Lacking Work Experience - looking at Stern, Tepper, Cornell

[rmobeen]

First and foremost, thanks in advance for responding and helping me with your comments and constructive criticism!

26 year old male of South American/West Indian descent, born in Canada
Undergrad GPA: 3.02/4.00
Last 2 years of undergrad GPA: 3.3
Major: Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Minor: Finance
Notables:
- 4th year calculus - 3.67 grade point
- Some extra-curricular during UG
-developed manual used in 4th year curriculum
-lots of leadership experience through group/ class projects

Languages: English (mother tongue), French beginner

-GMAT: writing Sept 19, 2011, currently in Kaplan prep course

Certification: Canadian Securities Course (roughly equivalent to the Series 7 in the US) - is a financial certificate that was done post-undergrad

Work experience: 7 months as Program Manager (work-study program) led a team of 8 employees, 6 months insurance related, 2.5 years luxury brand sales (1.5 years of this is part-time)

International Exposure: 23 countries - travels to Africa, South America, Central America, Europe, Caribbean

Extra-curriculars (post-undergrad): 1 year mentoring at-risk youth, 8 months Big Brother (22 months at Sept 2012) mentoring 1 male youth, 1 year volunteering for large non-profit, leading a team of volunteers to under-developed country early 2012 (with the large non-profit) to build homes

I should also mention I went through some personal demons that began near the end of my undergrad which are still on-going but have diminished in the past 6 months. Long story short, family business that was operating for 10+ years (spent all of my summer breaks working in the factory) folded through greed, deliberate mismanagement, and basically pushing my immediate family out; which, resulted in the loss of contact with 23 family members (of whom were cousins that were basically my brothers and sisters). Lots of legal drama and stress! The stress of the situation basically plagued me with constant migraines and seen several doctors and neurologists relating to the matter.

I am planning to apply for an MBA for the September 2012 intake. So far I feel that my biggest weakness in my profile is my work experience. Is there any way I can balance it? I was also looking into a Masters in Marketing or International Business because they don't require work experience.

During an MBA I would like to focus on: marketing (specifically brand management, strategy, and the luxury industry), social entrepreneurship/enterprise (specifically non-profits and humanitarian causes - not so much green/environmental initiatives), and lastly private equity/ venture finance.


Can anyone offer advice, wisdom, recommendations, criticisms, guidance?


Thank you very much!

RM

[mbaMissionBrianE]

Hello rmobeen, thanks for your question. I assure you I will offer advice, but not criticism!

I think you have two objectives.

First, think of the overall career "story" that you will communicate to the admissions committees. Ideally, you would want to paint a picture that cohesively ties together your past, present, and future and demonstrate to the admissions committees that your desired career path necessitates an MBA. What would you want to do after business school? How does that fit with what you've done up through now? Not everyone has a completely straightforward path, but your goal will be to craft a plausible story that has a consistent theme or thread.

Second, in terms of your experience, your goal is to communicate the quality of your leadership both in and out of work. Draw upon "moments" when you truly led: influenced individuals and organizations, drove results, took initiative. And, don't be afraid to use experience from your extracurricular activities, which I think are a differentiator for you.

I am not that familiar with Masters in Marketing programs. I think it comes down to your post-graduate school career goals and which type of program will better equip you with what you need (be it knowledge, experience, training, etc.) to attain those goals.

I hope this helps and wish you the best of luck!

Best,
Brian

[rmobeen]

Thank your very much Brian for your insight! I will definitely be developing my story and including the experiences from my extra-curricular endeavours.

Thank you again!

[mbaMissionBrianE]

Hello rmobeen, thanks for your question.

I think your competitiveness will come down to how well you can tie together your past experiences into a coherent arc that extends into your future. Another way of saying it is: how do your past and present connect with your future? I have a tougher time seeing private equity in your future (without investment banking experience), could be convinced on marketing (if, say, you were the head of marketing at your family business), and could most easily see the social entrepreneurship angle, given your past.

As you allude, you may need more work experience to make a run at a top US program. I count just over 2 years of full-time experience, right? And, given the wide range of what you've done, it might be hard to paint a cohesive story arc for your career. If you opt for an MBA over a Masters in Marketing, perhaps better to build some momentum and accrue more experience and then apply?

Even if you do opt for a Masters in Marketing, I would think you'd need to connect your future career ambitions with your past experiences.

I hope this helps.

Best of luck,
Brian

[mbaMissionBrianE]

Hello rmobeen, thanks for your question.

I think your competitiveness will come down to how well you can tie together your past experiences into a coherent arc that extends into your future. Another way of saying it is: how do your past and present connect with your future? I have a tougher time seeing private equity in your future (without investment banking experience), could be convinced on marketing (if, say, you were the head of marketing at your family business), and could most easily see the social entrepreneurship angle, given your past.

As you allude, you may need more work experience to make a run at a top US program. I count just over 2 years of full-time experience, right? And, given the wide range of what you've done, it might be hard to paint a cohesive story arc for your career. If you opt for an MBA over a Masters in Marketing, perhaps better to build some momentum and accrue more experience and then apply?

Even if you do opt for a Masters in Marketing, I would think you'd need to connect your future career ambitions with your past experiences.

I hope this helps.

Best of luck,
Brian