LeapQuest

Millions of professionals across the world are stuck in the wrong careers, doing work they were never meant to do. No wonder so many enroll in MBA programs, hoping it’ll get them out of misery. But unless you know what’s the right career after an MBA, there’s always the possibility of getting stuck in another bad career (this time with crippling debt). There are a multitude of career choices before you, if you’re a new MBA graduate. Apart from the traditional industries such as consulting, investment banking, and financial services, there is retail, manufacturing, and technology. There are also various functions that a new MBA may want to try out, such as strategy, operations management, human resources (HR), finance, and accounting. Then there are geographical choices: you could work almost anywhere you want. But there are some points to keep in mind before you decide. We take a look at how you can select the right career after an MBA degree. How to select the right career after MBA Introspection The first step is introspection. Find out what you like through deep and honest reflection. Which industry and function do your educational background, skillset, and personality fit the best? It’s a good idea to mull these questions before and even while you are doing your MBA, as you will be alert to the industries and functions that may or may not be suitable. To find out whether you are on the correct route to your career destination, do a self-assessment to unveil your weaknesses and your strengths. Try to remove the weaknesses and develop your strength further. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the job search to come. Remember and relish the achievement you have made already, such as having been able to get into a good b-school and do well in your MBA program. Preparation Find answers to questions such as “When do companies come to my campus for recruitment?” “Which are these companies/industries?” “Which of them should I prefer, given my skills and interests?” “How can I improve my resume?” “Do I know how to prepare for an interview?” Find out what help is available to you for your preparation. Second-year students and alumni are good resources. Read all the MBA recruitment tips from your campus career office, classmates, and student clubs. Don’t obsess about your job search but spend the time post-MBA improving your skillset, perhaps by joining a MOOC (massive open online course). Try to transform a hobby into a sustainable business. Go, travel, or find a non-profit or charity you can help out. Mentor students who want to do MBA or work as a freelance consultant. This will help you improve your resume and make you more recruitable. Research / informational interviews The next step is to research the fields, not only those you feel inclined to choose, but also those that don’t seem to match your interests and aspirations upfront, to give them a second look. Google your questions, but also line up a few informational interviews with professionals who have done an MBA and are in a good position in an industry that you are interested in. How about setting up an informal chat with a couple of professionals, perhaps your school alumni? To identify someone who could help, use LinkedIn and alumni directories. If your resource-persons can’t spare the time, try to meet them at seminars or conferences with prior notice. If you manage to speak to a couple of people, you may be able to spot industries and functions you may like and not like. You should also speak to career guides and coaches. Find out their experiences. Their stories will put you on an aspect of your job hunt or career that you may have missed. Also speak to your peers. How are they doing in their job search? Flexibility It’s never too early to start your search for an “ideal” sector and function, but be a little flexible. However, don’t get stressed out going after the “perfect” job. These are days when MBAs have multiple jobs and multiple careers. The first job may or may not set the foundation for a long-term career. New experiences may lead you to a better career path. However, being flexible doesn’t mean that you wander around without direction or an idea or a destination. Every step that you take should ideally bring you closer to your end goal. Throughout your career, make sure to study the reasons why you’re taking each step: it should have a firm rationale. Passion Your knowledge and skillset are certainly the most important factors behind career-building, but there is another ingredient: a passion for your favorite field. You can take your career forward only if you’ve deep interest in your chosen industry and function. Persistence Your first job will likely be only the beginning of a long journey that will take years or even decades to take you to your career destination. You should accept the reality that you may fail to get a job right after b-school, and that the first job that you find may not be “perfect.” Your goal at the start should never be to bag the best job possible but to find one that allows you to use what you have learned, that teaches you something new, and that lets you go forward. The direction of your career, and not the destination, is important at this stage. Perseverance is known to bring success. First job Keep in mind that often your first job sets the route for your career journey. Changing your route becomes more difficult as you spent more time in your first job. So it is important that your first job firmly lays the foundation of your career, which means it should provide you with the right colleagues, opportunities, and training. Suppose your career goal is to become an entrepreneur, there is no point in trying to build a career in finance. Instead, look for a job that equips you to launch your own business sometime. You may change jobs, but you should never lose sight of long-term goals.

