Welcome to F1GMAT’s #askAtulJose series. In today’s episode, I have a question from an MBA applicant who asks:

Q) I was fired from my job. Should I apply to top business schools?

If you were fired outside the publicly announced layoffs or downsizing in Technology, Management Consulting, or Banking, you need a very different approach. 

1) Demonstrating Competence

The first thing that you need to address head-on is proving your competence. I remember during the peak of the pandemic, my friend, who was in the Technology industry for more than 15 years and who is in the top 5%  in terms of productivity & performance, shared the news that he was laid off because his entire department in the Defense industry was let go. Still, my first response was that – was it the bottom 20% who were let go? I felt embarrassed to categorize him as the bottom 20% of the workforce, even though he was a top performer. But it is the first impression someone has when they hear firing or downsizing. Recently a renowned admissions manager from a top 10 US school, who transitioned to Management Consulting in the Talent Management function, announced her layoff from the role in just one year. And again, my first impression was whether she was competent enough to transition into a corporate role. 

Don’t try to assume the best-case scenario and address the common misconception about getting fired. 

For that, the #1 deliverable you need to strategize is your recommendation letter. If you have given a stellar performance and committed to the hours required from your supervisor, and the layoff had nothing to do with your performance, seek the letter from the same employer that laid you off. This deliverable will immediately address any doubts about whether your firing was related to your performance. 

The 2nd reason that I often hear about layoff or firing is cultural-misfit.

2) Cultural Misfit

If missing the performance milestone is based on a mismatch in culture, be honest about it. I have heard stories and narratives of blaming office politics or a peer for the firing. Even if these were the real reasons for getting fired, I would not use them in my optional essay explaining the gap in employment. It is extremely common for a startup person transitioning to a large bureaucratic organization and losing purpose, which eventually led to the firing. I also heard accounts of employees who worked in large organizations finding it hard to transition into the chaotic startup environment. Whichever culture you fit in, build a narrative highlighting how you will excel in that culture post-MBA. 

If you are really strategic, you will choose schools that match your working style and culture. If you need help shortlisting schools, you can subscribe to F1GMAT’s Career Planning service 

3) Plan for the Gap Months

The third thing that you must plan if you were fired recently is the gap Months.

Even if you go by the culture narrative or the narrative about the economy that led to your firing, you must be strategic in planning for your gap months. It can last somewhere between 2 to 6 months in a slow economy. 

Make sure that you join a non-profit for two reasons. One, you can immediately get validation by applying your skills outside the core domain. Second - it is challenging to lose your job, not just from the financial security perspective, but it is a big hit on your self-esteem and your confidence in applying to top schools. By focusing outward and helping beneficiaries with your core and non-core skills, you can bounce back pretty soon. 

Also, prioritize your job search first before taking the GMAT/GRE or even starting with your essays. I have seen applicants struggle to manage all three together. You always have round 2 in January if you were fired between April and August. Push the application to round 2 and focus completely on getting back on your feet.

If you need guidance, feel free to contact me, Atul Jose

Welcome to F1GMAT'sF1GMAT's Ask Atul Jose series.  In today's episode, I will share 3 Story Patterns that seem authentic but don't work now.

1. The Poverty Narrative

There are genuine applicants from developing economies and even from the US who struggle with financial insecurity. Either because one of their parents or both were addicted to substances, one of the parents died, and that led to financial instability, or they were in a neighborhood that didn't allow them to pursue learning goals. Many immigrants coming from war-torn countries struggle initially - at least five years and often, this time is the formative year of the applicant. These are all valid experiences to capture in an essay, but I have seen applicants from middle-income families citing setbacks as financial instability. 

This is a big mistake. 

When I ask them about the challenges, they cite setbacks in their parent's small business that led to the instability. Again, these are good examples, but if the setback was for less than three years, I could suggest against using that narrative. Because you have to enter your parents' income, and even if you had mentioned the year of the financial setback, the data would be a big contradicting evidence. Naturally, the admissions team will compare you with the applicant who genuinely struggled financially for 10-15 years, and they have proof in the form of the parent's income. Their experience overcoming such instability is much more moving for admissions than yours. It is not that you didn't suffer through the setback. Admissions essays work on a comparative scale. 

