Work Experience during college

[jaw5xs]

Hey everyone, thanks for the help

[jkhousto]

Dear jaw5xs,

Thank you for your question, and kudos to you for already thinking about business school applications during college!

Congratulations also in being selected to manage a student loan porfolio. Because it is both relevant professional experience and indicative of you as a leader on your campus, it will be worth mentioning if and when you apply to business school. The same would be true if you were president of your student body or started a small business in college. Generally MBA programs are interested in work experiences within three years of your application, so the longer you work after college, the less important this role will become.

However, your full-time, post college work experience will likely matter more. I expect that holding this job during your senior year will be beneficial in finding an attractive job when you graduate!

Best of luck to you,
Jennifer

[jaw5xs]

Thanks for the answer. I hope that having this job helps me out in my job search after college.

I also have another question. I am currently working for a startup social networking site. It is expected to do very well in the market. I don't want to give too much information about it because the site hasn't launched yet. It is expected to launch in a couple weeks. If this startup company does well, I will stay on and work for the company after I graduate, while holding down a regular job. I was wondering how this would look in my MBA applications because I did not stàrt the company but have been heavily involved with the 6 person team that has been developing this company. Thanks again, look forward to your response.

[jkhousto]

I am glad you found my earlier reply helpful!

Without knowing a bit more about your start-up company, it is hard to evaluate the benefit it poses for a business school application. However, I can say that these things usually are helpful, and they can range in importance and be viewed as anything from merely an extracurricular activity (in the case of someone who does freelance work to use their creative web design skills) to practically a second full-time job (as in the case of someone who starts a business while working for someone else). It sounds like you are in the later category, and this experience could defintely add some interesting material for essays and recommendation letters.

I hope all goes well with the launch.

Jennifer