334MBA wrote:
Great info jb32. What skills do recruiters look for in candidates aside from previous w/e. Are case interviews used and do they require gmat score? I heard that corporate strategy is fun but doesn't lead to c-level jobs. Is that true?
I would say that you'll need good teamwork and leadership skills as you'll be required to lead line managers and other groups through the acquisition process. Strong quant, accounting, finance, and valuation skills. The ability to write, and write well. Strategy - you'll need to be able to see the end result and develop a process to achieve the results by working backwards, similar to how you've developed long-term goals for business school and then identified the path and steps to get there.
I can't really speak to post-MBA corporate strategy/corp dev jobs, but I know for my position I had to complete a 2-3 page industry overview after my R1 interview and then a R2 interview. The report asked for things like market size, growth drivers, key competitors, etc, of an industry I would be expected to know a lot about in the new role.
I can't imagine that a strategy job wouldn't have the opportunity to make it to the c-level. I think it really depends on how good you are and if you are C-level material. It really becomes such an imperfect and subjective science when a company is looking for a new CEO, CFO, or COO that many people would be considered.