Master of Finance, as the name suggests, is a graduate program in Finance. Graduates typically apply their expertise in various careers in finance, having gone through a period of considerable in-depth training in financial matters, economics, quantitative finance, and more. The degree has some shades of flavours depending on the institute offering it. It is mostly known as Master of Finance (M.Fin.) or Master in Finance (MiF). Although depending on the bend of what’s given priority, in the coursework, it is also known as Master of Science in Finance (MSF), or some such version of it. It could be either heavily oriented for finance roles in management as in MSF, or deeply inclined to quantitative finance and financial engineering like in MFin or MSc, or plain MFE. But the lines often blur. In this article, we will use the acronyms MiF and MFin interchangeably. In this article, we will discuss some of the essential bits of information pertinent to those who want to pursue a hard-core career in Finance with a strong theoretical background to support a mastery of the field, over the usual generalist approach in broader professional programs. What kind of courses and syllabus comprise Master in Finance? Master in Finance is a focused study of Finance that prepares its graduates for handling corporate finance, investment banking, financial institutions, risk management, portfolio management, and develop in-depth technical knowledge in finance. They are taught to think creatively and involve the understanding of major theoretical topics in finance with quantitative methods. Thus, while it is a more theoretical academic approach to finance, it is a phenomenal way to reach its application through the technical knowledge. Popular coursework includes focused finance topics (as obtained from ESSEC and Berkeley Haas curriculums) such as Financial Markets, Corporate Financial Theory and Management, Econometrics, Fixed Income Markets, Asset Management & Insurance, Investment & Derivatives, Mergers & Acquisitions, Macroecnomics, Commodity Markets, Real Estate Finance, Stochastic Calculus, Financial Data Science, Securities, Risk Management, Equity, and many more. Students also undergo specializations or projects in Corporate Finance, Finance Markets, Equity Research, and more. Internships are common as part of the curriculum, though not universally so. A lot many programs leave the decision up to the students. Some, like ESSEC have a choice between completing a dissertation on an original finance research topic like the one done on “Private Equity as an alternative to bank lending”, or use the time to gain internship experience (4 to 6 months) with ESSEC’s corporate internship partners. Programs often include international study trips for that extra bit on a global experience. What is the Eligibility and Requirement for MFin? Unlike MBA, Master in Finance requires incoming candidates to already have an aptitude for Economics, Computer Science, Engineering, Science, Mathematics and/or Business. Programs that are more technical by nature, i.e., programs with a strong quantitative component in the curriculum also require Computer Programming skills, high level of Mathematics and Statistics, Finance, and such quantitative tools as will be necessary to gain a meaningful understanding of how to apply them as finance based modelling and calculations. As far as educational qualifications and work experience are concerned, here are the observations. Most programs do not need any professional experience. A Master or Bachelor’s degree in the above fields is sufficient. However, certain programs, like Cambridge Judge’s MFin program requires at least two years of graduate work experience in a finance related role. In fact, Cambridge Judge even welcomes undergraduates from any field so long as they fulfil the finance related work experience and have an aptitude to understand Mathematics and Statistics, as required during the duration of the degree. International candidates are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English through one of TOEFL, IELTS or any other acceptable test score. GMAT/GRE or other aptitude tests are essential in not all but certain programs. Essays, transcripts, recommendation letters, and so on. It is best to check with the individual programs given the variety of countries and institutes that offer the degree. What is the duration of MFin Programs? Usually a one-year program, Masters in Finance can also be extended based on whether there is a pre-requisite period involved for the degree. Such as in ESSEC where Master’s degree or 4 years Bachelor’s candidates study for 1 year whereas 3-year Bachelor’s candidates study for 2 years. The duration of the program usually includes a project and/or internship which may or may not be compulsory for the completion of the degree. What are the Job Prospects and Average Salaries