Investment or Tech: Which Industry is Right For Your Career?
Job hunting between a career in investments or tech is a good problem to have. Each one, especially with an MBA under your belt, has enormous earning and growth potential, job security, and perks.
Continue reading…International Option: Pros and Cons of Earning a Master’s in Finance in the UK Instead of the U.S.
A Master’s in Finance is fast becoming one of the most popular degrees in the world. According to The Financial Times, “global demand for masters in finance (MiF) degree courses increased slightly in 2018,” due to a number of factors including ROI, career paths for graduates, and costs.
Continue reading…Top 5 Paying MBA Careers: Consulting
Consulting still is one of the top career choices for MBA graduates. Part of the reason is because consulting firms are very open to recruiting MBAs from a wide range of backgrounds.
According to the 2018 Prospective Student Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), consulting is the most sought-after postgraduate industry. An estimated 34 percent of applicants consider consulting their career of choice.
Salary is a crucial factor in that choice. Although consulting salaries depend on a lot of factors—time, location, office, and position, to name a few—the pay is relatively high across the board.
Below, we’ll break down the highest paying jobs in consulting, where to work to earn the most money, what MBA programs are best for the career, and the top companies to work for. Continue reading…
How You Can Become an Implementation Consultant with an MBA
If you’re a natural problem solver who likes tackling large projects and managing teams, a role as an Implementation Consultant (IC), could be the perfect fit. With jobs in fields as varied as compliance, human resources, software development, healthcare and pharmaceuticals (among others) this is a top job for MBAs who want to put their management skills to work.
Companies like Oracle, Deloitte, IBM, PwC and McKinsey all frequently seek ICs to serve in various capacities, which is great news for MBAs who are just starting out or considering a career shift.
What is an Implementation Consultant?
In short, an IC is hired by an organization to ensure that a new system, tool, or process is used efficiently. According to an article describing the position on modernanalyst.com, “You [will be] chiefly responsible for understanding the client’s requirements and … addressing gaps so that the solution or product will meet your particular client’s needs.”
An IC is hired by a service provider (such as a tech company or a finance and consulting firm) to put the service into place and ensure that it runs as smoothly as possible. Often, the IC is brought in on a project by project basis so a fair amount of flexibility is required in the role. Also important are communication and “people skills,” as the IC will work with teams in various levels and divisions within a company.
A story on LinkedIn explored the role of the IC in the tech realm. The skills laid out, however, are applicable to any field that requires such a position. They are:
- Client Engagement
- Cross Domain Expertise
- Presentation and Training
- Cross Cultural Competence
The Implementation Consultant often acts as the ‘face’ of the service or product, so an understanding of a client’s needs and values is one of the most important aspects of this role.
Examples of scenarios in which a company brings in an IC are implementing new software, which requires configuring the product to the company’s needs and ensuring follow through after installation; assisting organizations with new corporate structures such as those that happen during mergers or acquisitions, and putting new policies and procedures in place after shifts in government regulations.
Implementation Consultant Salaries
Implementation Consultants can earn an average of $98,000 per year, according to Paysa data. This represents a range of about $85,000 in the 25th percentile of earning and $110,000 in the 75th percentile. The top 10 percent earn over $123,000.
Five of the highest paying companies for ICs are Leidos, BlackLine Systems Accounting Software, Salesforce, Omniture, and Kaplan K-12 Learning. The cities with the highest paid positions for the role are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Boston.
A recent FirmsConsulting.com article says it best regarding the need for good ICs:
“No matter how good a firm is, they can never predict all the problems with implementing a strategy.”
Getting Started
Among the skills required to become an effective Implementation Consultant are project management and general management, along with analytics. While many undergraduate degrees with a business or information systems focus can get your foot in the door, an MBA may push you to the top of the list of desirable hires.
An MBA with a consulting, project management, or analytics focus is ideal for a future in Implementation Consulting. As previous articles have covered, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, and Northwestern Kellogg, are all considered leaders of the pack of feeder schools to top consulting firms.
Project management education can also help earn a way into the role. Penn State’s Smeal College of Business‘ program is one of the top in the field, as are those at Lehigh University College of Business and Economics, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, and Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
Friday News – Vanderbilt Receives STEM Designation, Michigan Ross Honored by AACSB, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including the new Vanderbilt STEM designation at the university’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
Vanderbilt MBA Finance Concentration Receives STEM Certification – News & Events
The Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University has announced that, starting this fall, its finance concentration will be a STEM degree program. This gives international students the opportunity to extend post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the US by 24 months.
