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. Will the description of my work in my essays / CV help me get categorized under the 'Consulting Applicants' umbrella in the first screening step itself, or will I be slotted under the 'Indian IT Professionals' Tag till the last stage ?

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 Jon@Admissionado » Tue May 28, 2013 12:02 am
You seem to have a pretty clear idea of what each job will offer you. And I agree with your evaluation. There is no doubt, that even being in the back office, having the words "Credit Suisse" on your resume is powerful. However it seems to me both from the goals you have chosen, and from the way you write that you prefer Oracle Retail.

I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do, but I would say that when you choose a job, you choose a job (and a life, BTW) for it's own sake, not for the MBA. I mean are you going to want to be "stuck" in a post you don't actually like for three years just because the name is better? Not that I am saying you should not join Credit Suisse, because even with a "slow learning curve" even in "the back office" if the work interests you there are always ways to advance and to do well. So it could go either way - but choose the job not based on the MBA, but on the more important factors - like opportunities, which one leads you more to your future goals, compensation and benefits, location, personal stuff (fit, working hours, working style) rather than thinking about how you can "stuff" your resume (you have two good offers, and either of them can lead you to success)

Hope these musings help!
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by reetendrachauhan » Tue May 28, 2013 7:20 am
Thanks a lot Jon ! This cleared a lot of things.

My only worry with Oracle is that I might get stereotyped as an Indian IT professional inspite of having worked in the Consulting / Analytics teams (not IT consulting but sort of like Econometrics, Operations Research sort of consulting).

So do you think the adcom will categorize me as a Consulting professional or as an IT professional ? And will this happen sort of in stage I or later in the interviews (if I get shortlisted)?

Both the profiles are nonetheless slightly different from what I really like, so putting up with Credit Suisse for brand name or with Oracle for the work profile seems equally fine to me.

Thanks a lot for your help Jon, really appreciate it.

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by Jon@Admissionado » Wed May 29, 2013 12:24 am
You will be. And if you take the job at Oracle you will just have to deal with that (the best way to do that, is to be int he top 1% of all the similar profiles at Oracle, not an easy thing, admittedly). And the question is not so much "whether the AdCom will classify me as IT or consulting" (it will be a mix of both), they KNOW Oracle, and some schools will recruit lots of Oracle people and some none. I don't know offhand for CreditSuisse and Oracle, but for example when it comes to The "Big Four" the top three schools (H/S/W) barely recruit from the big four (only the best of the best), but if you work for Goldman Sachs, just the name alone can get you in. So if you are still "on the fence" research a bit about the schools you want to get into, and where people go to do their MBAs after leaving both companies (this will require a lot of time and research, but thankfully you have LinkedIn to start with).
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by reetendrachauhan » Wed May 29, 2013 10:37 am
Thanks a lot for all your help !

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by Jon@Admissionado » Mon Jun 03, 2013 11:40 pm
You got it!
Let me know what you decide when you do.
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by reetendrachauhan » Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:40 am
Still thinking...

The deal breaker will be my Credit Suisse application strategy.

I just wanted to know, do MBB / Other good consulting firms go for MBA grads with previous back office IB experience ?

Do investment banks Front Office teams go for MBA grads with previous back office experience ? My GMAT, GPA etc are in line I believe.

Would really appreciate any insight on this. I think this question will help me take a decision full, and final.

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by Jon@Admissionado » Sun Jun 09, 2013 10:14 pm
For sure,
The jump is going to be smaller for you (and for them in their imagination). And it is more reasonable if this is the industry of your choice (Even if you start in front office). But what I would suggest is to hook up with some folks (for example at Credit Suisse) and ask someone there (for example) about who they hire from where,
Best,
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

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https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
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Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.