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Hello Paul, i want to ask you your opinion about my profile and the points i should focus on to make myself more competitive for b-school application one day.
At the moment I think it is too early for me to pursue an MBA. However I direct you this request because I think it could provide helpful for me to have a better understanding of where I should direct my life to in order to become competitive in the years I'm gaining work experience.
I am 23, Portuguese.
Academics :
I have a law degree and came out with 16/20, which is considered very good in my country. I am in the lower half of the top 10 students of my graduating class, although I'm not sure in which position. I think the number of graduating students was between 75-85. This was in a prestigious law school (one of the 4 or so few law schools that top law firms in the country recruit from).
Attended voluntarily an intellectual property course during my 3rd year of law school in another university. It was not a graded course.
I won an internal moot court competition in my law school and won the "best speaker" prize.
Not so good part - after law school I attended a one-year law and business program in another law school (this time in the arguably most prestigious one). My grades declined because I had some personal problems and I might end with a final grade or average, as you prefer of 15/20 (If my final efforts in delivering the thesis payoff), which is still a good grade but nonetheless a comedown from my grade in lawschool.
Work experience:
Working in one of the most prestigious law firms in the country, an international law firm which is consistently ranked as one of the best. It's considered one of the two hardest firms to break into in my country. We have an up-or-out system and I'll try to stay here for as long as possible, which will imply increasing responsibility.
extracurriculars:
Helped troubled children from impoverished backgrounds and ethnic minorities (african immigrants and gypsies) study, in a community center located in the projects, for a year.
Was part of an educational project that sends Portuguese university students to Maputo, Mozambique. I stayed in there for two months (during my summer holiday) teaching a short property law course to Mozambican university students. Some of my students went to law school and participated in an african moot court competition. I helped them with their participation and they won the competition (which took place in Nigeria and involved students from all of Africa) - obviously thanks to their efforts and not to my contribution but I still think it might be relevant.
I also worked in an orphanage together with other volunteers, teaching children basic reading and writing skills, as well as basic math.
I was the treasurer of the program which means I managed income and expenses.
Goals:
I want to break into either MC or Investment banking / PE / VC, possibly to become an entrepeneur later on after I gain significant experience (which I think I can acquire in both careers, although in different activities).
I recognize that is vague but I know I still have several years to mature my preferences and get to know each industry a little better. Nonetheless I think both careers are amazingly interesting.
I intend to have the help of an admissions consultant, that is for sure, when the time comes. I also intend to study very hard for the Gmat and I'm confident I can get a nice score of +700 (let's hope I'm right). I'll also try to nail the essays as best as I can, obviously.
The story I want to sell is simple: I am not a burned out professional. In fact I do like being a lawyer. But I want to do the transition into business because I always viewed legal services from a business perspective: to me, legal services are actually a part of the clients' business and I think lawyers - even though they have a very specific knowledge - should always view themselves as business partners to their clients, in the sense that their work is intended to add value.
As such, to me, a transition to MC seems like a natural one, since my role would be to add value to my clients' decisions, the difference being that the consultancy would be given from a broader perspective instead of a narrower, strictly legal one. The same line of thought applies, with adaptations, to the financial career: I always viewed my role as a lawyer as being a piece in a puzzle, the puzzle being a certain deal. As such an interest for the financial world grew on me and I would like to transition to IB / pe / vc since it would allow me to 1) equally interact with several differt industries 2) be one of the innermost pieces of the same puzzle.
My questions:
1) Is the downward progression evidenced in the grades obtained in the law and business program a serious problem? If the answer is affirmative, will it be dishonest not to mention the attendance of the program?
2) Is my story regarding career transition sellable?
How high could I shoot with some extra years of nice work experience and a good gmat grade?
I hope I did not tire you with my email and that it's not too early to pose these questions.
Thank you,
JR
At the moment I think it is too early for me to pursue an MBA. However I direct you this request because I think it could provide helpful for me to have a better understanding of where I should direct my life to in order to become competitive in the years I'm gaining work experience.
I am 23, Portuguese.
Academics :
I have a law degree and came out with 16/20, which is considered very good in my country. I am in the lower half of the top 10 students of my graduating class, although I'm not sure in which position. I think the number of graduating students was between 75-85. This was in a prestigious law school (one of the 4 or so few law schools that top law firms in the country recruit from).
Attended voluntarily an intellectual property course during my 3rd year of law school in another university. It was not a graded course.
I won an internal moot court competition in my law school and won the "best speaker" prize.
Not so good part - after law school I attended a one-year law and business program in another law school (this time in the arguably most prestigious one). My grades declined because I had some personal problems and I might end with a final grade or average, as you prefer of 15/20 (If my final efforts in delivering the thesis payoff), which is still a good grade but nonetheless a comedown from my grade in lawschool.
Work experience:
Working in one of the most prestigious law firms in the country, an international law firm which is consistently ranked as one of the best. It's considered one of the two hardest firms to break into in my country. We have an up-or-out system and I'll try to stay here for as long as possible, which will imply increasing responsibility.
extracurriculars:
Helped troubled children from impoverished backgrounds and ethnic minorities (african immigrants and gypsies) study, in a community center located in the projects, for a year.
Was part of an educational project that sends Portuguese university students to Maputo, Mozambique. I stayed in there for two months (during my summer holiday) teaching a short property law course to Mozambican university students. Some of my students went to law school and participated in an african moot court competition. I helped them with their participation and they won the competition (which took place in Nigeria and involved students from all of Africa) - obviously thanks to their efforts and not to my contribution but I still think it might be relevant.