The second reason for using the Poverty Narrative is that many international applicants convert their currency to dollar terms and start assuming that a certain level is automatically considered below the average national income for a family in the US. But schools have data on the average income of your country. They benchmark based on that data. 

Avoid using the economically disadvantaged narrative unless you are in the US and your family's household income is less than $100,00

2. Trauma

This is a huge-huge challenge for many applicants. 

How should you reveal the trauma that you endured without making the essay all about the trauma? 

One easy way to ask this question is whether that event was a motivation for joining a non-profit or starting a non-profit, or helping others in the community who suffered just as you did. If you didn't do any of this, don't mention the traumatic event. 

Another problem I see is the lack of context around the traumatic event. What you might consider traumatic, outside universally acceptable traumatic events like War, Sexual Assault, Physical assault, Death in the family, or Poverty, other narratives need context. A lot of times, what you assume to be a known fact might be limited only to your city, country, or even region and might not have passed on to the US media nationally. The admissions team, like us, lives in a highly distracted personalized entertainment and news bubble. So when you mention any trauma or experiences that are highly localized, spend extra words explaining why it was a trauma for you. 

3. Identity-Based Narrative

Five years back, if you were a woman or an LGBTQ or a US minority applicant, there was considerable leeway on how you were judged. Schools were much more open to letting go of certain assumptions about your unique life experience. But now, post-2020, the competition among LGBTQ and Women applicants have increased considerably. So has the competition for US minority applicants. All the cliched narratives about Asian parents starting their restaurants or store might not work as they used to. The same is the case with the bullying narrative as an LGBTQ applicant. You need to dig deep into the story and find unique experiences and phrases to capture the trauma. Try to offer a perspective that is unconventional. 

If you need help in creating authentic narratives, reach out to me, Atul Jose

In today’s episode, I have one advice for all applicants targeting the next MBA admission cycle. And this is something that I observed over the past decade. 

Applicants often ask for an initial profile evaluation and end with one of the two questions – what are my chances, and should I do an MBA? 

Very rarely, they ask what I should do to improve my profile. Because the answer I give or the plan I make for them requires a lot of sacrifices. The sacrifice of weekends. The sacrifice of time with your loved ones and a complete commitment to achieving the goal of getting into a top school. And with the work-from-home/hybrid model that we have adopted and the economy we are in, everybody is overworked. So no applicant wants to take on any more work.

The corrective step remains a huge gap in the profile. Now, the applicant hopes that the work could be compensated through clever narratives or stories. And it rarely happens. It happens only if your current responsibilities are such that you didn’t get any weekends for volunteering, and your volunteering/extracurricular was in the top 1% in college or your current contributions at work also spilled into volunteering engagements through the company. 

I remember a conversation with the supervisor of a client who got into an M7 school. His first comment was that although I gave a great recommendation letter, the client was just an above-average professional. I felt flattered when he praised me for my storytelling, but the truth was that the client was relentless in understanding his weakness. Suppose I scheduled a 10-minute call and pointed out the gaps in his profile. The next day he could come up with a list of non-profits where he could work. Then we would analyze the story that could be crafted around the engagement. Whether it complements or supplements his day job. When he faced rejection in an interview that he was supposed to convert, he came to me, and we analyzed all the answers. We concluded that when the interviewer provoked the client with a stressful question, he lost his cool. He noted down his weakness and requested me to deliberately ask pointed questions. And this time, he managed to keep his cool. He wanted complete and honest feedback on his weaknesses. He was willing to do any corrective work to improve his profile. So when the supervisor commented that the client was an above-average professional, I just wanted to share what he did to improve himself and be in a position to win. 

This quality will help you – 100% commitment to improving yourself.

Another common question is how to persuade my supervisor to write a good recommendation letter. This brought back my experience working with three research writers at F1GMAT. One person did the bare minimum, and within a short period, the person just couldn’t handle the creative and productivity expectations. The second person had moments of greatness but burned out fast and required constant motivation. But the third person, who again was just an above-average writer, owned the project. So this, for me, was the best experience I had working with a writer. Because the person made an effort to understand the requirements, follow up, ensure that the objectives were met, and was completely committed to giving an excellent outcome.