after MFin? Master of Finance graduates are trained not only with a strong foundation in theory of finance but also its application in areas like Banking, both Investment and Commercial where they get involved in investment portfolios, securities and help banks in their financial management, sales, accounting, and more. Or as brokers who sell bonds, etc. They assist big corporations in their financial management and planning, advising them on securities and investments. On a varied scale, in various kinds of roles, they do a crucial task of following economic and market trends, external factors that influence them, and work with individuals and corporations with their financial analysis such as various types of investment options, etc. Insurance companies also hire them as risk management specialists who are able to forecast and analyse worth of assets. Other job roles find them in active roles in Equity/Debt Capital Market, Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management, and all those hard to summarize complex finance wizardry. They are prized for their comprehension of complex financial concepts and ability to analyse them with complex tools. They are globally well-versed and are adept at researching and strategically making decisions based on their understanding. These traits are especially important for a more specialist approach, within organizations, in Corporate Finance, following Financial Markets, Asset Management, Banking, etc. These are more involved roles, with growing inclusion of their expertise and experience, as compared to generalist roles with a Finance specialization. As far as employment is concerned, most top programs find over 90% of their graduates employed within the first three months of graduation. Their starting salaries can range from around $70,000 to over $130,000, depending on the graduation program, company, role, and location. Among its recruiting companies are big names like Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Edmond de Rothschild, Goldman Sachs,

Applicants to an MBA / MS program surely have their work cut out for them. Whether it’s about acing the GMAT / GRE or coming up with that perfectly-crafted essay / SOP or following up with recommenders, they have enough on their plate. Coming up with an impressive application would definitely be a priority at this stage, however give a thought to how you intend to manage the financial aspects as well. Compare this with an entrepreneur with ambitious plans for a five star hotel, but clueless on how to finance such a mega project! A post-graduate masters degree from an international location, especially an MBA, can be a very expensive proposition, so explore the various funding options for higher education and chalk out a financial roadmap well in advance. Scholarships are a great way to reduce your financial burden though not every applicant would be lucky enough to bag one. If you do fall in that list, you may find yourself in one of these 3 situations by the time you have got the application results from all the business schools you’ve applied to. Take Initiative – There’s a reason the phrase “the early bird gets the worm” was ever coined. Taking initiative in your career and education will only help you long-term. Target one or more MBA programs and conduct research to be sure they will fulfill your needs. In addition, take initiative at work, increasing the scale and scope of your responsibilities so you can improve your candidacy when you apply to MBA programs. Confront Insecurities – We all have insecurities. Whether you hate math, or maybe are afraid of taking the GMAT, make this the year that you meet your insecurities head-on. Take the time to evaluate your own candidacy to determine the areas in which you need improvement, and highlight how an MBA degree can strengthen that are of weakness. Nurture Strengths – While we all have insecurities, we also all have strengths. Take the time to evaluate your strengths as well. Nurture them if needed, and stand proud of what you have accomplished. Be willing to showcase your successes and achievements on your application. Prepare a Plan – Those who are better prepared will also be those who are most successful. Make a plan for the year including building in the time you will need to prepare for the program and take the GMAT, as well as writing a Stellar application. Don’t wait until the application deadline to apply. Space in MBA programs can be limited as can Scholarship funding. Speaking of Scholarships, In little more than 40 minutes, they gave $210,000 away—to just six accepted MBA applicants from North America, Latin America, China and India. The scholarship grants—ranging from a low of $20,000 to a high of $40,000—were recommended by three admission officials at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. In one sitting, each of them gave away more