Background suitable for Analyst or Re-Brand to MBA
Hello,
So I find myself in a bit of a conundrum…… I am intrigued by consulting; however, I am not sure that my experience is completely relevant. I wanted to lean on the forums expertise to get some honest feedback from people I feel will tell me how it is. I have an 8 year job history that spans real estate finance and construction (vague I know). I owned my own business for the last four years and went back to a top 50 (non-target?) but ranked university to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (I know, laugh it up) when my business slowed (to a grinding halt). I am graduating next month with a 3.85 / 4.0 GPA and I am trying to decide whether I should continue on to a top MBA program (assuming I score high on my GMAT) or attempt to land an entry level position prior to. I went about education half-ass backwards (later in life rather than out of high school), that's the reason for my inquiry. If it matters, I turned 27 last week. I was going to detail my experience in depth but figured I would bore the shit out of anybody reading my post, thanks guys. Advice?
In hopes of avoiding a douche tag, I wanted to expand on said conundrum. My finance experience is in the lending arena, small balance commercial / residential lending from non-top 5 bank. My business was not large (or even medium sized), we had 5 employees with revenues below 1 million / annually. I have raised mezzanine and traditional funds for my business and feel very confident reading basic financial statements. When I first started out in the loan gig, I took a couple of underwriting certifications. I apologize for my long winded attempt at being brief, that's how I roll. Any and all feedback is much appreciated, please do not hesitate being direct, that's how I prefer things.
Need a rebrand, aim for Top 15-20 MBA and you might be able to get into mid-level shops.
Thank you for the feedback Status_Quo. I am going to start studying for the GMAT, my practice test was a 680, so I am hoping to score 720+ after 3 months of practice. Does anybody else have an opinion? Thanks guy (s).
I definitely agree with Status_Quo. While I think you stand a decent chance of landing in the consulting industry in some form if you network and interview your ass off, you would be much better prepared for landing in what would likely be a much better firm by re-branding yourself.
You will also likely be an outlier in age no matter which route you take. 27 as an undergraduate or 29 as an associate-level hire would make you significantly older than many of the colleagues in your class (less so after an MBA) . With your history in real estate finance and construction, you can always consider becoming an independent consultant to small businesses related to those areas if you are that interested in the profession. This would allow for more flexibility with travel and your schedule, more financial freedom, and you can be your own boss (but will also require significantly more work at first, a lot of stressful decision-making, and an ability to endure the slow times).
If you want the job stability of working for someone else, maybe look to a more specialized firm you could enter in at a higher level. Good luck with your decision!
If your practice test was a 680 you should easily be 750+ with a few months studying. Good luck.
For top consulting firms, I would say you definitely need the MBA. Might be able to get into a boutique consulting firm as it is, but a small one - probably not one of the names you see on here. Not necessarily a bad place to be. Your experience also sounds like it could be relevant to finance, if that's something that interests you. You could probably place into an IB internship (with lots of networking). Many will respect your background, since we have all wanted to start our own business at some point. An analyst program without an internship might be tough though - you would probably be looking to convert an internship into a FT offer - which it sounds like you have the work ethic to do.
You might mention what school you went to - people might come out of the woodwork with additional advice if we know the school. Lots of variability between the non-targets in the top-50, though I am not the most knowledgeable on the topic. Any decent leads from career services?
Good luck!
Thank you everybody. I am graduating from DePaul University. I know many of the top 5 recruited heavily from DePaul this year but I missed the internship application process. I've always thought about IB, I just can't decide if I want to sell my soul. I have an eight year old son, which further complicates my ability to work 100 hour weeks. I've been consistently happy around the 65 hours a week plan. My friends who are at any of the boutique firms work a re-donk-u-lous amount of hours. If anybody knows any alumni from DePaul, I would love an opportunity to network (not ask for a job). Thanks again, I'm glad I found these forums.
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