Where do I go from here? Part II
As a result of the career-as-a-VC revelations that I disclosed in Part I of this entry, I’ve been in a QLCrisis-induced daze the past few days and have been trying to ease the anxiety by filling out online job applications like a madman. We all know that that approach is generally fruitless - but at times it seems like clicking the add-to-job-cart button is the only thing we can do to advance our careers. Luckily, I teamed up that approach with some soul searching and advice seeking. Now, it’s pretty obvious what I should be focusing on immediately.
This is coming from a retired hedge fund manager and tenured University of Chicago MBA professor that I work with:
“You have a good resume, Warren.
I am wondering why you can’t immediately apply and enroll at a top MBA school like Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Wharton.
My anecdotal evidence is that many top students get through the MBA program directly from or 2 years after college, learn their finance from the courses offered, and then get recruited by investment banks or VCs.
I believe that it’s a catch-22 otherwise. The VCs want finance experience, but you can’t get finance experience because VCs and Investment banks will usually not hire without an MBA (There are just too many good MBAs for the few jobs highly sought after.)
So, I suspect it would be very hard to try to get the finance skills you want, except at very low level entry jobs, which might sour your prospects, or delay you from reaching your goals.
I think it’s more fruitful to try to get to a top school almost immediately, then use the network that you will build to get towards the job you are looking for.
My assessment is that you are already experienced enough, and have already invested two post-graduate years for a Masters that will be acceptable for a top MBA school.
If you wait a couple more years for getting an MBA, you will be in your late twenties or early thirties before you become a prospective hire, and that might put you at a disadvantage relative to your peers.
Bottom line: If I were you, I’d try to get into a very good MBA right now, at the same time as looking for the finance entry job. Unless of course funding is an issue, in which case, you have no choice except to build capital in order to get the MBA. At worst, you only lose the application fees, but at the advantage of learning what skills are required of you in order to get the MBA.”
All this time I’ve been looking for work experience without realizing that I do have some there. I guess sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes to tell you what you don’t see. I will be talking to a VC who doesn’t have an MBA in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see his take on this.
Looks like its time to hit the books again. Veritas GMAT Prep, here I come.