Roughly one third of the top 100 business schools have started Masters in Business or Data Analytics programs, in response to the growing need for workers who can leverage data assets for competitive advantage.

What do MBA applicants need to know about MBA careers in the growing industry of data and business analytics?

Darren invites Shane Rai, Co-Founder of TenPoint7, a machine learning-as-a-service company, to share his experience as a technology consultant turned entrepreneur in the data analytics and service industry.

This is Part 4 of our MBA Career Series. Looking for more career-related podcasts? Click here.

Questions

• Shane's background (3:39)
• The difference between data science, data analytics and business analytics (7:00)
• How to break into the industry (11:00)
• What background & experience are data-centric companies looking for? (15:13)
• Is AI going to take over the world? (20:30)
• Selling data intelligence services (24:30)
• Interviewing for a data analytics role - what you need to know (26:41)
• Real world examples of data analytics in action (33:24)
• Worst parts of the job (37:50)
• Shane's recommended resources (39:46)
• Shane's final thoughts on the data analytics industry (41:20)

About Our Guest

After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Computing and Software Systems, Shane Rai worked 7 years for Deloitte Consulting in the technology service area, and then 2 years as Product Manager for SDL Social, which provides social media analytics and intelligence tools. Shane currently leads product development for TenPoint7, a machine-learning-as-a-service and data consulting provider based in Seattle.

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/mba-careers-data-and-business-analytics

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7 senior MBA Admissions Directors from Berkeley Haas, Cornell Johnson, Virginia Darden, Duke Fuqua, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, and Yale School of Management came to Vietnam this Fall for an MBA admissions panel.

Darren shares the questions asked and lessons learned from the event.

Questions

1. GMAT or GRE - does it matter? (5:08)
2. How do schools evaluate undergrad transcripts? (5:39)
3. Should only business students apply for MBAs? (6:32)
4. What does the ideal resume look like? (7:33)
5. What do adcoms want to see in essays? (9:19)
6. Optional essay - should it be used? (11:13)
7. Letter of recommendations - what are b-schools looking for? (13:24)
8. Tips for interviews? (15:25)
9. How can applicants show interest in programs? (17:32)
10. What if your recommender is not a native English speaker? (18:06)
11. Common myths in the MBA application process? (18:25)
12. Does visiting a school campus increase chances? (21:03)
13. How do schools view multiple GMAT scores? (22:08)
14. How are IR and AWA evaluated and used? (23:27)
15. What if adcoms see conflicting evidence/data points for quant scores? (23:57)
16. Is international experience important? (26:07)
17. Interviews - is there any difference between adcom and student interviews? (27:47)
18. Do adcoms consider how long you’ve worked for your recommender? (29:05)
19. What is most stressful part of getting an MBA? (29:20)
20. Rewarding part? (30:00)
21. Bonus - Darren’s key takeaways from the event (31:42)

Admissions Directors at Multi-School Admissions Event in Ho Chi Minh (Sep 2017)

Eddie Asby (Cornell Johnson, Associate Director of Admissions & Financial Aid)
Candace Gonzales (Berkeley Haas, Associate Director of Admissions)
Rita Morrow (Virginia Darden, Associate Director of Admissions)
Jessica Brown (Duke Fuqua, Assistant Director of Admissions)
Taya Sapp (Michigan Ross, Associate Director of Admissions)
Maria Derlipanska (Yale Som, Associate Director of Admissions)
Fatema Dalal (NYU Stern, Director of MBA Admissions)

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/21-mba-application-questions-answered

Episode Sponsor

What do MBA applicants need to know about MBA careers in venture capital?

Darren invites his friend Garrett to share his experience, both as an MBA student looking to break into venture capital and as an interviewer for Hewlett Packard Ventures.

Garret has worked in venture capital and related jobs in San Francisco for 7 years – don’t miss his hard-earned insights into the industry!

This is Part 3 of our MBA Career Series. Looking for more career-related podcasts? Click here.

Questions

• Garrett’s background (4:50 )
• What do venture capitalists do? (9:56)
• What work background & experience are venture capital (VC) firms looking for? (17:00)
• The importance of networking to break into the industry (20:39 )
• How helpful are business school reputations and rankings in recruiting (23:40)
• Common entry points into VC as an MBA? (25:34)
• The (lack of a) recruiting process in VC (26:10)
• How VC’s and startups perceive MBAs (28:50)
• Interviewing with VCs - what you need to know (32:21)
• Traits of successful VCs (35:38)
• Best part of job? Worst part of job? (38:12)
• Venture capital opportunities for international MBAs in US (44:42)?
• Garrett’s recommended resources (48:47)
• Garrett’s final thoughts on succeeding in venture capital (50:07)
• Business school geography and venture capital (52:46)

About Our Guest

After graduating from UCLA with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Garrett Wong worked 3 years as an investment banker at Wachovia and UBS, and then 2 years as a corporate development associate at Cisco, where he evaluated venture capital investments in clean tech and technology. After getting his MBA from Wharton, Garrett worked in a number of PE, VC and product management roles before joining Hewlett Packard Ventures.

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/mba-careers-venture-capital

Episode Sponsor