SHOULD I SWITCH JOBS TO IMPROVE MY CHANCES?

JonFrank

Hanging out on Chasedream, I get asked a LOT of questions. Sometimes in the forums, and sometimes in Private Messages. And the truth is, many of you guys have the same concerns! So I thought I would post some of my answers here so I can help as many people as possible. And here goes the first question:

I am a Chinese male working as an auditor. I have about 9 months of job experience. I understand that business schools get a lot of applications from Chinese men from the financial industry each year and it is very difficult to stand out in such a crowd of applications with almost similar profiles. I am thinking of quitting my current job and doing something different. Maybe consulting? Or as an analyst? Will that improve my chances at a business school?


Again, we see questions like this all the time. And this applicant is correct:  there is a LOT of competition among Chinese males applying for business school. And he is also correct that he's going to have to work hard to stand out among the crowd. This, my friends, is a very smart applicant ;)


Now, just HOW you stand out is the question

Applying to work in another company/field may help your chances… and it also may not. Yes, standing out is going to be a VERY important challenge for all Chinese males, but I’d say it’s even more important to be successful. What do I mean?

You gotta have some important responsibilities at work, good advancement and good achievements. And that’s important no matter where you are. So if you’re on a good track at your current job, you’ve gotten a lot of leadership experience and have the potential to do even more impressive things (bonus of those things happen to be International in nature), leaving may not be the best thing for you. You can use all of those experiences to your advantage and if you frame them correctly, they could absolutely stand out in your application.

If you’re only going to move to a new job to try and improve your chances for b-school, I wouldn’t recommend it. If, however, you are really passionate about it and have lots of opportunities for leadership there, then yes. Go there. Do great things. Experience new things. But, again, if you are only thinking of doing it to “Be Original,” I’m not sure it’s the best idea. Your job is not going to be the thing that distinguishes you. At least it shouldn't be. Because, really, there will always be a lot of other applicants with the same type of job. To be successful, we need to find OTHER ways to set you apart.

Hope that gives you a little clarity,

– Jon Frank

carandl

I found that you have posted lots of useful information. Thanks for your sharing and enlightening!

jiaqianhui1204

Cool~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~