More Questions from a Listener!

We got a couple questions from a listener that we wanted to share. If you have any thoughts or questions, please send them along!

Q: What if I strongly desire an MBA to improve my skill set, but I don’t know exactly what I want to do with it?

A: Business schools know that many, if not most applicants don't know exactly what they want to do after getting an MBA. That's why they want an MBA, right? To get the skills to work in a different capacity whether that's in a alternate industry or function. Even those students that go to bschol with a clear idea may change their minds once they get there. Basically, you'd be tagged a 'career switcher' and even at the top schools, career switchers can make up somewhere between half to 90% or more of a class. This is the reason why business schools offer students many opportunities while on campus to learn about the various industries and job functions. Whether it's through special events with investment bankers, recruiter presentations from the entertainment industry, cocktail parties, or the various clubs on campus, students will be exposed to the many career options that are available to those with an MBA degree. Summer internships are also great to test out a job or industry.

But having said all this, before even filling out those MBA applications, you should have done some of this research yourself already. Learn about what other MBAs are doing, talk to MBA alumni, talk with collegues about what they do, discover your own interests, and most importantly know why you want a MBA over some other degree such as a Masters in Finance, Accouting, Economics, HR, etc. Business school is only 2 years and less at some schools. The more work you have done prior to getting to bschool, the more you'll be able to focus your time while in bschool and most importantly, use the little time you have wisely. Being open once you get on campus is important, but you don't want to be clueless.


Q: I understand the MBA admissions officers require a crystal clear picture of an applicant’s short-term and long-term goals. How specific do these need to be on an MBA application? For instance, does “leadership role in high tech printer industry” constitute a “specific” goal?

A: Going back to my previous statement about bschools knowing that many students don't know exactly what they want to do, even though that's a fact, admissions officers still want that crystal clear picture of your future goals in the essays. Doesn't make that much sense, right? Well, I had a conversation about this with an admissions consultant recently, and he said, if you said "I'm not sure what I want to do exactly with my MBA." Even though that's the truth, it's not telling of who you are as a person. Instead, if you chose one of your intersts and speak specifically to it, you're giving the admissions officers information into what you find interesting, how you think, if you've thought through the MBA thoroughly, where you see yourself in the future, and how you believe an MBA will help you reach your goals. These things are very telling of who you are and they want to get to know you. So, when writing your career goals essay, choose a career path that you can imagine yourself in. How specific do you want to be? VERY SPECIFIC.

Here is what author Brandon Royal said in our podcast about the career-goals essay.

"If you say things like, ‘My career goal is to obtain a national position with a multinational company,’ or ‘My goal is to do something entrepreneurial and some day own my own company,’ that would be considered career goals that are too general.

You want to be specific. You want to say something like my goal is to become a leading executive in the fast-moving consumer goods area in Asia. And my mid-range goal is to obtain my MBA and then join a leading consulting firm and gain a specialty in intensive marketing of goods. Then you’re starting to sound like a person who has a much more well-thought-out career goal."


Hope this helps and thanks for the questions!

Getting Financial Support from an Employer - EMBA

We couldn't get to this listener question before our Q&A show came out but we wanted to address it. Let us know if you have any additional advice!

Question:

"My current employer does not have a program in place to partial finance the MBA education. I was wondering if you had any proposal / justification templates that I could use to propose to my directors to ultimately aide in the financing of an EMBA. Benefits, employment contracts, etc… Don’t know where to start." - S

Answer:

This is something I briefly touched upon recently while talking to the admissions director of U. of North Carolina. She said they, and many other schools, will help prospectives get the dialogue going with the employers to help finance an EMBA. Start by reaching out to the schools you are thinking of applying to and listen to their suggestions. They’ve helped many students through the tuition financing discussion.

At some point you will have to have a discussion with your superiors about your goals within the company and how an (E)MBA can give you the skills to get there. The goal is to sell the idea of an MBA to the employer as a win-win situation for both parties. The employer should see specific deliverables where they will also reap the benefits of you getting an MBA. For example, are you planning on being able to evaluate financial terms of contracts with the accounting skills you’re going to learn or maybe you are going to be able to take on marketing tasks as you develop these skills through your MBA. If you plan to be able to add specific job functions to your current responsibilities you can easily quantify the value of those functions by going on salary.com and applying a % (depending on how much time you’ll dedicate to these new areas) to a regular fulltime employee who would be doing these functions. Also, when approaching your employer you should have a specific plan of how your current workload won’t be compromised with the time you’re taking to get an EMBA. Think through how you plan to cover your workload if you have to take 1 day off each week or if you need to leave early a few days each week.

