Top 5 MBA, Can't Get A Job

MBA Fail wrote:

I just graduated from a top 5 MBA program and I can't get a job! I've been job hunting for the entire year, been getting first and second round interviews, and nothing has worked out. I've done mock interviews with career services, and they've told me my interview skills are fine and my resume is fine.

What are some MBA jobs that are easy to get but have a decent career path?

My background: English major from a top 5 school, Teach for America, a couple years consulting for a no-name company, then business school. I interned at a CPG company over the summer and hated it (no return offer).

You mean to say you can't get an elite job? Companies will often fill positions without putting it public by tapping pre-existing networks. Networking can help you get semi elite jobs. I can't help on elite jobs.

What's a CpG company?

Maybe you need a badge like CFP or CFA and yeah, start on the bottom.

MBA Fail wrote:

I just graduated from a top 5 MBA program and I can't get a job! I've been job hunting for the entire year, been getting first and second round interviews, and nothing has worked out. I've done mock interviews with career services, and they've told me my interview skills are fine and my resume is fine.

What are some MBA jobs that are easy to get but have a decent career path?

My background: English major from a top 5 school, Teach for America, a couple years consulting for a no-name company, then business school. I interned at a CPG company over the summer and hated it (no return offer).

They could probably tell you hated it. From your post you seem like a complainer.

Top 5 MBA should almost guarantee you an elite finance/consulting job. I feel like your interview skills must not be as good as you think. On paper, you're as qualified as any other top MBA grad and employers can't get enough of them. Work on your interview skills and perhaps bring some enthusiam to the table.

maybe your interviewing skills need some work

Hmm??? wrote:

Top 5 MBA should almost guarantee you an elite finance/consulting job. I feel like your interview skills must not be as good as you think. On paper, you're as qualified as any other top MBA grad and employers can't get enough of them. Work on your interview skills and perhaps bring some enthusiam to the table.

I wasn't trying to get into finance . Consulting is much more competitive than you might think.

Like I said, career services didn't seem to think anything was wrong with my interview skills, so I'm not sure what needs to be improved. I've done mock interviews with the class below me and there were people who didn't do well during mock interviews who had no trouble getting multiple internship offers

u r what ur record sez u r wrote:

They could probably tell you hated it. From your post you seem like a complainer.

No one really probes about it or even asks if I got a return offer. When I walk interviewers through my resume, I Ieave it at "I enjoyed my summer, but the pace was slower than I wanted/I realized marketing isn't for me/it wasn't where I wanted to contribute my business skill set/etc etc

Random thoughts...If you don't know what kind of job you want, you will fail. Step one on the fail was going to get your MBA without having a plan. If your plan was CPG/brand mgmt and you tried it over the summer and hated it, suggest you might have looked into it more before launching this adventure.

That written, you can't go back now, so figure out exactly what it is you want, then laser focus on that (industry/function). Also, examine if you really didn't like CPG marketing or it was just that company, that product, that exact function you didn't like. I mean, if you actually enjoy all the aspects of that function, don't give up on it. It's not the same everywhere, or for every kind of product. Or since you have CPG experience, and consulting background, maybe there's a strategy / planning area you could explore within a CPG company.

Lastly, 0/5. If you really went to a "top 5" bidness school (whatever that means) you'd be smart enough to have already figured out all of the above.

You have to actively try to not get an offer after an internship. So there is more to the story than your just not liking it.

I'm not following...What more to the story do you think there is? Trust me, the work I was doing wasn't rocket science and there were absolutely zero opportunities to meet anything up. In fact, my summer project was essentially made up busy-work

Generally speaking, interns receive full-time offers so it is a bit odd you weren't considered. That said, are you providing salary requirements as part of the interviewing process?

JMo wrote:

Generally speaking, interns receive full-time offers so it is a bit odd you weren't considered. That said, are you providing salary requirements as part of the interviewing process?

Hm really? Not everyone I interned with got an offer. I know plenty of people who didn't get internship offers either due to ft issues or the company overestimating its full time needs. I interned with a former McKinsey analyst who didn't get a full time offer.

I've been asked about salary expectations, and I've kept it as vague as "market rate" when I can. There's only one interview I've done where I'm pretty sure I was rejected for saying a salary that was too high (they kept asking me about my salary expectations)

MBA Fail wrote:

I'm not following...What more to the story do you think there is? Trust me, the work I was doing wasn't rocket science and there were absolutely zero opportunities to meet anything up. In fact, my summer project was essentially made up busy-work

That's what internships are - busy work.

Are you saying that I didn't go to a Top 5 business school? Glad you have more knowledge on that than I do.

Beggers can't be choosers. I don't believe in this follow your passion nonsense. A bad work environment, lack of support, unmotivated co-workers, etc can ruin any good job, and being in an industry you're "passionate" about can't save that. I've spent this entire year getting excited about job after job and getting crushed with a rejection (with zero feedback).

You are the problem. Judging from how self-obsessed you are about your "top-5 MBA" and "how unbelievably easy your internship was" you probably come off as a pompous tool in your interviews. You could always be a financial analyst for 40-50k a year while searching, but looks like your too good for that. Best of luck.

MBA Fail wrote:

JMo wrote:

Generally speaking, interns receive full-time offers so it is a bit odd you weren't considered. That said, are you providing salary requirements as part of the interviewing process?

Hm really? Not everyone I interned with got an offer. I know plenty of people who didn't get internship offers either due to ft issues or the company overestimating its full time needs. I interned with a former McKinsey analyst who didn't get a full time offer.

I've been asked about salary expectations, and I've kept it as vague as "market rate" when I can. There's only one interview I've done where I'm pretty sure I was rejected for saying a salary that was too high (they kept asking me about my salary expectations)

I work in the industry and it is very rare for interns not to get offers. This is why I am skeptical.

Hmm??? wrote:

Top 5 MBA should almost guarantee you an elite finance/consulting job. I feel like your interview skills must not be as good as you think. On paper, you're as qualified as any other top MBA grad and employers can't get enough of them. Work on your interview skills and perhaps bring some enthusiam to the table.

Surely you need a recognised finance qualification work in finance or accounting. Therein lies the problem this MBA does not qualify the op in any specific profession. Op needs more experience to land a good job in one of these bs business consulting roles

You don't have any work experience and you don't know what kind of job you want and you don't seem to have a network.

You need to fix at least two of those.

The easiest way would be to develop your network. Use LinkedIn and every person you know. Have countless informal/Starbucks meetings with people in industries that might sound interesting. Build that network brick by brick. It can go viral from there. e.g. "A guy I had coffee with knows a guy who is looking for x."

Even though you have impressive education credentials it seems like you might not have any valuable skills you can sell to a prospective employer. Figure out how you can solve their problems and meet their needs. Bring them something real that they need.

Benjamins Button wrote:

You are the problem. Judging from how self-obsessed you are about your "top-5 MBA" and "how unbelievably easy your internship was" you probably come off as a pompous tool in your interviews. You could always be a financial analyst for 40-50k a year while searching, but looks like your too good for that. Best of luck.

Um, what? Have you interviewed me to know that I come off as a pompous tool? I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem here. I mentioned it's a top 5 program so that people wouldn't assume that the quality of the program was the issue.

Where did I say that my internship was "unbelievably easy"? Someone was asking why I didn't get an offer, and I was saying that it wasn't a skill issue.

Get your head out of your ass. No one is going to hire me for a 40-50k salary. That's much less than I was making before school. That's a good 50k below the lowest reported post-MBA salary form my school's employment report.