About office selection at MBA level

Hi there,

In general you should select an office where:

• You can get a Visa
• You can get a referral (even from someone in another office)
• BONUS 1: You have some forms of connections (previous work or study experiences for example)
• BONUS 2: You know it’s hiring (not all the offices are hiring as usual now due to the COVID)

It is normally easier to be invited in your home country/geography where you have strong connections compared to one where you don’t have any link. The only exception is if your local office is not hiring much due to the COVID.

Once you have three offices that respect the previous points, you can define the percentages. I would recommend to prioritize offices where you believe you have more chances. You can always transfer later as mentioned by Emily – it may not be easy, but not worth the risk of a rejection in my opinion.

You can find more on referrals at the following link if needed:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Best,
Francesco

hi there,

Agree with Ian that you should demonstrate some connection with the offices you want to apply to. Have you studied there, worked there, or have solide personal reason (e.g. family) to be there? 

Don't be wishy-washy in the selection. The firms have a big pool of candidates and they would prefer someone who has connection or someone they can see a potential time/geo committment for that office. 

If you don't have any good reason for London or ME offices, it would be better to apply to your home office, then ask for internal transfer later. 

Best,

Emily

Hi there,

There's no concrete answer here on how to optimize this!

However, what I can recommend is picking the 1-2 offices where you legitimatelly have a connection and apply to those.

If you have never worked in London, never been there, and don't have rights to the EU, I would focus on Middle East and Home country. Same goes for Middle East if the situation is the reverse.

You need to 1) Have evidence on your resume that you know/understand/can work in the target office country and  (ideally) 2) have networked with people in that office. Otherwise you're just another name on the table!

Think about it, if you were a recruite rin London and you looked at your resume (amongst all the other thousands), would you interview you?

Dear A,

Yes, this is a good consideration, how you can specify your office preferences. You can also shortly mention your geographical preferences in your cover letter to make it sound even more explicit. 

If you need help in finding job in order to stay after your MBA, drop me a line, I have already placed several candidates and I have pretty good networking in Europe. 

Best,
André