Get your boss to pay for your degree

In my previous post I discussed the first steps to becoming a CIO which included a postgraduate degree, such as an MBA, and certifications in IT service management and project management.  Unfortunately degrees and certifications cost money.  Often large amounts of money.  Money that can be hard to come by when you have a mortgage and a family to support.  So the question is how can you afford to start on the road to CIO when you aren’t on a CIO’s salary?  The answer is to get your boss to pay for it.

For IT Service Management courses such as ITIL and COBIT, or project management courses such as PMBOK and PRINCE2, you may be able to complete these using your company’s regular IT training program, however asking your employer to pay for a degree may not be as simple.  For starters, a degree will take a much longer period of time to complete and will cost a lot more money over the length of the course.  As far as the best way to ask your boss to pay for your degree goes, it is the same way that you ask for money for a project: with a business case.  While you may not need to submit a formal business case, in some situations an email or even talking with your boss may suffice, the essence remains the same: describe what it is that you will be doing, provide timeframes, and most importantly outline how it will benefit your boss and the business.

Research

Before approaching your manager, work out what course or degree you want to do and find out all you can about it.  Where is the course being run?  Is it being run in a classroom or via distance?  Is it full-time or part-time (a part-time degree is more likely to be approved than attending full-time)?  How long is it expected to take?  When do applications need to be in by?  What subjects and/or electives do you intend to take?  How much will it cost?

Next you will need to start thinking about how your company will benefit from your study.  For someone currently in a technical role looking to do a postgraduate degree, some examples may include developing skills to further help with the creation of business cases for technology investments, improved project management skills or development of leadership skills to take on more responsibility and be more effective in mentoring junior staff.  Often the people responsible for the providing the course/degree will be able to provide you with material or ideas regarding the benefit to your employer.

Talk with your manager

Your manager will be able to advise you on whether the company already has a program regarding training and whether a postgraduate degree would be covered.  Since your manager is interested in your job satisfaction and career progression, talk to them regarding your personal development and what your goals are, as well as how your new degree would benefit the team.  Your manager will then be able to advise you on the next steps, whether you need to develop a formal business case or simply send through an email with the details.

Once you’ve started the conversation, take the opportunity to open a dialogue with your manager regarding management in general and what they did to get there and learn from them.  Your manager may be flattered that you’re taking an interest and are looking to follow the same path as them.  If the conversation goes well and your manager is someone you respect, then it may even go as far as your manager becoming a mentor.  At the very least, your manager will know that you are interested in furthering your career in management and may look to provide you with opportunities to develop such as managing projects, or helping to put a business case together.

Deliver the goods

If you’ve managed to provide a good business case and your boss has agreed to pay for your degree, the next step is to repay the investment that your employer has made in you by delivering the goods.  That is, you must continue to perform at the office, if not at an even higher level than before, while making sure that you pass each and every subject.  Once you have graduated you will be expected to continue to put your learning into practice perform at a higher level.

Things to be aware of

Be advised that if your employer is going to make this investment in you, they may put some stipulations around that investment, such as agreeing to stay with them for two years after the completion of the course otherwise you will need to repay the cost of the course.  Or they may expect you to maintain a certain grade point average while you are studying.  You may also need to pay upfront for the cost of the course and then request a reimbursement from your employer.  Finally, depending on the state or country that you live in, there may be tax ramifications with tuition reimbursement classed as income or subject to fringe benefits tax, so you may want to consider seeking some professional advice from an accountant as well.

What if my boss won’t show me the money?

If you’re employer simply won’t pay for your degree, you may want to ask them to part-fund your study, or at least provide you with some time off for study.  In many places, paying for self-study related to your employment may provide you with some tax deductions, which may make your study more affordable.  However if you really cannot afford to enrol in a degree or course, there are other options available to you.  Investigate free online courses from organisations such as Coursera, Udacity or EdX or look for other free sources of information on the internet.  Ask to take on more responsibility at work and learn by jumping in at the deep end.  The main point is to not let something like this stop you.  Remember that a lot of the successful CEOs out there didn’t finish high school or college, there is no reason why CIOs would not be successful without a postgraduate degree.

Remember that if you don’t ask you won’t receive.  At the very least, your manager will know that you are interested in furthering your development and your career and may be able to help you on that path through other non-financial means.

First steps to becoming a CIO

In my previous post I gave an outline of what I believe is the career path from a technical role to CIO, with the first step being that of a team leader position.  Unfortunately in my current organization, there is no team leader role as such, so how do you begin to climb the IT career ladder when the bottom rung of the ladder is missing?  Instead I need to find ways of gaining the equivalent skills and experience.  I’ve identified four things that I believe will equip me with the skills and experience that I believe would be the equivalent of a team leader role, and since I intend to progress further, would also provide me with the opportunity to demonstrate the qualities required in a junior manager role.

Postgraduate degree

Late last year I began studying for a Master of Management (Information Technology) via distance education.  I chose this degree over a more traditional MBA as I was able to receive credit for half of the degree thanks to my industry certifications, meaning that I can study only one subject per semester and will complete the degree in 2 years.  This is a major drawcard with both family and work commitments.  I was also able to get my manager to agree to pay for my tuition fees, which will be the topic of a future blog post.

For my electives I have chosen subjects that encompass management in general as well as the management of people, managing organizational change, finance and strategy.  I believe that these subjects cover a good cross-section of the sorts of skills and knowledge that are required to move up to the lower levels of management where the focus is more on resourcing, budgeting, and the implementation of IT projects rather than developing a high-level vision.

In the future if I find my career stalling, I may look towards completing an MBA, as I believe it will be more widely accepted by the upper levels of management, however that will of course depend on work and family commitments at the time.

IT Service Management (ITSM) and Project Management certifications

The team leader and junior management levels are responsible for service delivery and strategy implementation, making ITSM and project management skills highly relevant.  I have completed the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) version 3 Foundation and PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments, version 2) Foundation level certifications, although there are many other ITSM and Project Management frameworks out there such as COBIT 5 and PMBOK.  In the future I intend to take further courses in these areas to expand on my knowledge.  I was able to attend both of these courses through my employer as part of the general IT training budget.

Volunteer for projects

Taking on projects, especially those projects that no one else wants, is a great way to increase your visibility in front of management and the business, which also means that it is important to do a good job.  Leading a project requires resourcing, budgeting, organizing and problem solving, all skills that are essential for those in team leader or junior management roles.  As an example I have recently volunteered to develop and implement an IT asset lifecycle management program.  Although I don’t have the necessary skills in this area I will need to bring in people that do have those skills and be responsible for managing those people to achieve the desired outcome.

Broadening your IT knowledge base

The further you move up the IT management ladder, the broader your knowledge of IT needs to be.  A search of current IT manager jobs shows that they are often after an all-rounder covering a wide range of technologies.  With that in mind, once I have completed my degree I intend to look at some Microsoft server certifications, whereas a SysAdmin may look at doing a CCNA certification.  Expanding your technical skillset will increase your effectiveness in your current role while broadening your knowledge base will be of value when looking to move forward in your career.

So although the first step up towards becoming a CIO is missing in my current organization I haven’t let it deter me from working towards my goal. I’m interested to hear from others what initial steps they took when starting out on their IT management journey and finding out what they found valuable and perhaps what they found to be a waste of time.