Dear Bob ... I've been in the IT line for over 7 years. I was bypassed for promotion recently due to my lack of "managerial" academic qualifications, despite being team leads and assistant team leads in my other capacities and would like to deal with it. Hence, my hunt for a Masters. I have set my sight on the challenges and promises of "enlightenment" in ways of thinking of an MBA graduate. I am extremely reluc Dear Bob …I’ve been in the IT line for over 7 years. I was bypassed for promotion recently due to my lack of “managerial” academic qualifications, despite being team leads and assistant team leads in my other capacities and would like to deal with it. Hence, my hunt for a Masters. I have set my sight on the challenges and promises of “enlightenment” in ways of thinking of an MBA graduate. I am extremely reluctant to embark on a total career change into either investment banking or the like. Why would I want to invalidate my years of experience? But I would like to be able to function better in business thinking.Which leads to my question: Which specialization will help me the most? At a glance, Strategy might help, and so will Operations, Management and Enterpreneurship. I don’t really know. Will Finance and Economics condemn my working experience?– No to Youth Wastage Dear Unwasted …Give it the old three circles analysis: Good careers happen when you choose something you (a) have an aptitude for; (b) like to do; and (c) someone is willing to pay for. Not knowing what you have an aptitude for and like to do, it would be difficult for me to give you sound advice.If you’re simply looking for the MBA specialty that would give you the most leverage from your current experience, I’d say Operations would be the most likely candidate, since it tends to have a strong emphasis on process and also calls for analytical skills. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for the field most likely to guarantee you ongoing employment it’s hard to beat finance and accounting.I’m talking about specialization, by the way, not the list of specific courses. Certainly, anyone graduating with an MBA should be conversant with business strategy, but I don’t see it as a useful specialization. You have to earn your chops before a company will let you play in the strategy playpen.Anyway, my even better advice than this is to sit down with your graduate advisor and have this discussion, face-to-face, with someone who knows the graduate program well and who will have a chance to be more interactive than I can manage through Advice Line. – Bob Technology Industry