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08 Feb 2011, 15:45
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Hi,
I would really appreciate if you could estimate my odds. My profile is a bit rare in this forum since I've never worked for well-known companies. I'm a kind of enterpreneur. Let me explain.
- Spanish, 27 years old, male.
- B.S IT Engineering in a top tier university of Spain (I don't know my gpa, but i was ranked on 20% of the class).
- 730 on GMAT (Q:49, V:41) just taken once.
- 107 on TOEFL.
- Work experience: 2 years as a IT Engineer in a small firm. 2 years in a mobile services related start-up. We were only 4 people when we founded it, and now we have grown until 20. We rose 2M€ in a first round of investment, and currently we are waiting for a second one. Nowadays, the company operates in Spain, Latam and Uk.
- Extracurricular: I have led a group of 4 engineers to develop an Iphone/Android social app in our free time.
- Target US-Schools: (Tier1) MIT, CBS, (Tier2) Berkeley, NYU.
- Target Non-US-Schools: IESE, LBS.
- Post MBA Goal: I want to switch my career. I would like to enter in a top strategic consulting firm such as BCG o McK. However, I'm also interested in other fields (private equity and banking).
The thing that really puzzles me is my work profile. I don't know if somebody with my work experience (start-up and small firms) could get into a a top US B-School. What should I do in order to improve my application?
Thanks in advance for your advise!
I would really appreciate if you could estimate my odds. My profile is a bit rare in this forum since I've never worked for well-known companies. I'm a kind of enterpreneur. Let me explain.
- Spanish, 27 years old, male.
- B.S IT Engineering in a top tier university of Spain (I don't know my gpa, but i was ranked on 20% of the class).
- 730 on GMAT (Q:49, V:41) just taken once.
- 107 on TOEFL.
- Work experience: 2 years as a IT Engineer in a small firm. 2 years in a mobile services related start-up. We were only 4 people when we founded it, and now we have grown until 20. We rose 2M€ in a first round of investment, and currently we are waiting for a second one. Nowadays, the company operates in Spain, Latam and Uk.
- Extracurricular: I have led a group of 4 engineers to develop an Iphone/Android social app in our free time.
- Target US-Schools: (Tier1) MIT, CBS, (Tier2) Berkeley, NYU.
- Target Non-US-Schools: IESE, LBS.
- Post MBA Goal: I want to switch my career. I would like to enter in a top strategic consulting firm such as BCG o McK. However, I'm also interested in other fields (private equity and banking).
The thing that really puzzles me is my work profile. I don't know if somebody with my work experience (start-up and small firms) could get into a a top US B-School. What should I do in order to improve my application?
Thanks in advance for your advise!
15 Feb 2011, 01:50
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ehumet,
Absolutely, you can be competitive coming from your background. There is no ironclad law that requires all MBA students to come from big banks, consulting firms, and multi-national corporations. In fact, student body diversity is something that most top programs crave. Now, when making a career switch, the key for anyone is the following:
1. Pick the right schools. Stay away from Columbia, lean toward NYU, Haas, and Tuck, and the rest fall in the middle.
2. Understand your goals. Other than at MIT and HBS (neither of which ask about career goals), you are going to have to have a clear vision for where your career goes after the degree. More specifically, you have to understand how You + Program X = Short Term goal and then how You/Program X/Short Term goal + your passions = long-term goal. It's not easy to articulate a career vision that makes sense, is achievable, requires an MBA from that school, and that ties everything together, but that is what you have to do.
3. Highlight transferable skills. When you are migrating sideways and not just up, you have to really highlight what transfers over. A vetted consultant can help with this, but the tip of the iceberg on this includes: leadership from managing others, innovation from starting something, industry experience that will help an MC work with clients, etc. You have to mine the rich data you have from your WE to bring a narrative into focus.
Anyway, yes, you can absolutely do this. And if you craft your essays correctly, you will turn your biggest concern into your greatest strength. PM me or email us at [email protected] if you want to have a free consultation and we can tell your more about it and also how we help clients. The good news is that you are starting early and there is plenty of time to map it all out.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
Absolutely, you can be competitive coming from your background. There is no ironclad law that requires all MBA students to come from big banks, consulting firms, and multi-national corporations. In fact, student body diversity is something that most top programs crave. Now, when making a career switch, the key for anyone is the following:
1. Pick the right schools. Stay away from Columbia, lean toward NYU, Haas, and Tuck, and the rest fall in the middle.
2. Understand your goals. Other than at MIT and HBS (neither of which ask about career goals), you are going to have to have a clear vision for where your career goes after the degree. More specifically, you have to understand how You + Program X = Short Term goal and then how You/Program X/Short Term goal + your passions = long-term goal. It's not easy to articulate a career vision that makes sense, is achievable, requires an MBA from that school, and that ties everything together, but that is what you have to do.
3. Highlight transferable skills. When you are migrating sideways and not just up, you have to really highlight what transfers over. A vetted consultant can help with this, but the tip of the iceberg on this includes: leadership from managing others, innovation from starting something, industry experience that will help an MC work with clients, etc. You have to mine the rich data you have from your WE to bring a narrative into focus.
Anyway, yes, you can absolutely do this. And if you craft your essays correctly, you will turn your biggest concern into your greatest strength. PM me or email us at [email protected] if you want to have a free consultation and we can tell your more about it and also how we help clients. The good news is that you are starting early and there is plenty of time to map it all out.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
21 Feb 2011, 13:55
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Bookmarks
Hi Paul,
first of all I would like to thank you for the time that you has spent in your answer. A really motivating post!
To be honest, I must say that my (desired) short term goal is entering into a well known big VC firm. I know that, given my profile and specially my work experience, this is a bit difficult if not impossible. However, even knowing that it will be difficult, this goal makes a kind a sense to me previous work experience (startup) and probably I will be able to defend it properly in front of an hypothetical adcom member. In this case, in which universities (5 or 6) should I spend the most of my time and efforts preparing my applications? Do I have any chances on some of the top 7?
Thanks again for your time and patience!
first of all I would like to thank you for the time that you has spent in your answer. A really motivating post!
To be honest, I must say that my (desired) short term goal is entering into a well known big VC firm. I know that, given my profile and specially my work experience, this is a bit difficult if not impossible. However, even knowing that it will be difficult, this goal makes a kind a sense to me previous work experience (startup) and probably I will be able to defend it properly in front of an hypothetical adcom member. In this case, in which universities (5 or 6) should I spend the most of my time and efforts preparing my applications? Do I have any chances on some of the top 7?
Thanks again for your time and patience!
