Can you switch industries with an MBA easily?

If I go for an MBA, my best route is to get into med/pharma sales for some years and then go for that. But I don't know if I will always want to stay in that industry.
I would still like to manage and be in a leading role in making a business run, but not necessarily in the health industry.

Will that be an option with an MBA? Or because all of my work experience and history is in healthcare/sciences, I would be stuck there?

 
GOAT12:
If I go for an MBA, my best route is to get into med/pharma sales for some years and then go for that. But I don't know if I will always want to stay in that industry. I would still like to manage and be in a leading role in making a business run, but not necessarily in the health industry.

Will that be an option with an MBA? Or because all of my work experience and history is in healthcare/sciences, I would be stuck there?

I don't think switching is easy in general, but a top 10 MBA is going to be the best aid to any switch.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

To start, you definitely have a chance at Tepper, and likely, better schools if you so desire to get out of PA. Wharton will likely be a reach, but if you knock the GMAT out of the park, quite posible that it could be in play as well. Tepper places well in Tier 2 consulting (Deloitte S&O, Accenture, etc.). Not sure about Asset Management, although their employment report doesn't show too much (2.5% of class). A bunch of people seem to go to corporate finance, if that peaks your interest.

My first thought about you is that you're probably wasting your time with the CPA. Not sure how long you've been working and what the timeline of your application process would be, but I see the CPA as a huge time suck that could be better used doing other things that are better for b-school. You seem to want to change directions anyway, so unless you have long-term aspirations of becoming a CFO, I don't see how the CPA will add much of any value to your profile. Some may disagree with this, but if someone asks you why you didn't take the CPA when applying to school (or after), it's a relatively easy answer - you realized you didn't want to do risk consulting/accounting the rest of your life, and thought your efforts could be better directed elsewhere (see below).

On that note, you do seem a bit bland, at least with what you described. Then again, so are a lot of people, but you do need to fix it. Find something that interests you extra curricularly and contribute meaningful impact to it (e.g. raise money, restructure, join a board, etc...). Working at a Big 4 firm makes this so easy. They have countless partnerships with non-profits, and tons of room for young associates to lead events.

Second, I would think about your long term goal and see if you can do something that proves you belong there. There are a lot of people not in strategy consulting that want to do strategy consulting, and say that in their b-school apps (I was one of them). If that's what you're going to say your post-MBA goal is, how can you show them that you actually mean it? Maybe get involved with an internal initiative at your Big 4, or again, get on a non-profit board and drive strategy. Something to show that you're not just shooting from the hip and saying strategy because it seems cool.

You have a perfectly fine base to get into a good b-school. High GPA and a nice named employer, albeit not in a very sexy job. Do well on the GMAT, get some extras to make yourself look interesting, and you'll be in very good shape.

 

I think tepper is very reasonable considring GPA and big 4 (if you get GMAT close to their average). You're just probably giving us a full picture, but in your essays don't say you "process reports" lol. Risk consulting is just fine though for the 15-20 school rank. Be careful about mentioning strategy consulting if they don't really recruit at your target school. Visit Tepper...there's all kinds of heresay about weather schools keep track of who visits and who doesn't. In any case, I found my essays were much stronger for the schools I visited. Listen to BGP regarding extras. Also, Tepper has a quant bend to it...so you showng you can handle it in your coursework or day-job will help.

 

This has been extremely encouraging. Thank you both for answering, as you both provided really great feedback!

Unfortunately I have already started the process of the CPA exam, and while I do feel like it is a waste of time, it is already part of my annual review and paid for by the firm. There is a little bonus if I pass and I guess it will be good information to know at some point.. so meh.

After looking the employment report for CMU, it seems a ..decent.. amount place into consulting strategy roles (6.5%). My immediate short term goals will be finding some medium to demonstrate that I'm serious about strategy. I am also going to schedule a visit, just to be safe. I have taken practice GMAT's before, and I think I can hit the CMU range, so, fingers crossed.

As for a long term goal - other than saying I would enjoy strategy consulting, that is something I'll need to work on.

 

I'm from a similar background, just a couple of years ahead of you.

The short version is man, the skies the limit. RE is very accepting of new people, it just takes a minute to get started with your network and such. I'm assuming by asset-level deals you mean more like acquisitions or dev, either way you shouldn't have problems with two years of networking ahead of you. Shoot me a PM with more details and I can give you some more specific info.

 

Join the Urban Land Institute now to get that sexy student discount, go to some of the events when you move for school, meet some people, ask them what other groups are good in your particular market, get a summer internship between your first and second years (if you want investment sales or brokerage, CBRE does a pretty cool MBA summer program and big developers, REITs, and REPE firms all hire summer associates), and you'll be fine. With your military background (and related leadership experience) and a top MBA, all you need to do is "show interest" in the industry.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I know of a couple of ex-military that used MBAs to enter RE. One is a dev associate at a regional multi family shop in S. Cal and the other landed in REIB. I would say just focus on networking and finding a good summer internship and you should be fine.

 

It depends a bit on the caliber of your PWM experience as well as your undergrad institution, but if those are solid, I would try for MBA business schools">M7 schools. Get your GMAT up though to offset your gpa.

banking is a solid story - stick to a path that uses your strengths. FIG is a good idea if you find that interesting.