money than they made in a single year as assistant directors in Rotman’s recruitment and admissions office. With $4 million in scholarship funds—roughly 12.9% of the school’s gross tuition revenue—Rotman has more money than Georgetown University’s McDonough School and about the same level of funding as Yale University’s School of Management. But it still considerably trails most of the U.S. business schools, including such public heavyweights as the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, UCLA’s Anderson School, and Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. So using the money as strategically as possible is paramount. “We just need more talent in the door and we are going to use every dollar we can to do it,” says Kevin Frey, managing director of Rotman’s full-time MBA program. “We are in this global talent game, and this is the cost of entry. We’ve got to spend this money if we want to build an impressive class.” After all, more than anything else, the quality of those incoming students will determine the quality of the school’s graduates– and the school’s ultimate reputation in the marketplace. AWARDS RANGE FROM A ‘SHOW-ME-THE-LOVE’ $10,000 TO FULL RIDES For next year’s fall entering class, the school expects to fill 350 seats. Half of the enrolled student body will come to Toronto with a scholarship, ranging from a “show-me-the-love” $10,000 grant to a full ride. The average grant is $20,000, and the $4 million kitty goes fast. So does an additional $1 million in financial aid to cover the interest costs of loans while students are studying for their MBA degree at Rotman. On a chilly Toronto day in mid-November, the scholarship committee of the admissions group gathers for one of its first meetings of the new admissions year. It’s only 17 days after the school’s Nov. 3 round one deadline, the first of five cutoff points for candidates to submit their applications. It was a highly successful round, with a 25% increase in applications from a year ago. During an afternoon session in a conference room with stained glass church windows in the historic Phd House, the group will debate how much money to give each of six accepted candidates from that first round. To be a fly on the wall of this meeting is to have a rare window into how a business school makes the often mysterious and always secretive decisions about who gets financial aid and who doesn’t and how much money they get. The process itself—along with the give-and-take of the school’s officials—provides invaluable insight into a crucial part of the admissions process that is seldom discussed nor publicly revealed. (Rotman agreed to have a reporter present during the committee’s meeting as long as the candidates’ names remained confidential along with specific details that would allow others to identify the applicants.) EACH APPLICANT IS REVIEWED AGAINST FOUR CORE CHARACTERISTICS To guide the handout decisions, there are a few well understood rules. Each candidate is assessed on four highly valued attributes: Intellectual horsepower: Measured largely on the basis of an undergraduate grade point average (GPA), one’s score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and professional designations, such as a Certified Financial Accountant (CFA). Impact:  A subjective reading of a person’s leadership potential based on their actual impact in the world, both at work and in extracurricular matters. The committee is looking for evidence of resilience, entrepreneurship, problem solving, and influencing others. Professional presence: The committee assesses a person’s presence, poise and communication skills on the basis of an interview, all done by staff, as well as other interactions with a candidate at open houses, coffee hours, and MBA fairs. Spikiness: Adapted from one of the world’s top consulting firms, a spiky candidate is one who has an unusual passion or combination of skills and interests that contributes to a person’s uniqueness and appeal. These words and praises frequently spill into the discussions of the scholarship committee. Through it all, special attention is paid to two telling factors that the school believes are deeply correlated with an MBA’s employability three months after graduation: a candidate’s success in the admissions interview and, curiously enough, their score on a portion of the GMAT exam that typically receives less scrutiny, the analytical writing assessment test. ‘THE SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE IS A HAPPY PLACE’ After all, some offers will be turned down. No school knows for sure who will eventually turn up in later rounds. So if a school likes a candidate, the theory is that everything should be done to get him or her in the door. And when an admissions official recommends a $30,000 or $40,0000 scholarship, there is little thought as to how much the pool shrinks with each award.

