Hardest Decision of my Life
Hello all, I am 28 years old American and have been accepted at my top choice b-school in Europe scheduled to start this fall (my goal has been to work overseas). I am coming off 5 years as a military officer. I had 2 months paid vacation to spend this summer before school, and I decided to spend that time in an Asian 1st world country where I was deployed in the military and greatly enjoyed. I did not go there with the intent of looking for a job, but ran into a friend who helped me secure a position with a military contractor.
My dilemma now is to either go to b-school or turn down the job offer in a country that I love living in and will not likely find work here otherwise. I was not expecting this job offer but it was a pleasant surprise and I am seriously considering taking it. Complicating issues is the fact that I've already paid 12k in deposit fees for the mba program and my parents will likely disown me if I pass on this school.
My plan now was to ask the school if I can defer for 1 year - Not sure if they'll allow it, but I wouldn't mind working the job for 1 year and seeing how I feel at the end of that. However, I am wondering if having a job for only 1 year will look strange on a resume - I graduated in 2011 and had a civilian job for 1 year after college before spending the last 5 years in the military. Also, average age at the school I would be attending is 29.
Thank you for any input you may have - this has been one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in my life.
I'd ask for a deferral and go from there. I think you'd have a decent case especially if you spin it from the angle that by having a year of "real" work experience prior to business school, that you'd be a more valuable candidate overall.
Otherwise I'd try and evaluate how good the current job offer you have is and whether or not it is something you could obtain post B school. For example, if you were trying to get into an industry like Private Equity, an industry that is extremely tough to get into post B school, and you somehow landed an offer via a personal connection, that would warrant skipping or postponing school for a while.
If you just happened to get a job that seems pretty good and would place you in a country that you like living in, I would assume that by going to a top European B school that you would be able to find a similar if not better job in the same region, in a year or two. From your brief description, it sounds like the geography is more appealing than the actual job.
From what I hear, European business schools tend to take slightly older applicants, but because of your service you window to go back to B school will be slightly shorter. I'd really try to evaluate the opportunity at hand and figure out if its something you would enjoy doing for the next few years and something that will put you on a path for future advancement without an MBA. There would be nothing worse than taking this job, working for 4-5 years, and then realizing that you really should have gone back to B school because your career options are limited. Then you're 34, have to pay money to go back, move the family, etc.
Anyways I'm sure others with more experience will chime in, but best of luck with the decision.
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