If you look at the class profiles for top MBA programs, you will note that the average incoming student has four or five years of work experience. Generally, about 80% of students have between three and eight years of post-undergraduate work experience. However, each individual’s professional journey during that time is unique. Some applicants have worked for the same company the entire time and received one or two promotions. This is common for strategy consultants. Often, applicants who are engineers have stayed at a single company and may not have been promoted at all. Meanwhile, the typical pre-MBA profile for many in finance consists of two years working in investment banking followed by two years in private equity. So, how will it look if you have had three or even four jobs over five to eight years before applying to business school?
As with anything related to MBA admissions, it depends. The admissions committees’ view of a candidate who has had several jobs before applying is nuanced. Through the application process, you need to explain why you transitioned from one job to another and how your current role sets you up to be successful in an MBA program. Like any other applicant, individuals who have held more than one job will need to clearly articulate why NOW is the right time to attend business school and how an MBA will position them to achieve their short- and long-term goals.
Taking Steps Toward a Focused End Goal
One of my clients was on her third job in five years when she applied to business school. Her first role directly out of college with a degree in computer science was as a product manager for a startup, where she wore a lot of hats. Beyond understanding the needs of a niche customer base (i.e., senior citizens using technology), she designed packaging and conducted A/B testing on marketing campaigns. Given the size and stage of her employer, she was able to work on many projects, but the scope was small and she wasn’t getting a lot of guidance.
After just over two years in her first role, she moved to a product marketing role in a more established company, where she led messaging for five products with a global reach. During this time, she realized that she missed working closely with customers and leveraging her technical skills to craft solutions that addressed consumer needs. She knew that she wanted to become a tech product manager, and since she wasn’t able to make an internal pivot, she looked for a role outside of her company. Her third job was closest to her end goal—but rather than working with consumers, the product she was working on targeted businesses. However, it was through these diverse experiences in a variety of technology companies that she was able to identify and articulate why an MBA was the best next step to position herself for her career moving forward.
When she lost her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she had already done a lot of thinking about where she wanted to take her career and what skills, knowledge, and relationships she needed to get there. She was able to take advantage of extended deadlines in 2020, applied a year before she had intended to, and she was accepted to several top 15 MBA programs and ultimately attended Berkeley Haas.
Exploring Early to Uncover Passion and Fit
Another client, an undergraduate business major, had worked in four roles in five years before applying to business school. Her first position out of college was as an investment analyst focused on fixed-income investments. She realized pretty quickly that this was not what she wanted to be doing long term, so she took a job as a product manager in the gaming industry, where she was able to gain exposure across functions. Despite thriving, she felt pigeonholed and realized that she wanted to be working more strategically, so she joined a big tech firm in a strategy and operations role. Unfortunately, she had expected to apply to MBA programs from this role but recognized that her manager did not support her academic ambitions and would not write a strong recommendation.
Her life experience was global in nature, so as she was exploring new roles within her company, she looked for an opportunity to tap into her personal commitment to Asia. She secured a role focused on lifting up entrepreneurs in the region, reporting to a manager who had an MBA and understood the value of going back to school.
By the time she applied to MBA programs, she had worn a lot of hats and knew what she did and didn’t want to do. This allowed her to craft a strong story that spoke to how the skills she had learned in each job set her up for the next—ultimately positioning her to attend Wharton.
Following a Haphazard and Opportunistic Trajectory
Another client of mine had worked at five jobs in just over six years and hadn’t been with any company for more than two years. He had no clear upward trajectory or consistent function or industry. Furthermore, his last position had been a six-month contract, and when he applied to business school, he was a “private investor” in blockchain who paid the bills by playing professional poker. Needless to say, his erratic work history was a red flag to admissions committees, and he wasn’t able to secure a seat in his target MBA program.
Changing Jobs Just Before Applying (or During the Application Process)
Many prospective applicants have asked me if they can leave their job before they apply to business school. This is not advised, as the admissions committees expect students to be able to balance schoolwork, extracurricular engagements, and recruiting. If you cannot prepare for a standardized test and work on your MBA applications while performing at your day job, it is unlikely that you will thrive in the high-pressure environment of a top business school.
I also advise against switching jobs (with the exception of an internal transfer) in the months leading up to submitting applications. One of the stakeholders in the MBA admissions process is the career office, and they are responsible for ensuring that individuals graduating from the program can secure the positions to which they aspire. Recruiters don’t look favorably upon candidates who take a pre-MBA job when they are planning to leave the company in less than a year. Companies that recruit from top MBA programs invest a substantial amount of time and money in onboarding top performers. Therefore, they don’t want to make a job offer to someone who isn’t going to commit to their organization for several years post-MBA.
Another challenge related to switching jobs immediately before applying to business school is securing a recommendation from your current immediate supervisor. If you have only worked with your manager for a few months, it is unlikely that you have made a significant impact or that your manager has observed your work in a meaningful way. Consequently, they won’t have much to say about your candidacy. And if you don’t have a recommendation from your manager, the admissions committee might be concerned.
Every MBA aspirant has taken a unique path to submitting their applications. There is not one “correct” path to an MBA. If you are unsure about how your career to date will be perceived by MBA admissions committees, reach out for a free consultation to get Stratus’s professional perspective on your profile.