{"id":383,"date":"2009-03-03T11:11:47","date_gmt":"2009-03-03T19:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=383"},"modified":"2009-03-17T08:23:45","modified_gmt":"2009-03-17T16:23:45","slug":"yales-bruce-delmonico-finance-from-an-admissions-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/yales-bruce-delmonico-finance-from-an-admissions-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Yale’s Bruce DelMonico: Finance from an Admissions Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part of an ongoing series \"MBA in Finance: Forget It?\"<\/em><\/p>\n

My question:<\/p>\n

Given the weakness in investment banking, hedge funds, and financial services in general, how do you react to applicants who say they want an MBA to enter IB, PE or a related field that has been devastated by the economic downturn? Is the reaction \"What planet have you been on?\" Or, are you willing to consider those applicants because you feel the market for these skills will come back in a couple of years? \u00a0Would you like to know that IB et.al. is the primary goal? Would you like to see a Plan B? Is your reaction different if the applicant is coming from IB or a related field as opposed to someone seeking the MBA to change careers?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bruce DelMonico, Director of Admissions at Yale's School of Management, responds:<\/p>\n

Thanks so much for your email. \u00a0That\u2019s a really good question. \u00a0Our reaction is definitely not \u201cwhat planet have you been on.\u201d \u00a0We understand that finance hiring is down right now, but i-banking, private equity, and finance generally are not going away, so we want to make sure we continue to train future leaders in these areas. \u00a0The same firms that came to campus to recruit last year are back this year (other than, of course, those like Lehman and Merrill that have morphed into Barclay\u2019s and B of A). \u00a0They are still making offers and hiring our students, just not always as many as in the past, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

What they and other companies who recruit here tell us that they learned from the last downturn, where they stopped hiring entirely and realized later that there was a gap in their talent pool. \u00a0So firms may be scaling back in their hiring given the current financial situation, but they realize that they still need to cultivate talent and promote a steady stream of employees through their ranks. \u00a0We\u2019re taking the same attitude \u2013 finance may be down right now, but it\u2019s not out, and we want to be there helping with the solution. \u00a0It may be easier and more natural to run away from the industry because it\u2019s down, but I think the better \u2013 and bolder \u2013 move is to stay in when things are down and try to figure out how to make them better. \u00a0That\u2019s what we hope our finance students will do.<\/p>\n

That got a bit philosophical near the end. \u00a0But the bottom line is that we\u2019re not trying to market-time things here \u2013 we want to bring in the strongest class possible. \u00a0Who knows what the economy will be like two years from now, when these students will graduate. \u00a0If they\u2019re strong candidates and can articulate a compelling reason why they want to go to business school, we will give them a hard look. \u00a0In terms of people coming from i-banking versus those who are changing careers, for everyone we look for the same thing: are you willing to put in the effort to make your goals a reality? \u00a0It\u2019s very tough to go straight into a hedge fund or PE firm from business school (although we do have, for example, a first year who beat out a lot of top candidates from other schools to land an internship this summer at Paulson & Co, so it is possible). \u00a0Students should be willing to take the steps necessary to position themselves for success. \u00a0So if they don\u2019t have a finance background, they need to know that they\u2019re not going to jump straight into PE. \u00a0They need to get more general finance exposure first, build their skill set, and work their way up. \u00a0The same with students who have a finance background but who want to move higher up in the finance food chain. \u00a0It\u2019s a matter of being patient, having a plan, and then executing on it. \u00a0We\u2019re looking for people who understand this and are willing to put in the effort.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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