Career Advice - Leaving IT Strategy firm for ZS Associates at a lower level a good idea for B-School?
Currently in IT strategy consulting (think Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys) at a Sr. Consultant or post-mba equivalent level. I'd like to apply for B-school (Kellogg/S/H) in the next 1-2 years and am debating if it will hurt me to switch to ZS.
The ZS offer pays 16k more, they sponsor B-school, and I hear their exit opps for Kellogg is great. I'm weak in the analytics/quant area so I believe a job at ZS will strengthen my story when I apply. The downside is I'll have to make a name for myself, stay at least a year, and I'll be coming in at a level below me.
Is this a good career move? Would it raise questions from B-School admissions if I made a jump that has me at a lower level?
I'd appreciate it if there are former ZS alums or post-mba folks who can provide their input, I'd really appreciate it!
It depends.
Do you like IT consulting or would you prefer to do something more strategic. Obviously it ends up being better to be in the field you want to be prior to going to B-school however you can make the transition from IT to strategy/management type consulting with an MBA.
If the pay is substantially more, I'd keep the title and money, and aim to crush it during your MBA to get into the field you want. You could explain the jump to adcoms at Kellogg but honestly I'd aim to knock it out of the park at your current job, crushing the GMAT and rebranding at the MBA level to get where you want.
My 2 cents from someone who is neither pre-MBA nor in consulting.
Not a huge fan of IT consulting and would like to get into something more strategic. I'd be making an extra 16k pre-tax if I switched. However I get larger bonuses at my current employer and if I account for the per diems I get from travel I feel like the switch will probably only net me 5k.
Were you suggesting that if the pay was more you'd recommend I make the switch?
Wharton MBA here, so hopefully I did it right hahaha.
I spent my whole time at IBM in IT Strategy consulting before I applied. Overwhelmingly most of my classmates were in their most recent position for at least 2 years before they applied, so keep the timeline in mind.
But honestly, assume you don't get the MBA, would you be happier long term if you switched? Forget the money, because if you're a badass in your field then your pay in 10 years should reflect that. MBA admissions are about impact and direction. Do something that's intrinsic to you, because if you don't get into that MBA program, you're stuck with what you have. And if you're happy with what you have, naturally you'll go the extra mile.
You can try to get super granular with "if I position myself in XYZ way, I compete with ABC people for this slot representative of my class" or whatever. But do you really want to spend your next 2 years into a game theory hunch like that? Hopefully your life and other priorities mean more than that.
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