Personal Statement Help: want out of NPO and into MS Finance

[sebastiandegregorio]

I currently work at an NPO and am looking to switch careers and industries. Most of my job has been using my soft skills to help people and developing educational programs. This kind of working is rewarding on its own level, but I would like to return back to the business sector. Going forward and to compliment the soft skills I picked up, I have targeted MS Finance as what I want to do, but I am running into a little dilema. Seems to me that most personal statement "experts" and opinions from some of my friends seem to say that you should not give off the impression in your essay that you are going to change careers/industry, even though schools know 80% of people will do this. My particular struggle is how someone such as myself with no traditional financial background or work experience can show that the next logical step is a MS in Finance. I have written one draft in which I make a case for why its the logical next step for someone who is looking to change careers, but opinions differ with me on this. What do you all say?

[Jon@Admissionado]

Well, it depends. I think that in your case you have no way around the "Career change" because that is in fact what you want to do. an MS is fundamentally a specialist diploma, meaning you only do it if you want to go into finance. If you had been applying for an MBA it's more flexible because leadership is required in every domain, but as you are going for an MS I feel really the only story you CAN use is a career change one.

[sebastiandegregorio]

So, as far the expectations of most Admin offices, is it risky to take this approach with a personal statement? How do most feel about a person/statement such as mine? Does it make me a less desirable candidate?

[Jon@Admissionado]

Well, there is a certain strategic advantage to presenting a story in which you remain in your domain. But AdComs understand that many (often its about a third of the class) will change industries. But again, in your case you HAVE TO present a career change. So don;t worry about WHETHER you should do it, but HOW you can do it best. (Most important - show POTENTIAL to succeed in finance)