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Hi guys

I am an engineer from India and aspiring to do a 12-16 months MBA from a decent, if not top, b-school. I have a GMAT score of 640 and total experience of around 6.5 years, of which last three are as a proprietor of a small trading firm which I started in 2007. However things have not turned out well and am hardly able to recover costs.

This is where my confusion arises. Since I am not earning anything, will it cause some problem in securing me a job post MBA? After spending $40-45K, I would like to get a suitable job to recover my costs. Thus I am wondering how important the last drawn salary is perceived to be. If indeed it will bother me, what would you suggest me to do?

Thanks

NMJ

Although I am not the expert here but still couldn't resist my urge to respond. Anyway, I believe the last drawn salary is not of much (if not 'any') importance. Although one is building on his/her pre-MBA experience by pursuing a M.B.A course, after graduating it is a whole new ball game.

Your salary are no longer bound or bucket-ized based on your last drawn salary (based on your pre-MBA skills). Don't forget that you are going to have a good leap in your understanding of business concepts and hence would be a better qualified individual.


Focus on your applications and showing a unique, holistic view of yourself to the admission committee and enjoy your B-school experience.

Good luck and best wishes for your next steps.

I've also looked into this question before applying and found that last drawn salary has little importance when comparing applicants across industries/functions but I suspect it may be relevant (if only a little bit) when comparing applicants from the same industry/function.

For instance, I work in not-for-profit Business Development and make next to nothing ($35,000ish). I'm totally alright with this and that salary is suspected in my given field/function. I researched and contacted some people (and a school or two) asking about the significance last drawn salary with my specific situation in mind. I was told that my minimal salary, given my field of work, would not hamper me in any way during the application process

As long as you have a good story, it will not matter at all what you earned (or really what you did) pre-business school. Interviewers will focus on your skills and where you want to be in the future. Hopefully you've learned things in the past that will make you a stronger candidate, but, what you were getting paid is truly irrelevant.

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your valuable inputs guys. Feeling much more confident.

Cheers

Jessica@VeritasPrep wrote:As long as you have a good story, it will not matter at all what you earned (or really what you did) pre-business school. Interviewers will focus on your skills and where you want to be in the future. Hopefully you've learned things in the past that will make you a stronger candidate, but, what you were getting paid is truly irrelevant.

Jessica, I always suspected it was irrelevant but what exactly is the reason for asking to have that information?

I think some of it is to better understand someone's position. If you are at a start-up or an entrepreneur (or a teacher or in non-profit work) then it is understandable to have a lower wage. If you work at an investment bank but only claim to make $40K then it is clear that you have a more clerical or support type position. Some titles are easy to "glorify" and the Adcom might make different assumptions about a Marketing Manager who makes $30K a year versus a Marketing Manager who makes $200K a year.

Another reason it is sometimes asked is to better gauge career progression. With the exception of going to a start-up or entrepreneurial situation, it might not reflect as well on an applicant to go from a position paying $100K a year to something paying $35 a year (looks like a demotion, etc.).

Similarly to how you might look at a pair of shoes or a car and judge the "quality" by the price (the more expensive one has to be "better", right?) an Adcom might view salary, but, it is a more complex equation than just the number itself.

Does that clarify at all?

That's great thanks. I was simply curious as I've seen a lot of people "stressing" over the subject a little bit in some of the threads on this and other discussion boards and wondered if there was anything to it.