Why It Is Important
• The expectation is that you’ll be adding to your team, section, and class as a whole based on your knowledge of various business situations. On top of that, the more exposure you’ve had to business, the more you’ll be able to synthesize what you see in the classroom and relate it to what you’ve seen in your own business life. So for all that your experience can benefit others, it will benefit you most of all. DAN MCCLEARY, FUQUA (DUKE)
• Our classroom is 100 percent case method. Cases are stories about real people in real organizations with real problems to address. We believe that this learning model is enhanced by participants who bring a real-world perspective to the class discussions. DEE LEOPOLD, HARVARD
• We want a depth and breadth of experience in the first-year class. DAWNA CLARKE, TUCK
• Business school is a great place to take the next step in your career, whether that means taking a significant step forward in your current industry and function or making a transition to an industry and function that you think you’ll enjoy more. Some work experience may help you with making that decision. Work experience may also help you get more out of the classroom. For example, when there are classroom discussions about leadership and you haven’t had to lead or manage a team, it’s harder to add to that discussion. There is also a career-placement dimension. You’ll be competing for jobs with classmates and others who have had work experience, so you may put yourself at a disadvantage in trying to achieve your career goals. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• There are three aspects to this. One is because we rely heavily on the case method. The professor’s role is to get students to share their knowledge, in a structured fashion, with the class. So diversity is a means to an end: the classroom experience is much richer if students have a variety of professional (as well as cultural) backgrounds. Second, we emphasize teamwork, so students who are good at it are valuable. Those who are able to motivate and work with others help other students learn. We find that students with substantial work experience are more likely to have developed these teamwork skills. Third, it helps us evaluate candidates. Also, our students want their fellow students to have substantial work experience so they can maximize their learning in the program. DAVID BACH, INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA (SPAIN)
• An MBA prepares you to become a general manager, a successful leader. That’s why the MBA requires constant and active participation, and that’s also why we strongly encourage our candidates to enter the course with some years of work experience.
In this way, they can exploit to the full their MBA life because they are “participants” and not simply “listeners”; they do not come from a purely academic environment but are, instead, already familiar with company processes and functions. They can compare what they are being taught with their previous professional experience, which therefore becomes part of the learning process for the whole class. ROSSANA CAMERA, BOCCONI (ITALY)
• It is hard to apply theories from the program without having had real work experience. Plus, there are job skills (teamwork, for instance) and maturity that one only gets on the job. MARY GRANGER, ESADE (SPAIN)
What Type of Work Experience Is Most Desirable?
• There is no perfect pre-MBA job. Instead, it’s what you make of it. We look to see how you learn and develop, how you contribute, and what impact you have. ROSE MARTINELLI, CHICAGO
• When deciding between two different jobs, take the one you’re more excited about. You’ll do better at it, and that’s what we care about. We don’t care whether you manage a sports team or go into private equity—just do it well. SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• We look for achievement within a position, progression within a career, and—in terms of career goals—a sense that you know what is possible. That, of course, requires some self-assessment. MICHELE ROGERS, KELLOGG
• What kind of experience and teamwork have they had? Have they had leadership experience in a team environment? Managerial supervisory experience? SALLY JAEGER, TUCK
• We would ideally like to see managerial responsibility, but that is not always possible. Someone in sales, for example, might not have any. ANN W. RICHARDS, JOHNSON (CORNELL)
• We look for candidates with a demonstrated ability to have a positive impact on an organization. We don’t prefer experience in finance to experience in marketing, or vice versa. JAMES HAYES, MICHIGAN
• We really look for people to have the drive and passion to excel at whatever they have tackled, whether as an analyst at an investment bank or working as a Teach for America Corps member. ANNE COYLE, YALE
• We have a very open mind about this. What is most important is that you’ve accomplished things, that you’ve been successful and progressed in your career, and that you’ve demonstrated leadership potential. And whether your experience fits with your plan for the future. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• Not a specific one: we care for the professional and personal growth of our candidates, and we consider the kind of responsibilities they have had, the team spirit shown, and the problem-solving approach possessed. ROSSANA CAMERA, BOCCONI (ITALY)
• Those with science backgrounds, especially in biology and chemistry, are most sought after by recruiters. MARY GRANGER, ESADE (SPAIN)
• It doesn’t particularly matter which company someone’s worked for; what matters is to what extent he or she has made the most of
the opportunities there. STEPHEN CHADWICK, LONDON
• We look for candidates who can bring something unique to the class, so we are looking for very diverse work experience. It is also important that there is a progression in the experience. ANNA FARRÚS, SẠD (OXFORD)
The Appropriate Amount of Experience
• Business schools go through phases regarding how much they value experience. Twenty or thirty years ago the top schools took people right from college. Then, they developed a taste for those with some experience. Now, the pendulum’s swung back a bit.
