INSEAD - MBA - Newsletter

Changing your career with an MBA

By Sandra Schwarzer, Director of Career Services

Thinking about changing careers? The MBA can help you achieve your goal – but you will still need to work hard to turn your ambitions into a reality.

There are many reasons for wanting to change careers. You might not be satisfied with your current job but like the sector. Maybe you want to make more money or travel the world. Maybe you want to be your own boss or join a humanitarian organisation.

Whatever your reasons, chances are you will want to change careers in your mid-20s to mid-30s and again in your 40s. And an MBA degree can help you do it.

Out of INSEAD’s 887 MBA participants who graduated in 2007, 87 percent made some sort of career change upon graduation – either in their sector or functional area or in their country of work. And out of those, 30 percent changed all three dimensions at once!

Obviously, for these graduates studying at INSEAD was really helpful. But the MBA is not the only thing you need for a career change. To prepare for a successful post-MBA career, you should also consider the following suggestions which we have gathered from our many years of experience working in career services:

Take the time to reflect on your career aspirations. Changing careers is almost a full-time job, so the reflection process you will go through when applying for an MBA is a great way to get started. Understanding your competencies, your interests and your values will help you in the reflection process:
Your competencies are the skills and experience you have acquired; your knowledge of the global energy markets, your ability to sell products or to manage client relationships, or your capacity to analyse complex financial models are just some examples;

Your interests will make you unique. Think about what you like to do; what excites you; what kinds of books you read. You might be volunteering your time to non-profit, invest in an equities portfolio, climb mountains, advise friends who start their own business or create a new venture yourself;
As for your values, do not underestimate the importance that they play in job satisfaction. Whether you are motivated by money, prestige, challenging work, opportunity for advancement, family or doing good – you need to be conscious of the things which motivate job and career choices.

Investigate the steps you will need to reach your goal. Even after obtaining your MBA, you might still need to acquire certain skills to get the ONE position you really want. Start your research by networking with people who are in these positions today and ask them about the key skills they needed to succeed, and how they acquired those skills. If done correctly, networking will help you gather information, gain exposure to the job market, and ideally help you acquire referrals to expand your network. Networking is often a difficult process, especially as you need a lot of time, and might feel uncomfortable talking to strangers, but you will feel more at ease after a while.

Ask yourself not only ‘what do I want’, but also ‘what can I offer’ to a potential employer. Even though an accomplishment may be important to you, this does not mean that it has the same relevance for the targeted job. Check requirements of your dream job and ask yourself whether you would be considered as a ‘target employee’, whether you can meet their needs and if they know this.

Be aware that ‘just the MBA’ will not do. Recruiters will check whether you have understood their business, so do your homework. Understand the market, the company and its competitors, read about industry trends, or new products. One of our recent graduates wanted to join the Clean-Tech sector and spent many weeks working on (unpaid) research projects, going to industry conferences to gain the knowledge and commitment he needed to demonstrate in the interviews. Just weeks after graduation he signed for his dream job in London.

Most importantly, decide whether you are pursuing your own or someone else’s dream. You will be spending a lot of time and money on your MBA. When evaluating your career aspirations, take a minute and think about how much you really want to become a banker, consultant, or business developer. Even though your parents, friends, partner or colleagues might really enjoy this job, this does not make it into the ideal career choice for you. Stick to your dream.

The work you will do at INSEAD will lay the foundation for future career transitions. INSEAD’s Career Services team partners with you throughout the entire job search process, from self-assessment to negotiating the offer, and we will remain your partner when you will join the alumni community. Remember that the ‘value’ of your MBA is not necessarily linked to a company brand, but rather to the scope and content of your job, and the career opportunities you will be able to receive later on.