And if all three came and asked me for a recommendation letter, there would certainly be a difference in how I write the letter as a supervisor. It is rare to find someone who commits 100% to the task, especially in our highly distracted world. So if you want to persuade your supervisor, May to December should be a timeframe where you get noticed in your team or in your company. 
Give your 100%. The supervisor will have no option but to write a great recommendation letter. They will notice your commitment and your work.

I hope you got value from my advice. I am Atul Jose. You can always reach out to me here for advice on career planning or improving your profile. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.
 

Welcome to F1GMAT’s Ask Atul Jose series. In today’s episode, I have a question from a reader who is applying for the top 10 MBA programs this year. The question is:

Q) I am working in a boutique management consulting firm. Last week, I got an interview invite for one of the Big 4 consulting companies. Is it wise to switch jobs between May and August, considering the Round 1 deadline for top MBA programs is September and Round 2 is January?

1) Years of Experience: I would definitely look at your years of experience. If you have worked for one employer for the past 2-3 years, with an impressive career progression that could be validated by your current or previous supervisor, then switching jobs now to a large management consulting firm won’t be an issue. But if this is your 3rd  or 4th switch, then it will be a huge problem. Because typically, top schools accept candidates with 2 employer switches if they have less than four years of experience.

2) Round 1 vs. Round 2: The second factor that I would consider is whether you are applying for Round 1 or Round 2. Even if you consider 1-2 months of onboarding, you would have at least one project under your belt for Round 2. And the narratives from that experience could have a significant impact on your candidacy if the consulting solution is related to your background or relevant in media, like the threat of AI or Climate Change.

3) GMAT/GRE Prep: The third factor is the disruption the switch in employer would have on your GMAT/GRE prep. When you go to a new company, there is pressure to build your reputation rapidly. And that means working long hours. If you have not taken the GMAT/GRE, which requires at least two months of preparation, it will be a challenge to balance your work with the test preparation. 

4) Goals: The fourth and most important factor would be the impact of the switch on your goals. I have read so many essays where the applicant clearly highlighted the need for an MBA because either it would help them transition to a different function or a different industry or pivot to a company of a larger size where they could manage more people, bigger projects, and complex ecosystems. 

So if the scale of the responsibilities of your new job function is considerably larger than the current job function and the increase in salary is also sizeable, then the admissions team would wonder whether an MBA is required or not.

So to summarize: 

1) Look at your years of experience and whether you are switching jobs too frequently
2) Are you applying for Round 2
3) Have you taken the GMAT/GRE
4) Is the scale of the responsibilities or the increase in salary so large that an MBA might seem unnecessary?

If you want your questions about MBA/Master’s application or Career Planning answered, reach out to me. Or you can message me through Skype at F1GMAT. I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.
 

Welcome to F1GMAT’s Ask Atul Jose series. I am Atul Jose. 

In today’s episode, I have a question from a reader who asks:

Q) I have a GMAT 750 and applied to M7 schools last year, got dinged in 5 without an interview, waitlisted in 1, and rejected after an interview in one. How should I approach the M7 MBA reapplication process?

The rejection pattern reveals something about your application. Since you only got one interview invite from the 7, there is a definite weakness in your narrative, volunteering/extracurricular, or branding that influenced the outcome. 

Before reapplying, follow these 4 Essential Strategies:

1) The Reapplication Essay: Not all schools look down on reapplicants. Even if most schools promote themselves by saying that from all the applications, close to 10% are reapplicants, the best place to find this is to see whether the school just has one question – for reapplicants. Or do they allow fresh applications with all the required and optional essays?

From the M7 schools, Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, and MIT Sloan provide reapplicants the opportunity to apply as fresh applicants, while Wharton and Booth only have one question for reapplicants. Columbia also allows reapplication on a fresh slate, but the only criterion is that the gap between the applications should be greater than 12 months. This is because Columbia has two entering classes (January and August).

If it is just one question for reapplicants, it is an uphill task to persuade the admissions committee unless, in the past year, you have acquired significant and unique experiences – professionally, in volunteering, or through extracurricular.

