Post-MBA Career Insights

How do I position myself early for executive roles? Once in a while I receive an inMail asking a question I feel more people may find interesting. And I love this timely strategic approach! What I often see: Most focus on 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 too early and 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 too late. Early on (post‑MBA or otherwise), executive readiness is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 about being the smartest person in the room or getting the fastest promotion. It’s about building a track record that makes senior leaders trust you with complexity. A few things that matter more than you'd think: 𝟭. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 Executives are paid for judgement, not task completion. Early in your career, raise your hand for messy topics. Ambiguous ones. The kind where everyone looks away. Build an ability and reputation of problem solver and sleeve-roller-up. 𝟮. 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Too many careers stall because people become excellent specialists but invisible business leaders. Learn how money is made, where risk sits, and what truly keeps your leaders awake at night. 𝟯. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 Visibility matters (truly); it only works when it’s grounded in substance. Do what you say you’ll do. Consistently. Over time, people notice. Like your favorite brand. 𝟰. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 Executives are not neutral. They have opinions, informed by experience and data. Start forming yours early, practice articulating it clearly and respectfully. Ask questions if you need more insights to form it. 𝟱. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 Executive careers are marathons. The people who make it are usually not the fastest movers, but the most resilient, curious, and adaptable. Act at the next level (or two) leadership to demonstrate you are ready. 𝟲. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 Build your career in all directions - the higher you aim, the broader and more stable foundation is needed. Think complimentary industries, functions, projects, challenges etc. I must add this: ➡️ Not every high performer actually wants executive life once they see it up close. And that’s okay. It`s actually good. The real goal is not the title or level. It’s building a career that fits your strengths, values, and tolerance for pressure. If you’re at this crossroads early in your career, ask yourself: What kinds of problems do I want to be trusted with next? 🔄 Share this with Early and Mid-career professionals aiming at Executive careers!  

3 career insights for aspiring CAs & MBAs: How to pivot strategically From EY’s tax advisory to ISB, then Citi’s credit risk team, and now managing global credit reviews at JPM across commercial & investment banking, my career has been anything but linear. Here’s what these transitions taught me—and how you can apply them to your own journey: 1. Leverage Your CA/MBA as a Swiss Army Knife ❗️The trap: Assuming your degree locks you into one path (e.g., "CA = audit or tax forever" or "MBA = consulting or bust"). ✅️ The fix: Treat your qualifications as tools to solve broader problems. CA gave me rigor in risk assessment, while the MBA taught me to contextualize credit decisions within macro trends. At Citi, I combined both to bridge credit risk with business strategy. 2. Nonlinear Moves Require Proactive Storytelling ❗️The trap: Letting recruiters dismiss your shifts as "random" (e.g., tax → credit risk). ✅️ The fix: Frame your career narrative around transferable themes. When I moved from EY to Citi post-MBA, I highlighted how tax advisory honed my ability to decode borrower and regulatory complexity—a skill critical for assessing loan portfolios. At JPM, I leverage my cross-sector exposure at Citi for evaluating global financing and risk frameworks. 3. Global Roles Demand "Zoom In/Zoom Out" Thinking ❗️The trap: Getting lost in granular details (e.g., financial models) without linking them to big-picture risks. ✅️ The fix: Practice translating technical work into strategic insights. In my current role, reviewing credit for both commercial and investment banking means balancing sector-specific risks (zoom in) with systemic trends like geopolitics or rate cycles (zoom out). ➡️ A Hard Truth: Career pivots will invite skepticism—whether it’s peers questioning your goals, MBA ROI, or your own self-doubt underestimating your adaptability. You simply need to stay focused on your career outcomes, while enjoying the process of getting there eventually. What’s an unexpected career pivot you’ve made or seen? Krishank Parekh | LinkedIn

