http://forums.businessweek.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=74323.9&webtag=bw-bschoolsQ:
Also from NYC area I am 37 with 13 years experience in IT Consulting and Services. I have owned my own company for the last 8 years and have employed up to 6 consultants and have managed up to 45 people during projects my company has engaged in. Most of my projects are with investment banks and hedge funds. Will have masters in Software Engineering from Brandeis University in early 2009.Looking to move from IT consulting to management consulting or IB?
The few information sessions I have attended showcased former students that were all career changers. It’s seems to me that it would be a great move if the career services are there. I think a lot of companies would appreciate the experience we both have in conjunction with the MBA. In the end, I think the MBA only gives you the basic skills and opens doors (to what degree depends on program) after that it’s up to you. I am just concerned about the salary as I already am in the 180-200+ range. I am wondering if it is worth it or if I need a top program if I already have the IB and hedge fund contacts needed to make the move.
What Schools are you looking at?My thoughts on our local options
The NYU part time program looks to have issues with its students fully capitalizing on the NYU nameWharton, Columbia and Cornell (Palisades) programs are close to NYC but expensive (130K +).Baruch, Fordham are lower tier but good reps in NY from what I hear.-->-->
-->-->Indiana--> -->University-->--> has an Online program dual MBA/MS in Finance for 54K but I am reading that IU is more of a regional school and not well known in NY in terms of Alumni.
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UMASS-Amherst - went here for undergrad – they have very cheap 25K Online MBA
A:
I believe there're some critical trigger points to push you on career switching. There're several dimensions need to be considered separately. First, MBA or EMBA? I believe you need one of them, but is the career switching necessary to you? it depends hugely on your passion. IT consulting is more like a service consultant + sales, while you made big $ on that as a king. MC is more like a corporate doctor that you need to diagnose the enterprise problems and provide solutions based on models and financial tools; on the other hand, IB is like a industrial analyst + fund strategist to allocate your clients' $. You'll lose your power in either MC or IB, make about 60% of your current compensation, and work your ass off, probably 12~16 hrs a day in average. Both of these jobs are more suitable for early 30s since they don't need to sleep and are available to fly around the world.
It's never too late to switch career, but where are you going and why.
For other minor considerations, your GMAT scores, family, locations, needed curriculum, and still, MBA or EMBA. if for MC or IB, probably MBA can offer you a more solid training on finance and consulting fundamentals. You're still in very decent age for MBA, while EMBA might be for older executives.
But EMBA might be a great platform to let you share your business amplitude with other executives and hook up with bigger scope in management challenges.
The most important thing is to find out what drives your passion. Then find out where's your next career challenge. What's the gap between your destination and current situation, then the needed part of business training will emerge by itself.
GMAT is the first step for selecting schools. EMBA tends to have lower requirements. But I believe with your abundant entrepreneurial experience, only those very top schools can make up what you lack for.
