Making the Most of Your MBA Experience - Poets&Quants

Making the Most of Your MBA Experience

You may be pursuing an MBA for career advancement. Maybe you want a change in career. Then again, you might not really know what you want.

One thing is for certain – making the most out of your MBA will ensure that your six figure investment won’t go to waste.

I Am Expat – an online media platform, recently released some of the best ways you can ensure you make the most out of your MBA experience.

Build Your Network

Almost every business school will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to succeed. But not every school may provide you with a valuable network.

“A lot of the value of your MBA is the network it offers, so take full advantage,” I Am Expat advises. “Invest in building deep relationships with your fellow students and with faculty. Seek out diversity. And remember that the network you build now will last way beyond graduation.”

Diversity is key when it comes to networking.

“Most of us gravitate to people who share similar backgrounds and industry experience, so make a special effort to take advantage of the diversity in your b-school class,” Stacy Blackman writes for Wharton Magazine. “Doing so will greatly enrich your perspective and experience, and you never know when that contact from the other side of the world or completely different field will be useful down the road.”   

Make Mistakes

Making mistakes now will be better than making mistakes down the road.

“Your MBA is a unique opportunity to grow, learn and explore in a safe and supported environment. It’s also a challenge to push your boundaries,” according to I am Expat. “Even if it’s taking a course you’re afraid you might fail – before you graduate, do one thing (at least) that frightens you.”

Making mistakes means stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to succeed. Maura Herson, MIT Sloan School of Management’s MBA program director, calls it the “stretch zone.”

“If you come into it thinking you’re an expert, you’re not going to maximize your learning,” she tells CNBC.

Prioritize

Prioritization and organization are key mentalities you need to develop during business school.

“You’re going to be busy. Very busy. So figure out a personal system that works for you ahead of time,” according to I am Expat. “Whether it’s notebooks or apps, prioritise being efficient and being on time”

In an interview with Business Insider, Ben Thayer, Kenan-Flagler MBA ’16, offers what he calls a “three-pillar approach” to prioritization: academic (reports and tests), social (clubs and fun events), and career (interviewing with job recruiters).

“You have to build up each pillar to succeed,” he tells Business Insider.

Sources: I am Expat, Wharton Magazine, CNBC, Business Insider

Becoming a Tech Product Manager…Without an MBA

Experience is sometimes the best way to truly learn what it takes to succeed.

In an article for Forbes, Rob Versaw, co-founder and head of product at Green SE3D AR and head product adviser at Blockbox, argues that a traditional MBA is not necessary to become a product manager in tech.

“Many MBAs decide that they want to be a product manager,” Versaw writes. “While there is nothing wrong with going through a transformational experience, there are faster and more cost-effective routes to get into and succeed in tech.”

An MBA That’s Focused Too Heavily on Exam Scores

Versaw starts by deconstructing the issues that he finds with the MBA. For one, he says, MBAs are too often evaluated based on their ability to succeed on multiple choice exams, such as the GMAT.

“When I have asked education professionals why multiple choice tests are so popular, I have heard anything from the ease of grading to their representation of the real world,” Versaw writes.

A study done by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto found that the GMAT rarely correlates with employability.

What does? Here are the six most significant factors in order of importance according to Rotman:

• Citizenship from a region of the world
• Years of work experience
• Admissions interview scores for candidates
• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) test
• Undergraduate grade point average
• GMAT score

So why exactly is the GMAT so important to business schools? Leigh Gauthier, acting director of MBA Recruitment and Admissions at Rotman, ties it to being easy to use. “When you look at thousands of files, you have to sort on something. So it has become a sorting mechanism that some find helpful.”

For business schools, recruiting a high GMAT score class means moving up in the national ranks too.

“U.S. News has changed incentives so perversely that the market is blindly chasing GMATs without even knowing why it is doing so,” Kevin Frey, managing director of Rotman’s full-time MBA program, says. “It’s unfortunate. But if schools want to spend all their scholarship and effort recruiting a high GMAT class, we are going to cheer them on because based on our hard numbers, the GMAT does not predict the team that wins the employment game down the road.”

Learn by Doing

Versaw argues that there are much more efficient and cost-effective ways of getting into and succeeding in tech.

He cites his own experience as one that can motivate students to learn by doing. Since starting his own company, Versaw has developed real product management skills such as product ownership, communications, and now – pitching to VCs.

“There are any number of articles out there on how to recruit for or find product management roles,” Versaw says. “The important characteristics of product management boil down to communication, analytical horsepower, leadership and collaboration.”

One way to jump straight in and gain experience, Versaw says, is to volunteer or intern. For him, that was having a side job of running the Arizona MileSplit webpage.