This year, an MBA applicant to Harvard Business School won acceptance with a GMAT score of 490. At Stanford, a newly enrolled MBA candidate had a 530 GMAT, while at Wharton, someone sneaked through with a GMAT of 560. Those scores are the lowest reported in the rather vague GMAT ranges published by the business schools. But who actually gets into a top-ranked MBA program with a GMAT that is, in Harvard’s case, 240 points below the school’s median GMAT of 730? The answer, according to admission officials and consultants, is a highly exceptional applicant–with just one exception: a lousy GMAT score. WHAT’S REALLY THE AVERAGE SCORE ON THE GMAT? First, some perspective: A score of 490 is in the 32nd percentile at a time when the median GMAT for enrolled students at Harvard is in the 96th percentile. It’s decidedly well below the 544 average score and there are some schools that would immediately toss the application in the rejection pile. Oddly, in some cases, it may be easier to get into a top school than a second-tier MBA program. That’s because second-tier schools can be more sensitive about low GMAT scores because they take down the reported averages that sometimes are counted in MBA rankings, such the annual list compiled by U.S. News & World Report. The theory is that U.S. News does not request GRE scores so taking an applicant with a weak GRE result can’t hurt a school’s standing in such lists. LOW GMAT SCORE ADMITS ARE OUTLIERS “At HBS, there were cases of candidates who have lower-than-average GMATs but get in. But looking at the GMAT score alone misses the point,” . “Schools do look at the whole profile of the candidate: academics, leadership, and uniqueness defined as what new or different perspective they will bring to the class. In the case of the guy at HBS who had less than a 550 GMAT and got in, everything else about him was incredible. He had excellent academics at a rigorous and selective university, tons of leadership at work plus leadership in his community involvement plus his recommenders truly raved about him and had tons of examples to reinforce the perspective that he was an outstanding candidate. His low GMAT essentially was an outlier.” How are they able to convince admission officers to accept them? They tend to isolate the GMAT as an aberration. “They provide hard evidence of achievement and excellence in every other aspect of his or her life,”. They build and sustain genuine, one-on-one relationships with decision makers at the B-schools. They craft deeply personal essays that leap off the page, grab the reader’s heart, and make it impossible to reject without actually meeting the person behind the app.”   WHAT’S THE LOWEST SCORE AN ELITE SCHOOL HAS ADMITTED? While the 490 score in this fall’s entering class at Harvard is stunningly low, it’s not the lowest successful B-school candidate For example, helped a Wall Street analyst gain admission to a top-10 Ivy League business school despite a 410 GMAT after taking the exam five separate times. Making it even more difficult, the candidate had a modest 3.0 GPA in a non-quant undergrad major. GMAT Scores For Top European Business Schools School 2019 GMAT Range Cambridge (Judge) 520—780 HEC Paris 600-770 IESE Business School 530—780* Oxford (Saïd) 510—800 IMD 610—770 IE Business School 610—770 Mannheim 510—770 SDA Bocconi 540—750 ESADE 550-750 Warwick Business School 510—750 Manchester Business School 600–760 Imperial 520–720* ESMT Berlin 510–740 Cranfield 600–710 Erasmus 530–730* City (Cass) 510—720* St. Gallen 560—720* Lancaster 530—710* INSEAD 600—780* London Business School 600—790 Compared to their U.S. counterparts, European business schools tend to be far less transparent with MBA admission stats. But approached each of the schools below and asked for the latest GMAT scores for their 2018 entering classes of MBAs. Only four schools–Imperial, Lancaster, Cass & Erasmus–declined to provide any data at all.

