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12 Feb 2016, 10:29
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Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the great content. I've learned a lot from this site over the past few months as I've started researching the MBA.
I've thought a lot about what I'd like to do with my career, and more and more I think I'd like to live / work outside the US. I'm particularly interested in emerging / frontier markets, but open to other places as well (e.g. London). Unfortunately, I don't speak any foreign languages and I only have US citizenship.
I know the idea of working outside the US is vague, but how might I use an MBA to accomplish this? So far, I've brainstormed the following (in no particular order of preference):
1. Work for a consulting firm with international offices (e.g. McKinsey)
2. Work for a bank with international offices (e.g. Standard Chartered, or one of the US investment banks)
3. Work for another kind of multinational that has international offices
I'm sure there are companies that are preferred for people like me looking to live / work abroad, and I'm sure certain business schools are better for this than others.
Some background on me:
Graduated with a 3.8 GPA in a humanities subject in 2012 from a top US university (currently one of the ones ranked #4 by US News and World Report)
Worked for ~2 years in a corporate communications consulting firm (PR / Comms for M&A, IPOs, etc - worked on some big transactions, but not from the finance side)
Took a year off to redirect my career, and landed as the 8th employee at a FinTech startup in NYC, where I've been since.
As for industry preferences, I definitely like working in tech and I'm drawn to "technical" industries, but I feel like I'm quite limited since I don't have a science / engineering / technical background. Finance is something that I'm drawn to as well, but I don't have investment banking experience so my sense is all the really interesting stuff (i.e. PE) is closed off to me. I could potentially try VC since I'll have real startup experience, but that's ridiculously competitive. Perhaps consulting or a multinational seems reasonable.
Any thoughts / suggestions? I plan on staying with my startup until my equity fully vests in 2019, so I'd have about 6/7 years between my undergrad and start of the MBA.
Thanks for all the great content. I've learned a lot from this site over the past few months as I've started researching the MBA.
I've thought a lot about what I'd like to do with my career, and more and more I think I'd like to live / work outside the US. I'm particularly interested in emerging / frontier markets, but open to other places as well (e.g. London). Unfortunately, I don't speak any foreign languages and I only have US citizenship.
I know the idea of working outside the US is vague, but how might I use an MBA to accomplish this? So far, I've brainstormed the following (in no particular order of preference):
1. Work for a consulting firm with international offices (e.g. McKinsey)
2. Work for a bank with international offices (e.g. Standard Chartered, or one of the US investment banks)
3. Work for another kind of multinational that has international offices
I'm sure there are companies that are preferred for people like me looking to live / work abroad, and I'm sure certain business schools are better for this than others.
Some background on me:
Graduated with a 3.8 GPA in a humanities subject in 2012 from a top US university (currently one of the ones ranked #4 by US News and World Report)
Worked for ~2 years in a corporate communications consulting firm (PR / Comms for M&A, IPOs, etc - worked on some big transactions, but not from the finance side)
Took a year off to redirect my career, and landed as the 8th employee at a FinTech startup in NYC, where I've been since.
As for industry preferences, I definitely like working in tech and I'm drawn to "technical" industries, but I feel like I'm quite limited since I don't have a science / engineering / technical background. Finance is something that I'm drawn to as well, but I don't have investment banking experience so my sense is all the really interesting stuff (i.e. PE) is closed off to me. I could potentially try VC since I'll have real startup experience, but that's ridiculously competitive. Perhaps consulting or a multinational seems reasonable.
Any thoughts / suggestions? I plan on staying with my startup until my equity fully vests in 2019, so I'd have about 6/7 years between my undergrad and start of the MBA.
19 Feb 2016, 10:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
Honestly it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things as it is. Your path should ultimately be determined by your interests. The work you do in VC and PE, for example, is actually quite different - and the people in those industries are quite different as well. With banking, there is typically opportunities to work abroad if you express an interest. I personally worked in Asia for a bit when an opportunity came about.
Thinking about languages... If you don't plan on going for another 3 years, start learning a language. Anyway, the best advice that I can give at this point is to decide on what you want to do and gain some skills in that area. You have plenty of time and opportunity to gain valuable experience outside of work that will make you a more attractive candidate when the time comes.
Thinking about languages... If you don't plan on going for another 3 years, start learning a language. Anyway, the best advice that I can give at this point is to decide on what you want to do and gain some skills in that area. You have plenty of time and opportunity to gain valuable experience outside of work that will make you a more attractive candidate when the time comes.
29 Feb 2016, 01:10
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Bookmarks
fnwtp90
Consulting is a good, sure way to get the international career. I know quite a few alumni who were able to transfer to a different office abroad after working 1 year in the home country. Working for multinational corporate is another good way. There are many corporates - and even some tech corporations - that offer international rotation or development programs. For example, two of my friends joined a Microsoft development program, where they spent 4 months in Seattle, 4 months in Asia, and 4 months in Europe (Ireland). Then they choose where to end up.
