Job Dilemma : Credit Suisse versus Oracle Retail

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Hi,

I am a final year engineering student from India. I will be embarking on my professional career soon, and really needed advice on choosing from the jobs that I have in hand right now. I plan to work for 3 to 5 years and then apply for an MBA in the USA / Europe.

1) Credit Suisse:

I will be starting as a Risk Analyst. I have interned here, so have a fair idea of the place. The big pro with Credit Suisse is the brand value.

But the work is slightly back office, learning opportunities are slightly less as well, and there is very less opportunity to grow (in terms of increased responsibility, promotions etc). The back office where I am joining doesn't really support candidates leaving them for MBAs.

2) Oracle Retail:

The profile is related to Consulting / Analytics, and not software development. I will be advising retail clients on their inventory, discount, pricing strategy.

The pro is that there is scope for client interaction (limited, but still yes) if I stick around with the company for 3 years or so. The learning curve too is steep, and growth seems to be slightly better then that at Credit Suisse (although its too early to comment on this now). The team in Oracle supports candidates going for MBAs.

The con is that the brand value is not as high as Credit Suisse. There might be a chance that inspite of being in Retail Consulting, AdComs might stereotype me as an Indian IT professional (please correct me if I am wrong here), which forms a very large pool of applications. This might not give me an edge when it comes to being 'unique'.

I plan to go neither to finance nor to consulting post MBA, my aim is something like Brand Management / Marketing Strategy etc. Fortunately, the other aspects of my profile (GMAT, Undergraduate University Ranking, Undergraduate GPA, Extra Curriculars etc.) are really good I feel. I would really appreciate any advice on what I should choose.

Thank you so much.
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by Bryant@VeritasPrep » Thu May 23, 2013 5:23 pm
Sounds to me like the Oracle job is the better choice. Not only will it give you a good perspective for brand management down the road (customer interaction and retial focus), it will also put you in an environment where you can earn promotions, work with clients outside the firm, and be immersed in an MBA-friendly culture. THere is little danger of being considered "typical IT" since you will explain in your essays and in your application that you are on the retail side. might even be a way to differentiate yourself. CS is a great firm, but not more recognizable than Oracle, and since you don't want to go into finance, it would likely be a poor choice. B-schools like to see a thread of cohesion in your career choices and experience, so you appear that you were intentional and not just randomly making your career decisions. I hope this helps.
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by reetendrachauhan » Sat May 25, 2013 12:13 pm
Thank you so much ! This helped a lot ! I really appreciate your prompt reply !

Just a small doubt, am I right in saying that the description of my work in my essays / CV will eventually lead to me getting slotted under the 'Consulting' professionals category in the start?

Or is that something that will happen at a very late stage of the admission process ?

Thank you.

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by Bryant@VeritasPrep » Sun May 26, 2013 7:50 am
From an admissions perspective, you would want to couch your experience such that you are considered in that category from the outset. It is more unusual to be Indian and have this experience vs. being Indian and having traditional IT experience. This will help you stand out, although the consutling/retail business area is a large bucket as well. It's just that you also are in the international student bucket, so in short if you approach the application properly, you should have the best shot.
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by reetendrachauhan » Sun May 26, 2013 11:12 am
Thank you so much ! This was very insightful.