You should be prepared to negotiate terms. For example you may guarantee that you’ll return to work for your current employer for at least X years after receiving your MBA and if you leave earlier you will repay a pro-rated portion of their tuition assistance. Also, do some research on what competitive companies offer. You should ask for this information from the schools that you’re applying to as they will have a wealth of info on employers that help finance tuition costs. This will help build a case to your own employer if they want to remain competitive. If cost is an issue you may want to do some research on the tax deductibles employers receive for funding an employees education. Or maybe you can negotiate other benefits from your employer that won’t cost them hard dollars. For example you can ask for a flex schedule for you while you’re in school without any deduction in salary or a guarantee of a promotion/raise upon graduation as long as you keep your performance strong while in school.

Once you’ve built a strong case by thinking through all the relevant details that your employer will be concerned about then you’re ready to sit down and present a winning argument.



Best of luck!


-Janet & the MBA Podcaster team

Answering Our Listener Questions

Our newest show just came out! This time, we went out to get the answers to several of our listener questions.

Please keep emailing us at info@mbapodcaster.com. We plan to do another show in the near future.

Here are the questions:

1. "I already make a base salary of 160-thousand dollars a year. With bonuses I make over 200,000. Would an MBA do much good?" - Vance

2. "What do top Fortune 500 companies think about top-tier MBA programs compared to accredited state or regional programs?" - Esha

3. "What kinds of projects or outside work activities can one take up to show a different side of a candidate’s personality?" - Aditya

4. "For someone coming from a non-business background, what courses would help to prepare for business school?" - Aditya

5. "For a student with an IT background, what sorts of job opportunities are there if one were to get an MBA in general management, strategy and/or entrepreneurship?" -Sandeep

6. "Is there a chance for a consultant to enter into the investment banking industry?" - Arun

Listen to our Q&A show to hear the answers to these questions!

Getting Great Recommendations

I've been looking at several blogs of MBA applicants and everyone seems to be writing about studying or taking the GMAT! I've also run across a lot of questions about recommendations. So, I wanted to go over some of the things I've learned...

In our show called "MBA Application Essays and Recommendations: Where to Begin?", UCLA's Linda Meehan said, "The reality is that most people have to begin to think [about recommendations] early in their careers. And it’s not just the salary. It is the mentorship, the training, the input and the feedback that is making them better over time. And that’s not just from their employer, but it’s also from the things that they’re involved in extracurricularly or in terms of community. So there are people who can write your recommendation who have a deep knowledge of who you are and what it is you have to offer. But it’s only because you have allowed them to know you, and to assist you, and to watch you grow."

If you haven't been grooming your employer for the past few years to write you a recommendation then here are some other tips to get your recommender prepared:

1- Ask early. In general, give your recommender 2 months to write and submit. Follow up occasionally. Don't wait until the last day to ask if they've written your recommendation! You might want to give a 'fake' deadline - one earlier than the actual deadline - to give yourself some leeway.

2- Don't leave your recommender empty handed. Prepare a memo, maybe even two pages long, explaining why you want an MBA and how you see it helping you meet your career goals (the same sorts of things you write in your essays). Also, provide some examples of times you exhibited leadership ability and teamwork and qualities you'd like him/her to highlight. The goal is to get a recommendation that is full of detail about you and all the great work you've done.

3- Don't go for the person with the great title that doesn't know anything about you. CEO, President, CFO, etc. Those big shots in the company won't be as impressive to admissions officers if they don't have anything personal to say about you. You want to approach the person that knows you the best and can write in detail about your work. Paul Bodine - author of "Great Application Essays for Business School” - said, "A general, unspecific letter is like the kiss of death."

The GMAT: Everything You Need to Know About the Test

This week we're bringing you one of our archived shows on the GMAT called "Everything You Need to Know About the Test". It covers the importance of the test and how schools view your score.

Schools are trying to access how well you'll be able to manage course work. They don't want to admit anyone who they think will struggle in class. The GMAT is one predictor of your aptitude. But so is your academic record.

There are 7 components to an application:

1. Academic Record
2. Resume
3. Extracurricular Activities
4. Essays
5. Interviews
6. Recommendation letters
7. GMAT score

While your score is important, it's not the be all end all. It's just one piece of your application. And note, admissions officers often say they deny people with a near perfect GMAT score all the time.

BusinessWeek did a nice rundown of GMAT prep companies in an article called, "Paying for Points".