It’s OK to come here at any point in a career. In fact, we particularly look for young professionals shot out of a cannon. We want quality, not quantity of work experience. What’s been your trajectory on the job—and how many passionate fans have you earned? SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• We look for quality rather than quantity. We certainly prefer seeing someone who has progressed up the ranks quickly than someone who has been in the same position for four years and now says, “I guess that it’s time to go to business school to get out of this rut.” ANN W. RICHARDS, JOHNSON (CORNELL)
• While the case method is enhanced and enriched by students with work experience, our MBA program is not designed for senior executives with many years of functional expertise and line management responsibility. We hope our MBA students come not to focus on “how we did it when I was working at Company X” but to think analytically and boldly about how a problem can be effectively addressed. There may be, in fact, many ways of doing that. DEE LEOPOLD, HARVARD
• There is no right amount. This year over 20 percent of the incoming class has zero to three years of work experience. J. J.
CUTLER, WHARTON
• Our average work experience is five years, although in many cases people have just several years—but of very good work experience. We look at quantity, but the quality of candidates’ experience is more important. DAN MCCLEARY, FUQUA (DUKE)
• The appropriate time to apply depends on your goals and what you have already done. If you want to go into investment banking, two years in an analyst program is enough. If you want to go into brand management, two years of teaching experience is not enough. ANN W.RICHARDS, JOHNSON (CORNELL)
• It depends on your plan for the future. If you’ve done your homework, you know the typical profiles for people going into post-MBA career fields and how well you fit them. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• It depends on the individual. Our average is seven and a quarter years—and we prefer more rather than less. As a one-year program packing in two years’ worth of work, we rely on people being able to grasp concepts and turn them into practical examples. This is easier for those with substantial work experience. In fact, we look for applicants with substantial managerial experience. (In the United States, on the other hand, candidates are typically looking for their first managerial experience after they graduate.) DR. SIMON LEARMOUNT, JUDGE (CAMBRIDGE)
• Cranfield requires more than the three years set by the accreditation bodies. Our students tend to be older than is typical for even European schools (the average age at American schools is significantly younger) and on average our students have nine to ten years’ business experience. That said, we do have some students aged 27 with just four or five years of experience. Much depends on their background and experience as set out in their application form and, if invited for interview, their performance.
SÉAN RICKARD, CRANFIELD (UK)
• We generally prefer more experience rather than less, but someone who wants to totally change careers will be worse off the more experience she has. She’s better off making the career switch as soon as possible. GEA TROMP, ROTTERDAM
Concerning Inexperienced and Younger Candidates
• We evaluate young applicants, such as those still at college, differently from those with substantial experience. If they’re really talented and ready for business, we don’t want to see them idling. We do worry about whether they’ve thought through why they want to do an MBA and what they can contribute in class. SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• It’s substantially more competitive to get in without several years of full-time work experience. DAWNA CLARKE, TUCK
• For someone with two and a half years of professional experience, for example, rather than six years, we’ll care about the applicant’s level of maturity and amount of relevant useful experience. This is particularly important in our program because we have a lot of case teaching and group work. So someone without a lot of experience needs to do the best possible job of presenting his professional abilities and successes. PETER JOHNSON, HAAS
• Younger applicants need to be able to portray their experiences to date, to talk about their role on projects and so on. This shows they’ll be able to contribute in class and in their study groups. They’ll also be able to tell their story to recruiters when the time comes. Therefore, we look at the way they put together their essays and their résumé, to see how recruiters will view them. ANNE COYLE, YALE
• We want someone to share in the classroom the experience they’ve gained in the workplace, so fellow students can benefit from it (rather than just listening to the professor). For this to happen, younger students in particular need self-confidence and assertiveness—an ability and willingness to challenge more experienced classmates when appropriate. We also look for the interpersonal and communication skills that are necessary to do this. JAMES HAYES, MICHIGAN
• It is very tough for college seniors to show that they have accomplished a great deal when they have no professional track record to lean on; it’s hard for them to beat out people who do have a substantial track record. MICHELE ROGERS, KELLOGG
• We don’t require any work experience at Columbia. We’re looking for talented leaders, whether or not they’ve had business experience as such. The people we take straight from college, however, are outstanding on every level—leadership, academics, involvement, risk-taking—and have at least been exposed to business. Some have been working in a family business; others have just grown up in a business environment and have a good idea of what business is about. They may have done various internships or started their own business while in school. In other words, they’re not as green as they might appear. In fact, it’s important they have something they can relate their classroom learning to; they need to understand the context in which ideas will be applied. LINDA MEEHAN, COLUMBIA
• For younger candidates in particular we ask: Do they know themselves? Do they understand the traits and skills they’ve accumulated? Do they know how they’ll apply these to reach their future goals? We want them to be able to apply their past experiences, whatever sort they may be, to classroom discussions and working on a case with their team. They need to be able to contribute in class and help others learn; they also need sufficient context for the business school experience to be meaningful
(to themselves). LINDA MEEHAN, COLUMBIA
• Someone without a great deal of full-time work experience needs to be outstanding in other regards: impact on campus, exemplary academics, and real internships. He or she also needs to articulate clearly why now is the right time to do an MBA. J.
J. CUTLER, WHARTON
• Get the GMAT out of the way while you still remember how to take tests. And then do your homework about a career. So many people are focused on getting into business school, but they should really be focused on figuring out their career instead.
