Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

JonFrank

What is up guys. We are BACK from China, and ready to roll. Lets do this shall we? Here is a question we received from one of our friends in Taiwan (we have translated it into English of course...)
Hey Jon, I'm preparing to apply for MBA. I am working as an engineer in the semiconductor company and I have some question about applying B-school.
1.Recently I am thinking about how to tell my direct supervisors that I am thinking about applying for MBA and would like to ask him to write a letter of recommendation. But I am afraid if my director doesn’t approve or once he knows I am going to school and not focusing in working here, he might give those important / valuable things to other colleagues to do?
2. In addition, I am working more like a engineer. Its not easy to write on the leadership part of essay. I'm afraid that I don't have any "real" leadership experience...
==================
Hello my friend. Happy to answer your (great) questions.
1. Yes, this is a very common challenge that many students face. It isn’t Taiwan-specific—I faced it myself when I applied to HBS, Stanford etc. And…I got in everywhere.
Why? Well schools GET it. They understand that sometimes, it is impossible to ask your direct bosses for recs. All you need to do is mention it—either in the optional essay, or elsewhere in the apps. Explain why you couldn’t get one, and you will be juuust fine. Just be sure to find someone who can write about you, who knows you well. If not your direct boss, then someone else…
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Whats up gang--another great question...this time from TAIWAN. Enjoy.
=====================================================
Question about jobs after MBA
1,What should be the reason to go for MBA and what is the advantage to looking for a job after graduation? What kind of job can we get normally?
2.Do we learn more things form professor’s teaching or mostly from self-study and discuss with classmate?
3.What is the general background MBA students have? Will it make difficult to get along with people due to the rich working experience everyone have (when they are having discusses in class)?
4. I heard that the courses are all very heavy and hard, will that make it difficult to graduate?
5. I don’t have management experience, but have six years of working experience in International Trade. Is that bad?
======================================================
Hey there! Happy to offer up some thoughts here. Let’s go in order shall we?
Lots of reasons to go get an MBA. To meet interesting people, to get better jobs, to explore new fields, to take a couple years off from work…these are all great reasons. Many people who graduate from MBA programs go into management consulting—although many go into other areas, including banking and general management.
You will learn MUCH more from your classmates than from your professors. This is especially true if you go to a school which focuses on the case study method—that method MEANS that the professor’s job is to help the students teach one another.
The whole point of the MBA classroom is that everyone has DIFFERENT background. This doesn’t make it hard, it makes it AMAZING! That is how you will learn so much—by interacting with people from such different backgrounds.
Some schools are easier than others of course. But generally, your first year will be hard, and your second year will be much easier. It all just takes…some getting used to. I was up until 3 or 4 every morning during my first semester at HBS. But then…that passed.
Many people use the MBA to achieve a career switch. And it works well for them! But one word of warning—do NOT say that that is what you want to do in your apps! Career changes are VERY risky, and you will not want to focus on that in your essays. Tell them that you will go back into your current field; that way they will be assured you will get a JOB. That’s critical stuff. Once you’ve assured them of this fact, once you get to school, you can do whateeeever you want. : ) But avoid career changes in your app at all costs.

Hope this helps my friend, and feel free to reach out to me anytime.
AND good luck to everyone

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

Dharma001

Hi Jon,

Do you see top B-school enroll students with some management experience in industry (say a couple of years)?
Are those students well presented in the class or is it just some rare case?

Thanks a lot for your insights.

RS

.......
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/1 23:27:24)

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

Do you see top B-school enroll students with some management experience in industry (say a couple of years)?
Are those students well presented in the class or is it just some rare case?

Thanks a lot for your insights.

RS

.......
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/1 23:27:24)

-- by 会员 Dharma001 (2011/7/10 22:02:28)

Hey there—two years is the BARE MINIMUM for most schools.  Typically we see three instead, and back when I applied to HBS that number was 4 (in 2003).  As you get to fewer and fewer years of business experience, those candidates become more and more impressive.  That is, if somehow you can convince the adcom that you are mature and good enough to join Stanford’s class without ANY work experience—or even just a year or two—you will likely be VERY smart.  There were two people at HBS who came straight out of school into our class, and they were two of the smartest people IN THE ENTIRE HBS CLASS.  J  So yes it is possible, but you’d better be a stand-out…  Hope this helps my friend!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

Streeter2012

Hey Jon, I read your 'avoid career switch' advice over the career goal essay. To some extent, I agree with you, because such goals are risky and might negatively impact the employment report of the school.

