How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience

You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to approach the application process depending on your own experience. Traditional work experience Some of you may think that because you have worked in marketing but not at PG, worked in banking but not at Goldman Sachs, or worked in technology but not at Google that your experience may not count as much to admissions committees when compared against applicants who have worked for brands with cache. For those of you with those assumptions, fear not. The quality of the work that you do is much more important than working at a name-brand institution. If you have brand experience That being said, brand name experience might be viewed by members of an admissions committee and potentially give you an edge, at least on the surface. Brand names like PG, Goldman Sachs, or GE have instant recognition. They are world-class institutions, and as a result have the luxury of an extensive candidate pool to choose from. Therefore, if you have worked for one of these firms, it means you probably beat out some pretty stiff competition to get your job. That alone warrants a second look at your candidacy. Brand experience +: With that second look, there are a few things admissions committees will want to see in order to â€Å"verify† that the experience within the organization is strong as well. Longevity: If you only were employed at a brand name firm for a brief period of time (one year or less), there could be concern that you weren’t able to take the work environment. If, on the other hand, you have been with the firm for two or more years, that employment duration signals competence, persistence, and hard work. Promotions: They will look for evidence of increased responsibilities and/or promotions. Regardless of company, that increase is the best indication that you are seen as highly capable by management and therefore have a great future ahead of you. Movement: If you have more than one brand name on your resume, that is a strong signal as well. You were able to successfully transition from one world class firm to another, or perhaps were poached. Insight: Working at a brand-name company provides an additional benefit too: an admissions committee will see that you have experienced the inner workings of an organization that is best-in-class, and therefore can provide some valuable perspective in class discussions. Top companies clearly have done something right to get that reputation, and while you may not even realize it, you have been exposed to and internalized techniques and practices that are beyond reproach. While brand name matters less than work experience, it does have the potential to provide an edge in the initial review process. If you don’t have brand name experience, however, fear not! Bottom line, what really matters is the substance of the work rather than the name itself. What you’ve done is still more important than where you have done it. Admissions committees are looking to fill their cohorts with individuals having as wide a range of experiences as possible, and especially experience that is relevant to an MBA curriculum. When faculty are teaching a particular subject, the lessons come to life when students have real world experience pertaining to the topic. As such, the skills and knowledge gained from significant projects managed from start to finish matter. Involvement with strategic initiatives matters. You don’t have to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar deal to gain strong leadership and management skills. Small projects still matter! Even small projects that you â€Å"own† can be extremely valuable in providing expertise in particular areas. As you advance in your career, always be on the lookout for projects that allow you to take on a significant leadership role and provide you with a certain degree of autonomy. When it comes time to reduce the work you’ve done to one bullet point on your resume, you want to be able to make that bullet as impactful as possible, for example, â€Å"Led a team of eight to cut costs in the supply chain by 20% through strategic re-purposing of older machines.† This example shows leadership, strategic thinking, and tangible results, all really important stuff! That’s what admissions committees want to see. It doesn’t matter if the size of the project was $10,000 or $1,000,000, or that it was done at Boeing or Jane’s Jewelry Factory. What matters is that you provided significant results to your company. Increasing responsibility In addition to having tangible real-world experience to share in the classroom, admissions committees are also looking for upward mobility. With any luck you have a strong track record of promotions, as that is the easiest way to signal that mobility, and would be immediately obvious on a resume. Even if you don’t, however, you can still showcase the fact that your responsibilities have increased over time through thoughtful wording in your resume, such as, â€Å"Rewarded with project management of X following successful implementation of social media planning schedule.† Essays might also be a place to show the upward movement, depending on the topic. Being awarded by your company with greater responsibilities is the clearest signal you can give that you have what it takes to succeed in an MBA program and in your career thereafter. Non-traditional work experience A common concern from prospective clients with non-traditional work experience is whether or not that experience will be considered relevant in an MBA classroom. I have heard this from doctors, lawyers, military officers, and more. Believe it or not, the less traditional one’s work experience, (often) the more an admissions committee is interested! When putting together a cohort, admissions committee members strive to make it as diverse as possible, in every way possible – job function, industry, culture, etc. Imagine if a class was made up of just bankers? Or IT engineers? How rich would the discussion be across all courses? Not very! As such, schools are delighted when non-traditional applicants apply, and you can be assured that your application will get noticed. The assumption is that individuals coming from a non-business background will approach issues and problems with a different perspective and set of priorities that may allow for additional learning opportunities for their classmates (and possibly even the faculty!). There are a few things to be cognizant of as a non-traditional applicant. While generally speaking an admissions committee will be interested in you simply based on your background, there are two things you need to have solidly in your profile in order to be seriously considered for admission: Stellar grades in a few courses that can indicate your ability to succeed with quant work (e.g. statistics, calculus) in a demanding MBA program, and/or a top-notch GMAT or GRE score Since much of your degree’s coursework may not be directly relatable to a business program’s curriculum, the school needs to be confident you will be able to handle the MBA courses. If quant courses are missing from your transcript (and if you don’t knock the GMAT or GRE out of the park), you should consider taking an algebra, business math, or statistics course at a local community college or online to alleviate any concern there (aim for a B or better). A solid reason for needing an MBA Believe it or not, there are serial degree seekers out there. Since the reason you are interested in an MBA will most likely not be