Employee turn to graduate-level business certificate to gain a competitive edge

Want new earning power without paying big money for an MBA? Get a business certificate, some South Florida employer say.
More advanced than a bachelor's degree but not quite a master's, the record bills itself as a tool for advertising in today's competitive job bazaar. And employers value certificates in the place of work, where experience used to trump education in certain fields.
``Before, we did hire base on experience, but we're in a special era now,'' said Aileen Diaz, director of human relatives at Homestead-based Community Bank. ``You need knowledge but you also need that educational background because technology more than everything has brought us to a place where you need to think outside the box.''
South Florida business schools offer a diversity of certificate, from hands-on bank loan review certificates to graduate business certificates that can lead to full-fledged MBAs. Some provide to highly specific fields, while others allow student to take core business classes and use those credits toward a master's degree.
Now, a lot of South Florida business schools -- including University of Miami, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, St. Thomas University and Miami Dade College -- propose certificates that broaden workers' skill sets.
They range in topic areas from loan review to international economics to six sigma, a management strategy designed to increase productivity.
Across the board, they have full-grown in popularity as the recession sent workers scrambling for job security and new rule standards forced bankers to get up to speed. Application for FIU's graduate certificates increased nine percent in Fall 2010 compared to that time last year, while University of Miami's enrollment grew 35 percent in 2010.
``You might be accounting today and work at marketing tomorrow,'' said Anuj Mehrotra, vice dean of graduate business program at University of Miami. ``In this economy, public realize that and are trying to prepare for that.''
University of Miami began offer certificates in 2007 because administrator noticed more South Florida students who couldn't commit to the full MBA, but wanted core business classes.
Different non-credit certificates, UM’s a certificate allow students to continue on to a full MBA. Applicant must have a bachelor's degree and submit a résumé, transcript and $50 application fee.
Once admit, students take four courses. Every class takes 40 hours to complete, and students can make a choice to continue on to the MBA or not.
They pay the same per credit as the MBA -- $1,538. The certificate classes are also identical to the MBA's core curriculum, and they teach student the basic branches of a corporation.
``You're able to spot win-win scenario and spot things that are extra revenue-generating if you can understand the other function in a corporation,'' Mehrotra said.
These certificates are geared toward student like Jaime Bautista, who wanted to earn an MBA ever since he graduate college.