Profile Review - Native American/Energy & Sustainability : Ask mbaMission

· Demographics: 27 y/o Male, USA, Native American/Caucasian, Veteran, low income family, 1st generation college student

· Education : Excelsior University, BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology GPA 3.63/4.00

· Education/Certification: Syracuse University Project Management Courses/PMP

· GMAT : latest 710 47Q/40V - actively working on improving this

· Work experience:
Sequential Timeline
6 years nuclear power plant operations, maintenance, and project management (US Navy)
1 year commercial real estate engineering, commissioning of Campus with emphasis on sustainability (Amazon) (1 promotion)
2.5 years power plant project management, 12 projects, $15M in asset upgrades and repair, 7 utility companies, vendor management (GE)(1 Promotion)
2.5 years (by program start date) engineering manager in real estate development, maintenance and sustainability with Amazon (2 promotions)

· Extracurricular activities: Native American Cultural Event Leader 3 years , Swing Dance Club Leader 2 years, Veterans Mentorship Group 3 years

· Post-MBA goals: Moonshot projects or Startup in Renewables/Energy/Sustainability/Tech

· Target schools: Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Wharton, MIT, or NYU

· Other information relevant to your profile: Extremely motivated by tech and future energy generation/consumption/sustainable living. I’d really like to emphasize my appreciation for the earth and the land we rely so heavily on. I’m actively looking for opportunities to make a bigger difference in utility efficiency, grid reliability, energy sources, and sustainable material selection and I see an MBA as an opportunity to network, learn more about product management, and make business decisions that are both profitable and good for the environment.

· Question (with some background) : My current team is being taken over by a new contractor in 2 months. I’m fairly secure in that I’ll get hired on to facilitate the transition and fill my existing role with the new contractor but not guaranteed. Alternatively, I have received other opportunities with new and former employers offering better pay/more responsibility. This would take my 2.5 years as engineering manager(two companies, one account) to 10 months and 1.5 years with a separate company in possibly a different industry and role.
My question: How bad do company or industry swaps look on an application especially for top schools? Can it be justified with promotions and opportunities to grow or is it viewed poorly? I’m a very adaptive learner and have gained a lot of valuable insight from changing industries (all will still be within engineering/sustainability)
Thank you!

Hi quentinb95,
Thanks for posting your profile. Firstly, let me congratulate you on your impressive career achievements in a specialty field. In fact, if my math serves me correctly, you have about 12 years of work experience, including your time with the US Navy. For someone with your tenure, are you considering EMBA programs?

To answer your specific question about how a job / industry change would look to the schools, they primarily want to understand any pivots. Ideally, any switch would move you closer to your long-term career goals, and/or be a growth opportunity for you (whether it be in terms of salary, title, responsibilities or personal development). As you pointed out, since your potential new roles would still be within engineering / sustainability, it seems to me they would still fit with your overarching narrative.

As you pull your apps together, be sure to describe what motivates you to be passionate about your career goals. Why MBA? What specific skillset or knowledge are you seeking at business school that you are not learning on the job? If you can articulate this compellingly in your essays, that would be the key to your application success. If you would like to discuss your profile in more detail, feel free to schedule a 1:1 consultation with us. Wishing you the best in your MBA journey!

Sincerely,
Debbie