obvious based on your previous work experience, you need to do an even better job of presenting your career goals and objectives. Why is an MBA necessary to get you where you want to go? Bottom line, you are going to attract positive attention from an admissions committee based on your non-traditional background. Now that you have their attention, make your case for acceptance with a mind-blowing application that shows them you fit in, i.e. that you will thrive in their program and need the education their program provides to achieve your dreams. Self-employment Creating a resume as a self-employed individual presents some challenges. If you already have an established business, some of this information is superfluous, but if you have been doing contract work, there are details to manage beyond the summary of the work you have been doing. Company name If you own an established business, you probably already have a company name, but if you are doing freelance work or contract consulting, you might not. You need to put something in for company name that helps the reader understand you are indeed self-employed but also has some gravitas to it. It could be something as simple as â€Å"Jane Doe XYZ Consulting† (assuming your name is Jane Doe, of course!). Job title If you are doing contract work, you want to avoid putting, â€Å"Self-employed† or â€Å"Freelancer† as your title. While this may technically be what you are doing, again you want to label yourself in such a way as to lend credibility to the work you are doing. Consider â€Å"CEO/Founder,† or if that is overreach, something like â€Å"Senior Consultant† or â€Å"Senior Engineer.† Choose something that is as close to what your title would be were you employed by someone else without being too self-congratulatory. For those of you with existing businesses, the â€Å"CEO/Founder† designation is most likely an accurate depiction. Work experience If you are running a business with tangible goods or services, it should be fairly straightforward to map out your experience. Hopefully you have been keeping careful tabs on the successes you have had. For contractors, you should discuss projects you have worked on for various firms, listing out details on those particular projects as much as you can without risking the breach of any confidentiality agreements you have in place. With any luck you have some good, quantifiable results that you can point to as well. Here are some examples of how you could present projects: â€Å"Overhauled payment system for $XMM automotive parts manufacturer, resulting in reduction of A/P by 20%.† â€Å"Performed research and presented findings related to a proposed expansion of a non-profit into a new territory. Research results were subsequently shared with existing donors, who then funded 100% of the planned expansion.† â€Å"Designed website and implemented social media strategy and tactics for eight-member startup in the energy industry.† Bottom line on self-employment Admissions committees want to admit people who have interesting experience to share with classmates. Review the core and elective course offerings at the schools you are looking at, and think about how the work you have done on your own could allow you to contribute to class discussions. Take those examples that come to mind and present them in your resume, and possibly later on in more detail in essays. Want to make sure you present your work experience in the best possible way? Work with a seasoned consultant at Accepted to polish the presentation of your work experience and your entire application. Contact us today! ; Jen Weld is a former  Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.  Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! Related Resources: †¢ Leadership in Admissions, a free guide †¢ 7 Tips for MBA Applicants from Family Businesses †¢ Applying for an MBA with No Work Experience: What You Need to Know How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to approach the application process depending on your own experience. Traditional work experience Some of you may think that because you have worked in marketing but not at PG, worked in banking but not at Goldman Sachs, or worked in technology but not at Google that your experience may not count as much to admissions committees when compared against applicants who have worked for brands with cache. For those of you with those assumptions, fear not. The quality of the work that you do is much more important than working at a name-brand institution. If you have brand experience That being said, brand name experience might be viewed by members of an admissions committee and potentially give you an edge, at least on the surface. Brand names like PG, Goldman Sachs, or GE have instant recognition. They are world-class institutions, and as a result have the luxury of an extensive candidate pool to choose from. Therefore, if you have worked for one of these firms, it means you probably beat out some pretty stiff competition to get your job. That alone warrants a second look at your candidacy. Brand experience +: With that second look, there are a few things admissions committees will want to see in order to â€Å"verify† that the experience within the organization is strong as well. Longevity: If you only were employed at a brand name firm for a brief period of time (one year or less), there could be concern that you weren’t able to take the work environment. If, on the other hand, you have been with the firm for two or more years, that employment duration signals competence, persistence, and hard work. Promotions: They will look for evidence of increased responsibilities and/or promotions. Regardless of company, that increase is the best indication that you are seen as highly capable by management and therefore have a great future ahead of you. Movement: If you have more than one brand name on your resume, that is a strong signal as well. You were able to successfully transition from one world class firm to another, or perhaps were poached. Insight: Working at a brand-name company provides an additional benefit too: an admissions committee will see that you have experienced the inner workings of an organization that is best-in-class, and therefore can provide some valuable perspective in class discussions. Top companies clearly have done something right to get that reputation, and while you may not even realize it, you have been exposed to and internalized techniques and practices that are beyond reproach. While brand name matters less than work experience, it does have the potential to provide an edge in the initial review process. If you don’t have brand name experience, however, fear not! Bottom line, what really matters is the substance of the work rather than the name itself. What you’ve done is still more important than where you have done it. Admissions committees are looking to fill their cohorts with individuals having as wide a range of experiences as possible, and especially experience that is relevant to an MBA curriculum. When faculty are teaching a particular subject, the lessons come to life when students have real world experience pertaining to the topic. As such, the skills and knowledge gained from significant projects managed from start to finish matter. Involvement with strategic initiatives matters. You don’t have to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar deal to gain strong leadership and management skills. Small projects still matter! Even small projects that you â€Å"own† can be extremely valuable in providing expertise in particular areas. As you advance in your career, always be on the lookout for projects that allow you to take on a significant leadership role and provide you with a certain degree of autonomy. When it comes time to reduce the work you’ve done to one bullet point on your resume, you want to be able to make that bullet as impactful as possible, for example, â€Å"Led a team of eight to cut costs in the supply chain by 20% through strategic re-purposing of older machines.