A key advantage of online MBA degree programs is the ability to pursue a degree that will likely to lead to more job opportunities and higher earnings potential—while still maintaining your current full-time job. This flexibility was a must for Heather Macdonald, a student at Indiana University’s Kelley Direct online MBA program.
An MBA wasn’t necessarily on Macdonald’s radar prior to late 2019, when she applied. At the time, she was working full-time as a component engineer for Daimler Trucks North America, a Portland-based automotive industry manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and had completed her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University three years earlier.
As the only person with a materials engineering background within her department, Macdonald was gaining more responsibilities in her role and was seeking a move to a more strategic role within Daimler. While she was competent and enthusiastic about the management prospects of other roles, her experience was too technical and limited in scope—so she decided to pursue an MBA. Her first term with Kelley Direct was in February of 2020, and she also pursued a dual master’s degree in business analytics through Kelley Direct.
After starting these online programs, Macdonald was promoted to product manager on the engineering project management team at Daimler Trucks North America. She is now a part of the company’s engineering platform management, and in this role she leads development programs and serves as a key contact to all external engineering departments, including product strategy, manufacturing, sales, and service.
“It is a multi-faceted role that uses all my prior knowledge and technical background, as well provides ample real-time practice to put my MBA to beneficial use,” Macdonald says. “I feel like now I have so many opportunities ahead of me.”
And after completing both degrees, most likely in November 2022, Macdonald says she’d like to move into a more business-centric role where she can learn and adapt her learnings from the MBA and master’s in business analytics programs and eventually expand into global markets.
Fortune spoke with the Kelley Direct student to find out why she pursued an online MBA through the program ranked No. 2 by Fortune, and why other professionals may consider the same path.
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity
Fortune: At what point did you decide you wanted to pursue this degree?
At the time, I wanted to quickly expand my opportunities and exposure to fields and information beyond that of powertrain engineering in the automotive industry. I had been trying for around a year to break into a different space in the company but was unsuccessful due to my personal branding and resume experience.
Therefore, I decided to pursue the degree because MBAs, and especially one at Kelley Direct, are perfect for full-time professionals. This meant that not only the material would take me beyond my engineering background, but peers in my classes also would give me an in-depth look into the opportunities around me and provide me with inspiration in crafting my personal brand.
Fortune: Is your current job position the type of role you had in mind when you decided to pursue your MBA?
Yes and no. At the time I was adamant that I wanted only a product strategy type role, which I tried and was told in the interview I was too technical. It took a lot of coaching with people internally to get me oriented toward other potential paths toward this goal, as I can be extremely focused on one goal and not deviate from it.
The engineering platform management role checks a lot of boxes of exactly what I was looking for in terms of exposure and a broader understanding of how management decisions work. I am currently in some very rapidly developing projects that are quite large, some of which are more than $100 million, which have high management exposure for reporting. With what I have learned in my MBA, I feel like I have a solid basis for ideas and communication.
Fortune: Were you considering another type of master’s degree?
If I had decided to pursue a master’s degree right out of undergraduate, it would have definitely been an engineering path. This was due to the technical work at the time in my first role, as well as being surrounded by mechanical engineers in my department. I had considered everything from a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, and materials engineering.
Fortune: Why did you select an online program specifically?
I wanted to simultaneously learn and develop academically in business while continuing to advance professionally within a full-time role. I did not want a gap on my professional resume, or the disadvantages of being in a student market, rather than a professional job market, upon graduation.
Additionally, the costs of education in the United States are quite high, and I wanted to provide myself with this degree without any loans or other types of student debt. Already well-established in my role and within engineering, I felt like I could manage the time required for the master’s degree, as well as my full-time job.
Fortune: What are the take-aways from your program that you would have had a difficult time getting without pursuing your MBA?
It would have been difficult to get the business acumen and variety of industry and role exposure without pursuing the MBA, as my network of contacts were in engineering-type roles. Not impossible—but it would have taken a lot more effort and time to reach the same point I am at now. Additionally, the MBA is a stepping stone for a lot of people wanting to shift careers, like myself, and it would have taken a lot longer to shift my personal brand without it, as it will now be a focal point rather than my engineering degree.
The confidence gained from interacting with those on the management level in the program, like my classmates in management roles, and having to work with others with a wide variety of backgrounds—both technical and non-technical, really gave me excellent leverage in my current role for communication inside and outside of engineering.
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