riverripper wrote:
The recommendation part is really the worst part until the wait for accept/ding/waitlist in my mind. Even if you think your boss will accept it there is always a chance they wont. Thankfully I got my major promotion a few months ago and everything is done now so my decision isn't going to affect that; though I don't believe my boss is that kind of person anyways. Make sure that when you do talk to them about it and ask for a recommendation word is such that you give them an out:
"I was wondering if you would give me a recommendation" does not give them the wiggle room, its either yes or no and in reality its a rhetorical question since pretty much no one is going to say no.
Instead try:
"I realize that this will be a commitment on your part but do you feel that you will have the time to provide me with an excellent recommendation." The statement has several keys:
1) an easy out for them if they don't want to give you a recommendation
2) makes sure they understand its a time commitment so if they don't have time they wont accept then through a quick rec together that isn't going to help you at all.
3) it also lets them know you are specifically wanting an excellent recommendation so if they can't do that then they can say no and you never have to know if its the time commitment or because they think you aren't worthy.
My advice is go in and make sure they know its nothing personal against what you do or the people you work with. You have determined that it is the best thing at this point in your career to help you reach your career goals...and you BETTER know that it is and not just believe it or else you need to be good at BSing. After the accept the job of giving you a recommendation dont just leave it there or else you might get Johnnie is a great worker who can program with the best of them and always shows up to work on time.
Personally I think its fairly common on here to have people that seem to be applying pretty early in their career. They very well might be much better off waiting a year or two. Much like the GMAT you know the bench mark for schools so if you are applying with a couple less years experience than the average at the school thats like applying with a low GMAT or GPA...you better be able to have very convincing essays as to why you need an MBA now and wouldn't be better off waiting a few years and getting some more leadership experience. I know personally I don't want to deal with this process again and I doubt there are very few people who would.
The key before you go telling your boss you are applying to B-school is to do some soul searching and determine if this is the ideal time for you to do it. I was going to get a masters of engineering 2 years ago but I am glad I thought twice about doing that at that point in my career. Don't get caught up in the hype about salaries and jobs. Also don't fall into the trap of trying to compare yourself to profiles on websites they don't give a true picture of the people.
Excellent advice about how to deal with the boss
As for the timing of getting an MBA, I've thought about it long and hard and I know it's definitely the right time, and have very clear short and long term post-MBA goals I want to work towards (Product/brand management on IT side of entertainment/media industry, and then starting my own firm that fuses my tech and music backgrounds). Although I have clear goals and have had quite a bit of leadership exposure, I think my supervisor thinks it's too early because she hasn't dealt with a "career changer" like me before, and everyone she's had contact with used their MBAs to boost their current careers. In particular her husband is a director at a tech firm, who did a part-time MBA when he was 36, and was rapidly promoted within his field thereafter. So it isn't apparent to her how an MBA at my age (27) will help me, but I guess it's me who has to do the convincing!
Ok, enough with hi-jacking this thread! Let's get back to who's applying where