† This example shows leadership, strategic thinking, and tangible results, all really important stuff! That’s what admissions committees want to see. It doesn’t matter if the size of the project was $10,000 or $1,000,000, or that it was done at Boeing or Jane’s Jewelry Factory. What matters is that you provided significant results to your company. Increasing responsibility In addition to having tangible real-world experience to share in the classroom, admissions committees are also looking for upward mobility. With any luck you have a strong track record of promotions, as that is the easiest way to signal that mobility, and would be immediately obvious on a resume. Even if you don’t, however, you can still showcase the fact that your responsibilities have increased over time through thoughtful wording in your resume, such as, â€Å"Rewarded with project management of X following successful implementation of social media planning schedule.† Essays might also be a place to show the upward movement, depending on the topic. Being awarded by your company with greater responsibilities is the clearest signal you can give that you have what it takes to succeed in an MBA program and in your career thereafter. Non-traditional work experience A common concern from prospective clients with non-traditional work experience is whether or not that experience will be considered relevant in an MBA classroom. I have heard this from doctors, lawyers, military officers, and more. Believe it or not, the less traditional one’s work experience, (often) the more an admissions committee is interested! When putting together a cohort, admissions committee members strive to make it as diverse as possible, in every way possible – job function, industry, culture, etc. Imagine if a class was made up of just bankers? Or IT engineers? How rich would the discussion be across all courses? Not very! As such, schools are delighted when non-traditional applicants apply, and you can be assured that your application will get noticed. The assumption is that individuals coming from a non-business background will approach issues and problems with a different perspective and set of priorities that may allow for additional learning opportunities for their classmates (and possibly even the faculty!). There are a few things to be cognizant of as a non-traditional applicant. While generally speaking an admissions committee will be interested in you simply based on your background, there are two things you need to have solidly in your profile in order to be seriously considered for admission: Stellar grades in a few courses that can indicate your ability to succeed with quant work (e.g. statistics, calculus) in a demanding MBA program, and/or a top-notch GMAT or GRE score Since much of your degree’s coursework may not be directly relatable to a business program’s curriculum, the school needs to be confident you will be able to handle the MBA courses. If quant courses are missing from your transcript (and if you don’t knock the GMAT or GRE out of the park), you should consider taking an algebra, business math, or statistics course at a local community college or online to alleviate any concern there (aim for a B or better). A solid reason for needing an MBA Believe it or not, there are serial degree seekers out there. Since the reason you are interested in an MBA will most likely not be obvious based on your previous work experience, you need to do an even better job of presenting your career goals and objectives. Why is an MBA necessary to get you where you want to go? Bottom line, you are going to attract positive attention from an admissions committee based on your non-traditional background. Now that you have their attention, make your case for acceptance with a mind-blowing application that shows them you fit in, i.e. that you will thrive in their program and need the education their program provides to achieve your dreams. Self-employment Creating a resume as a self-employed individual presents some challenges. If you already have an established business, some of this information is superfluous, but if you have been doing contract work, there are details to manage beyond the summary of the work you have been doing. Company name If you own an established business, you probably already have a company name, but if you are doing freelance work or contract consulting, you might not. You need to put something in for company name that helps the reader understand you are indeed self-employed but also has some gravitas to it. It could be something as simple as â€Å"Jane Doe XYZ Consulting† (assuming your name is Jane Doe, of course!). Job title If you are doing contract work, you want to avoid putting, â€Å"Self-employed† or â€Å"Freelancer† as your title. While this may technically be what you are doing, again you want to label yourself in such a way as to lend credibility to the work you are doing. Consider â€Å"CEO/Founder,† or if that is overreach, something like â€Å"Senior Consultant† or â€Å"Senior Engineer.† Choose something that is as close to what your title would be were you employed by someone else without being too self-congratulatory. For those of you with existing businesses, the â€Å"CEO/Founder† designation is most likely an accurate depiction. Work experience If you are running a business with tangible goods or services, it should be fairly straightforward to map out your experience. Hopefully you have been keeping careful tabs on the successes you have had. For contractors, you should discuss projects you have worked on for various firms, listing out details on those particular projects as much as you can without risking the breach of any confidentiality agreements you have in place. With any luck you have some good, quantifiable results that you can point to as well. Here are some examples of how you could present projects: â€Å"Overhauled payment system for $XMM automotive parts manufacturer, resulting in reduction of A/P by 20%.† â€Å"Performed research and presented findings related to a proposed expansion of a non-profit into a new territory. Research results were subsequently shared with existing donors, who then funded 100% of the planned expansion.† â€Å"Designed website and implemented social media strategy and tactics for eight-member startup in the energy industry.† Bottom line on self-employment Admissions committees want to admit people who have interesting experience to share with classmates. Review the core and elective course offerings at the schools you are looking at, and think about how the work you have done on your own could allow you to contribute to class discussions. Take those examples that come to mind and present them in your resume, and possibly later on in more detail in essays. Want to make sure you present your work experience in the best possible way? Work with a seasoned consultant at Accepted to polish the presentation of your work experience and your entire application. Contact us today! ; Jen Weld is a former  Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.  Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! Related Resources: †¢ Leadership in Admissions, a free guide †¢ 7 Tips for MBA Applicants from Family Businesses †¢ Applying for an MBA with No Work Experience: What You Need to Know How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to approach the application process depending on your own experience. Traditional work experience Some of you may think that because you have worked in marketing but not at PG, worked in banking but not at Goldman Sachs, or worked in technology but not at Google that your experience may not count as much to admissions committees when compared against applicants who have worked for brands with cache. For those of you with those assumptions, fear not. The quality of the work that you do is much more important than working at a name-brand institution. If you have brand experience That being said, brand name experience might be viewed by members of an admissions committee and potentially give you an edge, at least on the surface. Brand names like PG, Goldman Sachs, or GE have instant recognition. They are world-class institutions, and as a result have the luxury of an extensive candidate pool to choose from. Therefore, if you have worked for one of these firms, it means you probably beat out some pretty stiff competition to get your job. That alone warrants a second look at your candidacy. Brand experience +: With that second look, there are a few things admissions committees will want to see in order to â€Å"verify† that the experience within the organization is strong as well. Longevity: If you only were employed at a brand name firm for a brief period of time (one year or less), there could be concern that you weren’t able to take the work environment. If, on the other hand, you have been with the firm for two or more years, that employment duration signals competence, persistence, and hard work. Promotions: They will look for evidence of increased responsibilities and/or promotions. Regardless of company, that increase is the best indication that you are seen as highly capable by management and therefore have a great future ahead of you. Movement: If you have more than one brand name on your resume, that is a strong signal as well. You were able to successfully transition from one world class firm to another, or perhaps were poached. Insight: Working at a brand-name company provides an additional benefit too: an admissions committee will see that you have experienced the inner workings of an organization that is best-in-class, and therefore can provide some valuable perspective in class discussions. Top companies clearly have done something right to get that reputation, and while you may not even realize it, you have been exposed to and internalized techniques and practices that are beyond reproach. While brand name matters less than work experience, it does have the potential to provide an edge in the initial review process. If you don’t have brand name experience, however, fear not! Bottom line, what really matters is the substance of the work rather than the name itself. What you’ve done is still more important than where you have done it. Admissions committees are looking to fill their cohorts with individuals having as wide a range of experiences as possible, and especially experience that is relevant to an MBA curriculum. When faculty are teaching a particular subject, the lessons come to life when students have real world experience pertaining to the topic. As such, the skills and knowledge gained from significant projects managed from start to finish matter. Involvement with strategic initiatives matters. You don’t have to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar deal to gain strong leadership and management skills. Small projects still matter! Even small projects that you â€Å"own† can be extremely valuable in providing expertise in particular areas. As you advance in your career, always be on the lookout for projects that allow you to take on a significant leadership role and provide you with a certain degree of autonomy. When it comes time to reduce the work you’ve done to one bullet point on your resume, you want to be able to make that bullet as impactful as possible, for example, â€Å"Led a team of eight to cut costs in the supply chain by 20% through strategic re-purposing of older machines.† This example shows leadership, strategic thinking, and tangible results, all really important stuff! That’s what admissions committees want to see. It doesn’t matter if the size of the project was $10,000 or $1,000,000, or that it was done at Boeing or Jane’s Jewelry Factory. What matters is that you provided significant results to your company. Increasing responsibility In addition to having tangible real-world experience to share in the classroom, admissions committees are also looking for upward mobility. With any luck you have a strong track record of promotions, as that is the easiest way to signal that mobility, and would be immediately obvious on a resume. Even if you don’t, however, you can still showcase the fact that your responsibilities have increased over time through thoughtful wording in your resume, such as, â€Å"Rewarded with project management of X following successful implementation of social media planning schedule.† Essays might also be a place to show the upward movement, depending on the topic. Being awarded by your company with greater responsibilities is the clearest signal you can give that you have what it takes to succeed in an MBA program and in your career thereafter. Non-traditional work experience A common concern from prospective clients with non-traditional work experience is whether or not that experience will be considered relevant in an MBA classroom. I have heard this from doctors, lawyers, military officers, and more. Believe it or not, the less traditional one’s work experience, (often) the more an admissions committee is interested! When putting together a cohort, admissions committee members strive to make it as diverse as possible, in every way possible – job function, industry, culture, etc. Imagine if a class was made up of just bankers? Or IT engineers? How rich would the discussion be across all courses? Not very! As such, schools are delighted when non-traditional applicants apply, and you can be assured that your application will get noticed. The assumption is that individuals coming from a non-business background will approach issues and problems with a different perspective and set of priorities that may allow for additional learning opportunities for their classmates (and possibly even the faculty!). There are a few things to be cognizant of as a non-traditional applicant. While generally speaking an admissions committee will be interested in you simply based on your background, there are two things you need to have solidly in your profile in order to be seriously considered for admission: Stellar grades in a few courses that can indicate your ability to succeed with quant work (e.g. statistics, calculus) in a demanding MBA program, and/or a top-notch GMAT or GRE score Since much of your degree’s coursework may not be directly relatable to a business program’s curriculum, the school needs to be confident you will be able to handle the MBA courses. If quant courses are missing from your transcript (and if you don’t knock the GMAT or GRE out of the park), you should consider taking an algebra, business math, or statistics course at a local community college or online to alleviate any concern there (aim for a B or better). A solid reason for needing an MBA Believe it or