So I'm in a bit of a dilemma and hoping for the wisdom of crowds.
For the last six years since college I've been working in a function that doesn't excite me (supply chain - sourcing & procurement). I was just admitted to Kellogg's full-time MBA program, which is great news, except that a job opportunity was just offered to me that is ridiculously compensated (AVP of Procurement, $170k comp all-in, work from home 80%).
So now I am torn between going to school full-time or taking the job offer and switching to the part-time MBA. Ultimately I want to do corporate strategy, and I'm concerned that putting two more years of procurement under my belt will lock me into that field forever, even with a shiny new Kellogg MBA. On the other hand, the job offer is ridiculously cushy and maybe the money will buy me happiness?
Part time probably won't do the trick if you're trying to go procurement => strategy. What if you worked this new gig for 1-2 years, banked the money, then went full time mba? 22 yrs + 8yrs exp = ~30 yrs old.
You've already proven to have the right background for MBA business schools ">M7.
How badly do you want to do strategy? If you do full time, you're going to come out with $150k+ in debt, with a salary lower than you have now. That said, Full-time makes it MUCH easier for you to transition into strategy roles.
I would recommend to do the AVP thing for a few years and then decide if you still want to go into strategy, and if yes then do an FT MBA. This way you have some serious cash in the bank and a few years of extra leadership experience with the possibility of doing stuff outside of work to make your MBA application shine more. Best of luck, whatever you end up choosing.
If it were me, I would go to Kellogg. I hate waiting for things, and wouldn't want to burn two years working a job I didn't see a future in for decent money. Sure, you could go in two years, and you'd likely get in, but every year you make decent money, it gets harder to leave. Plus, you never know where life will take you (family, kids, wife, etc.). Plus plus if you choose to go the consulting route before settling in corporate strategy, you'll make more than that anyway (although a worse lifestyle likely).
I actually had a similar opportunity to take a role at my firm that would have been a promotion/raise/relatively cool gig for awhile if I chose not to go to school this year. However, it wasn't what I wanted to do long term, and I knew I'd be right back at square one of wanting to go to b-school down the road.
Yea, OP just has to be comfortable with a considerably larger opportunity cost than most of his peers. If he took the MBB route straight out of MBA for 2 years, it would cancel most of the cost out - except for time value obviously. Either way, he's looking at strategy in 4 years.
Agreed. Of course, there are also two types of opportunity cost – one is the more obvious financial one, but there’s also the sacrificing of two years on the corporate strategy path. Again, my personal preference is to give up the initial financial boost for accelerating my eventual desired career path.
I would also say that I know a number of people, especially on the operations/corporate finance side of things that have told me that they “missed their chance to go to b-school”. Basically, they kept rolling down their current career path and thinking that it wasn’t the right time to give up their steadily advancing career and salary to make the change. Once they looked up, they were 30+ with a wife and baby, and there was no chance they were going back to school.
I guess my point is to be careful turning down what you want to do for money/promotion. There is almost always going to be another job with a raise out there. If you like what you’re doing, awesome, but if it’s not where you want to be, then I’d just think twice about it.
For 6 years you've been working at a function that doesn't excite you, and going forward you want to do corporate strategy, AND you've been admitted to a top school that will most likely place you where you want to be in 2 years. Hmm...in all honesty I think this is a no-brainer, go to Kellogg. $170K all-in is great, but you'll be stuck doing the same "uninteresting" job, most probably "pingeon-holing" yourself to that role for the rest (or a considerable part) of your career. Maybe you won't get a $170K job right out of B-School, but you'll get a $150K job and eventually have a mich higher financial upside with great job satisfaction. I would not postpone this decision, you have enough work experience under your belt and if you let this opportunity slip away you most likely will not pursue an MBA in the future. Go to Kellogg.
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