Is professional work experience must for GMAT or being an entrepreneur will be affecting admissions?
If you do not have any work experience, MBA is not the first step to GET SOMEWHERE IN LIFE. MBA helps you to take professional game to the next level. But before you explore an MBA – Go and Work.
If we talk about being an entrepreneur you got to understand – WORK EXPERIENCE DOES NOT GET COUNTED ONLY WHEN YOU WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE – OR WORK FOR an Organization. It gets counted ALSO WHEN YOU ARE WORKING FOR YOURSELF or FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS. For example founder of H&R is serving people from last 3-4 years and it will be counted as his experience.
However if you have just move out of college and planning to do MBA I recommend you to wait. One should have around 2-3 years of work experience before considering an MBA. Working under a disciplined environment and performing under targets and pressure will bring in certain changes in your thought process. It is human to go through those and develop a learning curve. That learning curve is necessary before you develop a strong sense of leadership (every school will pitch that they teach leadership. Some of them do, and some of them do not. Irrespective of what they say, you need an exposure. You need to get yourself grilled in jobs.
Narrow down your target options before you spend 80-90 lacs on an MBA.
According to me employability equation should be
Past + MBA = ST + LT Goals
Your Past: – In your past experiences, give them an understanding of your current repository of the skill sets, and the learning curve. Working in the supply chain in the manufacturing industry, you may have gained some amazing skill sets that your future employer would value.
An AHA Moment – What have been your AHA moments that prompted you towards your short term ambitions. An AHA moment is not same as witnessing a falling apple. But an AHA moment is a continuous exposure to a “Wannabe” state.
And YES! I will not recommend using marketing as your long term goal. You may not want to do that in 7 years from now. You may like something else or you might even pursue management consulting as a full time career post MBA. One never knows as you have not been exposed to many industries and functions yet. So, it is advisable to construct a story that further ties with your short term ambitions.
And the only way to get a great access to these stories is by – WORKING IN THE REAL WORLD!