By Steven Ginsberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 9, 1998; Page F09

Remember those first few weeks after you finished college and started your job? The rude, early morning bleep-bleeps from your alarm clock, the ridiculous practice of dressing up every day, the endless cups of coffee. And, of course, the sudden realization that you would never, ever have another three-month summer vacation.

You swore to anyone who would listen that you would go back to school and leave this crazy work world behind as quickly as possible. Well, that time may have come -- although not for the same reasons you envisioned.

Rather than return to school for fraternity parties and all-night Nintendo marathons, it's time to consider whether you should go back as a career move.

This looks like an easy decision: Conventional wisdom suggests that the higher the degree you have, the better the job you will land. Furthermore, in many cases bachelor's degrees don't count for as much as they used to, which explains why everyone around you seems to have some sort of advanced degree. It logically follows that more schooling will help your career. Right?

Not always. As industries splinter off into hundreds of uncharted directions, many workplace experts say real-world experience can get you much farther than a trip back to State U. An MBA, for example, won't hurt you, but it may not be as beneficial as two years on the job.

Factor in your lost salary coupled with another round of student loans and suddenly going back to school doesn't seem half as much fun as eating out every night or buying that Jeep Cherokee. But depending on what career you're in and what your goals are, it may be time to hit the books.

High-Degree Nursing

The considerable changes in the health care industry have redefined the career options open to nurses.

The setup used to be simple: Hospitals had doctors and nurses. The rise of HMOs and other private care facilities, however, has rearranged the picture. In addition to the traditional registered nurse (RN), there are now four new positions that fall into the category of advanced practice nurses (APNs): nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist and certified registered nurse anesthetist.

These career paths require an advanced degree and health care experts strongly endorse them.

"We're recommending all individuals in nursing should pursue an advanced degree," said Sara Foer, spokeswoman for the American Nurses Association.

Even though the additional schooling can last for up to three years, nurses normally can make the money back rather quickly. Registered nurses average about $38,000 per year, but their salaries will never rise by leaps and bounds. Nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives -- who need only a year and a half to get an advanced degree -- start out in the mid-$40,000s, with good chances for regular increases. The real money, though, is for the clinical specialists and anesthetists. Their schooling takes from two to three years, and starting salaries can be as high as $80,000.

"There won't ever be a glut of nurses," Foer said, "so an RN can always be an RN. But given the changes in the health care environment, HMOs are using more advanced nurses and they will use even more in the future.

"With this career people want to be more marketable," Foer said. "Education is one way to get there."

The final thing to consider is that an advanced nursing degree virtually guarantees more responsibility and a better work environment. Nurses with advanced degrees have the opportunity to delve into more advanced medical care, making diagnoses and prescribing treatment.

Pay and the MBA

A more difficult decision is whether to go back for a master's degree in business administration. An MBA certainly is a point of pride on your resume, but it doesn't guarantee the position you want.

"Individual aspiration drives people to get MBAs," said Dana Ellis, director of recruiting for Chicago-based Arthur Andersen LLP, which employs 3,000 in the D.C. area. "We don't look at employees and say, 'Gee, if these people get MBAs they can be the leader of our most important projects.' I can't think of any case where we went to an individual and said they should get an MBA."

Andersen doesn't seek out people with specific degrees, Ellis said. Instead, it looks for motivated, talented people with the potential to develop; in today's environment those qualities often carry a higher premium than additional schooling.

In fact, good workers are in such high demand that top-notch companies such as Andersen aren't even fretting that much about bachelor's degrees. "We're faced with a shortage of skilled people," he said. "So we hire people even without a bachelor's degree."

But don't throw away those business school applications just yet, because an MBA still counts for something: money. An MBA doesn't guarantee specific positions and Andersen doesn't have separate pay scales depending on the degrees; nonetheless MBAs tend to get higher-level jobs.

Starting salaries for MBAs -- who usually land better than entry-level jobs -- are in the low- to mid-$60,000 range, Ellis said, while salaries for those entry-level slots start at $35,000. In the two years it normally takes to get the advanced degree, however, that $35,000 salary could grow to about $50,000, he added.

But if your company doesn't reimburse you for grad school -- which many do -- the decision to go back may not pay off for a long time. MBAs are not so sought after that getting one is worth going deep into debt, or even giving up a high salary, Ellis said.

Alternative Training

Additional schooling doesn't just mean getting an advanced degree from a university. In today's work world, where all levels of employees are expected to be highly skilled, it can be more useful to work on yourself rather than hitting the books.

This is largely due to the fact that many workers find themselves thrust into new roles without the management or communications skills their new positions demand.

"People get promoted because they did the job they had well," said Mahan Tavakoli, director of Dale Carnegie training for the Washington area. "It doesn't mean necessarily that they have management skills."

Experts say workers can, and should, seek additional education in three areas: management development, sales training and communication skills.

"I tell absolutely everyone I talk to, to go back and work on these skills," said Tom Morris, president of Morris Consultants, a career counseling firm based in the District. "It doesn't matter if they have an MBA or not."

"Many people lose money and don't advance their career" when they go to grad school, Tavakoli said. "That's why we find people who want to advance their career, but don't need a full-fledged degree."

And this career enhancement is a relative bargain. A 12-week training program at Dale Carnegie costs from $1,250 to $1,650, Tavakoli said; workers often can get their companies to foot the bill. This type of education also doesn't interfere with work because classes are normally just once a week and can be taken at night.

If you have Career Track questions you'd like answered, you can e-mail Steven Ginsberg at ginsbergs@washpost.com