For the last 18 months, 2nd year MBA students have been conducting a job search in the construct of MBA hiring.  It's important for the 2Ys who will be seeking in the Spring to understand the key differences in recruiting their last semester vs. the first three. ➡️ The timelines are not the same Companies hiring MBAs will make intern offers in January (or earlier) to start in June, and will make offers in October/November to 2Ys to start next summer.  All of that is out the window now. Time and time again I’ve seen students enter the Spring with the goal of landing an offer as soon as possible just so they can put recruiting to rest.  That’s a bad goal because it’s important to understand that in your final semester you’re in the just-in-time hiring market, where openings are for specific positions and the recruiters are looking for candidates who can start shortly after an offer is accepted.  That’s not you, as a full-time MBA student (well, not in January-March anyway).  Applying for JIT roles early in the new year won’t yield results and then students start endlessly tinkering with their resume when the biggest issue is availability. ➡️ It's way less predictable We all know how the full-time MBA game is played: Company Presentation -> Coffee Chat -> Apply -> Interview -> Offer.  The biggest mental hurdle for MBA students is no longer knowing who is hiring and when.  It's good to think of networking like a sales funnel here: just like not every lead becomes a meeting, not every coffee chat will result in an interview, but being proactive and increasing your volume of opportunity by getting better connected in your industries of choice will give you more options when relevant postings come open. ➡️ The competition is different Employers who are looking to hire MBAs are more often than not receptive to career changers.  In the JIT market, your background will play a much bigger role when being considered for roles.  If you’re a career changer, there’s still hope!  For example, any CPG that hires associate brand managers will be much more likely to consider a graduating MBA in the April/May window if they have an opening, because they’ve done that before.  A small tech start up?  Probably a lot less likely since they’ve never hired or had to onboard an MBA before.  Keep this in mind because most companies in the JIT market want someone with direct related experience and the reality is sometimes no amount of networking will help in landing an interview when they have candidates applying who have apples to apples experience. In summary: if you’re a 2nd year student who will be seeking in the Spring, take the next couple of months to identify companies of interest and develop a strategy for building advocacy before applications open up in late March and beyond.  Don't make the mistake of just skipping to the execution phase and applying to anything and everything from January forward.

Last night, I had the chance to go back to Emory University - Goizueta Business School and speak in Doug Bowman’s MBA class. Anytime I get to talk to students, I try to leave them with the some advice I wish someone had drilled into me when I was sitting in their seat, as an ambitious, overwhelmed student, pretending to have it all figured out. I shared eight thoughts that have shaped my career, for better or worse (and sometimes the hard way): 🔥 1. Network your ass off Your network will open more doors than your resume ever will. It is an asset that will continually increase in value over time. Build it before you need it. 🎨 2. Define and build your personal brand If you don’t define yourself, somebody else will. Don’t let your job title tell your whole story. 🎯 3. Be an expert in something Generalists are valuable, but specialists become indispensable, especially early in your career. Pick a lane and go deep. You'll have time to expand your portfolio later on. 🤖 4. Become an AI ninja Not “AI-aware.” Not “AI-curious.” A ninja. Every role in business is being rewritten in real time, you want to be the one holding the pen. ⚡ 5. Move fast and get quick wins Momentum builds confidence, yours and everyone else’s. Don’t try to always go for the big home run. Play small ball and get some runs on the board. 📈 6. Look for opportunities to expand your portfolio If leadership hands you a bigger problem, take it. Say yes before you feel ready. Growth rarely shows up gift-wrapped. 💛 7. Take care of yourself Burnout doesn’t make you a hero; it makes you replaceable. The best careers are marathons, not sprints. Prioritize health, wellness, and relationships. 🎓 8. Enjoy your time in school You’ll work for the rest of your life. You only get a small window to learn, experiment, fail safely, and build lifelong connections. If even one of these points sticks with them the way certain lessons stuck with me, that’s a win. Which one hits hardest for you right now? #Emory #BusinessSchool #MBA #LifeLessons

7 yrs ago, I followed my worst instinct: “Just get out.” Burnt out, over-caffeinated, and desperate for change, I jumped at the first offer I got. And left my brand-name, post-MBA consulting job too fast, and too haphazardly. I didn’t pause, reflect, or ask myself big or hard questions. In the process, I walked away from: 1. Strong sponsor relationships 2. Serious financial upside 3. Huge professional growth There’s a reason people say: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞. When you’re leaving a premier role, people take notice — and you want that move to work in your favor. If you’re a post-MBA woman considering leaving the brand-name role you’ve spent years building credibility in, learn from my experience. Here’s what I’d do differently today and what I encourage my clients to do now: 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭. I decided I was done on a Tuesday, applied by Wednesday, crammed interviews into my busiest stretch, and took the offer during a 15-min commute—just relieved to have something new. Carve out real space—a long weekend, solo staycation, or mini sabbatical—to pause and reflect. Make sure your move is intentional, not reactive. 2️⃣ 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚. I picked my next role based on a five-year-old business school essay. It sounded right on paper—but I had no idea how much I’d changed. Every team, project, and hard conversation has shaped what matters to you today. Don’t assume your old dreams still fit. 3️⃣ 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. I zeroed in on job scope and didn't fully vet the promised “work-life balance.” Cue travel, fire drills, and zero real freedom. What does better balance actually mean for you now? Evenings off? Flexibility? Peaks and valleys with true rest? 4️⃣ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐁𝐀. I hired a coach on a whim. A former college counselor, she was helpful—but didn’t understand post-MBA careers or how the career I was trying to build. Whether you work with a coach or not, seek advice from someone who "gets" the investment you’ve made and the path you’re on. 5️⃣ 𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. I learned about my company’s sabbatical policy 3 weeks after I resigned. I surprised my manager, who would have gone to bat for me to figure out a creative way to pursue my future at the company. Loop your boss in. You might find internal options—new role, project, or location—that get you closer to your goals without starting from scratch. I get it - when you want a new job, you want it yesterday. But give yourself the time and perspective to make sure that you: Don’t leave for the next thing. Leave for the right thing.

