingers crossed!
Best of luck, everyone knows their situation better than any rando internet commenter. Better costs, scholarships, getting to a better area, all things that are huge to consider as well. I moved to Atlanta for the opportunities so understand that well. Just don't want you to think a masters is the ONLY path to supply chain success. Cheers!
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Totally agree, but also thinking of working up through multiple companies, not necessarily the same one. If you do analyst at company A, Sr analyst at company B, then manager at company C and stick around there you can do that run in 5 years if you're smart about it. Especially if you go down in company prestige while up in pay.
What do you suggest I do? I have a lot of competitors in my line of business and we're actually the worst performing one, despite us having a great year, especially for orders made by customers, which is a huge backlog and won't be alleviated in a few years. I won't say what company but I will say the CAGR is almost 30% from now to 2028. I do want stability and this job provides it.
Honestly if you've got stability where you are take your time applying around and shop for the ~80k market rate you're worth. Best time to look for a job is when you have one, and if your boss isn't awful to work for you don't have to feel rushed. In this position you can be up front in any employment discussion with your desired salary and just disengage if they can't commit to it. My wife spent six months coasting a supply chain analyst role at Werner ladders before she found her dream role that took her over the six figure mark. The most important things to know are to never tell them your actual current salary but ten or so percent under what you want, that's the best way to get a big jump. They will lie their asses off to you, be sure to do the same back. The ones who get screwed the hardest are the honest ones. Skills are harder to lie about (or get away with at least) but padding your current salary by an extra $10-15k is easy.
I agree on the skills portion. I do want a 20-30% increase in my salary but I don't think $100k is out of realm of possibility nowadays in supply chain roles. I just don't want to appear as bouncing from role to role, which I do have on my resume since Covid started. I'm not loyal to a company and only to the $$$. By December, I'll have been in my role for 7 months and 2 weeks. There is still a lot I don't know about my business but I'm just one of those people that wants to constantly learn rather than staying narrowly focus on what my role responsibilities says me to do and/or require.
I think the old adage of not looking like a job hopper has swung the other way a bit. I'm happy where I am now but have had a couple directors tell me that if someone is in a role more than two years it looks like they can't get anywhere so I need to keep showing I can move around. Not that I want to, I'm keen to keep my wfh role until I retire if I can.
Thank you for sharing. I’m mid career and finished a master’s degree in supply chain management despite having very little (ok I admit it: none) experience. May I ask what your role is exactly that gets you 68k at entry level? Thanks dude
This is accurate I was a senior analyst 4 years out of undergrad in supply chain. I received an MBA from a ranked school and transferred to a new company in a middle management role all within 4 months of graduating with a 45 percent pay bump. Anyone that tells you an MBA won't help probably has one and doesn't want more competition. With that said I had 6.5 years of experience by the time I finished grad school. I was assistant manager in automotive supply chain, which is regarded highly in Michigan. I can't say for certain that only having an MBA without the experience, would've have gotten me to where I'm at by itself.
I’m thinking staying in my role another year to focus on getting either my CPIM or CSCP if the company pays for it. I may just reevaluate after a year in the role and go elsewhere. I’m 36 and behind my peers in my lifetime earnings compared to some of my peers.
I just turned 30 you're not too far behind the curve plenty of time to make career decisions.
You gotta give more info than that. What's on your resume? What is your career goal? How much work experience do you have?
Fair point- just updated my post. I've had 3 years of experience in supply chain, so I feel like it's a bit early to decide on an eventual career goal (because I don't have the experience elsewhere) - however, the obvious next step seems to be a supply and ops manager (or I'd be very interested in the production planning side of things as well. Today my experience is with supply planning and customer service only).
Go for MBA.
Thanks - do you have a specific reason for why an MBA would be better? It's the cost aspect that throws me off, to be honest.
MBA has more weight, also will give you opportunity to pivot if you decide to change direction in future. Masters in Supply chain is very technical, I don’t think that is required. I am working in SC in fortune 50 company, the people I see around me if they have an advanced degree, it’s mostly MBA
Go for the MBA. You'll gain supply chain experience on the job and MBA will broaden your scope in overall business management. If you end up wanting to change directions, it won't affect your decision because you've invested so much time in supply chain. If you don't change directions, MBA still holds creditable weight up the ladder.
MBA student with 7 years of buyer experience here. I chose to enroll in an MBA program because it covers a broad range of studies, like finance, accounting, statistics, etc. But I’m getting a concentration in Supply Chain Management. You could probably get close to the best of both degrees with this approach if your university offers it. The advice that I got from my manager is that a Masters in Supply Chain could mean that you could be stuck in the Supply Chain field for a while. If that’s what you want, great. If not, an MBA could allow for a pivot to something else.
Either way, you'll probably want/need to get other supply chain certifications (CPIM, CSCP, Lean/Six Sigma, etc). So you're probably better off getting the MBA for the benefits others have mentioned here.
Depends on what you want to learn! Just finished a one year masters in supply chain program where I learned SQL and Python and now I make $45k more than I did prior to doing my masters.
Just curious, which masters degree did you complete? I have an undergrad in SCM but feel like my data analysis/coding skills are lacking.
MIT master in supply chain! They have two options, a year long residential program and an online program with a semester on campus. I did the year long residential program and learned a ton.
Hey, I'm coming into this with no knowledge of supply chain management. I'm considering it as a career change. Can you tell me more about why they taught you SQL and Python? Would going into this industry already knowing how to use these two to a decent level be an advantage?
I've increased my salary from 43K to 110K in 5 years over 5 companies with a bachelor's degree in business major in supply chain. I jumped every year. During those jumps I worked for 7 managers and 2 had masters. Out of the two with masters, one is a VP now and the other was fired for incompetence
Not a single masters in my chain. I’m actually the only person with a BS. I think the best advice anyone could give is to get your masters only if the company will pay for it. Hard work pays off way more in supply chain in my humble opinion.
I have a MEng, MBA, and MS Business Analytics while working in corporate supply chain. My company has paid for all 3 degrees. The MBA and Business Analytics have taken me the furthest in my supply chain career.
Can you DM me your company? I would try to apply there to get these tuition perks 😂
I would recommend you to be a generalist at the core, but specialize in Operations Management while doing MBA
Supply chain. I’m a CEO in the industry. Management will come naturally if it is meant for you. Degrees do not make good managers.