I just graduated with a BS in Biology, 3.75 GPA. I’m considering changing fields to something in business.
So whats the best option?
Work for a few years and apply for MBA
Work, take some classes in the business field, later apply for MBA
Go back for a bachelors in business like administration or finance or accounting and do internships or part time work, later on if I want to, do a MBA or masters in finance/accounting
Some questions regarding the options…
a) If I want to go for an MBA, I want to do it at a top 10-15 school, so would just working without any classes in the business field ever, allow me to get into one? Especially with others having bachelors/experience in the business field
b) What type of jobs should I be looking for if I want to go the MBA route, and with a bachelors in bio would it be hard to get good jobs that would help towards an MBA and future business career, especially if it is something non-healthcare related that I am looking for?
c) Long term, would option 3 help me the most finding jobs after an MBA, considering that I would have a degree in business already and then would have worked a few years, or would it not matter all that much?
No matter what i do I will work hard and do my best at it and use all options and network a ton.
Work for a few years, then apply for an MBA. You don’t need to take classes in the interim, although youc an if you want to.
Don’t go back to a second bachelor’s; it’s a waste of time and money.
a) Yes, you can do that with just working. MBAs take people with all kinds of undergrad majors. Your work experience is more important.
b) Jobs that will allow you to display your leadership skills and/or rapid accomplishments. For top 15 schools, the more prestigious the firm the better. The top MBA programs tend to be overpopulated by former consultants, investment bankers, and workers from other top firms. Most of these programs have class profiles, so you can see what kind of work people did and sometimes even what companies they came from.
c) No, it wouldn’t matter all that much. When you’re looking for a job post-MBA your work experience and your MBA will matter the most.
^^^^ Yea you are right that does make a ton of sense.
With your response to “b” though, I just graduated with a degree in biology and don’t really have much work experience other than 2 years in high school, and while i may have solid 3.75 GPA, everyone says no one cares about GPA. So based on my current resume what kind of jobs can I really expect to get that will help me get into a top MBA program? Will I just have to sell myself hard, and hope someone bites? I am intelligient, hard working, a quick learner, and someone who wants to advance their career so I do have that I guess, and maybe I should let them know i want to get an MBA in the future?
Any advice on where to start looking for jobs and any industries in particular?
Also, one of my reasons to want to get the full bachelors in accounting or finance was just as a back up incase career wise i am not finding what i want with an MBA in hand. Or is that stupid to think and I should be fine with an MBA?
@juillet
Also based on my above post, do you think sales would be good to look for a job in right now such as car sales, cell phone/internet/tv companies, really any job in sales???
And what about working in administration for a business, almost like secretary type work?
Either of those would do. Start in that entry level job. Work hard, learn a lot, grow professioanlly, take on further responsibilities, get promoted, etc. in two or thre years you will have a much better idea about what you want to do, and you will know if an MBA is ueful for you.
@happymomof1 see i get that man, im just lost on what type of jobs to look for with my bio degree, and if i can still get into something good unrelated to bio
@GOAT12 - It all depends on what you mean by switching to “something in business”. I’ve been involved in business my entire adult life, including owning several companies, and my only degree is a BA in History. My daughter, with a BA in Biology, is currently a business consultant in the healthcare field. I wouldn’t generically recommend an MBA without knowing a more specific goal.
Also, I get that a lot of you are saying it would be dumb to go back for a BBA in accounting or finance, but later down the road when I want to do an MBA, wouldn’t that make me more competitive for MBA programs?
Because I get you guys say it is easy to just work for a few years and do MBA, but I want to be a strong applicant for TOP 10-15 MBA schools.
@GOAT12 Only if you like sales. If you want to go to a top 10-15 business program, then it should be sales at a good company (not necessarily a household name, but a good one) and you should like sales well enough that you are good at it.
But if by car sales you’re talking about working at a dealership, or if cell phone sales you’re talking about working at a store or call center…well, you can do those sales jobs and make money, but they’re not really the types of jobs that help you get into top MBA programs.
However, if you are interested in sales, especially with a biology degree - think about pharmaceutical company sales or medical device sales, or business-to-business biotechnology sales (e.g., many biotech firms sell their wares to biomedical laboratories and hospitals). Those ARE the kinds of jobs people more frequently do before an MBA. There’s also technical account management for technology/biotechnology companies, where you are technically in ‘sales’ but your job is more to manage relationships with clients who have big contracts with the company. For example, a technical account manager at Google may manage Google’s relationship with school districts who pay for and use Gmail as their e-mail provider; or one at Apple my manage Apple’s relationship with a company that purchases Apple computers for all their employees.
Same thing about admin work…you can get it, and it will pay your bills, but that’s not the type of work that will make you competitive for top 15 MBA programs. Not the lower-level secretary/receptionist kind of work, anyway. But there is admin work that you can do that does look better - like working in the chief of staff’s office for some large company, or working as an executive assistant.
