What Qualifies as Unique Work Experience?

Question

I've been reading through old threads, new threads, all threads (basically - no apps this season for me!) and I hear a lot of people asking what their chances are, listing off GPA, GMAT, and other stats, and often "standard work experience" whether it be IB, Accounting, IT, etc. My question is at what point does work experience become "non-standard" or "stand out"?

Just curious to hear some thoughts from you guys. :-D

rgupta83 · Answer

I would say if you look at the careers most individuals go into out of B-School those the same standard careers most had before, gen management track, corp finance, banking, consulting, project management.

Unique would be something that people do not go into after an MBA. I know someone who was a concert pianist prior to going back for his MBA. That is unique, or a journalist.

RichieRichthaMosse · Answer

OWS "Team Leader"? 8-)

Tofayel · Answer

Work experience become non-standard, GPA and GMAT are mainly counted.

hamm0 · Answer

I guess the driving point behind my question is would my experience be thought of as unique/would it help/hurt/neither for my application? I'm a project engineer for a 500+ person construction company, which basically entails the following on several $100M projects: -Project schedule management -Quality Control (only true leadership position - everyone that is on our site listens to me for QC) -Estimating/Bidding work -Product research/creating submittals -Intermediary between owners and subcontractors and various labor unions -Organizing meetings and determining the issues that need to be addressed from the contractors side of the table -Creating monthly invoices, pay items, as well as change orders when needed I know its all how you sell yourself, but at a certain point you have to look at what you're selling to see if its even worth it, if you catch my drift

cheetarah1980 · Answer

How "unique" your work experience is perceived and how well it's received will depend on the school. You won't be the only construction engineer in the applicant pool. Will there be a ton? Probably not, but your work experience isn't new in the business school universe. What you want to look at is how many people from your company get MBAs and where do they get them from. Many companies are like a revolving door for MBA programs: they send people to top programs each year and recruit people from them as well. While the Peace Corps and Teach For America are not "traditional" professions that lead to an MBA you will always find a few people with these backgrounds in every class. 
What you really need to think about is whether or not your professional background cultivates skills valued by MBA programs: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, etc. If you are looking to stay within your current industry and function schools will also want to see that you can answer the question, "Why an MBA and why now?"

Hope this helps.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Within the context of b-school admissions, what are called "non-traditional" applicants are those that work in non-corporate environments, such as:

- military
- not-for-profit
- political office (i.e. speechwriter, campaign staffer, etc)
- professional artist (musician, actor, writer, filmmaker, etc.)
- professional athlete
- clergy
- Teach For America
- Peace Corps

Regardless of whether you're a traditional or non-traditional applicant, it still comes down to whether you're able to convey who you are as an individual beyond just the resume.

sweeces · Answer

So basically, no you're not unique but that doesn't really matter anyway.

hamm0 · Answer

Absolutely. My company does not fit the "revolving MBA door" so I am unsure of how normal it is for construction engineers. Obviously a few have the same idea as me, I realize I'm not the only one..was just wondering how specific it was - thank you for shedding light on this. The part i highlighted in red is especially helpful

I'm pretty sure I want to try something else other than CM after MBA, but having a MBA is helpful in that industry, so its always a decent fallback. (My boss did the finance route for 2 years post MBA, and ended back up in CM anyway) But mommy says I'm special! haha Thanks guys. :thumbup:

What Qualifies as Unique Work Experience?

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