not, there are serial degree seekers out there. Since the reason you are interested in an MBA will most likely not be obvious based on your previous work experience, you need to do an even better job of presenting your career goals and objectives. Why is an MBA necessary to get you where you want to go? Bottom line, you are going to attract positive attention from an admissions committee based on your non-traditional background. Now that you have their attention, make your case for acceptance with a mind-blowing application that shows them you fit in, i.e. that you will thrive in their program and need the education their program provides to achieve your dreams. Self-employment Creating a resume as a self-employed individual presents some challenges. If you already have an established business, some of this information is superfluous, but if you have been doing contract work, there are details to manage beyond the summary of the work you have been doing. Company name If you own an established business, you probably already have a company name, but if you are doing freelance work or contract consulting, you might not. You need to put something in for company name that helps the reader understand you are indeed self-employed but also has some gravitas to it. It could be something as simple as â€Å"Jane Doe XYZ Consulting† (assuming your name is Jane Doe, of course!). Job title If you are doing contract work, you want to avoid putting, â€Å"Self-employed† or â€Å"Freelancer† as your title. While this may technically be what you are doing, again you want to label yourself in such a way as to lend credibility to the work you are doing. Consider â€Å"CEO/Founder,† or if that is overreach, something like â€Å"Senior Consultant† or â€Å"Senior Engineer.† Choose something that is as close to what your title would be were you employed by someone else without being too self-congratulatory. For those of you with existing businesses, the â€Å"CEO/Founder† designation is most likely an accurate depiction. Work experience If you are running a business with tangible goods or services, it should be fairly straightforward to map out your experience. Hopefully you have been keeping careful tabs on the successes you have had. For contractors, you should discuss projects you have worked on for various firms, listing out details on those particular projects as much as you can without risking the breach of any confidentiality agreements you have in place. With any luck you have some good, quantifiable results that you can point to as well. Here are some examples of how you could present projects: â€Å"Overhauled payment system for $XMM automotive parts manufacturer, resulting in reduction of A/P by 20%.† â€Å"Performed research and presented findings related to a proposed expansion of a non-profit into a new territory. Research results were subsequently shared with existing donors, who then funded 100% of the planned expansion.† â€Å"Designed website and implemented social media strategy and tactics for eight-member startup in the energy industry.† Bottom line on self-employment Admissions committees want to admit people who have interesting experience to share with classmates. Review the core and elective course offerings at the schools you are looking at, and think about how the work you have done on your own could allow you to contribute to class discussions. Take those examples that come to mind and present them in your resume, and possibly later on in more detail in essays. Want to make sure you present your work experience in the best possible way? Work with a seasoned consultant at Accepted to polish the presentation of your work experience and your entire application. Contact us today! ; Jen Weld is a former  Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.  Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! Related Resources: †¢ Leadership in Admissions, a free guide †¢ 7 Tips for MBA Applicants from Family Businesses †¢ Applying for an MBA with No Work Experience: What You Need to Know How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to approach the application process depending on your own experience. Traditional work experience Some of you may think that because you have worked in marketing but not at PG, worked in banking but not at Goldman Sachs, or worked in technology but not at Google that your experience may not count as much to admissions committees when compared against applicants who have worked for brands with cache. For those of you with those assumptions, fear not. The quality of the work that you do is much more important than working at a name-brand institution. If you have brand experience That being said, brand name experience might be viewed by members of an admissions committee and potentially give you an edge, at least on the surface. Brand names like PG, Goldman Sachs, or GE have instant recognition. They are world-class institutions, and as a result have the luxury of an extensive candidate pool to choose from. Therefore, if you have worked for one of these firms, it means you probably beat out some pretty stiff competition to get your job. That alone warrants a second look at your candidacy. Brand experience +: With that second look, there are a few things admissions committees will want to see in order to â€Å"verify† that the experience within the organization is strong as well. Longevity: If you only were employed at a brand name firm for a brief period of time (one year or less), there could be concern that you weren’t able to take the work environment. If, on the other hand, you have been with the firm for two or more years, that employment duration signals competence, persistence, and hard work. Promotions: They will look for evidence of increased responsibilities and/or promotions. Regardless of company, that increase is the best indication that you are seen as highly capable by management and therefore have a great future ahead of you. Movement: If you have more than one brand name on your resume, that is a strong signal as well. You were able to successfully transition from one world class firm to another, or perhaps were poached. Insight: Working at a brand-name company provides an additional benefit too: an admissions committee will see that you have experienced the inner workings of an organization that is best-in-class, and therefore can provide some valuable perspective in class discussions. Top companies clearly have done something right to get that reputation, and while you may not even realize it, you have been exposed to and internalized techniques and practices that are beyond reproach. While brand name matters less than work experience, it does have the potential to provide an edge in the initial review process. If you don’t have brand name experience, however, fear not! Bottom line, what really matters is the substance of the work rather than the name itself. What you’ve done is still more important than where you have done it. Admissions committees are looking to fill their cohorts with individuals having as wide a range of experiences as possible, and especially experience that is relevant to an MBA curriculum. When faculty are teaching a particular subject, the lessons come to life when students have real world experience pertaining to the topic. As such, the skills and knowledge gained from significant projects managed from start to finish matter. Involvement with strategic initiatives matters. You don’t have to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar deal to gain strong leadership and management skills. Small projects still matter! Even small projects that you â€Å"own† can be extremely valuable in providing expertise in particular areas. As you advance in your career, always be on the lookout for projects that allow you to take on a significant leadership role and provide you with a certain degree of autonomy. When it comes time to reduce the work you’ve done to one bullet point on your resume, you want to be able to make that bullet as impactful as possible, for example, â€Å"Led a team of eight to cut costs in the supply chain by 20% through strategic re-purposing of older machines.