Undergrad F50 Corp Strat vs Consulting vs Product Management - MBA Opportunities
Hello,
I am a current undergraduate (incoming junior) at a US semi-target school (top public school, west coast).
This summer, I've had the opportunity to intern at a F50 TMT company in their corporate strategy/development group. I am currently weighing my options - staying at the company in the same org for junior year summer, with possibility for a fulltime position in the strategy/dev org post-undergrad vs. trying to land a junior year internship at a T2/boutique consulting firm, or trying to jump into product management at another F500 company, hopefully in tech.
My main goal is to work for a couple years, then eventually go for my MBA. I don't know if I am looking for a switch in career post MBA or not as of now.
I wanted to see if there was any input as to how these options stack up to each other when presented before an MBA admissions council.
Some of the pros of staying: -small team, pure strategy org was 40 people, high exposure to management -smart colleagues, many with M7 MBA, Consulting/IB backgrounds -I have a low GPA and accordingly, a slimmer chance of landing a significant consulting/PM internship, especially on the west coast
Some cons: -less chance to gain generalist knowledge -rigor of work is less than that of management consulting -corp strat role works relatively independent from the company's product teams, even more so than management consultants hired by the product orgs
Thank you in advance for any input!
What is your dream job after undergrad, and then after MBA? Would be easier to advise.
I don't really have a dream job after undergrad, I've always looked at consulting or project management at a tech firm as a realistic job after undergrad.
However, this corporate strategy role dropped into my lap, and if it can give me a better shot at an MBA, I'd gladly take it. The work/life balance is very good while keeping a moderate amount of travel to keep things interesting. There's a decent amount of cross-functionality between strat and dev so could also get some experience working on the M&A side of things if I wanted it. My ideal post-undergrad job is really what can give me the best opportunity MBA-wise, because I feel like I would enjoy consulting/project management/strategy equally.
Post MBA, I haven't given much thought into it, but if I could re-brand and pivot myself into top consulting, that would be really cool. From there, perhaps jumping back into the strategy org of a company after a couple years, then hopping around various strategy teams sounds ideal. However, my post-MBA plans are really flexible, and I would also consider trying to jump into IB to exit into PE/HF/VC eventually.
I would choose the F50, but the best way to find out would be to see which schools past workers have gone to. I'm guessing the F50 would have the best ops.
Honestly, I think all of these roles will set you up pretty well for a strong MBA application. I think the thing that is more important is crushing your GMAT, bringing your GPA up, and having strong extra currics / recs.
Also...it's tougher to make the job to PE/HF/VC as a post-MBA associate.
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