2) Goals: The most common reason for rejection are goals that are not aligned with your experiences mentioned through your professional, volunteering, or extracurricular achievements. Schools evaluate your quantitative capabilities through GMAT/GRE Quant, your college transcripts, and even the corrective courses you might have taken to mitigate any weaknesses in statistics, calculus, or other quant-oriented topics. If you have a non-traditional degree or you graduated from a tier-2 school, then you should give extra emphasis on improving your GMAT/GRE score. The narratives that you used to demonstrate your personality traits or values in the essay also influence the feasibility of achieving the goals that you have mentioned in the application. 

So everything is connected to your goals and motivations. Even if you create a great narrative and the goals are too ambitious or too easy, you will face a similar outcome as last year.

3)Age: If you have crossed 30 this year, you should understand that unless you are a top candidate from performing arts (Broadway, Standup comedy, Tik Tok/YouTube Videos), or you are from the military or the government or non-profit, there are certain expectations in terms of the milestones that you achieve professionally when you cross 30. Compared to last year, if you had a significant improvement in your contributions to the projects/clients or you gained a large audience because of your unique brand, then reapply. 

If, after your non-traditional background, you pivoted to another function that is not what you have mentioned in the goals essay, then again, you will face rejection. Schools don’t like 3-4 time career switchers. If the narrative is about growth or scaling, schools are much more accepting of the goals. So again, everything is related to the goals that you are mentioning. 

The admissions team looks at your age and your previous attempts at career switching and then makes a call on whether the goals are feasible or not with an MBA. 

4) Recommenders: The narrative in your essay is half the job. The rest comes through the recommendation letters. We are not saying that you should write or edit the letters. But all schools expect some guidance from applicants on what to highlight for the recommendation letters. Our recommendation letter editing service at F1GMAT does just that. For supervisors who need guidance, we offer a detailed guideline document as a service. There are some supervisors whose first language might not be English. For such a supervisor, we can assist in translating the terms to common English and help with editing without the intervention of applicants. This maintains the integrity of the process. Also, pick supervisors who genuinely would like to see you succeed. That enthusiasm will show in the letter. They will also cooperate when a consultant helps with a guideline document.

Since most schools keep the file of the applicant for at least one year, you have to approach reapplication with fresh eyes. I can help you with that. You can reach out to me here. Or you can message me through Skype at F1GMAT. I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.
 

Welcome to F1GMAT’s Ask Atul Jose series. I am Atul Jose. 

In today’s episode, I will share 3 branding strategies for your Harvard MBA Application. When I interact with clients who are serious about getting into Harvard, they initially focus entirely on the Essay. And I often stop them and take them through their professional, volunteering, and extra-curricular milestones. This is because even if you write the greatest Essay, the resume, your recommendation letters, and the first impressions the admissions team have about you - all eventually will contribute towards your admission chances.  

Don’t look at the application as just the Essay. 

Here are 3 Branding Strategies that you must keep in mind for your Harvard MBA Application. 

1) Extraversion

When you think about it, Harvard MBA is the most popular program by application volume. Each year the school receives more than 8000 applications. Imagine the essays, resumes, recommendation letters, and additional questions that a typical AdCom must read. Like in any profession, we tend to develop shortcuts to navigate volume and complexity. If you look at how job portals filter applicants, they tend to value certain keywords. For Harvard, creating a good first impression is essential. And extraversion is the #1 trait.

Despite rapid changes in technology, the ups and downs of the economy, and even the pandemic-related fluctuations in enrollment, the school has stuck with the case study method. And for a typical Harvard MBA, their performance or ability to articulate ideas to a large peer group in class in a succinct manner determines their grade. 

So when you shortlist extra-curricular and volunteering activities for your Harvard MBA application, make sure that you include as many group or collaborative activities as possible. 

