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squali83
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Quiting the 9-5 22 Feb 2007, 10:30
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So I recently was approached by my boss at my part time gig (I bartend on the weekends). He asked, knowing that I was going back to school, if I could quit my 9-5 and help run shifts at the store. He mentioned that he would guarentee me 4 shifts behind the bar a week, but I would have to run 4 shifts as a manager. I would make a lot more money (roughly an extra $12,000 take home before school). My dilemma is that I have only one year post grad WE. I opened and ran a restuarant in 2002-2003 for 1.5 years while taking a break from school. So technically I have 2.5 years WE, but I am worried that future employers might view me as less appealing because of my limited WE after Ugrad. I cannot decide whether to quit the 9-5 and put away a lot more money or stay there simply for WE. I was recently put as a team lead on a new project my company is taking on, so this might be valuabe WE, but I am leaning towards quitting, becaues it would lessen my financial concerns. What should I do?
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Do you have an admit yet ?
I would pick the present WE over bartending because your future employer will decide your starting salary based on your previous WE. A close friend just graduated from Chicago said the salary offers he and his classmates received varied quite a bit, depending on prior WE. Even though 12K means a lot now, but your future starting salary may be as much as 20-50K lower.
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I would disagree somewhat. I know consulting salaries are not negotiable really. If you are already accepted to a top 10, the starting salary is going to be whatever the the median is, and there are a lot of early career candidates that top firms are competing for.

I would quit unless you anticipate a waitlist or an industry where the salary is really based on previous experience (e.g. vc) That being said 12k isn't a lot of money in the long run so do it if you would *like* the work better not because of the money...

-bob
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gogetter
I would disagree somewhat. I know consulting salaries are not negotiable really. If you are already accepted to a top 10, the starting salary is going to be whatever the the median is, and there are a lot of early career candidates that top firms are competing for.
-bob
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I think salaries post MBA are independent of pre MBA experience. I'm fairly sure of it.

As for current employment, I would stick with the current job because the team leader position could be invaluable to you in relating bschool concepts to, as opposed to working at a bar and having extra cash.
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kidderek
gogetter
I would disagree somewhat. I know consulting salaries are not negotiable really. If you are already accepted to a top 10, the starting salary is going to be whatever the the median is, and there are a lot of early career candidates that top firms are competing for.
-bob

I think salaries post MBA are independent of pre MBA experience. I'm fairly sure of it.

As for current employment, I would stick with the current job because the team leader position could be invaluable to you in relating bschool concepts to, as opposed to working at a bar and having extra cash.
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I would also point out that any 'gaps' in your resume will need to explained in future interviews... so be prepared to expound on your bar tending epxerience..you might have to explain it.
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I would stick with the day-job, your resume will look bad if you quit your day-job to be a bartender/manager for eight months or whatever it is. What would you tell prospective employers in job interviews? It would sound flaky if you said, "Well working at the bar seemed like a better idea because it meant more money."

Although I can imagine it would be a lot more fun to work at the bar and definitely would be nice to have the extra cash, I think the wise thing would be to suck it up and stick out the day-job.
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Quiting the 9-5 22 Feb 2007, 12:49
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cbreeze
Do you have an admit yet ?
I would pick the present WE over bartending because your future employer will decide your starting salary based on your previous WE. A close friend just graduated from Chicago said the salary offers he and his classmates received varied quite a bit, depending on prior WE. Even though 12K means a lot now, but your future starting salary may be as much as 20-50K lower.
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I'd love to talk to this person. I've heard the exact opposite. What you make seems completely independent of WE. Especially in areas of Consulting or IB. I think there may be some more leway when it comes to firms hiring 2 or 3 people who are smaller and more of a niche focus - if you bring something different to the table - but otherwise, from what I hear, it's X and X and X and X no matter what you did before.

Of course, that doesn't explain the HUGE variation in salaries you see when it comes to the employment reports. There are lows of like $50K and highs of $150K. I don't know how that happens, but I'm guessing that the high numbers are people who are coming sponsored and going back, or otherwise individuals with substantially - eg 12 years exp vs 4 years - more experience.

