Mr. Private Equity Dream

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission. I used to work in CPG brand management, so I know that the role of a Customer Development Specialist is a critical and a challenging one! While it has definitely given you many valuable skills (such as analytical thinking and communications ability) that are transferrable to other careers, private equity is a big change. MBA programs want to see post-MBA goals that are ambitious yet realistic, and the vast majority of those who enter PE after business school have either prior PE experience or at minimum, investment banking experience.

Banking could be a potential stepping stone for you to make the transition into finance – in order to convince Stern that it’s an appropriate path for you, you’ll want to make it clear what is driving you towards this path based on your professional experiences and interests (since they always want to know the WHY behind your goals), the skills you’ll bring to banking immediately, and the skills/experiences that you’ll need to gain from the MBA program to make this post-MBA goal a reality. Stern is also very interested in understanding the whole applicant, so you’ll want to provide information on your involvement in the Financial Management Association and any other extracurricular activities you’re involved in. The Stern “Pick 6” essay gives you the opportunity to highlight your passions and the people and experiences that have shaped you, so take full advantage of it so that the school can get to know you closely.

Hope that helps – best of luck!

Hi Mr. Private Equity Dream, this is Donna Bauman from Stratus Admissions reaching out on your profile. In terms of making a switch from CPG to Private Equity, this is a pretty big leap. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen—but you might want to think of this as a two step process. It is always good to have your short term post MBA goal build upon a strength you have. One option you might want to research is looking at finance roles within CPG companies—since you already have industry knowledge in CPG. There could be some rotational leadership development roles with a finance focus—or you could also look at investment banking or corporate finance roles. It will be important for you to find schools with strong experiential learning to help you gain the skills to make a career change. You also are at a point in your career where you might find that an evening or weekend MBA program could help you start to build the skills that would allow you to make an internal change to a finance role within your current firm. These are all things to consider. Stern also accepts the Executive Assessment and the GRE so you might consider looking at those test options as well if you really want Stern as your current GMAT score is going to come in on the soft side at Stern. But I do like that you are looking at programs with strong finance resources. 31% of Emory’s 2020 class took a role in finance so there could be a lot of opportunities for you there potentially. I also like the finance experiential learning opportunities you will gain from UNC Kenan-Flagler. Best wishes to you and let us know if you want to discuss your profile in more depth.