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ccyang24
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Work Experience:Large Financial Firm or Small Financial Firm 30 Jul 2013, 08:58
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I'm new to the Forum, and I have a question about Work experience as it relates to Business school applications.

I've been working as an IT Business analyst (BA) for a Large Financial firm for the past 2 years. A week ago I was offered a 50 % raise to work for a smaller Financial firm but at a senior position as a BA.

I was wondering will switching over to the smaller firm decrease my chances of getting into a top tier business school?
Really appreciate any advice as soon as possible. I need to make my decision pretty soon.

Thank you in advance!
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Work Experience:Large Financial Firm or Small Financial Firm 31 Jul 2013, 05:43
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ccyang24
I'm new to the Forum, and I have a question about Work experience as it relates to Business school applications.

I've been working as an IT Business analyst (BA) for a Large Financial firm for the past 2 years. A week ago I was offered a 50 % raise to work for a smaller Financial firm but at a senior position as a BA.

I was wondering will switching over to the smaller firm decrease my chances of getting into a top tier business school?
Really appreciate any advice as soon as possible. I need to make my decision pretty soon.

Thank you in advance!
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Hi there,

Sometimes being a big fish in a smaller pond is more beneficial that being a small fish in a big pond!

For one, you may get more opportunities and responsibilities in a smaller company where there are lesser people fighting for the same projects. Eventually b-schools will like to see the impact you create on your company's business or growth - be it a big company or a small one.

Secondly, you may have a better shot at leading a team and honing your leadership capability in the smaller organization - where you are in any case joining at a higher position.

Evaluate the new responsibilities you have been told about versus the old ones and take a decision on what looks better for your growth.

Namita Garg
www.mbadecoder.com
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ccyang24
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Work Experience:Large Financial Firm or Small Financial Firm 31 Jul 2013, 07:46
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Hi MBAHELP,

Thank you for the response. I think that is a very good perspective to take for analyzing which choice to make.

Really appreciate your help!
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Hey, MBAHelp made a great point. Another thing to consider is you do need to state current salary on MBA applications. A 50% raise is nothing to sneeze at and the establishment of career trajectory is a great thing.

Now, to play devil's advocate for just a moment - promotions as you go smaller are (slightly) less impressive than promotions at the same level or a higher one. In other words, if you're a Director in a company with $1B in sales and you become a VP at a company with $500M in sales, the promotion comes with an asterisk. If you're not into sports, that probably wasn't the right analogy to use but hopefully you get the point!

But congratulations on the promotion and good luck!

Bhavik
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Hello ccyang24,

Namita and Bhavik have both given sound advice. It is after all about the impact you have on your organisation and the personal growth that you demonstrate. So, if you can project your contributions and achievements in the second organisation impressively (and with proper quantification), it would surely work in your favor! Display your motivation of accepting a senior role in a smaller organisation as your desire to take up more responsibilities and widen the scope of your work. Show an accelerated learning curve and pick examples that clearly present the growth trajectory.

Hope this helps.

Good luck for your admissions!
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Definitely proceed with the opportunity that gives you the best experience in terms of job scope and responsibilities. For admissions into b-school, the way you frame the projects and their impact are going to be important, so the better experience you have the more robust the discussions you can create.

Also think about career goals post-MBA though. Find out if the firms you are interested in pursuing prefer prior work experience from large Fortune 100 firms. Each company will be different and will have different perspectives on your experience at both large and smaller companies.