Quick question

Schools want to know they can place you in a job. I was actually told by one person that is part of the evaluation. As long as you can tie what you do with what they will teach you and how that gets you to IB then go for it. If you are an engineer (seems like we all are) talk about the heavy analytical and quant stuff you do at your job. Show the skills that an IB needs that you have, then show you know what you need to learn at bschool.

So, saying that we want to work on our own / start our own business post MBA can damage our chances?

Well, there is a difference between saying you want to start a business and want a job in an industry where you will have difficulty getting placed. Schools really do want you to succeed, not only because someday you might give them millions but mostly because its a good reflection on their brand.

The point I was trying to make is that your goal needs to make some sense. A high school english teacher saying they want to start an educational services company seems much more likely than them saying they want to work for Goldman. Which one do you think is more plausible? Or a software engineer saying they want to start a software company that does X. That makes a lot more sense than him saying he wants to do real estate development cause he saw a house flipping show on TLC (unless thats his hobby now).

Very helpful, thanks. I agree with what you said, it confirms what I have heard/read over time.

My main point of concern is, however, how specific I should be about my goals. Meaning, should I say that I wanna go into IB (and stop there), or that I am interested in an M&A advisory position with a group that specializes in the dishwasher manufacturing industry, not knowing anything about what that group does and how it does it... How detailed should be my goals description?

Yeah .. makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. I was worried there for a while.

To add to that, schools want to know that you can find a job either through their career center or on your own. If you can detail how you will look for connections with VC/Startups while in school to "place" yourself, then the school will not worry about you finding a job after graduation.

PM me if you need more info on that, mNeo.

As a career changer myself (I want to do marketing), I had a similar situation. Basically, I (like you) researched marketing careers enough that I was able to show that I knew what the career entailed. I then tried to pick out a few undergrad, work and extracurricular experiences that related to marketing. I also wrote a bit about how I got interested in marketing and what it is about a marketing career that excites me. Finally, I researched some companies and did a couple of informational interviews to get more of a "day in the life" perspective.

I didn't go into specific types of companies that I would want to work for because, like you, I'm not really sure about that yet. However, like kryzak said, it seems that the schools want to know that you have a really good idea of what you'll be getting into and why the new career is a good fit for you so that you'll be more likely to stick with it and be able to get a job after graduation.