Your Career After an MBA
Much of the conversation regarding the MBA centers around its value for career switchers. Yet, the fact that many applicants pursue the degree to advance within their current field often gets overlooked. Your career after an MBA can really take off as you grow within your industry. Let’s explore why that’s true.
If your reason for applying to business school is to move up within your profession rather than switch occupations, how can an MBA help you achieve that goal?
The MBA degree offers better professional opportunities, even within the same industry or employer. Often, MBA graduates secure a more rigorous role and title and a higher salary after business school.
Examples could include moving from a middle-office position pre-MBA (from corporate finance, treasury, or risk) to a strategy position post-MBA. The professional role, job title, responsibilities, and impact all improve significantly once the person holds an MBA degree.
In addition, the MBA is often a requirement for consideration for higher-level employment positions within top employers. We often see clients move to “front of the house” roles after their MBA education from a “back or middle of the house” position pre-MBA. The type of career path, the pace of promotions, and visibility by senior management all improve for professionals with a top-ranked MBA.
There will inevitably be multiple students from any given industry within the MBA program. Therefore, networking among like-minded, high-performing peers is another benefit for students looking to move up within their profession. Additionally, students benefit from learning from professors whose cutting-edge research and subject matter expertise synergize with the student’s career path.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
A recent SBC client who got into Stanford’s MBA program had these thoughts about the value of the MBA.
“I think I am just most drawn to the personal development I’ll get out of the degree. As with many type-A students and high-achievers, we never stop to evaluate the reason why we work so hard. The MBA program will be a great time to reflect on my sense of purpose and motivation for why I do things. Hopefully, that will also help me refine longer-term career goals.”
Career After an MBA
What aspects of an MBA are most valuable to career enhancers?
We interviewed several corporate recruiters to answer this question. The resounding feedback we received was that top employers rely on MBA holders for their analytical, evidence-based training. Also, recruiters appreciated the MBA grad’s ability to make informed business decisions amid uncertainty using proven tools, frameworks, and models.
For that reason, top employers will seek MBA grads to create sound predictions and recommendations in this new normal. The analytical, adaptable, and innovative mindset are the benefits of the MBA education for all its students.
What should someone look for in a B-school if their goal is to get promoted at their current company? Or to secure a higher-level job with a similar firm?
Not all business schools afford the same value for every student. Similarly, what an applicant should prioritize in a B-school varies. Applicants should decide what areas in their professional or academic background they hope to enhance through their business school experience.
Next, they need to research and determine which programs will deliver optimally for their long-term needs and aspirations. For example, an applicant who comes from a purely liberal arts academic foundation and wants to move into a finance position within his or her employer would prioritize an MBA program strong in finance.
On the other hand, an applicant who wants to transfer to an international office within their company may want to get an MBA abroad to build a global network.
Our advice: Think carefully about your long-term goals. Consider each program’s reputation and network now and where you believe it will be in 10 or 20 years.
What advice would you give to prospective MBA students hoping to use business school to rise within their field?
Find mentors within your career path and set goals around your career trajectory based on informational meetings, networking, and constant diligence and evaluation.
Second, stay at the forefront of industry developments. That way, you can continually assess the value of an MBA degree to fuel your short and long-term professional aspirations. “With our clients, we really dig into actual career goals in deciding which MBA program applications are worth pursuing,” shares Caryn Altman, a Senior Consultant on the SBC team.
“We do an in-depth discussion of post-b-school location preference, as that can be a huge factor. We counsel our clients to network with those who have an MBA in the chosen field. That way, they can frame not only short-term career placement but also longer-term career trajectory and the importance of a particular MBA program in their successes. Also, we encourage clients to engage with current MBA students to define the MBA’s value for their needs further.”
My Career after an MBA
Former SBC consultant Sara Cherlin Diniz, a mid-career professional who holds an MBA degree from HBS, commented on the value of her MBA.
The brand name credentialing, the life-long career support resources, and the extensive alumni network were instrumental in enabling me…along my career trajectory.
“I am certain that the course of my professional advancement would have been different without these priceless benefits,” Diniz says.
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs. From our All-In Partnership to interview prep, essay editing, resume review, and much more, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
Dana
Dana served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School for the Full-Time MBA program and has over 10 years of experience working in higher education. Known as a scrupulous file reader, Dana reviewed countless applications and assisted in rendering final decisions for the Admissions Committee at CBS. While leading information sessions at Columbia and on the road, Dana met and advised myriad applicants� ...
×Holly
Holly worked as a member of the NYU Stern MBA Admissions team for seven years and holds an MBA from NYU Stern. In her tenure as Director of NYU MBA Admissions, Holly worked closely with admissions teams from Columbia, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Duke Fuqua on recruiting events domestically and internationally. On the NYU Stern admissions committee, Holly conducted interviews, planned and hosted events, and trained staff on reading and interviewi ...
×Mark
Mark has been working in global higher education for nearly ten years, focusing on MBA Admissions at European programs including Oxford Said Business School and London Business School (LBS). At the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, Mark was the Associate Director of MBA Recruitment, leading the recruitment of all applicants to the Oxford MBA and 1+1 MBA programs. In this role, Mark advised countless MBA applic ...
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