<p>I know there are many pathways to getting an MBA, but in general would MBA admissions officers look favorably or unfavorably towards one gaining work experience as a financial consultant/advisor/planner? It may not be as prestigious as an i-banker or something like that, but im curious. I know this question is kind of vague since there are many other factors that need to be taken into place during admissions, but your help is appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>This is an oversimplification, but might be a useful framework. MBA programs want to see you acquire some of the following skills or demonstrate compentency in or passion for some of these areas:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sales</li>
<li>Corporate strategy and vision</li>
<li>Competency with business-related numbers and concepts (esp. finance)</li>
<li>An ability to make friends and win political support in the workplace</li>
<li>Getting promoted</li>
<li>Original ideas or calculated risk-taking in the business world (i.e. entrepreneurship)</li>
<li>Understanding of cost structures and how to interpret and work with them</li>
<li>Leadership and initiative-taking at work</li>
<li>Marketing</li>
</ul>
<p>To what extent does a financial planner work with those? Financial terms and numerical competency, sure. And that’s a big one. And some of those others can be had anywhere. But not every engineer who can handle an Excel model is going to be a good candidate for an MBA. It’s the soft skills I put above that an MBA makes the biggest difference in - the networking, the motivational skills, the sales, etc. And without a head start in those and a strong interest in them, getting an MBA won’t make that big a difference.</p>
<p>Some food for thought.</p>
<p>Your post was helpful but also a little confusing. Was your main point that a person can have pretty much any job as long as he develops his soft skills as well, or that a person’s job must/also include the hard skills such as numerical competency, entrepreneurship, etc…</p>
<p>i’m saying that the things a B-school looks for is some combination of the above, that some are more important than others, but all are important to some degree.</p>
<p>some jobs won’t help, really, with developing any of that. some (like ibanking and consulting) are almost focused towards those skills. for the wide range in between (i.e. financial advisor), you may have to think harder about what’s going to be best for your career and where you should put discretionary time.</p>