“Granted, I worked 35 or more hours a week in what amounted to a pro bono situation, but the experience set me up to land a full-time product management role at Vivint, one of America’s most innovative companies,” Versaw writes. “I would not have been able to land this role without learning customer empathy at MileSplit.”

Take Advantage of Online Resources

Today, students can benefit greatly from online learning – especially for technical skills. Through platforms like Coursera, students can partake in courses from software product management to java programming – all at an affordable cost.

“Some of the best engineers I know do not hold a bachelor’s degree,” Versaw writes. “Not having a formal education is not equivalent to being unlearned.”

Sources: Forbes, Poets & Quants

If You Want to Earn More Than an MBA, Pursue This Career

If you’re pursuing an MBA in hopes of earning high salary potential, you may want to think twice.

A recent US News article finds that computer science grads can earn more than MBAs.

“The demand for technological workers continues to increase while facing a limited supply – both are good news for salary,” Katie Bardaro, an economist and vice president of data analytics at the online salary database PayScale.com, tells US News. “When looking at early-career pay – five years or less of experience – a master’s in computer science beats an MBA in national median earnings.”

Based on PayScale data, an information technology architect with a master’s in computer science can earn, on average, around $134,000.

And while a large number of 2017 MBA grads earn higher than $100,000, only “slightly more” than half of b-school grads earn a starting salary of six figures, according to US News.

Greater Demand for Tech Skills

Charles Isbell is executive associate dean of the college of computing at Georgia Tech. In an interview with US News, Isbell says demand for tech talent is at an all-time high.

“Places like Google, Facebook and all the large technical companies are desperate for talent,” Isbell tells US News.

Isbell adds that tech companies value skills in computer science, data analytics, and machine learning.

“What we’re seeing in the economy is that we’re needing more and more people who can do these things,” he tells US News.

And the demand doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon. Tech employment opportunities are expected to increase by 12% by 2024, according to a report by Modis.

“A number of years ago, students used to regard computer science as an insular discipline and you only went into a computer science degree if you were really into computer science,” Borja Sotomayor, a lecturer and academic director of master’s in computer science at the University of Chicago, tells US News. “In the last couple of years, there’s been a growing realization that computer science and computation science is something that permeates to a lot of many other fields.”

Sources: US News, Modis, PayScale

Three Tips To Prepare For B-School…Before You Graduate From College

There’s never a right time to start preparing for b-school. But, experts say starting early can give you a head start to gain acceptance into an MBA program.

Stacy Blackman, an MBA consultant, recently wrote a Harvard Crimson article detailing ways undergrads at Harvard (or any school) can start preparing for b-school.

Be a Leader

Blackman lists leadership as the first step in strengthening your MBA candidacy. She says MBA admissions committees seek students who already have leadership experience by the time they apply.

“Can you show that you launched initiatives, programs or ventures of some kind? Perhaps you’ve started a small business while at Harvard, led a nonprofit, founded and led a student organization, or spearheaded a fundraiser,” Blackman writes. “All of that’s good stuff in the eyes of the admissions committee.”

Yet, Blackman stresses that it’s not about the scale of your achievements, but the fact that you made a mark.

In a P&Q article, Brian Precious, author of Get In. Get Connected. Get Hired, offers excerpts from his book on what MBA admissions officers are looking for when they seek leaders.

“I’m looking for evidence that you have made a positive impact on the organizations and companies with which you’ve been affiliated,” Precious writes. “I’m not expecting a twenty-two-year-old to have run a major corporation, but I would like to see that you’ve been active in student organizations.”

Intern to Build Skills and Grow

Blackman advises students to seek internships that will help them grow and develop new skills.

Often times, she says, internships can allow you to discover a new career and build a strong network.

“You’ll acquire new skills, crystallize your career goals, and have a better idea of whether the degree is the next logical step,” she writes. “Future employers and graduate programs alike appreciate the educational value a quality internship provides.”

Emotional Maturity

Emotional maturity is now practically a requirement for b-schools and Blackman suggests that applicants take the time to grow and learn about themselves so that when it comes time to apply, they have rich experiences to bring to the table.

At NYU’s Stern, the EQ endorsement is now a requirement in which applicants must have an endorser speak on their emotional intelligence (EQ) skills such as self-awareness, empathy, communication and self-management.

But Blackman says these skills last far beyond the application stage for b-school.

“The ability to show humility and gratitude, keep long-term commitments, bounce back from adversity, and seek continual self-improvement will serve you immensely in whatever path your future takes,” she writes.

Sources: Harvard Crimson, Poets & Quants, Poets & Quants

 

 

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