This question is fantastic! Whatever role I offer here, your actual calling will become apparent as your life follows its natural course.
Background: After working in India’s manufacturing industry, I earned a degree from one of the top ten business institutions in the US.
My Experience: I experienced a rollercoaster first year because I had no idea why I was considering an MBA in my life. Would I have done it differently if I had the chance to go back and change anything about what I had done? NO! Why? My incredible happy ending was the best thing that could have happened. I’ve gotten to the point where I LOVE MY LIFE! No, really!
You know what, as I began my MBA exploration journey, I realized I had no idea WHY I needed an MBA. I only knew that I needed to attend a TOP TIER B-School. I believe I wanted to go because I believed it would enhance my credibility, the perception of my friends and family, and my ability to make more money.
Ten years later, I have assisted thousands of applicants in learning about and navigating their paths to TOP MBA programs. Consider this: I had to submit an extremely incisive essay to gain admission to a TOP MBA in the US, but I knew deep down that I wouldn’t hold onto that account. I was aware that I questioned WHY I WOULD work for a private equity business. When a friend told me that investment bankers are a cool breed and make a lot of money, a year before I started writing my essays, I made the decision that I would graduate from a top school and become the next Gordon Gecko on Wall Street (Gordon Gecko, played by Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street).
I learned about networking in a business school setting during my first year of the MBA. Investment banks used to visit colleges, host parties, and have coffee meetings. Sometime in September, the investment banks began making school visits. I still recall September 11, 2008, when 20 Lehman Brothers investment bankers attended a presentation in one of the Darden School of Business’s largest auditoriums. They got together for drinks in the evening, and they did so with all the Wall Street institutions for over two months.
You know HOW MANY INTERNSHIPS I Cracked After Extensive NETWORKING SESSIONS for TWO MONTHS- and 3 to 4 interview invites?
A LOT of introspection was possible at that time, including how to avoid working in a pizza shop: (
People I encountered in the hallways (those who had internships) would sympathize with me as though I had been given a cancer diagnosis (YES! When you are in a business school and searching for internships, this is how the game is played: the winner is whoever quickly secures the ideal internship!
The realization that I was living in a foreign country, away from my family, and in unfriendly weather was MY MOMENT OF GROWTH. THINGS CAN GO WRONG EVEN IF YOU’RE IN A TOP 10 MBA PROGRAM, I DECIDED! I had to cook for myself, and I frequently called my cousins in India as they partied in different Delhi clubs, wondering what I had done to myself. Why was I in the United States? The employer I used to despise—I even contacted him only to talk to people in Delhi and relive my former life!:)
I grew a LOT throughout that time. I was able to choose skill sets that turned out to be a very valuable asset for me because to how I taught myself over the following three to four months in networking and selling myself to strangers. I am the owner of PythaGURUS Education, an organization that assists individuals in getting into TOP Global programs, and I made a PLEDGE that, thanks to the training I would provide, NO ONE WOULD EVER Attend Business School Unprepared!
I truly GREW UP after the Series of REJECTIONS! Working hard earned me a newfound respect. Working hard, once more, had nothing to do with studying. I needed to SELF-SELL. I cast a wider net and contacted start-ups, Fortune 500 corporations, consulting firms, and other organizations.
I had three internships within two to three months ( General Electric was my top choice out of those). But that wasn’t what made the difference. Not General Electric, but a newfound respect for myself and the way I had begun exploring career options was what got me excited. I also knew that the second year of my MBA would be amazing because all the companies that had gone before me would return, and the entire meteor chain would strike once more.
I successfully joined a TOP Tier consulting business during my second year of my MBA, which was a huge accomplishment for me. I became aware that I was HERE! I recognized I was internally dead after eight months at the company. That was a very difficult period in my life. I came to understand that while I enjoyed my career, I really HATED the corporate culture. My boss used to suck up in that way. I realized I would never want to be that guy, and I addressed that to his employer. If I went on, the best thing that could happen to me is that I would be a partner in a consulting business with a LOT LOT of MONEY, and it did not motivate me.
That was the MOMENT OF TRUTH, and that is when I began my studies in Pythagorus. Because everyone was told to raise their hands if they wanted to get married, my mother believed that NO ONE would dare to give me their daughter.
It has been RUNNING PythaGURUS for ten years. I DO NOT FEEL LIKE MY WORK IS WORK. I genuinely enjoy working with the people I do, spending time with my teams, and getting the phone calls from applicants informing me that they have won millions of dollars in scholarships.
Because I choose specializations, industries, and functions for a living, I can write in great depth about them and how you should choose them. However, I want you to know that it would be very theoretical for you. You won’t discover your REAL calling until you enroll in business school.
I have some recommendations.
- Choose a two-year MBA program rather than a one-year one since it will allow you more time to experiment. I would not have developed in MY LIFE if I had not been given the chance in the second year of the MBA. People who KNOW and REALLY KNOW what they WANT from their MBA should choose a one-year MBA.
- Explore general management-focused business schools. You will be more marketable if you attend these colleges since they will provide you the freedom to experiment with various fields and job roles.
- Before beginning your MBA journey, learn Excel ( Take this seriously)
- Spare your parents’ property from mortgages. I didn’t, and you shouldn’t either. Imagine going through what I did while your angry father is in India attempting to determine whether or not they still own the house:) It will significantly raise the pressure.
- Truly worth the EXPERIENCE is an MBA! I expanded a LOT! And so will you. Do it now.
Despite having a marketing degree, I would choose finance.
The principles underlying finance haven’t altered all that much over the years. The best place to learn how to use principles in the actual world is at business schools. Applying the fundamentals of marketing in a real business setting, however, is like attempting to use a punched card to interact with a modern laptop.
If you are interested in both areas, there are excellent (and current!) books, online courses, and conferences where you can learn about modern marketing.
Follow these guys:
Vaynerchuk, Gary
Guy Kawasaki Andrew Chen
Godin, Seth
Success with your MBA!
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