† This example shows leadership, strategic thinking, and tangible results, all really important stuff! That’s what admissions committees want to see. It doesn’t matter if the size of the project was $10,000 or $1,000,000, or that it was done at Boeing or Jane’s Jewelry Factory. What matters is that you provided significant results to your company. Increasing responsibility In addition to having tangible real-world experience to share in the classroom, admissions committees are also looking for upward mobility. With any luck you have a strong track record of promotions, as that is the easiest way to signal that mobility, and would be immediately obvious on a resume. Even if you don’t, however, you can still showcase the fact that your responsibilities have increased over time through thoughtful wording in your resume, such as, â€Å"Rewarded with project management of X following successful implementation of social media planning schedule.† Essays might also be a place to show the upward movement, depending on the topic. Being awarded by your company with greater responsibilities is the clearest signal you can give that you have what it takes to succeed in an MBA program and in your career thereafter. Non-traditional work experience A common concern from prospective clients with non-traditional work experience is whether or not that experience will be considered relevant in an MBA classroom. I have heard this from doctors, lawyers, military officers, and more. Believe it or not, the less traditional one’s work experience, (often) the more an admissions committee is interested! When putting together a cohort, admissions committee members strive to make it as diverse as possible, in every way possible – job function, industry, culture, etc. Imagine if a class was made up of just bankers? Or IT engineers? How rich would the discussion be across all courses? Not very! As such, schools are delighted when non-traditional applicants apply, and you can be assured that your application will get noticed. The assumption is that individuals coming from a non-business background will approach issues and problems with a different perspective and set of priorities that may allow for additional learning opportunities for their classmates (and possibly even the faculty!). There are a few things to be cognizant of as a non-traditional applicant. While generally speaking an admissions committee will be interested in you simply based on your background, there are two things you need to have solidly in your profile in order to be seriously considered for admission: Stellar grades in a few courses that can indicate your ability to succeed with quant work (e.g. statistics, calculus) in a demanding MBA program, and/or a top-notch GMAT or GRE score Since much of your degree’s coursework may not be directly relatable to a business program’s curriculum, the school needs to be confident you will be able to handle the MBA courses. If quant courses are missing from your transcript (and if you don’t knock the GMAT or GRE out of the park), you should consider taking an algebra, business math, or statistics course at a local community college or online to alleviate any concern there (aim for a B or better). A solid reason for needing an MBA Believe it or not, there are serial degree seekers out there. Since the reason you are interested in an MBA will most likely not be obvious based on your previous work experience, you need to do an even better job of presenting your career goals and objectives. Why is an MBA necessary to get you where you want to go? Bottom line, you are going to attract positive attention from an admissions committee based on your non-traditional background. Now that you have their attention, make your case for acceptance with a mind-blowing application that shows them you fit in, i.e. that you will thrive in their program and need the education their program provides to achieve your dreams. Self-employment Creating a resume as a self-employed individual presents some challenges. If you already have an established business, some of this information is superfluous, but if you have been doing contract work, there are details to manage beyond the summary of the work you have been doing. Company name If you own an established business, you probably already have a company name, but if you are doing freelance work or contract consulting, you might not. You need to put something in for company name that helps the reader understand you are indeed self-employed but also has some gravitas to it. It could be something as simple as â€Å"Jane Doe XYZ Consulting† (assuming your name is Jane Doe, of course!). Job title If you are doing contract work, you want to avoid putting, â€Å"Self-employed† or â€Å"Freelancer† as your title. While this may technically be what you are doing, again you want to label yourself in such a way as to lend credibility to the work you are doing. Consider â€Å"CEO/Founder,† or if that is overreach, something like â€Å"Senior Consultant† or â€Å"Senior Engineer.† Choose something that is as close to what your title would be were you employed by someone else without being too self-congratulatory. For those of you with existing businesses, the â€Å"CEO/Founder† designation is most likely an accurate depiction. Work experience If you are running a business with tangible goods or services, it should be fairly straightforward to map out your experience. Hopefully you have been keeping careful tabs on the successes you have had. For contractors, you should discuss projects you have worked on for various firms, listing out details on those particular projects as much as you can without risking the breach of any confidentiality agreements you have in place. With any luck you have some good, quantifiable results that you can point to as well. Here are some examples of how you could present projects: â€Å"Overhauled payment system for $XMM automotive parts manufacturer, resulting in reduction of A/P by 20%.† â€Å"Performed research and presented findings related to a proposed expansion of a non-profit into a new territory. Research results were subsequently shared with existing donors, who then funded 100% of the planned expansion.† â€Å"Designed website and implemented social media strategy and tactics for eight-member startup in the energy industry.† Bottom line on self-employment Admissions committees want to admit people who have interesting experience to share with classmates. Review the core and elective course offerings at the schools you are looking at, and think about how the work you have done on your own could allow you to contribute to class discussions. Take those examples that come to mind and present them in your resume, and possibly later on in more detail in essays. Want to make sure you present your work experience in the best possible way? Work with a seasoned consultant at Accepted to polish the presentation of your work experience and your entire application. Contact us today! ; Jen Weld is a former  Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.  Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! Related Resources: †¢ Leadership in Admissions, a free guide †¢ 7 Tips for MBA Applicants from Family Businesses †¢ Applying for an MBA with No Work Experience: What You Need to Know How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to approach the application process depending on your own experience. Traditional work experience Some of you may think that because you have worked in marketing but not at PG, worked in banking but not at Goldman Sachs, or worked in technology but not at Google that your experience may not count as much to admissions committees when compared against applicants who have worked for brands with cache. For those of you with those assumptions, fear not. The quality of the work that you do is much more important than working at a name-brand institution. If you have brand experience That being said, brand name experience might be viewed by members of an admissions committee and potentially give you an edge, at least on the surface. Brand names like PG, Goldman Sachs, or GE have instant recognition. They are world-class institutions, and as a result have the luxury of an extensive candidate pool to choose from. Therefore, if you have worked for one of these firms, it means you probably beat out some pretty stiff competition to get your job. That alone warrants a second look at your candidacy. Brand experience +: With that second look, there are a few things admissions committees will want to see in order to â€Å"verify† that the experience within the organization is strong as well. Longevity: If you only were employed at a brand name firm for a brief period of time (one year or less), there could be concern that you weren’t able to take the work environment. If, on the other hand, you have been with the firm for two or more years, that employment duration signals competence, persistence, and hard work. Promotions: They will look for evidence of increased responsibilities and/or promotions. Regardless of company, that increase is the best indication that you are seen as highly capable by management and therefore have a great future ahead of you. Movement: If you have more than one brand name on your resume, that is a strong signal as well. You were able to successfully transition from one world class firm to another, or perhaps were poached. Insight: Working at a brand-name company provides an additional benefit too: an admissions committee will see that you have experienced the inner workings of an organization that is best-in-class, and therefore can provide some valuable perspective in class discussions. Top companies clearly have done something right to get that reputation, and while you may not even realize it, you have been exposed to and internalized techniques and practices that are beyond reproach. While brand name matters less than work experience, it does have the potential to provide an edge in the initial review process. If you don’t have brand name experience, however, fear not! Bottom line, what really matters is the substance of the work rather than the name itself. What you’ve done is still more important than where you have done it. Admissions committees are looking to fill their cohorts with individuals having as wide a range of experiences as possible, and especially experience that is relevant to an MBA curriculum. When faculty are teaching a particular subject, the lessons come to life when students have real world experience pertaining to the topic. As such, the skills and knowledge gained from significant projects managed from start to finish matter. Involvement with strategic initiatives matters. You don’t have to have been involved in a multi-million-dollar deal to gain strong leadership and management skills. Small projects still matter! Even small projects that you â€Å"own† can be extremely valuable in providing expertise in particular areas. As you advance in your career, always be on the lookout for projects that allow you to take on a significant leadership role and provide you with a certain degree of autonomy. When it comes time to reduce the work you’ve done to one bullet point on your resume, you want to be able to make that bullet as impactful as possible, for example, â€Å"Led a team of eight to cut costs in the supply chain by 20% through strategic re-purposing of older machines.† This example shows leadership, strategic thinking, and tangible results, all really important stuff! That’s what admissions committees want to see. It doesn’t matter if the size of the project was $10,000 or $1,000,000, or that it was done at Boeing or Jane’s Jewelry Factory. What matters is that you provided significant results to your company. Increasing responsibility In addition to having tangible real-world experience to share in the classroom, admissions committees are also looking for upward mobility. With any luck you have a strong track record of promotions, as that is the easiest way to signal that mobility, and would be immediately obvious on a resume. Even if you don’t, however, you can still showcase the fact that your responsibilities have increased over time through thoughtful wording in your resume, such as, â€Å"Rewarded with project management of X following successful implementation of social media planning schedule.† Essays might also be a place to show the upward movement, depending on the topic. Being awarded by your company with greater responsibilities is the clearest signal you can give that you have what it takes to succeed in an MBA program and in your career thereafter. Non-traditional work experience A common concern from prospective clients with non-traditional work experience is whether or not that experience will be considered relevant in an MBA classroom. I have heard this from doctors, lawyers, military officers, and more. Believe it or not, the less traditional one’s work experience, (often) the more an admissions committee is interested! When putting together a cohort, admissions committee members strive to make it as diverse as possible, in every way possible – job function, industry, culture, etc. Imagine if a class was made up of just bankers? Or IT engineers? How rich would the discussion be across all courses? Not very! As such, schools are delighted when non-traditional applicants apply, and you can be assured that your application will get noticed. The assumption is that individuals coming from a non-business background will approach issues and problems with a different perspective and set of priorities that may allow for additional learning opportunities for their classmates (and possibly even the faculty!). There are a few things to be cognizant of as a non-traditional applicant. While generally speaking an admissions committee will be interested in you simply based on your background, there are two things you need to have solidly in your profile in order to be seriously considered for admission: Stellar grades in a few courses that can indicate your ability to succeed with quant work (e.g. statistics, calculus) in a demanding MBA program, and/or a top-notch GMAT or GRE score Since much of your degree’s coursework may not be directly relatable to a business program’s curriculum, the school needs to be confident you will be able to handle the MBA courses. If quant courses are missing from your transcript (and if you don’t knock the GMAT or GRE out of the park), you should consider taking an algebra, business math, or statistics course at a local community college or