 

Well I could use a biiiiit more info here (what school? What GPA? What volunteer work?).

But working with what you have posted here, I would say that Top 15/20 schools should be right for you. With low GPA + low GMAT for MBA business schools">M7, it will be a bit tough, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't apply to 1-2 as "Dream schools".

Right now the best ways to strengthen your application would be by getting a higher GMAT, getting promoted, adding volunteer work, and getting amazing recs and writing fantastic essays.

 

there are just not that many strong bschools out there. to name a few I remembered (or at least impactful to USA) are IESE, LBS, Cambridge, Oxford, , IMD, HEC.

if you do get confused, you can also consider MIT's Master in Management plus MBA. Aside from typical MiM, MIT's program is exclusively for people with an overseas MBA. so if your MBA may be not strong enough in your opinion? you may get an opportunity to study at MIT

 

college -> SEVERE family chaos, health problems -> variety of odd jobs -> bartender > restaurant manager, small business owner, part time college student -> all of the above + several finance internships -> boutique BO, bartender, small business owner -> boutique FO, bartender, small business owner ->

and now the plan is bschool -> IBD or military -> law

Whichever takes me first and is worth the 1000% effort I put out.

Get busy living
 

I can share what I am about to do:

Engineer for over 4 years - build differential equation models (have a previous MS). Going to Cornell in the fall for MBA. I chose Cornell because of the immersion program. I'm going to do the capital markets and Asset Management track. I would like to get back to Boston working in investment management. That's the plan, we'll see.

Good luck to you.

 

UFO - where do you intend to go to business school? Also, what was the process you went from BO to FO? That seems odd to me, it must be a lot different for a boutique than a BB?

SDBall22 - good luck at Cornell. Update sporadically how you are doing, as it relates to summer and full-time positions.

I got a few PM's, if anyone else could provide some feedback, biggest challenges etc. that woudl be appreciated. Due to the minimal response, I am led to believe one of three things, either 1) this site is mainly poplulated with high school, undergrad and young professionals (which makes sense for those of you trying to become analysts) or 2) people have not switched careers as a result of their MBA (i-banking--> MBA--> i-banking) or 3) I haven't waited long enough for adequate respones.

 
Chicago85:
UFO - where do you intend to go to business school? Also, what was the process you went from BO to FO? That seems odd to me, it must be a lot different for a boutique than a BB?
The process is the same, just easier: be VERY good at what you do + meet lots of people + kiss lots of ass = transfer to sales end of a group. BB is too easy to get locked into doing one task, but smaller firms require you to do a bit of everything. Thus, it's easier to pick up responsibility in the area you are trying to move to.....
Chicago85:
I got a few PM's, if anyone else could provide some feedback, biggest challenges etc. that woudl be appreciated. Due to the minimal response, I am led to believe one of three things, either 1) this site is mainly poplulated with high school, undergrad and young professionals (which makes sense for those of you trying to become analysts) or 2) people have not switched careers as a result of their MBA (i-banking--> MBA--> i-banking) or 3) I haven't waited long enough for adequate respones.
4) not too many people cared to respond to your unquiry and these generalizations are totally off the mark.

What about you: what's your story?

Get busy living
 
Best Response

For consulting, I don't think your fears are warranted. Many of my classmates who are going into consulting are the same age as you. As you alluded to, in some ways your age will be perceived as an asset: clients might be more likely to trust you because you aren't just a young gun and instead are more similar to them.

I can't speak to the impact of your age on banking, but I would think about what path you want to set yourself on following business school. Banking will put you on the banking / corp fin / corp dev path whereas consulting will put you on the GM / corp strat / operations path. Based on what I've heard, your shot at the buy side is pretty low in either case given that you have no buy-side experience before school. That said, consulting firms hire a ton of people during full-time recruiting whereas banks mostly fill their hiring classes with returning interns, so you could always recruit for banking for the summer and then consulting full-time if you strike out or don't care for banking.

Personally, the difference in hours, firm cultures, and future career paths made the decision an easy one for me. Hope that helps.

 

Sounds like your heart is really pulling you toward consulting. Well in that case you're definitely in the right place - MBB hires kids in droves from the MBA business schools">M7, according to the employment reports more students go there than any other firms at places like CBS, Kellogg and Chicago.

From what my friends in consulting have told me it's all about how well you're able to execute on the consulting interviews that will determine your success in getting consulting offers. So start preparing for them before school starts and get yourself in a position to knock those out as soon as you step on campus and don't look back. If not MBB then something right behind those should be doable as long as you're decent. Good luck.

 

Can you pls delete this post. Answer is obvious. Of course MBA helps in career switch. This is clearly some advertisement for ESMT, whatever the hell that is. Go there and you may switch to janitor, I guess. LOL.

################################################# I am the Man. I Have the Plan. Follow Me to the Promised Land.
 

Voluptatum officia tempora tempora cumque eveniet. Vel repellat aut dolorem quod doloremque.

Saepe molestiae aspernatur deserunt et libero. Doloremque velit est voluptate sint perspiciatis itaque. Alias aut magnam fuga qui. Dignissimos beatae harum earum amet.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”