2) Balancing Uniqueness with the Typical

The biggest challenge for an admissions consultant like me is in finding a balance between positioning the applicant for uniqueness while including all the skills and qualities that are required to excel in a post-MBA job or function. This requires listing all unusual exposures to countries, functions, industries, team dynamics, and scenarios. Like if your role is only about excelling in due diligence, then how do you stand out? Your ability to stand out then will depend on the complexity of the project. Maybe there is a continuing legal challenge for a merger because the pricing wasn’t great for the business owner. So they are stalling the process through legal means. You might have to find data or insights that finally gave your company leverage to persuade the seller to come back to the negotiation table. These are small but very important details that determine multi-million dollar or multi-billion dollar deals to close. For the post-MBA role that you mention in your goals question, there are typical qualities that are expected, but then it is all about your unique experiences.

The common misinterpretation of uniqueness is about global exposure. Although working with an international team or cross-culturally has huge value, it is not always about working in a global team. I have seen applicants use travel for projects or work in multiple cities internationally in their narrative. But you have to understand that in our global economy,  it will be extremely rare that you have not traveled for work, especially if you are in a Technology or Management Consulting role. But for IB, PE, or VC roles, your experiences will be entirely tied to a region. It doesn’t mean you don’t have any chance to get into a top school. Here you have to include narratives that are product-related, team-related, or if you are an entrepreneur, it should be about the vision of the company.

 3) Work Ethics vs. Vulnerability

Clients who apply to Harvard also apply to Stanford. So I have heard this question several times. Harvard typically had only one Essay. You must figure out the tone, theme, and examples for your Essay. And unlike Stanford, which really looks forward to knowing you, the vulnerable person behind the job, Harvard doesn’t take in too many lines about your feelings or deep fears or deep regrets.

There is a certain balance. And strangely, your work ethic, preparedness, and just the determination to get things done are valued more than a narrative that shows your vulnerability. That is a big difference I have seen while helping applicants customize their Essays for Harvard. I am not saying you can’t show some vulnerability, but when you compare what is accepted at Stanford, Harvard is more about grit, preparedness, evolved problem-solving skills, collaboration, and learning. An insatiable appetite for learning from everything and everyone.

I hope you have a fair understanding of how to position your personal brand for the Harvard MBA Application. 

To start a conversation on our consulting, profile evaluation, school selection, essay review, recommendation letter editing, interview preparation, and scholarship/fellowship application editing services, you can reach out to me . Or you can message me through Skype at F1GMAT. I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.

Welcome to F1GMAT #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. Today I don’t have a question, but I began to wonder what makes an applicant a winning applicant. I found that they all had a story. A story that helped them stand out from a similar-looking profile. This is one of the common reasons why a GMAT 750 or someone with an excellent GPA gets dinged. They don’t ask themselves, “What is my Story .”They are somehow in a rush to submit applications. It becomes just a task. And they are hoping that by applying to the top 5 or 7, or 10 schools, one of the applications will work. And it did. 

Many times with my support and editing. I also had clients who understood that working on the core story is the most important part of the application. They were not in a rush. Most importantly, they started the application process even before the essays were announced. They were curious to find out what they lacked in their volunteering, extra-curricular or professional trajectory.

There are two ways to find your core story. I will help you figure it out in this episode of the #askAtulJose series.

Before we start, check out my Essay Guide –  Winning MBA Essay Guide. If you purchase anytime between May and July, you will get two versions of the Winning MBA Essay Guide. That is the previous year’s version and the versions that I update for the year, which means more sample essays. More strategies and a wider option to create your story.

Now back to the podcast.

The first question you must ask to find your core story is:

What are the cool projects that I did?

I remember a conversation with someone working in Robotics where he went on and on about the technical specifications and the way in which the machine moved sacks of grains from the storage to the trucks. And the prioritization of the batch of grain was determined by the destination of the export. It sounded amazing for someone like me who has an Engineering background. But then I noticed that he stopped the conversation. But what is the purpose of this solution?

That is when it occurred to him to mention the mission of the company. The founders were from an underprivileged background and noticed weaknesses in the supply chain that had a horrible impact on their society. So this was not a non-profit but a proper silicon valley Venture capital supported company. There was a larger story that the applicant could have easily associated with. But the instinct to focus on the solution instead of the purpose can make any story into a technical narrative.   
Why your company exists should be the first question you need to address before associating your personality traits with the success of a project.

The second question you have to ask is

What were my aha moments?

I had two aha moments.

