Crucial Advice For The Accepted

Long-term vs. Short-term: For most MBAs, career interests are both short-term and long-term (didn’t the school essays ask you to think about this!).  When selecting a program to attend, there are slight differences in orientation. Your background also creates a unique experience for you within an MBA program.

Dena specifically thought about the long-term benefit of the MBA. “I really had to get beyond admissions and ask more probing questions. My visit to Harvard really helped. I valued the generalist approach of HBS. But, I will say, I understand much better now what that means. I think focusing more on the long-term meant that my MBA may not have taken me as deep into the technical areas often needed in the first one to two years after graduating. I recognize now that my courses were concerned more with the questions and opportunities I would face 10-plus years after business school. I think this fit well for me because I had a solid foundation from consulting going into the MBA. For more significant career-changers, maybe the thinking would be different.”

If you are a career-changer, especially if your prior education or profession was outside of business, it is likely that you will value the deep technical skills to be gained during the MBA. You may seek a business education that specifically prepares you for short-term success with your first post-MBA job.  You also may be trying to affect a change that can only happen by attending an MBA program – certain leadership/rotational programs, investment banking, equity research, etc.

The point is, if your radar is focused on the first job after business school, think about the program that will best position you for that opportunity.

Non-Traditional Career Interest: If you are one of the growing numbers of students considering a less traditional path than that of your classmates, your due diligence is essential. Some schools have programs in place that offer wider ranges of options for you and handle the “road less traveled” better.  Here, you want to think about the community you are entering, what the academic and student life will offer you, what career services support is available, and how the school will support your overall goals.

Dena shared a bit about her experience at Harvard.  “At Harvard, it was clear that my career interest was considered unconventional. I wanted to go into retail, specifically the outdoor industry. While I knew the industry was not a traditional MBA-hirer, I was surprised that even the HBS calling card would not pave the way. Eventually, I landed in the industry – and then, I discovered that HBS supports graduates who enter under-represented fields with loan forgiveness, giving me the financial flexibility to follow my career passion. Today, these are things that I tell MBA admits you need to find out about in advance.”

Alumni Support: You likely learned about the value of the alumni network during your admissions process.  The inquiry now is “what will the school do for you once you have graduated?”  Learn about alumni events, courses you can take, continuing access to faculty, and above all, career services. Learn about the personality of the alumni career office. This is a great time to find out how the office supported alumni during the recent economic downtown. Ask how the office supported alumni in the financial services industry, what new programs were introduced, what resources are dedicated to alumni, what services are available to you remotely, and what alumni are doing to support each other. You don’t know the position you will be in three, five, or ten years after business school – so, be proactive in evaluating this benefit of your MBA program.