It's actually a question I plan on asking this weekend at the admit weekend.
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Quiting the 9-5 Updated on: 22 Feb 2007, 12:57
Originally posted by cbreeze on 22 Feb 2007, 12:55.
Last edited by cbreeze on 22 Feb 2007, 12:57, edited 1 time in total.
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Post MBA salary offers in the same career industry are not the same. This Chicago grad assured me. He is in IM now and was an engineer before. He compared notes with his classmates and I believe he knows what he is talking about. Even in his same firm now, a Wharton grad who had experience in the same industry was hired on a more senior level than this former engineer who had no prior experience in the IM industry.
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I have acutally only heard from my two back ups. Top 30 programs. I am waiting for Cornell, Duke, UVA and UNC. I want to consult out of school, specifically in the food service sector. I heard that the more expereince you have in a certain industry, the better chances you will be able to work with in that niche while consulting. I have managed and opened restaurants before and am considering this becuase this would be another 6 months of relevant expereince. I am not too worried about salary out of B school and honestly I do not think that 4 more months at this job will influence my salary all that much. I am going to B school more for the reason I can have a rewarding career as opposed to just a job to have one.
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Oh, and personally, I wouldn't take the bartender gig. It's just not going to help you participate in class, its not going to help you "talk the talk" when recruiting happens, it wont help any salary negotiations (assuming they are even possible, which i dont think they are), and it's a heckuva hard thing to talk to when someone asks you about your most recent work experience.

$12K is nice, but, after taxes were talking maybe $9K. What about health insurance? What about 401K? Paid Vaca? Benefits? etc.
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rhyme
Oh, and personally, I wouldn't take the bartender gig. It's just not going to help you participate in class, its not going to help you "talk the talk" when recruiting happens, it wont help any salary negotiations (assuming they are even possible, which i dont think they are), and it's a heckuva hard thing to talk to when someone asks you about your most recent work experience.

$12K is nice, but, after taxes were talking maybe $9K. What about health insurance? What about 401K? Paid Vaca? Benefits? etc.
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$12K was what I figured after all those expenses. Are not a lot of people planning to take a month or two off before going back? I figured this was kind of the same idea...oh well looks like general consensus is stay at the 9-5...
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In just a couple months this bar tending gig would make you an additional $12K above and beyond what you would be making at your regular job?
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don't listen to them squali! I'm gonna quit my job soon and study for the CFA (hopefully).

I just found out that orientation starts second week of august, so I'd only be off for 2 months after CFA and 2 months before. I'll get in atleast 1 month of travelling before school starts...



that's my plan...
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squali83
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Oh, and personally, I wouldn't take the bartender gig. It's just not going to help you participate in class, its not going to help you "talk the talk" when recruiting happens, it wont help any salary negotiations (assuming they are even possible, which i dont think they are), and it's a heckuva hard thing to talk to when someone asks you about your most recent work experience.

$12K is nice, but, after taxes were talking maybe $9K. What about health insurance? What about 401K? Paid Vaca? Benefits? etc.

$12K was what I figured after all those expenses. Are not a lot of people planning to take a month or two off before going back? I figured this was kind of the same idea...oh well looks like general consensus is stay at the 9-5...
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If you are going to make $12,000 more in 2 months, then do it. I assumed this meant like 7-8 months.
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right, unless its more than 2-3 months its not considered a 'resume gap'
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For some reason I assumed you were going to quit now, didn't realize you meant you were going to quit a couple months before school. I guess then it doesn't matter which way you go.
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dukes
In just a couple months this bar tending gig would make you an additional $12K above and beyond what you would be making at your regular job?
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Yep, take home a night at the bar is just about 350 a night and then I would be making $20/hour managing....it works out to about $42K take home in 6 months......lifestyle sucks but I could suck it up for 6 months and have a blast!
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For some reason I assumed you were going to quit now, didn't realize you meant you were going to quit a couple months before school. I guess then it doesn't matter which way you go.
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I was going to quit now. I would take about 6 months between school and quiiting to bartend/manage. I was just stating how people are planning to take two months off to do "nothing" and I was planning to take 6 months off to work. I do not see the difference, in a recruiters eyes. Plus, are there not MBA students who have come out of the retail field? Why would managing a restaurant be considered a resume gap?
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Dude, I would not quit while I am still waiting to hear back from other/better schools. I'm pretty sure if you get accepted later from some of your better schools they would do a routine background check, like calling your supervisor or recommenders. By leaving now, your boss could be sufficiently pissed off at the short notice that he might bad mouth you later during the background check. Better play it safe.
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Quiting the 9-5 22 Feb 2007, 16:51
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squali83
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For some reason I assumed you were going to quit now, didn't realize you meant you were going to quit a couple months before school. I guess then it doesn't matter which way you go.

I was going to quit now. I would take about 6 months between school and quiiting to bartend/manage. I was just stating how people are planning to take two months off to do "nothing" and I was planning to take 6 months off to work. I do not see the difference, in a recruiters eyes. Plus, are there not MBA students who have come out of the retail field? Why would managing a restaurant be considered a resume gap?
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Its not a resume gap. Its just not easy to explain why you left a corporate job to go be a bartender. I think you can explain it away by saying its something you enjoy - you are a people person - and the timing was right. Obviously "my professional goals don't involve bar tending, but as an extrovert, its something I enjoy so I figured I'd do it while I could."

I'd just be a bit worried about the lack of WE. It MIGHT impact. The best bet is to call whoever admits you and talk to their career svcs office. Get their view.
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