Back office experience

Question

I'm just curious about what back ofice experience looks like to MBA programs. For example, I worked in Operations for 1.5 years and switched over and worked in a finance role for another year. Both with Morgan Stanley. I was also a team lead in the Operations group.

I also have experience in politics and real estate afterwards but for this particular experience I have, I'm just curious how they will look at it.

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novanative · Answer

I don't think working in ops will hurt you at all.

cheetarah1980 · Answer

I'd say it all depends on where you're applying. Overall, front office experience always has a leg up on back office roles. However, some schools care about it more than others.

Consulting2Finance · Answer

I think front office work is preferred to back office work but that's not to say back office work is a bad thing, particularly if you spin it right in your essays/resume. Schools likely are more interested in what you did in the back office (i.e. what leadership responsibilities you had, etc.) Assuming part of the reason you want an MBA is to move to the front office you can discuss this as part of the "why an MBA" question found at every school.

novanative · Answer

I agree. The leadership experience is the key here.

astrochris · Answer

I think the most important thing about job roles and experience -whether front or back office - is explaining what you accomplished, the impact you had and how you grew from you experiences. I`ve seen a lot of MBB essays talking about high-strategy projects, but that didn`t mention personal impact and growth. These essays end up not making it because they rely too much on the "coolness" of a story and not on its actual growth content.
 
I think you should be fine if you make sure you talk about what you did, what you learned and how you grew from the experiences - connecting it all with the fact that this is the perfect time for the MBA, of course!

MBAbot · Answer

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Back office experience

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