One was when I was sitting in a Computer Networking lecture in Engineering. And the professor was a child actor in South India. And this guy was a really good actor. It was a cult classic in early 90s. And like a monologue, he was using storytelling to explain subnets and a few other concepts in Computer Networking that he really knew. The person still got it.

He is a great storyteller. He should not be teaching Computer networks. He should be in some stage acting and moving the audience just as he did when he was a child actor. And that lecture made me wonder whether I am in the right career. That was my first aha moment.

The second aha moment. I will not mention the names of the schools. But before pivoting to Consulting and Editing Services, we used to generate leads for schools. And these numbers were pretty impressive. And for them, we were just another platform. I had already become disenchanted with lead generation for schools. So I began editing application essays, and then the first client got into an M7 school. And the person wrote a heartfelt thank you letter that got me through so many tough moments in my life. And that matters. Because when you think about what is easy vs. what feels right, this moment was one of them. And I felt that I have a purpose now. 

So for you, you have to find that aha moment where your contribution was acknowledged in such a way that you felt that you found your life’s purpose. It need not be a problem that could easily be solved. It could be a hugely ambitious problem statement. But you felt good chasing this goal. That moment is what is lacking in most application essays. It is a cookie cutter; I did this. I was good at that. Now I feel I want to do an MBA. By the way, this works for schools outside the top 7 list. That is all they are expecting.

Even MIT is not expecting a lot of storytelling. But almost all top schools want to see you – the person.  

Why you are chasing such an ambitious goal. What is driving you?

List at least one moment in your life where you felt:

1) Self-doubt (when you questioned your ability)
2) Anger (when you couldn’t achieve the expected results)
3) Loyalty (when you believed in your team despite their weaknesses)
4) Inspired (to continue despite imminent setback)
5) Joy (when you accomplished a goal)

These should not be empty emotions.

You should have taken some action from these emotions or felt the emotion after accomplishing a goal, something related to a project, a career decision, a founding story, volunteering, or a family event.

I hope you understood the importance of having a core story.

To start a conversation on our consulting, profile evaluation, school selection, essay review, recommendation letter editing, interview preparation, and scholarship/fellowship application editing services, you can reach out to me through F1GMAT's Contact form. Or you can message me through Skype at F1GMAT. 

I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.
 

Welcome to F1GMAT’s #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. Today’s question is related to storytelling. The question is: 
 

Q) My storytelling skills are not that great. How can I improve my skills in the shortest time so that I am ready for the Round 1 deadline in September?

Atul Jose (Founding Consultant, F1GMAT): Start a blog.

Writing freely and capturing your authentic self requires writing the good lines, the mediocre lines, and even the lines you won’t be proud of in a few months. If you write with your actual name, the creative expressions could be misinterpreted by your friends, family, and, worse, the MBA admissions team. A better strategy is to use a pseudonym and make sure that your primary network has limited access to the blog.

Why the strange strategy?

Just like essays, when shown to family and friends, writing a personal anecdote that features them won’t invite honest opinions about your writing. Also, they don’t want to hurt your feelings and would hesitate to offer constructive criticism. They will be excited about appearing in a story more than judging you on the quality of storytelling.

Writing a Blog is a creative exercise that will sharpen your writing and give you a unique flow for the MBA application essays.

If you want the time invested in writing a blog to be relevant for your MBA admissions essays, here are 10 blog topic lists that you can use:

1) My First Failure

2) The moment I realized that (my_current_profession) is for me

3) The moment I realized that (my_current_profession) is not for me

4) My First big success professionally

5) My First big success personally

6) A life philosophy that has helped me cope with challenging circumstances

7) A conflict with a friend/co-worker I regret

8) How I see myself 5 years from now

9) How I see myself 10 years from now

10) 10 Things I would change in the society

I am Atul Jose. If you want to learn about storytelling for MBA application essays, Download the Winning MBA Essay Guide.

Or if you need help directly from me in creating a narrative, editing or guiding you through the writing process, subscribe to F1GMAT’s Essay Review Service 

Welcome to F1GMAT's Ask Atul Jose Series. I am Atul Jose.

