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How will a career change affect my application?

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How will a career change affect my application?

by enzo218 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 5:40 pm
Hi All,

I plan on applying to schools in the first round of next year (2015). I'm currently in a sales/development role for a leading employee benefits and outsourcing company, but I have an opportunity to transition into a public relations role in the public sector, working for the state government. My ultimate goal with my MBA is to get a job in marketing (more specifically, brand management).

Will changing careers like this raise a red flag? Or will it help in my application process? I believe a mix of public relations and sales will be an asset in a future career as a brand manager, but I'm not sure how adcoms will feel. Also, how will moving into the public sector help or hurt my application?

Thanks in advance!
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by interviewbay22 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:59 pm
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Last edited by interviewbay22 on Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by interviewbay22 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:00 pm
Hello Enzo218

Marketing and Sales go hand in Hand. Adding PR experience to that will make your post - MBA goals more convincing and realistic. Most people pursue MBA to change careers and many of them make sharp changes in their career, like going from engineering to finance or consulting. Unlike them, your work experience gives you stronger reasons to pursue MBA for a career in your chosen field. Coming from public sector makes your application quite unique. Going back to public sector will not be an issue for the adcoms so long as you are clear and convinced about your post MBA goals and present them in your essays likewise.

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Hope this helps
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by Dina@Fortuna » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:44 pm
Hello Enzo218,
Before answering your question it's probably helpful to know how long you have been in your job and in sales/development and to see what some of your accomplishments have been. Admissions committees are going to look at the scope of your work and consider how you have progressed (have you been taking on increasing levels of responsibility, did you receive any promotions, etc). Hopefully you've been in your role long enough to prove that you have been able to make an impact and that you've acquired useful skills. If you feel that now is a good time to transition into a new role, think about how this will be relevant to your post MBA goals of working in marketing. Gaining knowledge around PR could be useful for your future roles and you should check to see what kind of responsibilities you will have in the new role to make sure that you'd be happy with that kind of experience. Also, for someone considering brand management, it will be important to demonstrate that you also have strong analytical skills since a lot of the marketing work that you do will likely be quantitative in nature (managing budgets, forecasting sales, evaluating costs and finding cost-savings, etc).
Overall, you want to make sure that the timing is right for this move and that you have a good reason for making the change (which is sounds like you do). Good luck!
Take care,
Dina
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