Bad or good idea to change jobs before applying?

Question

Right now Im working in marketing/customer service in the healthcare industry. Ive been offered a job in a mortgage company which I think would be a good move considering I want a more quantitative job and to have more exposure in the finance world. However, the job wouldn't start till the summer and I'm applying to Round 1 in October. Good idea or bad idea ? Thanks

DinaFortuna · Answer

Hello Greekmythology,
 In my opinion, changing jobs won't do a lot to help you from an admissions standpoint for Round 1 since you would just be starting the job around the time that you will be applying for b-school. However, as you mentioned, if you believe that the new job will really help you gain more analytical skills to help position yourself better for finance jobs after b-school then it might make sense. I would warn you, though, to think about how this change could affect your recommenders since you want to be on very good terms with the people writing your letter of recs. How will your current managers respond to the news that you're leaving? Since you would just be starting a new job (if you take the mortgage company job) then your new manager likely will not have a lot of time to observe your work and likely won't be the best person to write your letters of rec. However if you apply for Round 2 then you would have about 6 months of experience in the new job which will give your manager more time to get to know you and be able to complete an insightful letter of rec.
 Before you make your decision, think about the pros and cons of your choices and how they will impact your b-school application. Are you set on applying in fall 2015 or would you consider working another year if you take on a new job? An extra year would give you more experience in a quantitative role as well as you would have more time to make an impact in the new organization that you would be joining. Hope this helps with your decision-making process.
Good luck!
Dina

Greekmythology · Answer

Hmm, I dont think I'd wait another year. I know I don't want to be in a mortgage company for the longterm. I'm pretty confident on my recommendations as well. I know both of my recommenders very well. The first is my college tennis coach so that recommendation is set in stone. The other is my current boss who I'm confident would write a great recommendation as well regardless if I switched jobs or not.

Thanks for the info Dina.

Thanks for the info Dina.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Changing jobs before you apply isn't the end of the world but only if it materially improves where you're coming from. In your case, you're adding a lot more confusion to your story in my opinion. And you can't even really lean on the fact that it's a good move for you because it's completely unrelated. If you were in consulting at...IBM, and you took a new job at Bain, then I, as the adcom, would think that was a great decision. But you're going from an apple to an orange. I actually just had this conversation with a client yesterday but he's considering a shift from one company to another similar company in the same function but at a higher level. THAT makes sense. Personally, I think you consider sitting tight.

bostonbp · Answer

If you don't want to be in a mortgage company long term I don't see an upside either for applications or for recruiting after school. You run the risk of burning bridges at the old or new company, and it is a tradeoff of showing loyalty and long term growth at a company vs a new role on your resume. Both can potentially be valuable in recruiting.

If you get into a good b-school recruiters will assume you have quant skills or you can showcase it with your GMAT. The companies that REALLY care for it (typically IB, HF or other high finance, some research roles, etc.) likely do so through some combination of a technical interview and test scores.

The only exception to me if I were in your shoes would be if you want to break into finance and the mortgage role is involved in the underwriting/credit side (not sales); that could be great experience. Of course, this is all assuming that compensation is similar for both roles.

Of course, it's your career, and if you feel the tug to make a move go for it!

Bad or good idea to change jobs before applying?

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