Career quandary
I recently found out I was denied admission to the MBA programs to which I applied. I currently work in the back office for a financial services firm. 3.5 GPA, 155 Math and 160 Verbal on GRE. My career goal is to work in sales for a buy side money management firm. What other avenues or strategies can one use to break into the buy side without an MBA or CFA? Do I relocate to major financial services city such as NYC, LA, San Fran, Boston or Chicago or change career paths? I am considering a career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales rep as Plan B since the transition to the buy side has not materialized. Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
Did you apply only to stretch business schools? Or were you more strategic about it. It feels like you could go either way with your career, and that might have been the way you approached the business school process.
Tell us more, and you might be able to get some better suggestions.
I applied to Emory, UNC Kenan Flagler and UC Davis. What other schools should I consider for a sales career in Asset Management? I am going to apply to University of Illinois in fall.
From the looks of it, those schools look solid and, although competitive, they are not entirely out of reach for someone with good grades and good work experience. There may have been a problem in the level of leadership you demonstrated through the application, or maybe just not enough experience at all. Despite what some say here, you can get some good experience in operations (back office) at a financial firm. But they may have found that you didn't make a strong enough argument for your career goals A sales career in investment management doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a CFA. When I worked at the predecessor to BlackRock and also at Franklin Templeton, I knew plenty of salespeople who didn't have CFA's but understood the business. I think you might just need to demonstrate more clearly you passion and give real examples of personal leadership. Note that personal leadership doesn't mean high titles. In fact, if you are doing serious work in any collaborative environment, you probably have shown leadership to excel.
Where did you apply? I think you'll need to reevaluate your list and apply again in R1.
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