<p>Graduating this year, will be working for a venture-backed cleantech startup. It was an extremely difficult year for recruiting but I had some other offers. Decided to go for the startup because my risk profile changed in the course of those two years. After some soul searching I realized that, for now, I’m not as interested in climbing the corporate ladder as much as I am interested in working with the commercialization of new technology. Another element of my decision-making process was timing - I thought the window for entering this specific part of cleantech would be rather short. In this climate it was a risky choice, and most of my friends chose more conservative routes.
As I said before, everyone looks at the MBA in a different way - I was looking to explore new options, increase my skill-set and knowledge base, and exit with a job that I would be more passionate about. The first two did happen and the third one… well… I’ll let you know a year from now :). I’m excited about the role and the future of the company.
I should also mention that there were plenty of students in my class that had a different perspective - many who were intent on joining management consulting, investment banking, investment management, etc. They usually wanted these jobs for the exit opportunities, career development, or the money (or a combination). They probably came to business school with a very different idea of the value of an MBA.</p>