Business school is not the place to figure out your career; it’s the place to achieve it. Your résumé is due in the first week, the recruiters come to NYU Stern in the first month, and interviews happen at the end of your first semester. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• Maturity. Meaning they have a global perspective. They’ll be facing some pretty tough recruiters when they finish the program, so they’ll have to talk a pretty strong story. I would encourage them throughout the program to get some leadership experience here. . . . Given the experience level of others in the class, younger applicants need real confidence in their professional abilities in order to thrive here. KIRT WOOD, ROTTERDAM
• We take about 10 percent of our class each year with little or no experience, and they need to be really exceptional—first-class degrees and extracurriculars and perhaps some informal business experience. ANDREW DYSON, MANCHESTER
• Although experience is not mandatory to be admitted into our program, we do advise our candidates to have at least a couple of years of working experience. This experience is important in helping with class interactions.... It is, however, quite difficult for someone without experience to be admitted into the program; he/she would have to be exceptional in other areas. ANNA FARRÚS, SẠD (OXFORD)
• Ours is a ten-month program, so there is no time to get up to speed. You need to show that you are mature enough and have enough work experience to hit the ground running—and to contribute while you’re here. JOELLE DU LAC, INSEAD
Concerning Older/More Experienced Candidates
• Those with twenty years of experience need to think carefully about whether they should do a part-time or executive MBA program rather than a full-time one. Do they really want to sit in a classroom with 26-year-olds waxing on, pontificating on the basis of their
“vast” experience? SHARON HOFFMAN, STANFORD
• If your goals and background align well, you’re potentially a good fit here regardless of your age. MICHELE ROGERS, KELLOGG
• With older candidates, we look to be sure that they are ready to carry their own weight rather than having others do the laborious work for them. Some highly experienced candidates are accustomed to having people working for them do the number crunching, for instance, and expect this to continue on their project teams. This obviously leads to trouble, so we try to make sure that an older candidate is prepared to do hands-on work. JAMES HAYES, MICHIGAN
• The people coming to recruit at Columbia and other top business schools are looking for people with certain backgrounds to fill the jobs they have. Someone with extensive experience, such as someone in his late thirties, is not going to be the typical graduate coming out of this sort of program. In fact, someone with a huge background in his or her current field will generally have a difficult time trying to make a major career change given that recruiters are not looking for such a person. Their opportunities for employment are going to be more self-directed than provided by the institution. They need to be realistic about what an MBA is going to do for them—whether it will accomplish what they want. If so, they may be a great applicant. . . . In other words, it’s not about their age but about what they want to do and how they expect an MBA to help them accomplish this—and whether or not they have realistic goals. LINDA MEEHAN, COLUMBIA
• They need to describe why a two-year intensive program suits their needs better than continuing to work or doing an executive program would. THOMAS CALEEL, WHARTON
• Make sure this will do for you (career-wise) what you want it to. If you’re thinking of starting as an investment bank analyst—and they usually have two to six years of experience while you have sixteen—that may be a concern for you. Make sure you’ve spoken with people in the industry to be sure you are an attractive profile for those recruiters. Make sure an MBA is a good path into this field. ISSER GALLOGLY, STERN (NYU)
• It’s risky for a highly experienced candidate to look to change careers: Companies may be unwilling to hire someone without experience in the relevant field. We might redirect such a candidate if we feel that we can’t offer what will be necessary to make the career change he or she desires. MARY GRANGER, ESADE (SPAIN)
• It’s a harsh labor market out there. The older someone is, beyond his early thirties, the fewer the job offers he’ll get. We don’t want to take someone who’ll do the program and then find that he can’t get a job. STEPHEN CHADWICK, LONDON
• People with too much experience do not belong in an MBA program. Instead, they should be in an executive MBA program. We look at the number of years of business experience rather than age in determining whether someone will fit. JOELLE DU LAC, INSEAD
Other
• We want to understand whatever transitions an applicant has made. If someone started with one job and then changed job or company, we want to understand why. What was he thinking? What sort of opportunity or challenge was he looking for? DAWNA CLARKE, TUCK
THE CAREER SERVICES DIRECTORS DISCUSS YOUNGER AND OLDER APPLICANTS Younger Applicants
• On the positive side, at the top schools there are only a small number of these students, so some recruiters regard them as pretty special—as being incredibly hardworking and incredibly intelligent. For some recruiting firms, this is very attractive. Oftentimes you’ll run into certain types of firms that value people who are extra smart and are willing to overlook other things. But I wouldn’t say that is the typical MBA recruiter. On the negative side, the student without a lot of business experience who’s being compared to classmates with experience has to be prepared to explain to the recruiter, “Here’s why I would be a great employee at your company. Here are the professional skills and capabilities I have that match what you’re looking for—and these are the reasons I managed to get into this business school.” They have to say it with conviction and without defensiveness—without the feeling they are being overly judged. ANDY CHAN, STANFORD
• As a case method school, we depend on students teaching each other, which is based on the experience they bring. Younger