Hey everyone, I’m writing because I am in a bit of a touch situation.
Bottom line is that I’m looking to transition from military into institutional finance (Corp Finance at a minimum, preferably ER or AM roles…also open to the right Fin. consulting opportunity) but I’ve run into a roadblock.
I’ll begin by outlining profile and stats:
The Background
710 GMAT, 3.0 GPA from a no-name military college. A short resume follows. I’ve scrubbed it with the exception of my current Master’s program, as that is going to be important later on.
Education
• Denver University, March 2015 - August 2016
o Masters in Finance candidate
o Key Courses: Financial Accounting
• North Georgia College and State University , [2010 Graduation]
o B.S. Political Science/Computer Science.
o Key Courses: Statistics, Data Structures and Analysis, Database Administration, Legal Research.
• Wall Street Warfighters Foundation,
o Receiving financial valuation and advisory training.
• Syracuse University, Veterans Career Transition Program,
o Receiving training for PMI’s PMP exam sponsored by JP Morgan.
• United States Army [OMITTED] Officer’s Basic Course,
o Received intensive training in operations management, personnel management, and
mathematical analysis and computation techniques.
Experience
ARMY OFFICER, LOCATION/UNIT OMITTED
Facilities Manager DATE OMITTED
• Closed facilities to support a branch closure. Brought 5 office buildings and 1 vehicle storage and maintenance facility in line with federal, state and local environmental and facility standards while managing stakeholders and controlling costs.
Project Officer DATE OMITTED
• Saved the organization over $400,000 in supply costs. Established a parts warehouse from scratch, with the assistance of two direct reports. Created digital systems for storage and inventory tracking.
• Developed organizational process asset baselines for construction/environmental project managers.
Operations Director DATE OMITTED
• Implemented organizational strategy for an Artillery Battalion consisting of 4 subordinate offices and 500 personnel. Responsible for assignment and completion of all administrative tasks.
• Supervised a 24/7 command center with 12 direct reports.
• Published operations directives and unit calendars, assigned tasks to subordinate units, and determined timelines for required tasks.
Military Advisor/Operations Consultant DATE OMITTED
• Selected to serve under a Special Forces mission commander on a 6-man advisor/mentor team.
• Managed financial requirement forecasting, procurement, infrastructure improvement projects, and related construction contracts.
• Responsible for analysis of regional intelligence resources and assessing impact on team operations.
• Led joint missions with the Afghan National Police Force.
Organizational Involvement
Combined Federal Campaign DATE OMITTED
Fundraising Coordinator
• Ran a charity campaign for a unit of 500 soldiers, supervising the efforts of four subordinate fundraising coordinators and managing donations with the result of exceeding fundraising goals by 20%
Toastmasters International DATE OMITTED
• Earned Certified Toastmaster award. Voted in as the club’s Sergeant at Arms.
• Working on project to pair nonprofit organizations with free speakers from Toastmasters.
The Dilemma
The catch is that I have, as of now, not been able to break into any top 30 program.
I’m in the situation where I have two options. The first is to attend a state Master’s in Finance Program, listed above. I’m not horribly optimistic about the program as it is a non-name state school, and a non target. To give you an idea of how bad the brand name is, the MBA’s place with 62% having job offers, for an average base salary of 62k. The catch is that I’m reasonably certain of being able to get part time internships (the classes run full time, continuously, for 15 months). It’s also extremely unlikely that I’m going to have a GPA below 3.8 or be below the top 2-3% of my class. The only way that’s going to be happen is if I get extremely lazy or piss off all my professors. I’ve managed to successfully network my way around some Denver firms and could likely work through multiple 20hr/week internships for course credit with Denver IB and AM firms.
The other option is that I have good reason to believe that I have a job that pays 100k+ base salary on the table, as I had extremely good results from the interview. Without giving away too many details the company is a niche leader in the shipping industry, and the base salary alone is easily 30k more per year than what most military officers can expect these days. The placement firms rarely offer non-engineer jobs above mid 50’s a year, and even those jobs are nomadic construction management jobs where you live in the middle of nowhere for 4-9 months at a stretch before moving to the next project. This opportunity is a great job if I wanted to go on the general management track but my interest is strongly towards more analytical finance type jobs. I would however, most likely come out of the job with 6Sigma and PMP certifications 2-3 years from now.
That job would be great by any conventional measure, but I’m acutely aware that taking is going to permanently rule out finance. If I take that I may still be successful in general management though.
Another key fact: I only have 29 months of Post 9/11 GI bill, which means that after completing the MSF I will be ineligable for any Yellow Ribbon programs unless I go to a 1-year MBA. I’m also 29 now. By the time I complete the MSF I will be 30, add on 2 years work experience I wouldn’t be starting an MBA program until age 33.
What is everyone’s thoughts on the matter? I’m looking towards an MBA in the end game but I’m not sure if either option would position me for that. Would a 3.8+ GPA at the mSF program in question work in my favor and even out the weaknesses on my profile, or would I just be wasting my time? And finally, what schools would I be competitive for with each route?