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Apr 2408:30 PM IST
-09:30 PM IST
Join us for a Live Coffee chat with Jenifer Turtschanow where we talk about enhancing your MBA profile and fixing gaps in just 4 months.
Apr 2511:00 AM EDT
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Looking to secure a coveted spot at a top business school? Our team of seasoned MBA admissions consultants, including top B schools alumni and industry leaders, is here to help turn your dreams into reality. Let’s kick-start your journey to success!
Apr 2908:00 PM EDT
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Join us for a live Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with Juno’s Co-Founder, where we’ll break down everything you need to know about financing your MBA in today’s rapidly changing landscape.
Apr 3010:00 AM EDT
-11:00 AM EDT
Applying to business school from a finance background? Personal MBA Coach is here to help with this quick tips video on how to set yourself apart during the MBA application process!
Apr 3010:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj will walk through why reach/target/safety produces the wrong list for many specific profiles, how admissions committees at different programs read the same background differently, and more...
Apr 3012:00 PM EDT
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Starting at $975 and offering up to $545 of savings, our new Amplify Hourly Packages offer structure and support in certain high-value areas (story development, resume, essays, interviewing) to help get your applications across the finish line.
Apr 3009:00 PM IST
-10:00 PM IST
Thinking about PE/VC? Most consultants are. Few actually make it. Learn how to position your profile, build the right skills, and break into Private Equity & Venture Capital.
23 Feb 2009, 16:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background:
3.5 GPA from UCLA Class of 2008: Business Economics and Accounting
Currently 9 months experience (including summer internship) in a Fortune 100 Company as a budget and planning financial analyst.
GMAT: 690 (retaking in April, htting mid low 700's in practice CAT)
Target Schools: Columbia, NYU, Harvard, and Northwestern
I have a job offer to work in an mid-size (400-500 employees) international pharmaceutical (health food product) company. The company is based in Poland and is a household name in Poland (in EVERY supermarket/pharmacy). It has some brand power in Eastern Europe, but is unknown in Western Europe and in the States. The company has solid sales in Poland and has capital to expand into Western Europe and the United States.
So my job will be to first live/work in Poland to get a grasp of the products they make (over 80) and began developing a marketing plan to bring the product into the States. I must tell this, the company is owned by my grandfather and I have been given this opportunity because i am his grandson.
So should i stick with my process driven finance job or take on the venture to introduce a great health food product to America? Which job would help me stand out for bschool applications in 2011?
If i do leave my job at my current, it will be at the 1yr mark (my company has a strict relocation compensation policy, i must be around for a yr)
Any advice would help. I'm at a stepping stone in my life and I want to make my decision with the upmost thought and consideration.
Thanks
3.5 GPA from UCLA Class of 2008: Business Economics and Accounting
Currently 9 months experience (including summer internship) in a Fortune 100 Company as a budget and planning financial analyst.
GMAT: 690 (retaking in April, htting mid low 700's in practice CAT)
Target Schools: Columbia, NYU, Harvard, and Northwestern
I have a job offer to work in an mid-size (400-500 employees) international pharmaceutical (health food product) company. The company is based in Poland and is a household name in Poland (in EVERY supermarket/pharmacy). It has some brand power in Eastern Europe, but is unknown in Western Europe and in the States. The company has solid sales in Poland and has capital to expand into Western Europe and the United States.
So my job will be to first live/work in Poland to get a grasp of the products they make (over 80) and began developing a marketing plan to bring the product into the States. I must tell this, the company is owned by my grandfather and I have been given this opportunity because i am his grandson.
So should i stick with my process driven finance job or take on the venture to introduce a great health food product to America? Which job would help me stand out for bschool applications in 2011?
If i do leave my job at my current, it will be at the 1yr mark (my company has a strict relocation compensation policy, i must be around for a yr)
Any advice would help. I'm at a stepping stone in my life and I want to make my decision with the upmost thought and consideration.
Thanks
23 Feb 2009, 18:08
Kudos
Bookmarks
The best decision you can make is to FORGET about business school as an end. It's simply a means.
I know it's hard for prospective applicants to understand this, but DO NOT PLAN YOUR LIFE AROUND GETTING INTO BUSINESS SCHOOL. It is foolish. Business school isn't some glass slipper in your Cinderella story. It's not going to transform an ugly duckling into a prince (or princess). It's a nice-to-have, a dessert, a cherry on top, and not some golden ticket to some life you were dreaming about. Because if you really truly believed that b-school is a "nice to have", you wouldn't be trying to make choices based on "how will this look to some random b-school adcom?".
