A common misconception among MBA hopefuls is the need to have an impressive job title at a high-profile company in order to get accepted to a top graduate business school. According to MBA program administrators, that’s not always the case.
[See: 10 Ingredients of a Strong MBA Resume.]
Business school officials acknowledge that MBA applicants sometimes have a leg up in the admissions process when they have an important job at a prestigious for-profit business. Nikhil Varaiya, director of graduate programs at the San Diego State University’s Fowler College of Business, says that MBA applicants who have worked at well-known companies like Amazon, Google or General Electric do have an advantage in the admissions process.
“Other things equal, such work experience can tilt towards a favorable admissions decision,” Varaiya wrote in an email.
However, Varaiya urges applicants to remember that this kind of work history is not required for an MBA degree. “For example, if somebody has worked, let’s say, in the Peace Corps for two years, they may not have worked for an employer, but I find that very compelling,” he says.
Experts say that where an MBA applicant has worked is not the only factor that matters when MBA admissions officers are evaluating the quality of his or her work experience. Another important factor admissions officers take into account is whether an applicant has compelling professional success stories.
Varaiya says that having a leadership title is only impressive if that title is credible, and MBA applicants can convince admissions officers that they’ve shouldered a significant amount of responsibility and were a meaningful authority at their company.
“A VP title for somebody who has just worked two years would not be credible,” Varaiya says.
How many years of work experience is ideal for an MBA?
Varaiya says that most applicants are still early in their career, so MBA admissions officers don’t expect these applicants to be high-level executives.
“You are starting as a junior and you might have limited supervisory roles, but you are probably working in a specialized area, and you are trying to either advance in that area or gather other skills,” he says.
However, one thing that Varaiya does have a strong preference about is the number of years of work experience, with three to five years of work experience being the ideal amount for a traditional MBA program, he says. Though he admits that he has in rare cases accepted MBA applicants directly out of college who had exceptional academic credentials, he advises most MBA hopefuls to spend a few years in the workforce before heading to b-school.
“In general, I say that because I think that if they have worked for three to five years, they have a better sense of what a graduate degree is going to do for them, so they would be better prepared,” he says.
Amanda Karr, executive director of student enrollment services at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, also prefers MBA applicants with three to five years of work experience. However, the typical accepted MBA student at Karr’s school has between two to three years of experience, she says. One reason Karr appreciates when MBA applicants have at least three years of experience is because she is able to look at a resume and see whether a candidate has had a significant career progression and if his or her career is on an upward trajectory.
But both Karr and Varaiya caution that once an MBA hopeful has spent a long time in the workforce and has achieved a senior-level executive rank at a company, a traditional two-year MBA program might not be the best fit.
Seasoned MBA applicants might feel out of place in a traditional MBA program, where the typical student is in his or her 20s and trying to climb up the career ladder to a leadership position, Karr says. MBA applicants with lengthy resumes often prefer to attend nontraditional MBA programs where the vast majority of students have extensive business experience, because these programs teach people who are already leaders how to lead better, she says.
[Read: MBA Recommendations That Helped Applicants.]
Karr and Varaiya suggest that MBA hopefuls with an abundance of work experience consider attending either an accelerated MBA program or an executive MBA program that is designed for students who are in their mid- to late-career.
Shakti Kanade, who works at an analytics firm and is an MBA graduate from the Indian School of Business, which has campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, India, entered his program with roughly eight years of work experience. He emphasizes that MBA hopefuls should know it’s hard to get placed in a senior-level executive position after completing an MBA program, because those types of positions are few and far between. Business schools screen applicants based on their employability, or likelihood of finding a fulfilling and lucrative work upon graduation from an MBA program, Kanade says.
What types of jobs impress MBA admissions officers?
Karr says that she likes to see work experience on an MBA resume that is business-related, such as a job in finance or technology. She also likes to see professional experience that demonstrates quantitative expertise, since the math skill set in MBA courses is rigorous.
Varaiya also notes that he appreciates when b-school applicants are participating in or have recently completed management training rotations at established companies. He says these applicants have usually been exposed to multiple aspects of business, including finance, and that they have had ample opportunity for career exploration, so they have clear career goals. Because MBA applicants with rotation experience tend to be self-aware about what kinds of business jobs they prefer, they can choose an MBA concentration or specialization with confidence, he says.
Still, there are many other less traditional forms of pre-MBA work experience that are also valuable, Varaiya says. MBA applicants who have worked at startups typically have a well-rounded understanding of business, because their work demands versatility, he says. Public service jobs in the military or government can provide impressive leadership experience, he adds.
Military MBA applicants tend to be particularly compelling, Varaiya says. “They are an attractive group for us, simply because these people are very disciplined, hardworking and take their responsibilities seriously,” he says. MBA applicants with backgrounds in science and biotechnology are frequently accepted, Varaiya adds. Karr says she recruits MBA students from tech companies.
Plus, stellar work experience can help MBA applicants compensate for lackluster GRE or GMAT scores, Varaiya says.
Regardless of what job an MBA applicant has, what’s key is that he or she demonstrates the potential to both thrive academically during an MBA program and excel professionally in their post-MBA career, Varaiya adds.
[Read: Learn From an Accepted MBA Applicant’s Resume.]
April Klimkiewicz, a career coach and owner of Bliss Evolution who previously worked as a college career counselor at various universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says applicants can impress business schools by gaining management experience. “Experience managing is a plus,” she wrote in an email. “If you’ve managed a coffee shop, or even informally managed a team or project, you are displaying the ability to manage.”
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What Kind of Work Experience Helps MBA Applicants? originally appeared on usnews.com
