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jbn83
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Help! MBA for career change out of state government? 05 Jan 2018, 16:36
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Hello reader, thank you for reading this and thank you to anyone who responds with any kind of feedback.

My stats:
34 years old
Live in California
BS in Psychology 2007, 3.5 GPA, Brigham Young University
Started a Master's program in City Planning at Cal Poly straight out of undergrad but dropped out after about a year, GPA was kinda bad towards the end

Work history is a bit spotty:
2010 to 2012 - worked for a packaging company, 1 yr of customer service and 1 yr of account management/sales
2013 to Present - working for CA state government as a "program analyst" doing a variety of things, mostly administrative

I've been quite unhappy working for the state government, so I'm hoping to transition into the private sector. Would an MBA help me get out of state government? Would my lack of private sector experience be a complete roadblock, so that even if I were to get an MBA, I'd struggle to find a job afterward?

(I think) I would love to get an MBA/Master's in Environmental Management and work in sustainability consulting or for a company who values environmental sustainability (perhaps supply chain?), but maybe I'm already too old (and don't have the right experience/skillset)?

I think I could do well on the GMAT, so maybe that would make up for some of my lack of experience.
Any thoughts? Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Jeremy
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Help! MBA for career change out of state government? 06 Jan 2018, 00:36
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Hi Jeremy, I recommend you get going on the GMAT ASAP. At the very least you can get into a part-time program at if you get a good GMAT. Evening weekend MBA at Berkeley would be a good choice. Part-time programs are a little bit warmer to older applicants. For you to be competitive for full-time program you really need to apply this coming year. So I would run not walk on this GMAT bit. Probably way to dress up what you been doing as an AGPA, and maybe lean on a trajectory that's leveraged some of maybe the industry experience. I'm not really sure which agency you work for so not sure but this might be a good way to go for you, not really certain yet, I think it would be extremely important to show that you've researched your plans and have a firm idea in mind, you will be a good use of their resources. Would be happy to do a consultation with you after the MIT deadline of January 17th but I would recommend that you get this ball rolling with the GMAT before that time. Best to you! You're most definitely not alone in not being satisfied at the state. Start to lock in letters recommendation, if you can't get them from a supervisor then have a conversation with peers and internal clients who you trust.. there's a lot of coaching needed around that issue but just plant the seed.

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