27, fairly unique background, looking to transition into finance - advice please!
Hello all,
I'd like to add another "advice please" topic to the pile. In short, I am 27 and have been working primarily in the biofuel/cleantech/renewables space for my entire career (6-ish years). This has included:
1. Helping to start an advisory services/consulting firm in the advanced biofuel space - developed fuel supply strategies for large end-users and other entities. Firm ultimately shut down.
2. Working in various capacities with a renewable fuels/chemical company that has developed a unique biomass processing technology. Biz dev, market research, etc.
3. Various consulting work primarily within the biofuels space
4. Taking over the intellecual property management of the above biz, became a patent agent, manage the IP development process for the company, write patent applications
5. Have recently formed my own LLC to manage the IP process for a few clients, essentially replicating the above.
I've gotten a bit off track from where I wanted to end up career wise, and I'm attempting a course correct. At this point, I would am imagining a role in finance, likely outside of I-banking but not opposed to it, wherein I could leverage some of the work history enumerated above. I love the idea of real asset investing (ag, infrastructure, specific projects, etc) and feel I could bring some unique insight into the increasingly important (and increasingly taken seriously by the finance community) world of sustainable ag/clean tech/renewables investing.
I need to make some decisions, which I feel are fairly typical among people my age that would like to make the jump - MBA? MSF? CFA? A finance certificate? Something else?
My chances of getting into a top 10 MBA program are not great (3.3 GPA from great but non-target liberal arts school, currently studying for the GMAT, expect a high 600 or low 700, strange work background for the top 10's) but I believe I have a decent shot at the 15-30 range schools. The idea of not quitting, continuing to earn money, and doing an online MSF program from a respected institution e.g. georgetown is also compelling. Or should I just say forget school for now and focus on the CFA??
Any and all input is appreciated. Be nice to each other. For some reason people tend to get very nasty on this forum.
what kind of a school did you go to? target/non target is not applicable to schools in regards to MBA application, as recruiting plays 0 role more specificity on what kind of school you went to will help assess your chances of getting into a business school
at this point in time, the CFA probably isn't your best bet- it would probably be faster for you to get an MBA it takes a long time to get a CFA (usually takes 3 years MINIMUM) because you have to pass 3 exams- and even if you're a genius, you can't take them quickly because they're only conferred x number of times a year furthermore, if your school really isn't much of a powerhouse, the CFA won't give you the kind of rebranding you want to achieve in order to break into finance
the MSF is probably your best bet if you're really adverse to doing an MBA (although i'd recommend it if you think you have the time and the money). there are many threads on the MSF degree here on WSO, so i'd recommend you look into them a bit more
on a final note, i think it's a bit risky to consider georgetown this year if you really want to consider this option, wait one year to see how the job placement is for their first graduating class
Sorry - to clarify, I meant that my school is not a big name school that funnel people into the top MBA programs. It was a small liberal arts school - same conference as Amherst, Tufts, Middleberry, etc (bot not one of those).
I should also mention that I have a background in biology but have spent my whole career on the business side rather than the technical side.
Thanks for the input. I am not against doing an MBA, I am just questioning the value given that it likely wouldn't be at a top 10 and it would necessitate 2 years of opportunity cost in addition to tuition.
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