Hi there, I need some advise about making a transition from Manufacturing Operations to Finance. Here are my credentials:- * VP of Operations in Fortune 500 Electronic Manufacturing Services Company * Age= 33 years * MBA from Thunderbird in General Management * Currently manage a Division within the company which involves overall responsibility of P&L, Inventory Management, Production, Engineering/Quality, Materials Management, & Customer Service. I would like to transition to either Corporate Finance or Investment Banking and would like to know the best avenue to get there. Should I take EMBA in a top 5 Business Schools and them make the transition? Or, should I apply for CFA 1,2,3? Or, both? What kind of positions would open up for me in the Finance world with my background? Regards, Jay
You already have an MBA, why are you not in a Corp. Fin / IB position now?
I did not specialize in Finance in MBA and ended up in manufacturing. I love Finance and I would now like to figure a way to make transition to Finance.
Top 5 business school in US > CFA
Agree with revenant. If you want to go back to finance, you need your MBA (again). Not an EMBA. The challenge is that you would have to explain to these top 5 schools as to why you need a 2nd mba. Even then, who would want to hire a 35-year old MBA grad when they could hire a 28-year old one?
Depends on your academic and working experience that you can bring to the class. Philip Delves Broughton entered harvard mba at 33, left at 35 and wrote a book later. Quite an interesting read. http://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Curve-Harvard-Business-School/dp/1594201757
In one of the reviews: “Delves Broughton is brutally honest in this insider’s look at Harvard’s B school, including his admission that ***he never got a job offer after his 2 year stint (which may explain his cynicism). ***”
jkapoor Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi there, I need some advise about making a > transition from Manufacturing Operations to > Finance. Here are my credentials:- > > * VP of Operations in Fortune 500 Electronic > Manufacturing Services Company > * Age= 33 years > * MBA from Thunderbird in General Management > * Currently manage a Division within the company > which involves overall responsibility of P&L, > Inventory Management, Production, > Engineering/Quality, Materials Management, & > Customer Service. > > I would like to transition to either Corporate > Finance or Investment Banking and would like to > know the best avenue to get there. > > Should I take EMBA in a top 5 Business Schools and > them make the transition? Or, should I apply for > CFA 1,2,3? Or, both? > > What kind of positions would open up for me in the > Finance world with my background? > > Regards, > Jay the question is are you down, down, down, down, down for the MBA
very hard with your credential to break into finance with your current salary. If you are VP, you must be making close to 120-150K. So if you switch to finance with no work exp, I don’t know who will pay you same salary and also train you at the same time for the job which an associate can do in 70K. Don’t forget about opportunity cost of pursuing another MBA beside paying 100K in tuition. Also what is guarantee that you will land into top 5. There are things in life which you can’t control and need to move on by crushing your interest/dreams.
Jkapoor, At age 33 and after spending your entire career in manufacturing operations your chances of switching over to “finance” are next to zero. I would recommend getting an MBA, but you already have one. Despite what other posters have advised, MBA programs do not accept students who already have an MBA. that’s pretty common knowledge. One thought would be to switch careers internally at your firm. Maybe you could get into some corporate finance initiatives. Finally, I would really take a hard look at why you are enrolled in the CFA program. Even if you pass all 3 exams, the CFA Institute will not approve 4 years of work experience in Manufacturing. Also, I highly doubt a “finance” firm would hire you in order to get the 4 years of valid work experience for the charter. Best of luck.
jkapoor Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi there, I need some advise about making a > transition from Manufacturing Operations to > Finance. Here are my credentials:- > > * VP of Operations in Fortune 500 Electronic > Manufacturing Services Company > * Age= 33 years > * MBA from Thunderbird in General Management > * Currently manage a Division within the company > which involves overall responsibility of P&L, > Inventory Management, Production, > Engineering/Quality, Materials Management, & > Customer Service. > > I would like to transition to either Corporate > Finance or Investment Banking and would like to > know the best avenue to get there. > > Should I take EMBA in a top 5 Business Schools and > them make the transition? Or, should I apply for > CFA 1,2,3? Or, both? > > What kind of positions would open up for me in the > Finance world with my background? > > Regards, > Jay bro, dont let the haters get you down, follow your heart man, if this is what you wanna do, then go for it. I hope I have that kind of motivation when I get in my 30s
Go for it, jkapoor. You still have more than 30 years of working life left, do something you genuinely like and don’t live in regrets. Just to share. I left one of the top uni in my country in order to pursue a finance degree at a lower tier uni. I am also 2 years behind my peers. But I would rather do something I like, then something I have no interest in.