With what you're faced with, if you feel that you will grow a lot professionally and personally by going to Poland and working for your grandfather, it could be great for your life. If your grandfather is putting you in a good situation (it doesn't always happen with family businesses) where you are given a chance to really develop some big responsibilities that you wouldn't get had you not been a relative, then it could be a great thing -- especially if you also get along with your grandfather personally. You can get some mentoring about how to run a business in a manner that few young people could get - and also from a far more personal standpoint than just a "mentor". But again, that depends on the nature of your relationship with your grandfather, and what kind of person he is.
It sounds like you are excited and curious about this opportunity to work in Poland with your grandfather. If so, follow your gut instinct and take it. Whether it's a great opportunity or a bad one is only something you can make a judgment call on. Don't let your choices be dictated by trying to impress someone in the future (in this case, a b-school adcom). Do what's best for yourself and your career first and foremost - again if your instinct is telling you to take this opportunity and you feel excited about it, LISTEN TO YOUR INSTINCT! As a younger person, it's harder to trust yourself, but you will learn that in many cases where there isn't a clear right or wrong (which is most things), it requires a judgment call and you just have to make a decision based on your hunch or your gut. There are people out there who will sit on the fence forever, analyzing everything to death -- and end up becoming indecisive to the point where they are paralyzed with fear of doing anything. Don't be that person. Now, if you're asking how adcoms will see it -- it's irrelevant. Adcoms take all kinds of people. What people are attracted to are those who are decisive, insightful, and engaging - and you only get there if you are fully committed to the choices you make (while learning from your mistakes in the process). Make career choices that allow you to grow and learn. Go into job situations where you are in a position to succeed (the family biz can cut both ways depending on the family involved and situation; it could be a no-win situation, or it could be a great opportunity). Do that, and b-school will be just a small pit stop in a long career - and not something that you're desperately clamoring to get into as your lifeline out of whatever life situation you're in.
I know it's hard for prospective applicants to understand this, but DO NOT PLAN YOUR LIFE AROUND GETTING INTO BUSINESS SCHOOL. It is foolish. Business school isn't some glass slipper in your Cinderella story. It's not going to transform an ugly duckling into a prince (or princess). It's a nice-to-have, a dessert, a cherry on top, and not some golden ticket to some life you were dreaming about. Because if you really truly believed that b-school is a "nice to have", you wouldn't be trying to make choices based on "how will this look to some random b-school adcom?".
With what you're faced with, if you feel that you will grow a lot professionally and personally by going to Poland and working for your grandfather, it could be great for your life. If your grandfather is putting you in a good situation (it doesn't always happen with family businesses) where you are given a chance to really develop some big responsibilities that you wouldn't get had you not been a relative, then it could be a great thing -- especially if you also get along with your grandfather personally. You can get some mentoring about how to run a business in a manner that few young people could get - and also from a far more personal standpoint than just a "mentor". But again, that depends on the nature of your relationship with your grandfather, and what kind of person he is.
It sounds like you are excited and curious about this opportunity to work in Poland with your grandfather. If so, follow your gut instinct and take it. Whether it's a great opportunity or a bad one is only something you can make a judgment call on. Don't let your choices be dictated by trying to impress someone in the future (in this case, a b-school adcom). Do what's best for yourself and your career first and foremost - again if your instinct is telling you to take this opportunity and you feel excited about it, LISTEN TO YOUR INSTINCT! As a younger person, it's harder to trust yourself, but you will learn that in many cases where there isn't a clear right or wrong (which is most things), it requires a judgment call and you just have to make a decision based on your hunch or your gut. There are people out there who will sit on the fence forever, analyzing everything to death -- and end up becoming indecisive to the point where they are paralyzed with fear of doing anything. Don't be that person. Now, if you're asking how adcoms will see it -- it's irrelevant. Adcoms take all kinds of people. What people are attracted to are those who are decisive, insightful, and engaging - and you only get there if you are fully committed to the choices you make (while learning from your mistakes in the process). Make career choices that allow you to grow and learn. Go into job situations where you are in a position to succeed (the family biz can cut both ways depending on the family involved and situation; it could be a no-win situation, or it could be a great opportunity). Do that, and b-school will be just a small pit stop in a long career - and not something that you're desperately clamoring to get into as your lifeline out of whatever life situation you're in.
24 Feb 2009, 12:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
AlexMBAApply
Probably the best advice I have read for prospective MBA students. Thanks Alex. Kudos!
