Do I even have a chance?
I'm an engineer in automotive 6.5 years experience. Growth is too slow and and there are a lot of things I don't like about my future even though I'm on the standard path to "climbing the ladder". I need a change.
I have a bachelors of mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. Except I didn't take advantage of the opportunity. Graduated with a 2.8 GPA. I don't have an excuse, no extra curricular activities ... I partied too much and didn't do school work. Figured I'd "kill it" in my job and life would be good. Automotive is not really an industry where you "kill it" and move up fast. You still need the years. Life is not bad, but it's not what I pictured for myself.
I can't say my resume is "sexy" right now. "Promotions" aren't really a thing. You move up over time, get more stuff.. more responsibility, I can show a progressive trend of this that I can spin but that's about it.
I am bored and really starting to hate my job, the company culture, people I work with, etc.. so I starting thinking, consulting is actually right up my ally! I have strong problem solving skills, lot's of experience presenting recommendations to problems. I can get a great score on the GMAT (just started studying but I understand why engineers tend to score high) to offset my low GPA. Bust my ass off to get into a good MBA school, Ross is probably my best bet because I can get involved in the alumni association and start reaching out to alum. and then get into a decent consulting firm.
I was seeing the MBA itself as somewhat of a second chance. I can put in the effort this time around, sit in the front row of class, join the consulting club, get involved in the program outside of just class.... however, I'm learning that you need to start networking and pushing for internships pretty much as soon as the program starts, which doesn't leave any time for this and only leaves me with my current experience. At this point the only thing that I think let's me stand out is that physically, I'm tall and muscular, look good in a suit. I naturally stand out in this way and in groups. I'm not awkward.
So, is getting a great GMAT score enough to get into a worth while MBA program and will that open enough doors to position myself for a good consulting job?
or is this not a realistic goal for me?
bonus is there anything else I can do right now to increase my chance of success?
Perky,
If you have been in the automotive industry for over 6 years and hate your job, why have you not tried to find something else within the engineering industry that may have piqued your interest? What makes you think that an MBA is the answer to your boredom at your job? Not trying to be confrontational, but asking questions to make you think. And, if you think you'd do well in consulting, why not try finding a job at an engineering consulting firm. That is exactly what I did during my engineering career.
I, too, am an engineer. Or was an engineer in the energy field for quite some time before making a career change. However, when I left the field, I had zero debt, a very nice nest egg, and a plan. I left engineering b/c it was killing me. Literally. The travel and stress got too extreme. But I'd been in the field for a while and worked my way up the food chain.
It sounds as though you've thought out the mechanics of getting into an MBA program. You've thought about how nice you look in a suit and how you stand out in a crowd, how you could offset a lower GPA with a better GMAT, etc. etc. That's all nice and wrapped up.
My question is: What is it you PLAN to do with an MBA? And, from where do you plan to receive your MBA? There are a lot of on-line MBA programs out there these days. Point is, I don't think an MBA carries the same clout as it once did. Getting the degree from one of the tier-1 schools is still a guaranteed great job out of school, but with the preponderance of all of these other programs, having an MBA from a no-named university doesn't, often-times, end up paying for itself.
I wish you well. Regardless of what you choose to do, you should get your cv polished up yesterday and start trying to find another job. Hating your job can make life miserable. You spend far too much time doing it to be so unhappy.
Not trying to drag this out, but I will say I knew many people who spent some time programming PLCs (programmable logic controllers) on assembly lines at a couple different of the Big 3 auto companies back in the day. They hated it as well. They put in a couple years, got the experience they needed and moved on. Perhaps that is not a bad path to take.
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