But on the other side of the coin, Adcom wanna hire someone who possess the potential to achieve some exceptional success in future, say entrepreneurship, because such successes could gain fame and donations for the schools in future.

Furthermore, if I state that I will go back to my current industry, it will lead to another problem here. Take myself as an example, I am an auditor in big 4 accounting firms. I don't need a MBA to achieve the career progression in my firm. Then why MBA? And why now?

Hence, I think it's a dilemma, on one hand, we need practical goals, ideally just go back to our industry, on the other hand, we need to demonstrate our potential to achieve exceptional success in future? Does it mean we have to find a balance between the two sides? I would like to hear more from you over the topic?

In addition, I heard two voices over the long-term career goal.
One says the we have to be very specific about the detail of long-term goal to assess whether it's achievable and realizable. The short-term goal is not important comparing to the long-term one.
Another voice is that long-term goal is just a vision, no need to be very detail while the short-term goal plays a more important role.

I would like to hear your comments over the two voices. Thank you very much.

JonFrank

Hey Jon, I read your 'avoid career switch' advice over the career goal essay. To some extent, I agree with you, because such goals are risky and might negatively impact the employment report of the school.

But on the other side of the coin, Adcom wanna hire someone who possess the potential to achieve some exceptional success in future, say entrepreneurship, because such successes could gain fame and donations for the schools in future.

Furthermore, if I state that I will go back to my current industry, it will lead to another problem here. Take myself as an example, I am an auditor in big 4 accounting firms. I don't need a MBA to achieve the career progression in my firm. Then why MBA? And why now?

Hence, I think it's a dilemma, on one hand, we need practical goals, ideally just go back to our industry, on the other hand, we need to demonstrate our potential to achieve exceptional success in future? Does it mean we have to find a balance between the two sides? I would like to hear more from you over the topic?

In addition, I heard two voices over the long-term career goal.
One says the we have to be very specific about the detail of long-term goal to assess whether it's achievable and realizable. The short-term goal is not important comparing to the long-term one.
Another voice is that long-term goal is just a vision, no need to be very detail while the short-term goal plays a more important role.

I would like to hear your comments over the two voices. Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 Streeter2012 (2011/7/12 10:04:41)

It would be my pleasure to help my friend.  Other than a few strange bits of advice at the end of your message, all your points are very smart!  J  It is true, that schools want people who will make lots of money, and donate it back to the school.  But the people who will achieve this success, most often, will be realists.  eople who know what they are good at, people who spend time building a track record, and people who take smart steps to achieve their goals.  eople with a PROVEN record of success.  You need to be one of these people to get into bschool—no program (no great program) will admit you based on just a dream.  They want PROOF that you will succeed.

Now, in the case of accounting, you are correct—schools DON’T want you to go back into accounting.  It isn’t the most sexy business!  J But what is logical?  What is connected?  Well, banking for example.  Even Private Equity (although we do not recommend that as a path). But just for example’s sake, these are FINANCIAL in nature, unlike general management, consulting, etc.  It would be VERY hard to connect accounting to management consulting.  We have done it of course, successfully!  But it is HARD.

And finally, when it comes to goals, you need to be as specific as possible.  Short term, long term—the more research you have done, the more realistic you are—the more likely the adcom is to BELIEVE you, when you spell out your vision.  So get nice and specific, FOR SURE.  Anyone who tells you otherwise, well, shouldn’t be sharing opinions at all…

Hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

lakerfan123

Hey Jon, I read your 'avoid career switch' advice over the career goal essay. To some extent, I agree with you, because such goals are risky and might negatively impact the employment report of the school.

But on the other side of the coin, Adcom wanna hire someone who possess the potential to achieve some exceptional success in future, say entrepreneurship, because such successes could gain fame and donations for the schools in future.

Furthermore, if I state that I will go back to my current industry, it will lead to another problem here. Take myself as an example, I am an auditor in big 4 accounting firms. I don't need a MBA to achieve the career progression in my firm. Then why MBA? And why now?

Hence, I think it's a dilemma, on one hand, we need practical goals, ideally just go back to our industry, on the other hand, we need to demonstrate our potential to achieve exceptional success in future? Does it mean we have to find a balance between the two sides? I would like to hear more from you over the topic?

