Landing Your Dream Job or Internship – The Best of Ivan Kerbel

Ivan Kerbel, founder of The Practice MBA Summer Forum

Ivan Kerbel, founder of The Practice MBA Summer Forum

Think it’s tough getting into the right business school?

Just wait…It can sometimes be even harder to land your dream job.

And isn’t that why you’re studying for your MBA? Right now, you’re probably imagining packing your Prada for Goldman Sachs or your raincoat for Amazon. It’s the same dream that drove you to sign the loan and resign from your steady gig. And it’s this vision that informed your choice of schools, networking targets, extracurricular activities, classes, company interviews, and internships.

As the cliché goes, it’s what you do and how you do it that attracts recruiters. And Ivan Kerbel is a master at helping students prepare for the McKinseys and Microsofts. A Wharton MBA, Kerbel has led the career management office at the Yale School of Management and served as a senior associate director in Wharton’s MBA Career Management team. At both places, he rubbed shoulders with the elite firms and advised the best-of-the-best students. Before that, he held positions with an organizational consulting firm, a Silicon Valley start-up, and General Electric.

In short, he knows what it takes to get hired and succeed in any environment. In addition, he recognizes how challenging business school can be. That’s why he founded Practice MBA, a one-of-a-kind training and coaching program for incoming b-school students, which covers career development, language and cultural orientation, and academic preparation.

Recently, Ivan Kerbel joined the Poets&Quants team to give readers an inside look at how to appeal to employers and gain an edge during the recruiting process. Now, we’re featuring some of his best advice to readers. From making a career transition to leveraging alumni networks, you’ll find plenty of ideas to increase your odds of getting the offer you dream about.

Here are some of Kerbel’s strategies:

Liberal Arts Background: An Advantage or Disadvantage?

Recruiting: Do you need to study at specific schools to be considered?

Online Degrees: Are they the same quality as an on-campus MBA?

Breaking into Consulting: Are you McKinsey or Boston Consulting material?

Alumni Networks: How much should they affect my decision? 

Location: Should you attend a B-school near a specific employer?

MBA vs. MS: Which is better?

Executive MBA vs. MS: Which is better for middle-aged career changers?

Alternative Degrees: Can this overcome a low undergrad GPA?

Undergrad GPAs: Will a lower GPA hurt in landing an internship? 

Post-Graduate Flexibility: Which careers offer the most options?

Investment Banking and Consulting: Can you interview for internships for both? 

How to increase your appeal and get out of the recruiter’s black hole

(To send Ivan Kerbel a question, click here. Also, our readers would love to hear about your own experiences. Feel free to share them in the comments below.)

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.