Age:32, Ethnicity: Chinese American
Status: Married with 1 year old daughter
Education: B.S. and M.Eng. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Cornell University (3.0 and 3.3 GPA)
Work Experience: <1yr Big Five Management Consulting, <1 year Internet Startup, 4 years Enterprise Software Vendor, 3 years Midsize Consulting Company (1000+)
Expertise: 7 years deep supply chain experience with multiple demand planning applications for over 15 clients in various industries. Responsibilities and experience in: technical integration, functional process re-engineering, project management and pre-sales pursuits.
Extracurriculars:
HS, College: Intramural basketball, volleyball, published poetry, church
Post college: Asian American Basketball league, Co-ed Volleyball league, church
Goals: 700+ GMAT => Targeting Columbia, NYU, Sloan, Wharton, Cornell
Options i'm considering:
bschool => product management => start my own company possibly enterprise/supply chain software related
bschool => strategic consulting => senior management leveraging my supply chain experience
bschool => do something new in finance, asset management? => ???

Questions (thanks in advance):
1) I'm considering making a lateral move into an IT applications manager position in demand planning and forecasting. My spin would be that I'm taking on different responsibilities such as: managing a budget, managing multiple projects, enhancing my knowledge from the client's perspective. Also, I am doing this to have better quality of life (no travel + see daughter every night), to have time for extracurriculars, to study for the gmat and to apply to bschool.

a) Is this a wise decision if I plan to apply to bschool for R1 '09?
b) Do I need to have a recommendation from my most recent employer? (Does this move hurt my ability to get the right recommendations?)
c) It is advantageous to be in "IT Consulting" vs "IT Industry"?

2) My extracurriculars are weak. Is it better to try getting involved volunteering even though it will be obvious the motivation why? Or is it better to focus on other parts of my application?

3) What is your first impression of my profile? Any other quick tips? Am I too old? How can I distinguish myself from the other "IT" folks besides "supply chain"?

To answer your questions:

(1) You haven't gotten into any b-school yet. You may not even get in. Focus on what's in front of you and real. You have a family to take care of. You have job opportunities in front of you. Do what is best for your career (irrespective of b-school) and your family first and foremost. Don't make decisions based on something that may or may not happen (i.e. getting into b-school). B-school is just a degree program, it's not the Promised Land. As for recommendations, it doesn't matter - choose the recs that know you best - it may not be your current boss if you've only worked there for less than 1 year. B-schools understand. As for IT consulting vs IT industry, it's semantics - there's really no real difference. Again, your decision to take the new job or not should be based on what's best for you NOW and your immediate family.

(2) Get involved for the right reasons - because you want to. If it's a resume building exercise, you won't be fooling anyone. Hey, if you're a US citizen, you can always get involved in the political campaigning - the timing is right, and you do it because you believe in it. Yes You Can.

(3) As for profile, I would say it's pretty middle-of-the-road. The biggest hurdle for you is the actual application itself - can you convince the adcom that to admit the man behind the resume? In other words, you have a solid career profile, chances are you're probably good at your job, and so forth - but are you more than your resume? It's not about distinguishing yourself by what you do, but by who you are - can you show them that you're an individual? That comes down to your essays and interview.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com