Hey everyone, I know it’s been a while since I posted some originally-generated content, but I hope the articles that I’ve been posting recently have been interesting to read. I was incredibly busy leading up to the holidays and didn’t really have time to knock out any of the reader emails in my Inbox. Plus, for the past few days, I’ve been busy doing some research and doing the initial prep work for some big changes that will be coming to the site in the next week or so. Today, I’ve had some time to just chill out with nothing else to occupy my time, so I decided to respond to a few reader emails via video and with text responses. I’ll post those responses over the next few days once I’ve had a chance to get them all updated.
The email below is from an IT professional who is currently applying to business school with the goal of moving into Technology strategy consulting afterward. He has more than a decade of work experience and is worried about being hired at the Associate or Pre-Associate level after earning his MBA. I’ve had a couple of readers ask me questions similar to this in the past, but I think this is the first one to frame the question so directly. In my response, I gave him my own opinion, but that is, by no means, the end-all and be-all answer on this issue. If anyone reading this entry has an opinion (whether it is similar to mine or not), please feel free to leave a comment on this post to give others in this position more food for thought.
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AU wrote:
“Hi Marquies – I enjoyed reading your blog. I have a query regarding my Post- MBA career plan.
I have a 11+ years of experience in Information technology (Application support/development, product development/support, software product operations, Telecom). I am currently in a Sr. manager role in one of the multinational software product development company. I am applying to B- schools and my post MBA goal is to move into technology strategy consulting. I have the following questions:
1. Since I am in already in a middle management position and I have 11+ years of experience, I would like to continue to leverage my past expereince and position (Sr Mgr role) in my post MBA career option, however I have learn’t that at business schools, the consulting companies typically hire graduates only at Associate or pre- associate level. I would like to know if this understanding is correct or do technolgy consulting companies also hire experienced people and place them accordingly. My concern is If the former were to be true then I believe at this stage move to technology consulting would push me back in terms of career levels.”
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My video response:
Question about post-MBA career leveling from Marquis Parker on Vimeo.
Key points:
– In Consulting, MBA hires usually come in at the Associate level (role title may differ depending on the firm)
– Freshly-minted MBA’s with lots of work experience can use that as a foundation for better performance (which can offer an opportunity for faster promotion)
– For AU’s situation, he should determine whether the move to Technology strategy consulting is worth it for him given his extensive experience in IT
– MBA graduates with significant pre-MBA work experience should try not to focus on the immediate drop in career level; Rather, they should focus more on learning opportunities and advancement possibilities
– When you write an email to someone asking for help or advice, one should REALLY make sure that he/she spells that person’s name correctly (look at how my name is spelled in the email above)
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