Tech upheaval & your MBA
Dr. Marlena Corcoran
The best education in the world, for you :: Contributor to Forbes.com on international business education
Are you one of the tens of thousands of people hit by the current bloodbath of layoffs in the U.S. tech industry? If you didn't lose your job, you may be worried that you might soon be unemployed. Workers on visas have 60 days to find a qualifying job or lose their status. Computer science students who had counted on cushy jobs immediately after graduation are facing a very different job market. Cutbacks on this scale also affect businesses that are tangential to tech. Even if you're only concerned about your investments, you are probably feeling the shock.
U.S. #businessschools have responded by making it easier for those of you who are suddenly looking around for your next best move. There are two kinds of opportunities:
--Extended deadlines and even new application rounds
--GMAT waivers
An example of creative rescheduling is the recent announcement by Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business. Read it here. On January 9, Fuqua announced: "Even though we saw applications for our Round 2 deadline increase over last year, we know that many of the challenges applicants are facing are new, maybe only occurring within the last couple of weeks. . . (W)e made the decision to change the timing and number of our remaining application rounds. In this way, we can meet these candidates where they are in this process, which may be in the very early stages." Fuqua's Round 3 deadline is now February 13, and the additional new Round 4 deadline is March 28, 2023. Applicants must be registered to take their preferred standardized exam by February 28.
An example of waiving the GMAT is the "special option for the people recently laid off from their jobs in the technology field," offered by #northwesternuniversity's #Kellogg School of Management. Learn more here. Want to know more about GMAT waivers? Four experienced members of the Association of Independent Graduate Admissions Counselors discussed this hot topic on a recent episode of #MBAWaves. Listen to the recording here.
Note that I am not talking about programs that, every year, have application rounds with deadlines in the spring (although you can also consider those). These are new opportunities. Ordinarily, your best bet would be to take your time, get a fighting GMAT score, work out your goals and craft essays on why each particular program you target will help you achieve those goals. Once you are optimally prepared, apply in the fall, in rounds one or two, when the greatest number of seats and the most scholarship money will be available.
These are not ordinary times.
Can you get a convincing application completed in record time? I rarely make a point of this, but a first-rate MBA #admissions counselor can definitely help. In the emotional turmoil following a layoff, a counselor can help you pick yourself up, explore possibilities both in the industry you know and others you may have dreamed of, suggest the right programs for you to focus on and get all the gears meshed and moving--in time to make the new deadlines.
Is an MBA right for everyone? Of course not. And while it is true that, as my colleague Linda Abraham says, "There is no better place to ride out a recession than an MBA classroom," you are unlikely to gain admission to a top MBA program by whining that you've been sacked and have nothing better to do.
In fact, some of the new provisions specify that they are meant for certain categories of applicants. Check carefully, contacting the program if you have any doubts, to see whether you are qualified. If necessary, take care that your application makes your situation clear.
But if you are ready to raise your sights far above your tech desk or support position, MBA training will equip you with a mindset and a skillset that is flexible, to help you weather this and future storms. It may be the kick you need to start a whole new life.
Ready? Mobilize today for an MBA.
The truth is that a lot of Indians are affected as are their H1-B.
Founder of Accepted, the premier admissions consultancy for MBA, medical school, law school, grad school, & college. Speaker. Host of Admissions Straight Talk podcast and podcast guest.
1yThanks for the tag Dr. Marlena Corcoran . I've said it before and I'll say it again, an increase in the unemployment rate will increase applications to graduate schools, especially business schools. Will those rates increase as much as in the past? I don't know. It depends how high unemployment goes in the industries and positions that feed MBA programs. I've seen articles in Poets&Quants and The Wall Street Journal and posts online arguing that a rise in unemployment will not have an impact this time around because the MBA has become so expensive and because so many other (and frequently less expensive) options are available today than in years past. My response: The spike in unemployment as recently as 2020 during the COVID recession certainly saw an across-the-board, huge increase in graduate schools applications, including to MBA programs. Most of those options already existed. Furthermore, even if some of the increase goes to one-year programs, online programs, or certificate options, there still could be a significant increase going to traditional online graduate programs including the MBA
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1yThanks for this Dr. Marlena Corcoran - it is really useful to offer this to those around us who need the information and support.
When life gives you lemons, making lemonade is never truer, and how delicious this bevy is in a time with so many options! It's so much better to be in the process of using adversity and disappointment as an opportunity to pivot and self-improve. I'm so glad you wrote this newsletter (and thanks for linking us at MBA Waves <3. Also it's super helpful to work with the experts to help you find your way on the path, especially since you might still shell-shocked with your own and collective firing. (Can we say a collective, Oof) It takes time for that seismic reality check to move through your system. But if you gather your grit, and consider if a, yes flexible, MBA will give you more cred in the job market, and you've got that gumption, take deep gulps of your fresh squeezed 'sun.'
A first-generation university graduate with unprecedented commitment to diversity.
1yThe Department of Defense has tremendous need for scientist, engineers, mathematicians and tech. If the 200,000 that have been laid off want to work, DOD is a good landing place.