The MBA career search and life as a Chicago Booth MBA – check out the latest episode of Admissions Straight Talk.

We are joined today by the co-founders of TransparentMBA, a free career data resource for prospective and current MBA students.

Introducing Mitch Kirby, Alyssa Jaffee, and Kevin Marvinac, co-founders of TransparentMBA and students at Chicago Booth. [0:35]

Mitch graduated from Princeton with a degree in molecular biology and then worked in the Health Practice at Booz. Alyssa went to the U of Wisconsin, studying Marketing and Spanish and then worked for the Advisory Board in marketing and sales for about 5 years. And Kevin, after earning his bachelors in Finance and Latin American Studies at Notre Dame, pursued his love of wine and worked for the Gallo Winery. They all met at Chicago Booth, and we’re going to hear the rest of their story from them. Welcome!

What is Transparent MBA? [1:25]

It’s a way for MBA students to anonymously share compensation and satisfaction information for firms that recruit MBAs.

Their roles [1:52]

Mitch– product developer/coder

Alyssa– works with the corporations

Kevin– user side

How did Transparent MBA come into being? [2:40]

Mitch: I wanted to understand career options better, and felt there was a lack of MBA-specific data in the space. The data from the school’s career services wasn’t specific enough (by company), and other options (like glassdoor) aren’t MBA-specific.

What need does Transparent MBA fill that other services don’t? [4:20]

It’s specific to the needs of MBAs and allows more specific company-based searches than school information, which often doesn’t provide details on bonuses, etc.

When did they launch, how have they grown [5:23]

Transparent MBA launched in 2015 with just a few students. By Feb of 2016, they were outside Booth, with 35 schools and thousands of participants.

Is there any danger that with small sample sizes, people are retrieving more anecdotal evidence than data? [7:00]

They’re actually trying to combat a reliance on anecdotal info by giving people the opportunity to get more information from another source, rather than just relying on something they heard.

You can log in and compare industries. Later there will be more filters and tools so you can filter by school, grad year, etc. [8:30]

Is the site useful to pre-MBAs? Or is it more for MBA grads? [10:25]

Pre-MBAs can use it now through the prospective user portal. It can be helpful to see what their future options will be. In the future, it could potentially be a tool to help compare schools.

Role Booth played in helping develop Transparent MBA? [11:25]

Mitch took a course in coding and building web applications, which gave him the skills to develop the project. He also met his cofounders at Booth. And they’re participating in the New Venture Challenge, which is helping them think through challenges.

The New Venture Competition- how does it work? [12:30]

There are 30 teams, of which 10 will make the finals and 1 will win. They pitch their venture to investors. It makes them think harder about everything they’re doing.

The next stage is the Acceptance Pitch on June 2, to see if they make the finals. They’re competing for $70K in funding.