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cookiejar679
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Taking Break From Job 12 Nov 2017, 12:08
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I am a Software Engineer. I am working in USA in a Big 4 . I plan to change my career direction by going to B School, but for that I have to take Gmat. At my current job, I have to invest almost 70 hrs a week. This leads to no prep time for me for my Gmat. Does resigning from my current job , and taking a job with a less pay will not adversely effect my success rate in getting into a good B school?
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Taking Break From Job 12 Nov 2017, 12:17
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You'll need to make sure you have your story straight and you could talk about how this next job is getting you closer to your goal because the MBA is supposed to also be getting you closer to your goal so they want to see that you are taking steps in the right direction on your own already. Taking a break from work without having anything else lined up will torpedo your candidacy. It'll make you look less employable and you'll have some stuff to talk about to prospective employers. It's just a horrible idea all the way around please believe me. One other option rather than investing time into a job search it's just get up an hour earlier Monday through Friday just wake up 1 hour earlier and honestly doing one hour a day is all you really need as long as it's consistent you're cool you don't need to be doing crazy stuff like 4 hours a night that's actually not even the best way to go about this. As someone who tutored verbal for 17 years please know that waking up an hour earlier is when you will have the most energy, the greatest discipline, and ability to focus. just set up next days plan after the hour so that you are seamlessly walking into that next hour the following day...Take 5 minutes to really frame up what you're going to be doing the next day. This will help you keep the momentum going. Try to figure out how you can get onto a project that's going to be less time and consuming less travel try to hit some other levers before thinking about changing jobs because changing jobs generally involves a lot of time, the very problem you're facing here. That's said if you have to change jobs and you have to just make that transition before thinking about the GMAT and business school then so be it.....bc a period of unemployment is not going to be easy to recover from and will be working at cross-purposes.

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Taking Break From Job 12 Nov 2017, 19:17
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cookiejar679
I am a Software Engineer. I am working in USA in a Big 4 . I plan to change my career direction by going to B School, but for that I have to take Gmat. At my current job, I have to invest almost 70 hrs a week. This leads to no prep time for me for my Gmat. Does resigning from my current job , and taking a job with a less pay will not adversely effect my success rate in getting into a good B school?
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Please read this article:
https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2015 ... -for-gmat/
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Taking Break From Job 13 Nov 2017, 13:30
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Quitting your job isn't a good idea, unless its for a job that while less demanding, still shows career progression.

Even with a high pressure job, you can still get a decent score on the GMAT if you spread out your prep time and use good resources. The good news is, you're thinking about this early!

For instance if you started studying next month in December, with a goal of taking the GMAT for the 1st time in May, and possibly, resitting in July, you have 6-8 months to study. Here are some ideas:
- Plan to spend 2 hours during the week and 3 hours on the weekend studying. For instance, you can get up 1 hour early Tuesday and Friday, and then Sunday morning, dedicate three hours just for GMAT prep. Five hours each week for 6 months gives you at least 120 hours before you take the first exam.
- Use two different sets of resources, but not at the same time. Eg. you can try Manhattan GMAT for the first 4 months, then Magoosh.com for the last 2 months. This isn't about the specific books or courses (I'm not endorsing them), but about making sure that you are approaching the exam from different angles.
- You can always apply Round 2 next year, which means you have at least 9 months to study, plus an additional 3 months to do deep research and apply to schools
- Make sure to apply to a range of schools, especially if you're only able to make round 2. For instance, you could do 1 M7, 1 Top 10, 1 Top 15, and 1 Top 25. That way you are guaranteed to get into at least one school in round 2, and would not have to deal with Round 3.
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Taking Break From Job 19 Dec 2017, 22:35
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if it is hard for you to invest your time then take the decision to resign.