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Too many career moves!

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Too many career moves!

by think.thru » Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:04 pm
Hey
Very good day!

My brief profile-
1. Grad 3.3 GPA, 720 GMAT
2. B.Tech (IIT'05); CFA level 3 candidate; Indian male. Pretty decent extra-currics
3. Analyst with world's top mutual fund house

After my UG, I have involved myself with as many as 4 totally non-related work profiles.
a. Entrepreneur - educational coaching institute (six mnths)
b. Marketing analytics - work primarily involved statistical models (15 months)
c. Retirement industry - analyst
d. Fixed income - analyst

My ques-
I have worked in so many different roles and unfortunately, all of them have been un-correlated. How do you think, I should link them all and bring up a common thread out of these? My post-mba goal is private equity & long-term is being an entrepreneur.

Thanks
TT


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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:19 am
Dear TT,

There must have been a reason you did these jobs, something that interested you about them. Perhaps it was to broaden your skill set? or more responsibility developing your leadership skills? Think about the skills you gained or enhanced in each role and how those skills transfer to your future goals. I think you will find a common theme amongst the skills you employed in each of these roles. You ultimately want to be an entrepreneur, so how do all of your experiences prepare you--skills developed, industry exposure, etc.--and how will those experiences plus a MBA prepare you to be an entrepreneur?

Hope that helps as you start to connect the dots,
Lisa
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by think.thru » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:54 pm
Lisa
Many thanks for your response.

I was just curios - if in my MBA application, I were to express that I did all these jobs because I am seeking what is that final thing which I like? In other words, admitting that I am not sure which field I want to work in medium term. But, I am in process of discovery & MBA will help me in that discovery.

Also, I have ample cases in my profile wherein I can beautifully thread in 80-20 principle (I am simply in love with this principle!) which says - explore everything, pick the best, and excel in what you have picked. What if, I talk about a similar theory here and say that I right now am exploring options; and MBA will help me do so more.

My Qs
1. Using too much of 80-20 in application will backfire?
2. Will I come across as a confused applicant?

Thanks again,
TT
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by Lisa Anderson » Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:26 am
Dear TT,

I think it is ok to talk about making your career moves to date in the sense that you were searching for the best fit. However, business school is not a place for that type of discovery. While you don't have to know the specific job on your first day, you do need a general idea of industry and function when you start. Business school is only 15-22 months in length, so there is not much time to spend on discovery. Hence schools are looking for you to have already done much of the discovery before applying and have some concrete ideas of what you want to do.

Regards,
Lisa
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