Executive MBA & Consulting

by Victor Cheng

by 

Question:

I’ve worked in the telecom industry for 11 years. I don’t have a MBA. Would getting an Executive MBA help in getting a case interview?

My Reply:

I can’t speak for all firms, but I have never met anyone in consulting at any firm that had an Executive MBA. Amongst the top firms, there’s a perception that the Executive MBA programs at top schools are not as competitive as the regular MBA program – so most don’t recruit from those programs.

If you were a great candidate and happened to have an Executive MBA, I don’t think it would hurt you. However, I think if you really were a great candidate to  begin with I think you’d be able to get the interview without the Executive MBA.

Given your background, I recommend networking extensively to get an interview. This is the best bet for people with backgrounds that don’t fit into those pre-defined profiles that the firms usually go after.

Then once you get an interview, you have to do amazing to make any progress.

Additional Resources

If you found this post useful, I suggest becoming a registered member (it's free) to get access to the materials I used to pass 60 out of 61 case interviews, land 7 job offers, and end up working at McKinsey.

Members get access to 6 hours of video tutorials on case interviews, the actual frameworks I used to pass my interviews, and over 300 articles on case interviews.

To get access to these free resources, just fill out the form below:

First Name *
Email *
Choose a Password *

Note: All registrations require you to confirm your email address.
Please type your email address carefully.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Reem March 4, 2011 at 11:45 am

I am a professor of Finance in a Business School (6 years of work experience) and I am a PhD in Corporate Finance. I am actually very interested in a carrer in consulting, but I don’t have any experiene of work outside academia. Would the consulting firms be interested in my background in applied research and teaching in finance?

Leave a Comment