MarquisParker.com // Business Strategist, Admissions Coach, and Career Advisor

The email below is one that got me because it was from a guy who is stuck in the same deeply technical track that I escaped by going off to business school. As I’ve said on here before, it’s really difficult to pull yourself away from the clutches of the “techie gods” once they have you. I’m hoping that my advice is useful to him because no one should feel like they’re stuck in an adverse situation…there are always other options out there if you can figure out a way to find them.

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Suresh wrote:

Greetings Marquis,
I have been reading your blog and it is very interesting. I seek some counseling from you. Kindly oblige. I am an Oracle Database Administrator (DBA) for Oracle ERP packages; after 11 years, I am now pigeon holed in this line. A few dings from European schools have made me realize that my age (I will be 34 in Aug) and overly technical experience and lack broad business knowledge are key factors that have been failing me.

I aspire to get into general management in IT Services/Products in the long term. I would love to get into consulting in the short term to gain business experience. But I heard consulting firms don’t usually recruit older guys for career switchers. In IT, I do technical architecture advising clients about infrastructure and improving operations – all the tactical stuff. If I wish to get into business IT consulting in firms like Bain or Accenture, would it imply a career switch?

Is there a way out? Being an Indian happens to be all the more disadvantageous to securing an admit. My profile – 33, Indian, IT, DBA, 640 & 740 GMAT scores, poor academics though compensated by ‘A’s in professional development courses @ Berkeley.

What schools can I aspire for? A certain blog talked about schools looking for a certain trait within applicants – like leadership at Harvard, teamwork at Wharton. What does Stanford, Columbia, or Chicago look for?

Also would you recommend using a MBA admissions counselor?

I am confused and frustrated. I desperately need an MBA and from a good school. Your thoughts and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Suresh

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My response:

Suresh,

Thanks for checking out my blog and thinking of me as someone you’d want to contact for advice. Your situation truly hits home for me because you’re stuck in the same rut that I feared I’d be trapped in a few years ago. As you’ve discovered, that hardcore techie job track can be seemingly impossible to escape after a few years, especially after more than a decade (incidentally, I’ve met plenty of folks who started B-school in theri mid-30′s, so don’t be too concerned with that). Also, with the stories of top school students all having 3.5+ GPAs, I can see why one could be worried if their undergrad grades weren’t at that level. And, I imagine that it can be an even more daunting picture if you’ve been turned down by schools before. With all of this in mind, I totally get why you’re concerned about whether you’d be able to get into business school…but, believe me, you CAN get into a good business school and it all starts with you, your own view of your chances, and how much work you’re willing to put into getting some acceptance letters.

A couple of years ago, I probably would have told you to send me your essays so I could counsel you on them and get you into B-school, but I can’t afford to do that anymore (I used to do that a lot and used far too much of my free and not-so-free time on helping people I didn’t even know). Instead, I’ll offer you the following advice and hope that you can get some value out of them:

- You know, I don’t know you at all, but it really seems like you need to develop your confidence before you reapply to business school. If you don’t see yourself as a strong candidate, why would you expect for an admissions officer to perceive you as such. Even the strongest candidates face letdowns in the admissions process and the ultimately successful ones dust themselves off and try again. A couple of my classmates at Stanford GSB were reapplicants and, while it must have been a humbling experience, they chose to apply again and struck gold the second time around. Don’t defeat yourself by mentally taking yourself out of the game before even getting back on the court.

- It also sounds like you’re worrying far too much about your perceived application weaknesses and not thinking enough about your strengths. I’m hoping this is due to your admissions struggles and not because you don’t believe you have strengths. Yeah, your undergrad grades might not have been fantastic and you might feel pigeonholed in your career track, but you can address both of those in your application essays. Both of those “weaknesses” are in the past and you can’t change them, but you can accept them and set your path toward business school by focusing on the parts of your background that are distinctive. It’s pretty hard to argue against a 740 GMAT and 11 years of solid Oracle DBA experience (which implies high analytic abilities). I’m sure there are other strengths that you didn’t mention in your email…now you need to articulate them in your app essays.

- Once you’re confident about your chances of getting in and convinced about your strengths, your next move is to figure out how to tell your “story” through your essays. In other words, you’ve got to determine a strong positioning strategy for your application. Go to http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html and scroll down to the Sunday, April 8, 2007 entry to get some my perspective on how/why someone could/should position themselves well in their business school apps. I’ve seen people get into top-20 schools with sub-550 GMAT and I assume that a big part of why they were accepted was the “package” they presented to the admissions folks. Without getting this right, it would be difficult for someone with a 4.0 GPA and an 800 GMAT to get into his/her desired school.

- One of the most important parts of the application is the “Why MBA?” question. I won’t go too deep into this piece of advice because I know that I’ve written a lot on it in a past entry and will leave you to go through some of the archives to find it. In short, without a compelling reason for needing an MBA, it can seem like you’re just trying to ‘check the box’ by going to business school. You need to sit down and really figure out two things: (1) whether you really NEED an MBA and, if so, (2) WHY you need an MBA. If you can’t come up with strong answers to these issues, then you should spend more time thinking over whether now is the right time for you to be applying to business school.

With a 740 GMAT, you have a legitimate shot at getting into any school that you want, but you won’t have half a chance if you doubt yourself going into the process as your email makes it sound like you do. You’ve got to go into the process believing that you’ve got a fighting chance…if you don’t, then you might as well save the money you’d spend on application fees. You mentioned using an admissions consultant in your email and, while I don’t believe that they are necessary, one might be useful for you. I’ve heard that they’re good at helping people craft their story well for the applications and setting deadlines for their clients, but it’s entirely possible for you to do that on your own with some introspection and discipline. So, I’m not going to recommend that you get an admissions consultant to help you, but it couldn’t hurt.

Regarding your question on what the individual schools are looking for, I am not comfortable making a statement on that because I’ve never worked for an admissions office and don’t want to give you incorrct information. Instead, I’ll lead you toward a resource that helped me gain some insight on a few schools when I was applying. Try ordering a book called ‘ABC of Getting the MBA Admissions Edge’, which you can get for less than $35 on Amazon.com. It provides in-depth summaries of 10 schools, including the ones you listed in your email, and draws on interviews with admissions folks, alums, and representatives from companies. Check it out and you’ll end up with a much better idea of what your set of schools want to see from applicants.

Now, let me address your question about business IT consulting…first off, I don’t know if Bain does any IT consulting, so you might be targeted them incorrectly if that’s the industry you want to enter. Accenture does that sort of work though and some others that immediately come to mind are Booz-Allen’s Government practice, IBM Global Services, and Bearing Point. It sounds like you’re looking for more in-depth information on this segment of the industry than I have…so, here are some links that will help you dig up some information on IT consulting and the overall management consulting industry:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

For technology consulting firms, your 11 years of hardcore technical experience could be very attractive, but you’d have to be mindful about the type of work you’d be doing. If you’re looking for the variety that comes with consulting and you don’t mind doing the hands-on database work that you’re used to, then you’d probably be able to immediately jump into one of these firms and excel. If you’re looking for more traditional strategy work at one of these tech consulting firms, your DBA experience might get you in the door, but there’s a chance that you’d have to work at a level lower than your 11 years of professional would imply. To be sure of where your background would take you, I would recommend coming up with a list of firms and contacting recruiters at each of them to discuss your chances.

I hope you find the above advice helpful. If you have any follow-up questions, let me know.

-Marquis