Your first MBA job is not a life sentence. Most MBA grads enter consulting, finance, or tech. Then stress about choosing the “right” path. But the path matters less than the skills you build early on. Consulting trains you to break down complex problems and communicate with clarity. You develop client management instincts that serve you everywhere. Finance sharpens your analytical thinking. You learn how companies create value, allocate capital, and make strategic financial decisions. Tech and product management expose you to how digital products get built, shipped, and scaled. Here is the part a lot of MBA students forget: Your first job after business school is not your forever job. The skills and experience you gain will unlock opportunities you cannot see today. Many great tech leaders began in consulting. Sundar Pichai started at McKinsey before leading Google. Many top investors began in tech before moving into venture capital. Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn and became a leading startup investor. I began in investment banking before joining Google, and many of my classmates moved from consulting into tech. In today's market, you might not have five offers to choose from. Sometimes you take the opportunity that's available, and that's perfectly okay. But if you are fortunate enough to choose, the 5R Career Filter (I should trademark this 😊) brings clarity: → Role skills: What hard or strategic skills will you build? → Reps: How often will you practice and refine those skills? → Relationships: Who will you learn from? How close to decision-makers will you be? → Resume brand: How does this role strengthen your future narrative? → Routine: Does the day to day rhythm match your energy and current season of life? This framework brings clarity when you are deciding between paths. The goal is to build a foundation that creates options later. Choose the role that strengthens your skills and your story. The path will shift as your goals and experiences evolve. #UnmutedMoments

Your first job after your MBA doesn't determine the ROI of your degree. Your career over the next 20+ years does. I've been advising MBA candidates for 17+ years, and one of the biggest mistakes is evaluating whether an MBA is "worth it" based on that first post-MBA role. That's the wrong time horizon. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺  𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧: → A serial entrepreneur who pivoted to an operations role at a FAANG company → A PR professional from the political world who became a startup founder → A Big 4 consultant who pivoted to enterprise SaaS → A creative who found her path in marketing and SMB SaaS (that's me!) None of these paths were linear, and none of them would show up neatly in an employment report. But all of them were made possible through an MBA. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐁𝐀 𝐢𝐬: ➕ Not the first job – it's the second, third, and fourth pivots ➕ The network you tap into years later ➕ The credibility that opens doors to unexpected places ➕ The frameworks you apply to unique problems across types of industries The employment reports that get so much scrutiny are just a snapshot of year one. They don't tell you anything about year ten. So when someone asks "Is an MBA worth it?" – my answer is always: 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. If you're only looking at your first job, maybe it's not worth it for everyone. If you're thinking about the arc of your career? It's tougher to say no. If you've had a similar experience... or even if you disagree, chime in 👇 MBA Pathfinders