revenant Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Go for it, jkapoor. > > You still have more than 30 years of working life > left, do something you genuinely like and don’t > live in regrets. > > Just to share. I left one of the top uni in my > country in order to pursue a finance degree at a > lower tier uni. I am also 2 years behind my peers. > But I would rather do something I like, then > something I have no interest in. I am sure you are not in 30s and might have never worked for a company before.
Thanks guys. Why would EMBA not be as relevant as MBA from a top B-School if I want make a transition from Manufacturing to Finance? I know that admission into EMBA is probably easier than MBA in the same school, but still you have access to the same amumni network & professors. JK
Dude, no you don’t. The *E* in E-MBA stands for *Executive*. Most E-MBA students are not there to change careers, they are there to learn managerial skills and then return to the same company which they came from. No buy-side firm is going to hire a 33-year old executive to do finance-related work when they could hire a 28-year old to do the same work for less money. Please convince me why any firm would do this? Sometimes you just have to face facts, dude. You had your chance at Thunderbird and didn’t choose wisely…
NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dude, no you don’t. The *E* in E-MBA stands for > *Executive*. Most E-MBA students are not there to > change careers, they are there to learn managerial > skills and then return to the same company which > they came from. > > No buy-side firm is going to hire a 33-year old > executive to do finance-related work when they > could hire a 28-year old to do the same work for > less money. Please convince me why any firm would > do this? > > Sometimes you just have to face facts, dude. You > had your chance at Thunderbird and didn’t choose > wisely… youre a real d*ckhead, alot of negativity spouted from you. i
No, just facts. Why would a firm hire a 33-year old who requires a salary of X, when they could hire a 27-28 year old that can do the same for less? Not to mention that the 27-28 year old has less experience, so a firm may believe he is more moldable into the type of employee they want. In addition, the firm can expect the younger employee to work late, or come in on weekends, whereas the older employee may have a wife / kids that he is obligated to go home to. Also, younger employees mean less for healthcare costs, and they are farther away from retirement age, so they have more time to grow within the company.
dude, he mentioned corporate finance route, or even a quant type role. These avenues would be more than willing to hirer career changers. there are obvious sacrifices that you will have to give up, but it is doable. I say go for it if you are passionate enough and willing to give up salary, family obligations. You did not mention if you have a family, if you dont, then you can certainly transition.
For a quant role he would need to get a masters in Math. Finance, or something of the sort. To get into these top schools you 770+ on the Math portion of the GRE, C++ skills, courses in Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariate Calculus, etc. For corporate finance, he needs to go to a top MBA school. Not an EMBA school. Why would an MBA school accept him if he already has an MBA? Either way you look at it, he would need another masters degree, and be about 36 years old once he graduates. And “Panic! At the CFA” was right about the CFA. Why would it help him? On his resume? He needs 4 years of experience (even that’s debatable - he works in Ops for a Manufacturing company), by that time he’s 37, he applies, goes to MBA school (again), and is a 40 year old applying for associate positions? Let’s get real. I’d like to be the shortstop of the New York Yankees but there were decisions I made when I was 12 that prevent me from doing so now, as well as some guy named Derek Jeter. And then once he goes to school, he needs to convince firms why they should hire him over a younger candidate from the same school. Hell, he’ll probably be older than the folks that would be interviewing him.
I agree with NYC-Analyst, Let’s say a VP I-banking job opens up. Do you think an I-bank would hire Jkapoor with zero years of relevant work experience? Its downright laughable. They would be expecting (ballpark) 7-10 years of relevant work experience. There would be 25 other candidates for that position, all having relevant work experience. Jkapoor, I am sure you are making good $ at your current position and I am sure you have an upwards career path. Enjoy it. Your in a good situation. Suddenly having an itch to completely change career paths at age 33 is unrealistic. You had your chance with your first MBA. As I mentioned before, no school is going to accept you for a second MBA. Move on with your life.