Want an opinion on career switch

Question

Anyone who thinks he/she has an idea/opinion about this, feel free to respond.

I've spent about 74 months to this day in mechanical design and product documentation (including hardware and software). I would peg the split between mechanical design and documentation at about 50 to 50. If I were considering a career switch (which I am) post-MBA, between Finance (IB or M&A) and Marketing (Product Management or Brand Management), which would you consider a better bet and why?

Thank you all for your inputs in advance.

- Petrifiedbutstanding

GyanOne · Answer

Product marketing would be a better bet any day because you have already been associated in some way with product design. IB or M&A will be very difficult, with little grounding and experience in it pre-MBA.

Happy to answer any more questions you have.

Happy to answer any more questions you have.

rasta · Answer

I know where you are coming from; i've been there. Instead of looking for the career switch that would be the easiest, you'd be better of exploring the choices out there, and identify the one(s) that you are most drawn to. Spend a lot of time researching your target career(s), attend lots of events pertaining to the same, and network with lots of people. Landing an internship/ part time role in your target industry/ role before starting your MBA or during your MBA (semester break) will work heavily in your favour.

petrifiedbutstanding · Answer

Thank you both for those insightful responses.

To GyanOne: I would like to know if you will be able to evaluate my profile more closely.

To rasta/GyanOne: rasta, In the last line, you mentioned landing an opportunity of some sort. I have done a short 3 month internship in Marketing/Business Development for a software company. Will this in any way benefit my chances of admission?

Secondly, I have heard that if you are starting fresh on a career (say finance, since it's very new to me), recruiters will be apprehensive about hiring MBA graduates who only have so exposure as a 3-month internship, which they deem insufficient. Is this true? Can you elaborate on your answer?

DoorKnocker · Answer

Unless by Marketing you mean marketing the products you were designing, or products in the same industry, I don't think your experience as a mechanical designer will be considered really relevant. Engineering products is a whole different ball game than marketing them, so what does drafting a gearbox in AutoDesk have to do with marketing a P&G shampoo?

And this shouldn't scare you off because you gotta find out what field you want to do and then just make sure you network and do well during MBA, and forget about your pre-MBA life. I think that if you land a summer internship in the field you want it WILL count for quite a lot. I met a guy who landed a dream private equity job with one year doing commercial banking only (not really relevant), all he did was excell in the MBA classroom. Just focus on what you want and stick to it.

I'm also doing a mechanical designer stint, I postponed my MBA in order to do it. I did it because I was lacking big-company work experience period, and just wanted to find out what it feels to work a regular 9-5 job before I enter the MBA classroom.

3underscore · Answer

Do engineers not have a trigger point where they use a more convenient measurement. Like from millimeters to centimeters to meters to kilometers.... or months to years?

DoorKnocker · Answer

74 months / 12 months/year = 6.1666666666666666666666666667 years.

Come on it's easy!

3underscore · Answer

I take it more holistically and see it as a difference in approach. Encounter excessive accuracy in my work a lot and it bugs the hell out of me.

naema1230 · Answer

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