Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): I get approached early on by applicants who want to target the Top 10 MBA programs in the world. One time, a person reached out to me with just one year of experience. With F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service, we created a plan that will help him brand himself as a person who has technical skills, cultural sensitivity, and experience in offering solutions to local communities.
Before you decide, consider these three factors:
1) Master’s Degree
Typically, when you have a Master’s degree, the total work experience would lengthen, and if you are a career switcher, there is a sweet spot - 1-2 years after the Master’s degree to apply to an MBA program. This is because if you stay too long, you will be typecast as a ‘technical’ expert. It is tough to shake off that image and get into Consulting or other Management functions. Apply when you complete 29 years if you have a Master’s degree and gained experience in two different industries.
2) Career Switchers without Master’s Degree
There are two kinds of profiles that fall into the Career Switchers without a Master’s degree. One is where you straight away join a new industry, mostly in Consulting from Technology or Engineering, and second, where you have 1-2 years of experience before finding an opportunity to switch industries. In the first case, you should target a top MBA program on completing 3 years of experience. For the latter, you need to wait till you complete 4-5 years of experience before applying. By then, you will have some leadership experience and exposure to interesting projects.
3) Military/ /Entrepreneurship
There are huge restrictions before switching careers in the military. In the US, you need at least 6 years of active duty to gain holistic experience in strategy, operations, and logistics. For entrepreneurs with small exits, it takes 4-5 years to gain the experience that will be valued by a top school. Applying after the age of 30 is a viable plan for such profiles. But you can start planning after completing 4 years in your military or entrepreneurial career.
4) Traditional Finance and Consulting Roles
The 3 years of experience apply mostly to Finance and Consulting applicants entering consulting or Investment Banking. You will get sufficient exposure in 3 years to offer an interesting perspective to the MBA class. Here, if you wait for the 4th year, there should be a highly publicized deal or project that delayed your application. Otherwise, schools will wonder why you hesitated to apply after completing 3 years.
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