In addition, I heard two voices over the long-term career goal.
One says the we have to be very specific about the detail of long-term goal to assess whether it's achievable and realizable. The short-term goal is not important comparing to the long-term one.
Another voice is that long-term goal is just a vision, no need to be very detail while the short-term goal plays a more important role.

I would like to hear your comments over the two voices. Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 Streeter2012 (2011/7/12 10:04:41)

It would be my pleasure to help my friend.  Other than a few strange bits of advice at the end of your message, all your points are very smart!  J  It is true, that schools want people who will make lots of money, and donate it back to the school.  But the people who will achieve this success, most often, will be realists.  eople who know what they are good at, people who spend time building a track record, and people who take smart steps to achieve their goals.  eople with a PROVEN record of success.  You need to be one of these people to get into bschool—no program (no great program) will admit you based on just a dream.  They want PROOF that you will succeed.

Now, in the case of accounting, you are correct—schools DON’T want you to go back into accounting.  It isn’t the most sexy business!  J But what is logical?  What is connected?  Well, banking for example.  Even Private Equity (although we do not recommend that as a path). But just for example’s sake, these are FINANCIAL in nature, unlike general management, consulting, etc.  It would be VERY hard to connect accounting to management consulting.  We have done it of course, successfully!  But it is HARD.

And finally, when it comes to goals, you need to be as specific as possible.  Short term, long term—the more research you have done, the more realistic you are—the more likely the adcom is to BELIEVE you, when you spell out your vision.  So get nice and specific, FOR SURE.  Anyone who tells you otherwise, well, shouldn’t be sharing opinions at all…

Hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/13 9:37:45)

Very Impressive, can't agree more. Thanks for the advice.

m1nt

Hey Jon, I read your 'avoid career switch' advice over the career goal essay. To some extent, I agree with you, because such goals are risky and might negatively impact the employment report of the school.

But on the other side of the coin, Adcom wanna hire someone who possess the potential to achieve some exceptional success in future, say entrepreneurship, because such successes could gain fame and donations for the schools in future.

Furthermore, if I state that I will go back to my current industry, it will lead to another problem here. Take myself as an example, I am an auditor in big 4 accounting firms. I don't need a MBA to achieve the career progression in my firm. Then why MBA? And why now?

Hence, I think it's a dilemma, on one hand, we need practical goals, ideally just go back to our industry, on the other hand, we need to demonstrate our potential to achieve exceptional success in future? Does it mean we have to find a balance between the two sides? I would like to hear more from you over the topic?

In addition, I heard two voices over the long-term career goal.
One says the we have to be very specific about the detail of long-term goal to assess whether it's achievable and realizable. The short-term goal is not important comparing to the long-term one.
Another voice is that long-term goal is just a vision, no need to be very detail while the short-term goal plays a more important role.

I would like to hear your comments over the two voices. Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 Streeter2012 (2011/7/12 10:04:41)

It would be my pleasure to help my friend.  Other than a few strange bits of advice at the end of your message, all your points are very smart!  J  It is true, that schools want people who will make lots of money, and donate it back to the school.  But the people who will achieve this success, most often, will be realists.  eople who know what they are good at, people who spend time building a track record, and people who take smart steps to achieve their goals.  eople with a PROVEN record of success.  You need to be one of these people to get into bschool—no program (no great program) will admit you based on just a dream.  They want PROOF that you will succeed.

Now, in the case of accounting, you are correct—schools DON’T want you to go back into accounting.  It isn’t the most sexy business!  J But what is logical?  What is connected?  Well, banking for example.  Even Private Equity (although we do not recommend that as a path). But just for example’s sake, these are FINANCIAL in nature, unlike general management, consulting, etc.  It would be VERY hard to connect accounting to management consulting.  We have done it of course, successfully!  But it is HARD.

And finally, when it comes to goals, you need to be as specific as possible.  Short term, long term—the more research you have done, the more realistic you are—the more likely the adcom is to BELIEVE you, when you spell out your vision.  So get nice and specific, FOR SURE.  Anyone who tells you otherwise, well, shouldn’t be sharing opinions at all…

Hope this helps, and GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/13 9:37:45)

Very Impressive, can't agree more. Thanks for the advice.

-- by 会员 lakerfan123 (2011/7/14 16:39:25)

dude, you must be JF's fan, trying to kissssssssssssss his ass
LOL

Kb24

dude, you must be JF's enemy, trying to kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick his ass.
LOL

Kb24

oh i like his tips too, but no ass kissing. so what about it? bring it on, man. LOL.