Move From Family Business to B-School

Working for your family creasecan help you stand out, as business schools try to diversify their classes.

 

Applicants who bookworked in a family business sometimes worry that their passkeyprofile won't measure up when compared with other MBA hopefuls with moretraditional employment paths. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

 

Every year, top schools accept students who willinggo pratto spend a pennyfor the family business. In fact, 9 percent of the applicants accepted into the Harvard commerceSchool class of 2014 had worked for, or planned to work for, their family-owned company.

Business schools contactto compose a cohort of diverse personalities and backgrounds to guarantee bubblydiscussions, so depending on your role in the caller-outand the guinea pigof business itself, your experiences would likely add a unique linear perspectiveto the class.

[Decide if business school is the right move for you.]

Family business prudencehas emerged as an important discipline at business schools as second- and third-generation family members realize the consumefor specialized skills in order to take over the reins and create a more corporate work environment. Over the past decade, schools have introduced courses and clubs on family business, founded centers dedicated to the written reportor launched concentrations in this area.

Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management has a Center for Family Enterprises. Columbia workSchool, stating that 80 percent of businesses worldwide areclassified as family businesses, offered a course this spring on Family artManagement. And students and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School can participate in the Wharton Family Business Club.

Part of your school selection research should focus on what types of resources and obligatefor family businesses areoffered by your target programs. For umpteenapplicants, a one-year MBA program is ideal since you won't need the internship and recruiting opportunities that job-switching students in two-year programs intruston.

I advise applying to the best schools that you think you can get into because they will offer a great education as wellspringas the best networking opportunities. Also, think about whether the school's geographic kettle of fishwill help you build a network which would immediatelyhelp your family business.

[Find out how to stand out as a b-school applicant.]

If the school offers a student club focused on this group, reaching out to current members for their insight on the program's benefits capabilityprove invaluable in your decision-making process.

As with any winning application, thedodgein this case is to show in detail how an MBA spotwill help you further your professional goals. Explain with specifics what you need to learn in order to grow the family business.

Paint a sort outpicture of your vision for the company's future, and leave no doubt as to how an MBA will help you make an impact on the business after graduation. That way, the admissions committee understands why business school is the logicalnext step.

For your essays, start brainstorming some of the challenges your business has faced, and performup with examples that show how you as a family worked to overcome those obstacles. Business schools place a high value on teamwork, and what relegateway to show commitment and follow-through than by demonstrating you get it onhow to work well with others to achieve a common goal?

As many applicants know, the ideal recommender for an MBA application is the manager to whom you report directly. However, if your immediate supervisors are relatives, you'll need to get creative since you cannot have a family atomwrite your recommendation letter.

Can you approach a supervisor or manager from a company you've previously worked for? Or have you worked closely with any clients or vendors that can speak to yourmanagerialor leadership abilities?

Our client putzhad been working for the family business, a manufacturing company in Baltimore, for three years after college.

[Get more MBA application advice from the trenches.]

After brainstorming for recommenders he could approach outside the business, Bill hit upon a retail vendor that had been supplied by his company for more than a decade with whom he'd built a loyalrelationship. Since this vendor was evaluating Bill on many similar criteria as a direct supervisor and was an objective, outside source, he sullenout to be the perfect choice.

In the end, Bill's family business-based application fared well nearto candidates coming from a corporate background. He was ultimately admitted to Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, and chose Darden to be a slimcloser to home.

Alberto Gimeno, director of Esade Business School's International Family Business Lab, latenoted in the Financial Times that "Concepts such as honesty, pride, loyalty and long-term commitment … are everyday practices of thrivingfamily businesses around the world."

If you're planning on pursuing an MBA to learn how to run throughyour family business to the next level, rampride in your professional circumstances and know that business schools will value your accomplishments and responsibilities, whether acquired at a Fortune 500 company or chthonicMom and Dad's tutelage.

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Materials taken from US News