How am I going to escape software development with my MBA?
My academic background: BA in Economics, MBA in Finance both from non-ivy (I did very well academically)
My professional background: 4 years as a BI/Integration software developer (C#, SQL/SSIS), currently a senior software developer at a fortune 500 company.
My issue: Upon graduating with a BA in Economics, I decided that I would professionally pursue my hobby of software development and try to make that my career... well 2 years into it I decided I had to get the hell out of software development because my true interests lie in business and economics. Thus, I enrolled part time in a (decent) University to get an MBA in Finance, thinking that it would help in my career aspirations. Now, after 2 years, I am about to graduate (in 1 month) with the hope to transition my career from software implementation to business implementation.
However, I am now facing the "writing on the wall" when it comes to getting your MBA... it is no silver bullet especially if it is from a non-ivy.
I would like to get out of software development, I am bored and want to work on things that actually interest me. The catch is, companies will hire me but to do technical things... not business. I have applied to my pipe-dream positions (consulting @ MBB) and am starting to face the reality that I may be stuck in High Tech due to my professional background.
Any suggestions in how I can break into one of the top 10 management consulting firms without doing BI or software dev work for them? Almost all of the consulting firms do not formally recruit through my University and the rest would like to see professional business experience before a role in management consulting.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
You decision towards your career change is definitely appreciated. Try to contact more and more companies until you find the one that is suitable for your desired career growth. No other option could be better I think.
I suggest you play to your strengths. You should definitely be looking into McKinsey Digital Labs and McKinsey Solutions (the client facing ones). The teams are fairly new and evolving, but the pay is on par and they are increasingly staffed as a part of generalist strategy teams on the ground. With tech experience, you could be working some exciting stuff e.g. digital/ IT transformations across industries, digital banking etc... Eventually, you might want to move into the generalist space, but that should not be your sole motive going into this.
Good luck!
As I always caveat, I work in the healthcare space....take this for what its worth.
Have you thought about Health IT-related consulting? A lot of implementation-related work and you can start to pivot towards finance with TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) development
From there, you pivot your now healthcare consulting experience into a MBB/Deloitte/E&Y
This would be a step-wise approach that may take you a couple of years, but it may help get you over the hump of being "stuck" in technical roles
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