Q) I am a late 20s applicant from Technology, based in the US, targeting all top MBA programs. As someone who has worked in London, Boston, and now in New York,  I have no geographical preference. Should I choose a 1-year or a 2-year program? My goal is to transition into a Management Consulting role.

Atul Jose (Founding Consultant, F1GMAT): 

This answer is from the 2024 entering class perspective. From my 14 years as an admissions consultant, I am seeing large layoffs in Management Consulting for the first time. From 2009 to 12, there was a significant drop in recruitment in the Finance industry. Investment Banking was the most affected. Even schools known for placing Investment Banking professionals were impacted. So you have to consider Management Consulting from four factors:

1) Recovery Time: 2025 – when you graduate with a 1-year program, it would be a sufficient timeframe for the industry to come back. Unfortunately, if you look at the recovery in Technology and Investment Banking, it typically takes 3-4 years for a complete recovery. The stock market is a leading indicator and might not reflect the realities on the ground. The cycle I have seen is that the stock market recovers a year before the actual demand in the workforce stabilizes. So from a pure risk management perspective – a 2-year MBA would be ideal for you.

2) Disruption from AI and Chat GPT: Automation through IoT and AI-assisted decision-making tools has been going strong since 2016, but the mass disruption of Chat GPT-like tools could mean companies will integrate solutions that will cut the costliest functions and Technology in the company. And two components that add to a company’s cost structure are technologists and external consultants. Companies are already pivoting to developing internal consulting talents – mostly MBAs instead of paying 3 to 4 times to an external consultant from the Big 4. I am not saying that all major consulting companies will be disrupted, but from a career perspective, you must choose whether to continue in Technology Consulting or pivot completely to Management Consulting, where you have options to serve many industries. In a way, you are reducing the risk by choosing Management Consulting instead of being a specialist in Technology.

3) Your Strengths: If you are naturally good at collaborating, communicating with multiple stakeholders and find that managing technology projects or working only in one domain is limiting, then a career in Management Consulting makes sense.

4) Increase in Salary: Another challenge you are likely to face is the increase in Salary. Management Consulting is the most well-paid role, but since the slowdown in the industry, recruiters will try to leverage existing talent. Since you are working in Technology – another high-paying industry, the increase in Salary might not be dramatic. So you are looking at a 2-year lost opportunity cost and the cost of an MBA that runs upward of $200,000. Most top schools offer scholarships/funding in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, but you are still expected to pay close to $100,000 to $140,000. If you are not excited about the cost and the increase in Salary, one way to navigate the problem is to ask your current employer for sponsorship.

If you are a top 1-2 percentile performer, employers will gladly take a risk on you. If the company has roles in Management Consulting, this would be a great opportunity to reduce risk and join back. If they fund your MBA, the chance they will let you go is also low. So this is a path you should consider if you fund the entire program. But if you have the means to fund an MBA, then focus on customizing the curriculum to develop skills you lack now.
 

I hope you got value from my advice. I can help you shortlist schools, MBA/Masters programs and assist you with the application, including essays (application/scholarship/fellowship) and interview preparation.

You can start a conversation with me by visiting https://www.store.f1gmat.com/contact-f1gmat or by subscribing to F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service at https://www.store.f1gmat.com/career-planning

Welcome to F1GMAT's #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. Today's question is from a Doctor in London. The question is:

Q) I am a 32-year-old Doctor from London with a typical 9-5 job. Although I can earn more by working additional hours, I have reached a career ceiling as a doctor. On the side. I have a few investments in real estate, and recently, I began to read up on Private Equity. Would it be wise to get an MBA this year and pivot completely to a private equity career?

Atul Jose (Admission Consultant, F1GMAT): There are  6 factors that you need to consider before switching to a Private Equity career.

1) Trends in Private Equity: As we had covered in the 2023 Private Equity Outlook analysis, this is the first year after 2 years of growth that we see a significant slowdown in the Private Equity Industry. This after 2 years of record-breaking performance in 2021 and 2022. The decline in deals and fund-raising challenges were brought about by the increase in interest rates and the inflation that was only worsened by the War in Ukraine. Banks had to withdraw the funding for leveraged transactions, which is what Private Equity is mostly about. But you can't make such a big career decision just based on a short-term trend, not at least for 2023, as you will join an MBA program by 2024 if you decide to apply this year. You still have time to understand the industry and see how to leverage your background as a doctor.