So when you say “If you want to go to a top 10-15 business program, then it should be sales at a good company (not necessarily a household name, but a good one)” what type of sales are you talking about, and you give some examples of jobs?
Also, what types of jobs can I do with a BS in Bio that aren’t business/admin but get into a top 10-15 MBA?
I really appreciate everyone’s help, but I feel like no one is really answering the question of which types of jobs I could get myself into with a BS in Bio and not much work experience that would get me into a top 10-15 MBA. Everyone is just saying work 2-3 years and get an MBA.
^Look up and read my post again - I actually gave an example of several different kinds of jobs in both categories (sales and admin) in my post. sherpa also gave you an example.
But the other part of this is that the onus is really on you to do the work to figure out what you can do. We can start you off by pointing you in the right direction, but we don’t know where you live, what the market is like in your area, what you are interested in and are good at, what your qualifications and skills and resume are like. The other problem is that there are TONS of jobs you could do for 3-5 years before getting an MBA. You’re really not limited by your major in biology; most jobs won’t really care what your major was and will be more concerned with what you can do.
We’re not going to be able to give you a highly specific list of jobs you can just go down and search for; we can give you general areas, and you have to take it from there and combine that with some searching and research to figure out what works. Job searches take time and work
I also suggested in another thread taking a look at the class profiles of the recent MBA classes at top programs. They’ve got examples of the industries people come from:
You’ll see that consulting and financial services are the two biggest fields that people come from. That’s usually followed by tech at most places. Of course, those are only broad areas - what people are doing in those areas is a bit trickier (there are LOTS of jobs in tech). But this is a place to start.
@juillet
Yes you are very right on that, I think I just kind of ignored that because I forgot to mention, I don’t really want to go into pharm or hospital admin because I’m super against prescription meds and that whole thing, and also against how many hospitals are all about money and push their doctors like crazy and take advantage of patients. And I guess I figured that the jobs you mentioned in “pharmaceutical company sales or medical device sales, or business-to-business biotechnology sales” would only open me to those industries once I get an MBA.
But then again, before making assumptions i should ask, so am I wrong on that? Would doing a job right now in medical device sales, or business-to-business biotechnology sales right now and then doing an MBA, only allow me to use my MBA in those fields?
And again, do you think with my background I could get into a job right now in that if I try hard enough?
Finally, yes you are very right, it is on me to do more research and figure stuff out and I definitely will, just trying to get as much as from people as I can.
Just another thought, if my main goal is to do my own business and also have a secure career that can help me in business. Why not just start working towards starting one business now, get an undergrad degree in finance or accounting(it would only cost me 14k total and I would live at home), and then find a job in finance/accounting and continue doing my business or perhaps have even more at that point.
Did you graduate from college last May? What have you been doing job wise and can you talk to the career office at your college and see if they can put you in touch with alumni or possible jobs?
You’re a college graduate. While you’re out applying and looking for opportunities in business it’s going to be important that you pay attention to details. Happymomof1 isn’t a man and I don’t believe Juillet is either. Assuming a poster is a male is presumptive. Addressing them as males when their names pretty clearly indicate that they’re women is insulting. Being oblivious to those types of details can affect whether or not you make it past the first round of interviews. If you do contact your college’s career office or alumnae to ask for job leads, please keep that in mind.
Maybe start in a job related to keeping food or medications/treatments safe, with a company or municipality. I completed agree with you working and then getting an MBA.
But then again, before making assumptions i should ask, so am I wrong on that? Would doing a job right now in medical device sales, or business-to-business biotechnology sales right now and then doing an MBA, only allow me to use my MBA in those fields?
As others have said, do not get another degree in accounting or finance, it will not help in b-school admissions and could hurt, i.e. this person seems all over the place. Take some night classes at a community college or online classes to get an idea. Were you interested in bio when you started and after realizing the unethical (for a lack of a better term) practices in healthcare, you don’t want a job in it? If you’re interested in bio, then the jobs recommended by Juilett are the way to go.
If you want to get out of healthcare completely, b-school might be the best place to do it, but as you say, you’ll have a better chance at getting a marketing, finance role in a pharma/bio-tech company. At a top-20 school though you will get opportunities to interview with all sorts of companies.
@GOAT12, you keep asking ‘what about getting a BBA’, even though *every single poster/i has said that it is a bad idea, a waste of time and money, and will not help you get into top MBA program. There are people who avoid dealing with real life by going back to school- it’s safe, it’s familiar, and it looks as if you are actually doing something with your life. Irl, it would just be postponing getting out and getting on with your life.
You say that your only work experience was in high school- did you really go through all of college without a single job or internship? what did you do with your summers?
As @citymama9 asked, have you been to your career counseling office? have you looked at any of the graduate schemes? Many very large companies have programs for new college graduates to introduce them to the company and train them into (think Unilever, P&G, all the consultancies, etc). You can still apply for them as a new graduate - from any major. Again, your college career counseling office should know about these.
