4 years out of undergrad, MA economics, little experience...

Question

So, I'm sure that this topic has been beaten to death in here, but I would love some thoughts on my personal story. Also, if this is the wrong forum, I apologize.

I'm an American that grew up in the Midwest. BA (3.5) in economics and Latin American studies from a lib-arts school, interned at an investment fund during undergrad, and hoped to do similar 'investment analyst' work upon graduating. However, as I'm sure happened to many others who graduated in May 2008, I was unable to land a position doing that, and ended up working as an IT consultant for a year. Not the work that I wanted to be doing, and I wanted to gain an international experience, so I moved to Mexico for a couple years and did a master's in economics.

I got home about a year and a half ago, and in that time, I've had a handful of interviews for jobs in economics-finance and/or Latin America related. However, despite numerous interviews, I haven't been able to land a position doing that. I consistently have received compliments for how I've done in the interviews, but am almost always told that they chose someone with more specific experience..... In the meantime, I've been working full-time for nine months now (after temping through much of 2011). In my current role, I am creating sales reports for a company. Definitely not what I want to be doing, but grateful for the time being to have steady income.

I'm planning on applying for MBA programs this fall. My hope would be that getting an MBA from a top-30 program would "open more doors" for me, allow me to gain specific internship experience, networking, etc. I would plan on being a full-time student starting in fall 2013.

I realize that it is ideal to have solid work experience before beginning an MBA, and I'm definitely lacking in this regard. My hope is that an MBA from a top30 program would get me on a better track than the path that I'm currently one.

FWIW, I have a 800 Math 580 Verbal GRE (supposedly a 690 GMAT conversion, if that matters), and am planning on taking the GMAT at the end of this summer.

A few questions:

1) Does the master's in econ (from a foreign university) meaningfully help/hurt/neither my application?

2) The fact that my work experience is weak and not "logically related", how much will that hurt my applications? Given my profile, (approx 3.5 GPA, likely 660-700ish GMAT, master's in econ, a few years of random work experience), do I have a reasonable chance at being accepted into a top30 MBA program?

3) If I start in the fall of 2013, post-MBA, I'd be 29 and still have very little traditional work experience. If I had an MBA from a top30 program, how much more success would I have landing "interesting" work? .... Would an MBA from a strong program make up for that? Is it common for "good" companies who take on top MBA grads with little work experience because they trust that, as a result of graduating from top programs, they'll be smart enough to be successful in the job?

Thanks for all your thoughts. I really appreciate them.

method · Answer

29 with 2 years of professional work experience is a tough spot. Taking the long view, I wonder if you might be better served by pursuing a PhD in Economics?

Launcher333 · Answer

Thanks for the thoughts. If anyone else has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

novanative · Answer

It's best to have solid work experience.

The fact that you're an American and went abroad to study for a masters isn't something that most folks do. I didn't, and I didn't even study abroad because my parents wouldn't have let me even if I asked.

As for your GRE, if it's within 5 years old (sounds like it is),you should be good to go with that and have a shot at a Top 30 without having to take the GMAT at schools that take the GRE. Depending on your choices, you may not even have to take the GMAT at all.

Hopefully you can get good recs from your work experiences. I can certainly sympathize with you regarding job opportunities. When you're in college, it is hard to just get that first job often times because you don't have experience in most cases, but once you get a job and stay there for a bit, it is often easier to find another job at least in the same area.

Launcher333 · Answer

Thanks for the reply, mate.

Youngjames · Answer

To me, your chances into a top 30 school based on your credentials (such as OSU, U of W, or Wisconsin) is not impossible. Don't know where you went to undergrad, but if you have an econ MS, you're likely good at quant, which is the major concern for most programs. With a good set of essays, I can see you squeaking into the bottom set of the top 30. that said, however, my bigger concern for you is whether or not you'd achieve your career objectives even if you were accepted. with that little work experience, i'm afraid you'd face the same obstacles you face today, but now with $100K in debt.

one idea might be to consider a part time MBA program. this would allow you to focus on your career at the same time you're earning your degree. it's not ideal, but it might be the safer option.

hope this helps,
-James young

one idea might be to consider a part time MBA program. this would allow you to focus on your career at the same time you're earning your degree. it's not ideal, but it might be the safer option.

hope this helps,
-James young

Launcher333 · Answer

Thanks for the thought. That really is my biggest fear, graduating the MBA in spring 2015, being 29, not having much meaningful work experience, and not being able to get a decent job due to lack of good work experience.

Launcher333 · Answer

What is the advice of the rest of you? .... If I were to get admitted into a top 30 program later this year, what would be the key to getting myself in a position by the end of the MBA to have an interesting and rewarding job/career? ... Anyone else know of how "inexperienced" MBA grads were able to launch successful careers upon completing the MBA?

Youngjames · Answer

You might not be getting the amount of feedback you'd like, simply b/c this is a difficult question to answer. I believe it's a challenge that many people are facing these days. My advice is to focus on an area where there are a lot of opportunities for you, or seek out an internship while in school as a way to develop your network and build up your resume. As an example of the former, there's still a major shortage in IT and comp sci related skills in the US. Perhaps a management degree that had a focus in this area could be helpful. Not in-line with your objectives, but just smthg to consider. As for the latter, I'd target schools that are in bigger cities (Chicago, SF, NY, etc.) where there tend to be more service related businesses, such as banks, investment firms, etc. That will at least remove the geographic barriers to your career objectives.

Hope that's helpful,
-james young

Hope that's helpful,
-james young

Launcher333 · Answer

James, thanks for the thoughts, good points all around.

hibore222 · Answer

Just wanted to update this, 3 months since the last reply, and see if anyone has further thoughts, now that application season is upon us.

I'm still stuck in a rather low-level job at a mediocre company, and not having any success moving up to a better role, despite actively job searching. I'm reasonably sure that I'd be admitted into a least a couple top 30 programs. But, as I mentioned above, the downside is that once I finished the MBA, I'd have 100k+ in debt, and still no meaningful work experience. My biggest hope is that an MBA would allow me to "start over" in my career, and get my foot in the door at companies where I'm not being considered right now (even if post-MBA, I'd be getting much lower jobs than my classmates).

method · Answer

I still have the same thought: you'd be better served with a PhD in Economics. There are finance and consulting jobs that recruit PhD Economists, not to mention openings in academia and think tanks. Are you dying to become a supply chain manager or a brand manager? If not, you can get MBA-like job access via the PhD and not gimp yourself.

MBAbot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club MBAbot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

4 years out of undergrad, MA economics, little experience...

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards