My long-time blog readers probably have an idea of the kind of advice that I’d offer to this reader. Check out my response below to see what I told him.
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AC wrote:
Hi Marquis,
First off, I just want to say I appreciate you and your blog very much! It has great information for prospective consultants like me. So I wanted to get your opinion on the dilemma that I’m facing. I’m currently in the military as a Second Lieutenant, a junior management position, in charge of 52 soldiers on the logistics side. I graduated from Rutgers University with major in economics and criminal justice. I graduated Cum Laude. I had internships at AT&T (IT) and NBCUniversal (Digital Advertisement Sales & Planning). My plan after I complete my service is to get my MBA. Because of the benefits I’ll receive for my service, the cost to get my MBA is very low. The only cost I’m worried about is the opportunity cost (not getting business experience prior to MBA). I want to get into consulting, but with a focus on financial services. So my question to you is, should I look for an entry-level consultant position right after my service or get my MBA?
AC
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My response:
Hi AC,
Thanks so much for reaching out with your question. As someone who has read my blog before, you know that I enjoy helping people out by providing them with good information.
Also, I’d like to thank you for your service to our country. I’m related to several past and current members of the Armed Services, so I recognize all of that you guys do to keep us safe. Thank you so much.
I apologize for taking so long to get back to you. My day job has been a little hectic lately and my wife and I welcomed our first child back in October, so that little guy gets most of my non-work time. I’ve basically been working on this reply email off and on for a couple of weeks using Evernote. Hopefully, I’m getting this to you in time for it to be helpful.
It sounds like you’ve read through some of my past blog entries and, if so, you’ve probably gathered that I’m a huge fan of the military profile for both MBA admissions and management consulting jobs. You probably already know some of the high-points of distinctiveness of someone with your background, but, if not, I’ll list a few of them here:
- Demonstrated leadership capabilities and experience in having to make tough decisions to lead people
- Ability to stand up to the kind of day-to-day pressures that would make most people fold
- Leadership style that would likely be inspirational in nature and help you to influence others around a given goal
- Challenging professional situations that would blow most things that you’d see in a business environment out of the water
In other words, you are a straight-up G by virtue of what you’ve spent the last few years doing while serving our country. You, sir, are a beast. 🙂
With these items in mind, you’re in a great position, despite the the fact that your true business experience is limited to your internships. Don’t sell yoursef short on the value of your military experience because business knowlege can easily be learned, but the kind of acumen that comes from the military is MUCH harder to learn. As long as you are ready to learn and can do so quickly, you would be just as well-suited for business school as you’d be for a role at a consulting firm focused on Financial Services. The key things to focus on are leadership capabilities, problem solving skills, and the ability to take an executive perspective on both of those fronts. I don’t know you at all, but I have no doubt that you’re in good shape on that.
OK, I know that I’ve given you a lot to think about on both sides without actually providing a perspective. I actually think that you could pursue both paths at the same time: Try to get an entry-level consulting position AND apply to MBA programs at the same time. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an either-or decision, depending on your timing. Your military experience and leadership acumen will serve you well in trying to get an Analyst or Senior Analyst role at a top consulting firm and also when applying to B-schools, so chase down both options with everything that you have.
If you end up getting a consulting offer but not an offer of admissions to an MBA program program that you want, then do consulting for a couple of years and reapply to B-school later. Alternatively, if you get into a killer B-school program, then go to business school and aim to get a consulting job post-MBA. Given your background, you really can’t lose with either path, so why not try for both?
One more thing before I go… You didn’t ask for my perspective on the type of MBA program to consider, but I’ll offer it anyway. No matter what anyone else tells you, PLEASE don’t consider any MBA programs that aren’t in the top-20 or top-25 of the national rankings. As mentioned above, applicants with military backgrounds are in a great position for the MBA admissions process because you have experience leading teams and managing people that most other applicants wouldn’t have. In other words, you are a primetime candidate for MBA programs, including those at the top of the rankings…and that’s without me even knowing how you will score on the GMAT. You’re a monster just off of the strength of your military experience.
So, why am I pushing so hard for you to not consider any programs outside of the top tier in the rankings? Well, to put it simply, you will get the biggest benefit from going to a top school and you have the kind of profile that will allow you to get one. You may feel drawn towards a lower-ranked program because of cost reasons or financial aid (e.g., your military-related funding only being eligible to be used for certain programs), but don’t fall into that trap. Trust me on that. 10 years post-MBA, I have seen the impact that a top-tier MBA can have in terms of opening doors and I’d hate for you to look back 10 years after your own graduation and wish that you’d made a different choice. Net-net, my STRONG recommendation is for you to attend the best-ranked program for which you gain admission AND you feel a fit for be school/program, even if you end up having to take out some loans. You definitely won’t regret that choice.
OK, that’s all that I have for now. I hope that you’ve found my comments above to be helpful. Take care and have a nice evening.
Marquis
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