The biggest risk if you continue in the Healthcare industry is that during the Pandemic, Healthcare was the second-largest industry that PE firms served only next to IT. The interest in the industry increased by 43% in 2021 and 47% in 2022. Unfortunately, the investment has kind of peaked a bit. But still, healthcare remains an interesting industry since PE firms own close to 30% of all hospitals in the US. For the UK, the case is very different. There are regulatory hurdles that prevent PE firms from investing in companies that are offering competing services to the NHS. So you can't expect huge investments from European or UK PE firms in patient care, hospital infrastructure, or technology. That limits your opportunities if you plan to work in the UK.

Typically, you need an Investment Banking career before transitioning into PE. But some boutique PE firms are open to accepting career switchers with no experience in Investment Banking. Even if you choose Healthcare, which is a likely transition for you, you must pick schools with excellent curricula and peer groups to make this transition. And with an MBA, the peer group matters even more as these networks open up most opportunities.

Stanford and Harvard should be your first and second choice as, over the past 3 years, 14-15% of their class have entered the Private Equity industry.  Even if this percentage are mostly PE professionals going back to the industry, networking with this group matters.

2. Salary: The salary was stagnant for the longest time I could remember from 2009, but then post-pandemic, there was a big uptick in salary. Now the range is $175,000 to $200,000 for a top program, with a bonus taking it close to $250,000 to $300,000. When you compare that to what a Consultant earns as an NHS doctor, even with other consulting opportunities, I can speculate that the salary would fall short of the post-MBA private Equity compensation.

3. Intellectual Stimulation: This is the biggest factor that motivates mid-career professionals to ditch safe jobs and take risks. After a certain point, the extra $ doesn't offer a huge increment in life satisfaction. So you have to think about the career change. Unlike the satisfaction of helping a person heal or diagnosing a condition, private equity is extremely analytical. Even all the meetings and understanding the psychology of the business owner is to get the data. Once you have the sales/revenue/market opportunities/cost constraints data, it is a Quant exercise. And not many people can do that consistently or even enjoy it in the long run. So when an applicant comes to me and says, I did a course in Private Equity, and I loved the concepts, understand that the day-to-day or even the opportunities that a beginner or a person who transitioned into Private Equity gets will be completely different from the cool things that you read on PE.

4. Working Hours: Long hours are universal across industries. For a doctor like you, this might have been the experience initially before the 9-5 job. But for a Management Consultant, PE professional, or Investment Banker, this trend continues throughout their 30s well into their mid-40s. So you should be realistic about the work it requires to change careers. If you are starting a family, the career transition could put additional strain. I would advise that you discuss this with your partner/family.

5. Reputation: If you are planning to enter Finance, how your peers see you will be completely different from the experience you are having now. The ''respect'' that you earned - you have to earn it from scratch. This could be an intimidating thought for many career switchers. So mentally prepare for that.

6. Entrepreneurship: If you are running your own show, you should consider many factors related to your investment/business before shortlisting programs/schools. Now the challenge is to balance Intellectual Stimulation with Salary/Compensation.

There is a threshold.

If the salary goes below it, no matter how intellectually satisfying the experience is, you will start questioning your decisions. This could be even more challenging if you are pivoting to an Entrepreneurial career. I can help you think in that direction with F1GMAT's Career Planning service at store.f1gmat.com/career-planning, and help you dissect opportunities in Real Estate from a Private Equity Perspective. 

So the bigger question is - are you willing to risk your career as a Doctor for a Finance career?
Is there a way to pivot safely before risking 1-2 years with an MBA? Sometimes when you start working in a new function/industry, the initial rosy picture will start to fade. I would definitely recommend that you immerse yourself with professional groups in Finance/Real Estate on the side. Get used to their jargon and thought process. If you are intellectually stimulated by these topics and the new peer group, that is a sign that you are ready to take the risk.

I hope you have some directions to start. You can always subscribe to F1GMAT's Career Planning Service.

I am Atul Jose. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.