#BuildingCareers #EarlyMBAYears Making the most of the first few years of your professional journey: As young #MBAs join their jobs from campus, most very quickly get submerged in their roles, pushing to deliver on stretch targets and trying to make a mark for themselves. They switch instantly from a #Learning mode to a #Delivery mode. But should you really let the learning mode hibernate in these early years? My guidance to the youngsters is to focus on 4 areas as you get along with your roles- 1. Understand the Industry you are in - while your roles may be diverse (sales, finance, business development, operations, etc), take the time to go through Analyst Reports about the industry your business is in, look at the quarterly investor presentations of your competitors as well as your customers/suppliers 2. Understand your company more deeply - speak to people from outside your teams to understand different parts of the business, go through the quarterly (and monthly where possible) earnings/results, and read up analyst reports about your company 3. Take initiative beyond your role - get involved in some initiative, either business or cultural, to create a new network for yourself beyond your boss and team. These help to not just build your connections in your company but also develop your social skills. People from other teams and functions get to know you as a person 4. Identify and work on a couple of Soft Skills - as you grow in your careers, people skills is what differentiates a leader from a manager. So continue to work on enhancing these. Identify 1-2 skills where you feel you are not good enough, and work on enhancing these systematically. This is the time to work on strengthening these While these 4 seem simple things to do, but I see many youngsters not doing these, and hence losing out on an important foundation as they begin their careers. So strongly urge you to consciously focus on these 4 things and make these integral to your routines. You will find that this will not just improve your understanding and networks, but create opportunities to grow faster too! #careers #careerwars #campustalks #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #management #mentoring #coaching

Most MBAs walk into their first job confident and quietly #unprepared. If I could go back to Day 1 of my career,I wouldn’t stack up more knowledge. I’d unlearn a few assumptions I carried in. No one tells you this early enough: An MBA helps you understand strategy and theory. It doesn’t prepare you for how work, influence, and growth actually happen. Three mistakes I made so you don’t have to: 1. I believed good work would be noticed. It wasn’t. A manager once told me, “If people don’t know about it, it didn’t happen.” Impact needs visibility not noise, but clarity. 2. I waited for direction. I thought that was being disciplined. In reality, the fastest growth came when I started spotting gaps and stepping in without being asked. 3. I took feedback as judgement. Once I treated it as input, not insult, everything moved faster confidence, learning, credibility. Degrees open doors. Behaviour decides how far you go once inside. If you’re just starting out, pay attention to how you show up not only what you deliver. And if you’ve been around long enough to know better What’s the one thing you wish fresh graduates understood on Day 1? Write it here. Someone needs it before they learn it the hard way. #CareerGrowth #FirstJob #MBA #Leadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerAdvice #GrowthMindset

I left investment banking with no plan. Here are 7 things I've learned since escaping the Bermuda Triangle of Talent. If you haven't heard the term: Simon van Teutem, an Oxford grad who turned down McKinsey and Morgan Stanley, coined it to explain why the smartest people at elite schools keep funneling into banking, consulting, and law. These firms attract overachievers with money, status, and optionality. By the time they realize they're deeply unfulfilled, they have golden handcuffs on and can't leave the prestige trap. I was one of them. Here's what I've learned since getting out: 1. Don't do it for prestige (but it's hard not to). Prestige was why I did banking, got an MBA, and tried Big Tech PM. When I stopped optimizing for prestige—taking a random job in Mexico City, joining a no-name startup, building content—things got better. The pull is always there, but now I know how to fight it. 2. It's okay to quit. You don't have to buy into the suffering culture that says you need 2 years of grueling hours to "earn" a good exit. But people rarely talk about why they left—they want to preserve the image. That's why I wrote my full story of quitting banking, hitting rock bottom, and eventually finding my way out in my newsletter this week (link below). Share yours and find others who share theirs. 3. You can't think your way to clarity. I read all the career books. I journaled. I optimized my fitness routine and diet on paper. None of it gave me real answers. What worked was trying things—taking the Mexico City job, doing the first workout instead of planning the perfect one, saying yes to opportunities that sounded like an insane detour. 4. The Triangle experience is double-edged. Banking sharpened how I analyze and communicate. The prestige still opens doors—even on unconventional paths, people pay attention when you say "ex-banker." But it also made me prestige-obsessed, rigid, and impatient. That takes years to undo. 5. People are everything. In banking, I rarely felt like my teammates were in the trenches with me. At startups and in content, I built relationships with like-minded people who I could lean on. When you're on a path to doing something different, you need to surround yourself with others who share your journey. 6. The Triangle gives you clues if you pay attention. I liked building models from scratch but hated the 100th round of comments. Eventually I realized: I like analysis, but only with a clear link to action. That led me to become an operator, not an analyst. 7. Work-life balance wasn't the fix (for me). I probably work more hours now than I did in banking between startup life and content. But I have flexibility, ownership, and I've chosen how to spend my time. If you're the type trying to escape the Triangle, you're probably not going to be satisfied with a chill 9-5. I wrote my full story of quitting banking, hitting rock bottom, and eventually finding my way out in my newsletter this week. Link in comments.