HBS Facebook...they're all from BCG, McK, Bain...etc.

Question

Ok...to be fair, there were only something like 180 people in the HBS 2010 Facebook group, but a large percentage were from BCG, McK, Bain...and a smattering from GE, Microsoft etc. Are these large numbers (especially BCG/McK) representative of old relationships (they hold a certain number of spots), or does it have more to do with the fact that you need to be fairly accomplished to even get to BCG/McK in the first place, so it’s more of a coincidence?

agold · Answer

They strive for diversity. 20% of their class comes from Consulting - I would predict that 80% or more of this subset comes from BCG/Bain/McKinsey. They also do seem to have an excellent and longstanding relationship with GE - Jeffrey Immelt is an HBS alum and GE is known to be an American CEO factory.

kidderek · Answer

They strive for diversity -- they like 10% McK, 10% BAH, 10% BCG, 10% Bain, 10% GS, 10% MS, 10% google, 10% microsoft, 10% PE and 10% offsprings of public figure.

Pretty diverse to me.

kryzak · Answer

Priceless. :lol:

nick_sun · Answer

Hec! <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" />

89nk · Answer

...there goes my dreams out the window...lol

bsd_lover · Answer

hahhaha +1 kidderek.

riverripper · Answer

I would say there is a sliding scale for H then S then W and then Kellogg for the big 3 MC firms. I have seen a bunch in our facebook group but imagine that it was probably their safety school haha.

lepium · Answer

I have heard anecdotal support for river's theory.
And kidderek's numbers are obviously not true for a variety of reasons, including that people want to go to Google after b-school and not to b-school after google. :lol:

L.

L.

kryzak · Answer

it is interesting how many people want to go to Google after they do b-school. I mean, at most schools, the students put the highest bid for Google if they want to get into general management or technology. I like Google and all, but I wonder if there's something you learn in B-school that makes Google stand out even more?

togafoot · Answer

I also wonder what relevance B-school would have to a technology management role in a conmpany like Google if the candidate had no prior experience in development. Most companies I;ve worked for, the manager in the development and technology departments always have a background in technology, and if they don't, they are not usually respected by the engineers unless they have excellent soft skills.

jasonc · Answer

I work for Google (not in eng; in sales/marketing), and know a TON of the top MBA grad managers.
I think one thing that makes Google such a great place to work post MBA is the amount of freedom/responsibility and potential impact. There is still SO much to do at Google regardless of tech/non-tech background, and you have the freedom to pursue projects that you think will change the game. However, I will say that if you have a tech background and graduated from a top MBA, you'll have more opportunities at Google.

kryzak · Answer

great insights jasonc! Who knows, maybe I'll end up at Google for the internship

togafoot · Answer

out of curiosity, how many MBA grad managers without a tech background would you say are managing tech projects at the development level? In my company, not a single one I'm a ware of. The only ones i know of who are managing tech and with an MBA, also have tech backgrounds. (I work for Nokia). The MBA's i know of are all in non technical-roles, usually business development, account management, marketing, or vendor/carrier management etc. Even the product managers i know of, have a mix of tech and marketing backgrounds.

jasonc · Answer

My experience is the same as yours, so... none that I know of

By 'there is still so much to do regardless of tech/non-tech background' I meant theres a lot of business development/marketing/account development/operations stuff like you mentioned. My last sentence 'if you have a tech background and graduated from a top MBA, you'll have more opportunities at Google' meant that if you have a tech background you'll have the opportunity to do tech project management/product management

agold · Answer

What is the career track or exit options for MBAs at Google?

VictoryMBA · Answer

It seems kind of odd that someone who previously had no tech-development interest would suddenly want to work for Google post MBA, doing tech stuff no less.

lepium · Answer

The thing is that they don't end up doing tech stuff. They end up in (typically): strategy, marketing, business development, maybe some in finance.

L.

jasonc · Answer

yep, exactly. Good point about finance, a good number of them work in our finance department as well. I completely forgot about that department haha :p

jimmyjamesdonkey · Answer

Guys...I worked for Booz Allen without a MBA, and now planning on going back to school for it. Consulting isn't everything you guys think it is. trust me...it ain't worth it.

HBS Facebook...they're all from BCG, McK, Bain...etc.

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