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which experiece is better for my application?

Share tips as you apply, write essays, interview...
Expert replies
by yj787 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:00 pm
Hi

I need help with deciding what to have as my last job post before applying to a business school. I am shooting to work in business consultancy or product marketing management post my mba. My career line has been sales operations and sales operations managment (u can get more highlights from my full profile below) for the next few months before my 2014 MBA (might extend to 2015) I am having two job offers, the one I choose will serve as the most recent post in my MBA application.

One is within my original career line of sales operations and corporate sales and will be considered a vertical growth in my profile and it's also a managerial post. The other is relevant to the field I want to enter post my MBA which is product marketing, purchasing and ecommerce but its a notch above an entry level which may look like a drop in my work experience sequence. Plus its not a managerial post.

Which would serve my MBA application better. I am applying to Fuqua, Kellog and Ross

-------------------

My profile:

- GPA: 2.8, major: Computer Science, School: Cairo University ( top reputable university in Egypt)
- GMAT: 710

- resume highlights, including company name, job titles and promotions:

Work experience: 8+ years of experience, 5 after graduation, 3+ during school ( full time job)

Function: sales, particularly Telesales, all my experience was in Call centers(outsourced telesales campaigns from US UK and AU to egypt, so the call centers I worked in are in EGYPT but the companies
represted were multinational like Verizon yellowpages, superpages and so).

Industry/Products: Internet Advertising/ Online Yellowpages, Search Engine Marketing services.

Promotions: Sales rep (1+ years), Sales Supervisor ( 2 years) Sr. Sales supervisor (1 yr)
Sales Operations Manager (4 years)

- extracurricular involvements: The only experience I can mention here was literacy education to the illiterate in country sides of Egypt. Not too much time log into this though, less than a year time.
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Source: — The Application Process |

by money9111 » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:32 am
In my opinion you're asking the wrong question. The question posed shouldn't be "Which experience is better for my application?" but rather should be "Which experience is better for me getting employed doing ___________ after graduation?"

Remember - when school's are evaluating an applicant it isn't on the basis of "Oh their last job had vertical growth vs. lateral growth." As long as you can walk someone through your resume and tell them WHY you made the changes that you did in your career then you're fine. Now sure there are circumstances where taking one job over another is better but I'm just going off of the information that you've given. The way you've posed the question makes it seem as though there's a right and a wrong way to go about career advancement before school. That's not the case. Believe me - that's not the case.

Just from the basis of your post if you said in an interview that you took that last position because it was in line with what you wanted to do post-mba, then as an interviewer I would write down - "Has clear career goals and has industry knowledge" or something of that nature. BUT - there is also a way that you could spin the other position too. If one pays $100k more than the other, then I would say - take that position without a doubt! There are a lot of variables here.

You also said that you have 8 yrs of experience. Is this experience all post-undergrad? If so, then realize that while you can "career" switch in school, they do take into account the depth of your experience outside of b-school. What do I mean? Well, for Product Marketing/E-Commerce you will be competing against people who have experience in either Marketing/Product Marketing/E-commerce. So between you (with potentially less experience than them in another industry) the company MAY find the other person to be more attractive because they will assume that you're knowledge is too heavily rooted in something not product marketing.
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by money9111 » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:33 am
In my opinion you're asking the wrong question. The question posed shouldn't be "Which experience is better for my application?" but rather should be "Which experience is better for me getting employed doing ___________ after graduation?"

Remember - when school's are evaluating an applicant it isn't on the basis of "Oh their last job had vertical growth vs. lateral growth." As long as you can walk someone through your resume and tell them WHY you made the changes that you did in your career then you're fine. Now sure there are circumstances where taking one job over another is better but I'm just going off of the information that you've given. The way you've posed the question makes it seem as though there's a right and a wrong way to go about career advancement before school. That's not the case. Believe me - that's not the case.

Just from the basis of your post if you said in an interview that you took that last position because it was in line with what you wanted to do post-mba, then as an interviewer I would write down - "Has clear career goals and has industry knowledge" or something of that nature. BUT - there is also a way that you could spin the other position too. If one pays $100k more than the other, then I would say - take that position without a doubt! There are a lot of variables here.

You also said that you have 8 yrs of experience. Is this experience all post-undergrad? If so, then realize that while you can "career" switch in school, they do take into account the depth of your experience outside of b-school. What do I mean? Well, for Product Marketing/E-Commerce you will be competing against people who have experience in either Marketing/Product Marketing/E-commerce. So between you (with potentially less experience than them in another industry) the company MAY find the other person to be more attractive because they will assume that you're knowledge is too heavily rooted in something not product marketing.
My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:08 pm
Hey there,

I'm not going to repeat what was said before (because I agree with a lot of it and it was well written). However, I will say this - don't forget the internship! If your candidacy and profile is strengthened by vertical progression, then get that experience (which also makes your post graduation story stronger). Then you can potentially use the internship to get the relevant product management experience.

In my opinion - given your progression and years of experience, I think you should take the vertical progression. Sure, the lateral move shows dedication to your post MBA career path but you also need, at your stage in your career, to demonstrate certain key themes.

Does that make sense?

Bhavik
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by InterviewBay2 » Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:57 pm
Difficult question. Your experience after graduation matters for all the figures. So, it is 5 years until now. You will have 6 if you are joining b-school in 2014 and 7 if you are joining in 2015. Right?

If I were you, I would go for the managerial post in the present line of job. If you take up a notch below the current position, you will have less avenues for exhibiting leadership qualities. Leadership and team management matters a lot for admissions. Then, you might have to wait for additional year to gain the momentum in your career. MBA from a top school will be enough to change your career. I don't think . Having said that, if you are very passionate about product marketing, go for it.

Your target schools are in your reach if you can write excellent essays. Also, speak to few students and alumni of your target schools.

Good luck!
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by money9111 » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:58 pm
The great thing about this post is that there are varied opinions all of which are completely valid. It depends on the applicant and the situation. We obviously don't have the depth and insight into what you're contemplating. You can exhibit leadership in any position it's not just about managing X number of people. Sure the experiences MAY be more vast but with the right essays and spin on things, leadership can be explained in a myriad of ways.

It's not an easy decision but good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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