I also worked in an orphanage together with other volunteers, teaching children basic reading and writing skills, as well as basic math.
I was the treasurer of the program which means I managed income and expenses.
Goals:
I want to break into either MC or Investment banking / PE / VC, possibly to become an entrepeneur later on after I gain significant experience (which I think I can acquire in both careers, although in different activities).
I recognize that is vague but I know I still have several years to mature my preferences and get to know each industry a little better. Nonetheless I think both careers are amazingly interesting.
I intend to have the help of an admissions consultant, that is for sure, when the time comes. I also intend to study very hard for the Gmat and I'm confident I can get a nice score of +700 (let's hope I'm right). I'll also try to nail the essays as best as I can, obviously.
The story I want to sell is simple: I am not a burned out professional. In fact I do like being a lawyer. But I want to do the transition into business because I always viewed legal services from a business perspective: to me, legal services are actually a part of the clients' business and I think lawyers - even though they have a very specific knowledge - should always view themselves as business partners to their clients, in the sense that their work is intended to add value.
As such, to me, a transition to MC seems like a natural one, since my role would be to add value to my clients' decisions, the difference being that the consultancy would be given from a broader perspective instead of a narrower, strictly legal one. The same line of thought applies, with adaptations, to the financial career: I always viewed my role as a lawyer as being a piece in a puzzle, the puzzle being a certain deal. As such an interest for the financial world grew on me and I would like to transition to IB / pe / vc since it would allow me to 1) equally interact with several differt industries 2) be one of the innermost pieces of the same puzzle.
My questions:
1) Is the downward progression evidenced in the grades obtained in the law and business program a serious problem? If the answer is affirmative, will it be dishonest not to mention the attendance of the program?
2) Is my story regarding career transition sellable?
How high could I shoot with some extra years of nice work experience and a good gmat grade?
I hope I did not tire you with my email and that it's not too early to pose these questions.
Thank you,
JR
18 Nov 2010, 00:41
Kudos
Bookmarks
JR,
I appreciate how respectful you were in your approach and am happy to help.
I'll lead with this: I don't know how long you really need to wait to pursue an MBA. Management Consulting is a great path for a JD because MC loves the way lawyers think. But they also want you to know what an MBA knows. So for you, this is about acquiring knowledge more than career timing (the way it is for most candidates). So you should go when you are ready.
I wouldn't worry about the post-grad grades ... the focus is on the marks that will be considered "college" for your GPA.
Overall, you sound like an interesting person and a very qualified individual. I would assess when the time is right for you and then be sure to build a candidacy around the acquisition of knowledge and the transferability of your skills.
Keep me posted; glad to help in any way.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
I appreciate how respectful you were in your approach and am happy to help.
I'll lead with this: I don't know how long you really need to wait to pursue an MBA. Management Consulting is a great path for a JD because MC loves the way lawyers think. But they also want you to know what an MBA knows. So for you, this is about acquiring knowledge more than career timing (the way it is for most candidates). So you should go when you are ready.
I wouldn't worry about the post-grad grades ... the focus is on the marks that will be considered "college" for your GPA.
Overall, you sound like an interesting person and a very qualified individual. I would assess when the time is right for you and then be sure to build a candidacy around the acquisition of knowledge and the transferability of your skills.
Keep me posted; glad to help in any way.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
13 Apr 2011, 06:25
Kudos
Bookmarks
Dear Paul,
Thank you for your very straight to the point advice.
I have taken your opinion very seriously but I have one doubt. According to you, in my case it would be ok not to wait too long to go into business school because the deal for me is building a business thinking framework on my logical / legal background.
I just want to make sure that I understood your advice on this point: do you think it would make sense to start studying for the gmat right away to get the best score possible? I mean, would a good GMAT grade not be offset by my little work experience for top schools?
Additionally, three other questiosn:
- as you imagine, working in a law firm does not provide plenty of opportunities do demosntrate leadership as other career paths do. I would have to demonstrate leadership through my extracurriculars. Do you think they demonstrate reasonable leadership; and
- which schools (as good as possible) would be a good fit for my background / profile, in your opinion?
- would it help / be necessary to take side-courses in quantitative subjects to gain quantitative credibility / demonstrate interest in business matters?
Your opinions sound very impartial from what I've seen in other posts of yours. You will definately be the first name coming to my mind if I ever come across someone who's thinking about dealing with an admissions consultant.
Kind regards,
JR
Thank you for your very straight to the point advice.
I have taken your opinion very seriously but I have one doubt. According to you, in my case it would be ok not to wait too long to go into business school because the deal for me is building a business thinking framework on my logical / legal background.
I just want to make sure that I understood your advice on this point: do you think it would make sense to start studying for the gmat right away to get the best score possible? I mean, would a good GMAT grade not be offset by my little work experience for top schools?
Additionally, three other questiosn:
- as you imagine, working in a law firm does not provide plenty of opportunities do demosntrate leadership as other career paths do. I would have to demonstrate leadership through my extracurriculars. Do you think they demonstrate reasonable leadership; and
- which schools (as good as possible) would be a good fit for my background / profile, in your opinion?
- would it help / be necessary to take side-courses in quantitative subjects to gain quantitative credibility / demonstrate interest in business matters?
Your opinions sound very impartial from what I've seen in other posts of yours. You will definately be the first name coming to my mind if I ever come across someone who's thinking about dealing with an admissions consultant.
Kind regards,
JR
PaulLanzillotti