Sue Oldham, Associate Dean, MBA Programs Operations, says, “We were able to work with our faculty to ensure that this STEM designation in the Finance concentration is one that would have an immediate impact, not only for our current students but for all prospective students… [It] is a direct result of the leadership team here listening to what our students are saying, specifically our international students.”
The OPT program enables international students to remain in the United States for 12 months in order to receive work training. With the new STEM designation, this period has been extended an additional 24 months for international finance students to build their careers. For more on the new Vanderbilt STEM designation, click here.
Michigan Ross Dialogue About The Future of Business Named for “Innovation that Inspires” – Michigan Ross News Blog
A discussion that took place last year at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business has been selected by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for its contribution to academic thought and practice across the b-school community and the world at large.
“Working Toward Shared Prosperity: An Academic-Executive Dialogue,” included academics, along with business, labor, government, and nonprofit leaders who seek to improve conditions of employment and economic growth via practical solutions. Participants and attendees of the discussion came away with renewed energy toward enabling their academic work to address real world issues.
“Working Toward Shared Prosperity: An Academic-Executive Dialogue” earned the coveted 2019 Innovations That Inspire designation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) / Photo via michiganross.umich.edu
The talk was a partnership between Michigan Ross and The Aspen Institute. Read more about the discussion, the AACSB, and the Aspen Institute here.
Economic and Environmentally Sustainable Solutions at the Forefront for the University of Toronto’s NeXus Consulting Group – Rotman News
The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management announced five of its MBA students joining its consulting group, NeXus Enterprises, which focuses primarily upon sustainability and social impact in its practice.
Founded in 2005, NeXus has worked with clients in 10 different countries to assist them in business planning, market research, financial modeling, scaling and expansion efforts. John Visser, a NeXus board member, says, “Social impact organizations are being challenged to deliver more value than ever before. Recent NeXus teams have executed a range of projects that have enabled boards and management teams to take their organizations to the next level.”
The new members of NeXus, all 2020 graduates of the Rotman MBA program, bring their expertise in technology, healthcare, marketing, design, engineering and construction to the group. Read here for more on NeXus and the Rotman team.
Marrying Science and Business Education For A More Sustainable Tomorrow – Fox School News
An industrial ecology project team at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, featuring an MBA student, a legal studies professor, and an engineering professor, have set an admirable example of how to meld disciplines.
Legal studies professor Daniel Isaacs Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Avner Ronen, and MBA Vidya Sabella collaborated to solve a pressing problem: reducing wastes created by businesses.
(Left to right) Daniel Isaacs, Avner Ronen, and Vidya Sabbella / Photo via Joseph V. Labolito
Professor Isaacs (who is also head of the Global MBA program) says, “Business, technology, science and education should not be siloed. With broader educational opportunities like this one, environmental issues can be the drivers of innovation…Students and leaders alike need to start thinking about business in terms of what their obligations to future generations should be.”
You can read more about the team and project here.
MIT Food Systems Lab Announces Seven New Seed Grants – MIT News
The Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) announced a new round of funding for an array of projects that will further innovation in farming and sustainable supply chain management in multiple countries. MIT Sloan is among the branches of the school to receive grant money.
Among the other innovations and developments will be increased food safety for everyday consumers; productivity technologies for small farmers, and water filtration methods for eliminating pollutants to food supplies. Thirty-four research teams applied for funding, and the directors of J-WAFS were tasked with choosing the best of the best.
Renee Robins, Executive Director of J-WAFS, says, “The broad range of disciplines that this applicant pool represents demonstrates how meeting today’s water and food challenges is motivating many diverse researchers in our community.”
Find more details on the seed grants and their recipients here.
Top MBA Recruiters: IDEO
If you’re interested in international design and consulting, IDEO (pronounced eye-dee-oh) should be on your radar. Launched in Palo Alto, CA in 1991, the company is known for using design-thinking methodology to design its products, services, environments, and digital experiences. They’re involved in a wide range of consumer products (toothbrushes, computers, personal assistants, etc.) experiences (non-traditional classrooms), as well as management consulting and organizational design.
Known for designing the first manufactured mouse for Apple, IDEO leads the way for human-centered design. As their website says, “IDEO has long been at the forefront of creating change through design.” Continue reading…
