MBA for Non-MBA Types: When You Have a Non-Traditional Background

I often talk to MBA candidates from “non-traditional” backgrounds who are concerned about how their experience will be perceived by the MBA admissions committee when compared to other candidates. Will they be viable candidates if they came from other sectors like government or non-profit? Will business schools take them seriously if they worked in non-business professions, such as teaching or social work?

Business schools want applications from diverse professional backgrounds – and get excited when a candidate has experiences that are distinct and a bit atypical. But while admissions officers want candidates from non-traditional backgrounds, they may assess these candidates a bit more closely for two things: Quantitative ability and ability to achieve career goals.

Quantitative ability

As a non-traditional MBA applicant, you must show that you can handle the quantitative rigors of an MBA program. Schools will look to your GMAT score, undergraduate coursework and professional experience to make this assessment. (To learn more, check out the DiversityMBAPrep.com Module on Academic Readiness)

Ability to achieve your career goals

Every school asks about your career goals and will want to understand how what you’ve done in the past has prepared you for what you want to do in the future. Schools want to be confident that you can successfully make the transition to your desired career.

If you are a candidate with non-traditional profile and plan to stay in the same general field you were in pre-business school, you story more easily fits together and your story is easier to communicate. You will have a lot of credibility with an admissions committee if, for example, you worked as a nurse for five years and after business school want to pursue healthcare administration or consulting. On its face, your story makes sense – it’s easy to understand.

Telling your story in your MBA application is more complicated if you want to change industries post-business school. You have to effectively communicate:

• that your post-MBA goals are more than an interest (i.e., “I like helping people so I thought non-profit would be interesting”), but a studied passion or path.
• how you identified your career goals. Where did this interest come from? This is all about credibility. If you had a parent with a chronic illness and spent the last six years in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices, your interest in healthcare would be more plausible than if you got fired up watching a debate about Obamacare. Now there is nothing wrong with that latter, but Admissions Committees need to know that your goals are more than fleeting interests.
• what has prepared you to make this transition. What in your background proves that you can make the transition to the new industry or field? You don’t have to have done the job to show that you can do the job. Identify the transferable skills and traits that you can bring to the new field. If your career goal is to become a brand manager in consumer packaged goods, highlighting your project management and analytical skills or your interesting consumer psychology, as evidenced by your college coursework will show that you can be successful once you make the transition.

Business schools know that the relationships, skills and knowledge developed in the MBA program can be applied to a wide range of jobs, industries and sectors. Ultimately, the Admissions Committee is assessing your ability to achieve your career goals. They try to step into the shoes of a corporate recruiter who would be hiring you to determine if you would be a strong candidate. This is completely imperfect. Most admissions officers have not been company recruiters and don’t have experience in all of the industries that MBA candidates consider. But herein lays the opportunity for you to make your case. If you can sell it, an Admissions Committee will buy it.