Joined: 31 Dec 1969
Given Kudos:
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, International Business
WE:Supply Chain Management (Energy and Utilities)
Re: Military looking to break into Investment Management
[#permalink]
05 Jul 2016, 08:01
Hi there,
Thanks for your service and happy belated July 4th!
Below are my two cents and a few thoughts as you start down this path:
- when you say "IM", that can be a bit broad so apologies in advance if I'm misunderstanding exactly what you mean. Overall, try to be a more specific for the adcom. What exactly do you enjoy? Investing in a certain industry, asset class, etc? What would be your goals for that industry - any special ideas you have? Find some "dream job" postings and/or people on LinkedIn with your "dream job" and use that as a launch pad to start developing your vision for your career. Of course you can also talk to people as well, which is often easier than trying to read online. The reason I say this is because many traditional IM jobs don't actually care as much about an MBA as they prefer the CFA (I worked briefly for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers before it was acquired by Blackrock and they were happy to pay for all of the CFA prep and exams but certainly not MBA and they didn't recruit strongly out of MBA programs; so that's my context). So that said, be sure that where you are shooting for is actually a recruiter of MBAs in some way, shape or form and that the role you are seeking is something you use an MBA for (eg. involves management, strategy etc and not purely technicals).
- your GMAT and GPA are a little lower for some of the schools on your list, but there are plenty of ways to mitigate that (GPA is the easiest to mitigate in my experience). Explore extra courses, start working on the CFA right now, point to aspects of your military training and career that are more reflective of your classroom performance, etc.
- Consulting to IM seems like a stretch to me. I wouldn't go there for many reasons; one of which is that EVERYONE says they want to go into consulting. Focus your efforts on developing your vision for how you'll impact IM, why you want to go into that field, and what skills you need to develop through your MBA to get there. Again, use LinkedIn and other resources to determine what realistic post-MBA IM jobs are (eg. ones that wouldn't require specific pre-MBA experience, for example).
- Military experience is a huge plus! After working with military candidates, my biggest advice is to make sure you are being heard and understood (eg. eliminate jargon that the average civilian won't understand). This may seem like an easy task but don't take it for granted. Last year I had a client who came to me after having been dinged at two schools just outside the top 10 during Round 1. When I looked through this materials, I was afraid that the adcom probably had a hard time truly understanding what he had done, how impressive it was, and how that could be transferrable to business school. We spent a ton of time rewording and restructuring how he described his experience and goals, and he ended-up getting into a top 5 school round 2 (Kellogg!). Who knows what the real sway was, but I would put a bet on it being the fact that it was hard to understand how impressive he truly was in his first round apps. So, I tell this story just as something to look out for.
My firm offers a discount for U.S. military if you're ever interested in working with someone as you starting getting your apps together, and we have a free 30-min consult where I'm happy to expand upon what I noted above too if you like.
Best of luck!
Kindly,
Meredith
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But more info will help.