“An MBA? Why aren’t you going for an EMBA?” You’ve probably heard this from friends and acquaintances when they learn that you are planning to pursue full-time graduate business studies, even though you are several years older than the average MBA applicant. This may also be the response of MBA admissions committees – unless you make a convincing case for pursuing a regular MBA at this point in your life and career. You may have very good reasons for seeking an MBA and not an EMBA. But the adcoms won’t know that unless you explain it persuasively in your application essays. Instead, they may make negative assumptions, such as “unfocused,” or even worse, “too set in your ways,” and “too difficult to place.” What exactly is an “older applicant”?Generally, an older applicant is someone who is about 5+ years older than the average age for a given school; another way to view it is 1+ years older than the upper age of the middle 80% age range. For example, Columbia’s 2018 average age is 28 and the middle 80% range is 25-31, so if you’re 32 or older, you fall in the “older applicant” category for Columbia. Within that generalization, however, there are nuances that beg attention – most notably, the reason for applying later. Back to our example, if you are applying to Columbia as a 32-year-old who wants to pursue a career in finance, the adcom may only view you as an older applicant in certain circumstances: Adcom more likely to view you as an older applicant: You started in advertising after college, then shifted focus and entered an investment bank as a marketing and sales professional. Now you want to transition to a finance-specific role.Adcom less likely to view you as an older applicant: You earned a Ph.D. in math after college, then joined a hedge fund in a quant product development role, and now want to help lead the business.What’s the difference? The first example shows some (thoroughly understandable) zigzagging during the process of goal development, whereas the second example shows a direct, straightforward path. The second applicant above would not necessarily raise the concerns that a typical “older applicant” does (though, that comfort level would diminish with each year beyond 32, and would not pertain to a 40-year-old!). Examine your circumstances. Most older applicants fall into the “more likely” category above, but not all. Addressing the “difficult to place” concern MBA admissions committees are hugely concerned with the post-MBA employability of applicants and thus consider this factor seriously in their assessment. In a tight employment market, this concern is all the more urgent. They know that it will be harder to place you than someone with similar qualifications who is younger, because the younger applicant more closely fits the expectations of the recruiters. There are two important steps you can take in your essays to counteract this possible negative factor. 1. Delineate concrete goals. Use practical terms to spell out your goals step by step, identifying position titles, companies or types of companies you might work for, and expected responsibilities and challenges.2. Develop and describe a plan for obtaining employment post-graduation that does not rely exclusively on the school’s recruiting process. As an older applicant, it is especially important to demonstrate your resourcefulness and awareness of the placement challenge. Older career-changers are in particularly hot water unless they show that their network and resources can get them a job in their new field. Your plan should include a description of your marketability and “positioning,” contacts you may have in the field, and action items. Not only will such a plan overcome the “place-ability” concern, but it also will strengthen your competitive advantage overall. Addressing the “lack of focus” concern Say, like many (probably most) people, you went through some trial and error after college to discover your best professional fit. That process, while landing you in the “older applicant” category, gives you some assets as well: – Insight into your strengths, weaknesses, and interests based on mature self-reflection– Relative breadth of experience– An interesting “story” to tell about the development of your goalsUse these assets to counteract the notion that your road to your goals evidences lack of focus. In doing so, you can simultaneously tackle a critical issue – why you need a full-time MBA now. Integrate the following two aims in your essays with the following tactics: 1. It is imperative to present a positive reason for pursuing a full-time MBA now.Thus, reasons such as “reaching a plateau” and “desiring a change” will not suffice – they will only enhance the “unfocused” image. Explain why this is the right moment to devote two years to an MBA – it should be linked to your next career step. Next, identify several skills or aspects of knowledge that you will need to succeed in those goals, that you do not presently possess, and that the MBA program in question will provide. Then connect those dots in the “why MBA/why this program” part of the essay. Taking this approach will enable you to follow up your concrete goals with a compelling rationale for earning an MBA now. 2. In more or less detail, for conventional goals essay questions, link your career experience to your goals.Your challenge is twofold:(a) discuss a career that is longer than average while leaving space in the essay for other important information; (b) make your current goals seem an inevitable, logical outcome of your experience. The key is to be selective in what you discuss. Do not just condense your experience. Review your goals, and then determine which aspects of your experience are most relevant to them. Take the “more likely” applicant above. In discussing their early marketing experience, this applicant would focus less on creating ad campaigns and more on analyzing market needs, noting that they discovered a previously unrecognized talent for and enjoyment in analytic work. After establishing this logical basis for their goals, they add that their marketing experience will give them a deeper qualitative understanding of real companies’ operations – turning a possible negative into a positive. Addressing the “set in your ways” concern While you must show focus and direction in your goals, some schools have voiced concern that older applicants are more set in their ways and thus less interested in or able to absorb the “transformational experience” that their program provides. Using your essays to demonstrate an innovative