online to alleviate any concern there (aim for a B or better). A solid reason for needing an MBA Believe it or not, there are serial degree seekers out there. Since the reason you are interested in an MBA will most likely not be obvious based on your previous work experience, you need to do an even better job of presenting your career goals and objectives. Why is an MBA necessary to get you where you want to go? Bottom line, you are going to attract positive attention from an admissions committee based on your non-traditional background. Now that you have their attention, make your case for acceptance with a mind-blowing application that shows them you fit in, i.e. that you will thrive in their program and need the education their program provides to achieve your dreams. Self-employment Creating a resume as a self-employed individual presents some challenges. If you already have an established business, some of this information is superfluous, but if you have been doing contract work, there are details to manage beyond the summary of the work you have been doing. Company name If you own an established business, you probably already have a company name, but if you are doing freelance work or contract consulting, you might not. You need to put something in for company name that helps the reader understand you are indeed self-employed but also has some gravitas to it. It could be something as simple as â€Å"Jane Doe XYZ Consulting† (assuming your name is Jane Doe, of course!). Job title If you are doing contract work, you want to avoid putting, â€Å"Self-employed† or â€Å"Freelancer† as your title. While this may technically be what you are doing, again you want to label yourself in such a way as to lend credibility to the work you are doing. Consider â€Å"CEO/Founder,† or if that is overreach, something like â€Å"Senior Consultant† or â€Å"Senior Engineer.† Choose something that is as close to what your title would be were you employed by someone else without being too self-congratulatory. For those of you with existing businesses, the â€Å"CEO/Founder† designation is most likely an accurate depiction. Work experience If you are running a business with tangible goods or services, it should be fairly straightforward to map out your experience. Hopefully you have been keeping careful tabs on the successes you have had. For contractors, you should discuss projects you have worked on for various firms, listing out details on those particular projects as much as you can without risking the breach of any confidentiality agreements you have in place. With any luck you have some good, quantifiable results that you can point to as well. Here are some examples of how you could present projects: â€Å"Overhauled payment system for $XMM automotive parts manufacturer, resulting in reduction of A/P by 20%.† â€Å"Performed research and presented findings related to a proposed expansion of a non-profit into a new territory. Research results were subsequently shared with existing donors, who then funded 100% of the planned expansion.† â€Å"Designed website and implemented social media strategy and tactics for eight-member startup in the energy industry.† Bottom line on self-employment Admissions committees want to admit people who have interesting experience to share with classmates. Review the core and elective course offerings at the schools you are looking at, and think about how the work you have done on your own could allow you to contribute to class discussions. Take those examples that come to mind and present them in your resume, and possibly later on in more detail in essays. Want to make sure you present your work experience in the best possible way? Work with a seasoned consultant at Accepted to polish the presentation of your work experience and your entire application. Contact us today! ; Jen Weld is a former  Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.  Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! Related Resources: †¢ Leadership in Admissions, a free guide †¢ 7 Tips for MBA Applicants from Family Businesses †¢ Applying for an MBA with No Work Experience: What You Need to Know

Omnibus Part Ii Challenges to Implementation

FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL CONTENT This article assumes you have a basic understanding of what omnibus is based on its preceding article located here: Omnibus: What it is and why advisors should care. In a previous article, I discussed what makes omnibus so alluring: Clients receive statements and all tax reporting documents from a single firm and advisors are able to create, open, and administer 529 accounts from within their in-house system. But if omnibus is so great and provides all these unified services, why doesnï ¿ ½t every firm do it? 1. There are logistical challenges Omnibus creates an additional administration layer between the state sponsor and the 529 provider. From the stateï ¿ ½s perspective, assets inside an omnibus account appear as a single account. This means they cannot audit individual accounts without the cooperation of the broker-dealer that has taken over the recordkeeping of those accounts. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the state or the plan provider to conduct any sort of antifraud and AML (anti-money laundering) oversight in a systematic and routine way. Instead, those responsibilities are reallocated to the broker-dealer through the omnibus agreement, where the broker-dealer ensures that they will conduct all the required anti-fraud and AML due diligence. This is not to say that the broker-dealer isnï ¿ ½t capable of performing those activities, as they already do so every day for many other products. However, itï ¿ ½s the additional layer and complexity that is cause for concern. The current regulatory culture favors transparency, which omnibus accounting masks by its nature. Just this year the CMFI (Coalition of Mutual Fund Investors) sent comment to the SEC expressing concern over transparency in omnibus accounts and intermediary subaccounting. That being said, when a 529 plan provider is also a sizable broker-dealer, their systems may already be vertically integrated. For example, Merrill Lynchï ¿ ½s Next Gen accounts already sit in their proprietary recordkeeping system, which services and supports their own advisors. ï ¿ ½As the program manager for the Maine NextGen College Investing Planï ¿ ½, Merrill Lynch has always had the NextGen plan integrated (aka, omnibus) on our platform,ï ¿ ½ says Rich Polimeni, Director, Education Savings Programs. 2. There are legal challenges Almost every 529 plan has a state sponsor, and each state has different laws and oversight requirements for its respective 529 plan(s). Some of these laws were created to protect 529 account holders from exactly the kinds of activity made opaque by omnibus: fraud and money-laundering. A state may require annual audits for purposes of reconciling tax credit or deduction claims and grant requests. In other states the laws were simply written in a way that makes implementation challenging without a change in legislation, which is time-consuming. In each case a unique solution to omnibus implementation may be required to meet state legal requirements ï ¿ ½ if they can be met at all ï ¿ ½ further driving up costs and diminishing the appeal of going omnibus to both broker-dealer and 529 plan provider. 3. There are cost challenges In the 529 space, which is a low-margin and relatively low-asset business, getting the resources necessary to implement omnibus requires some internal campaigning at the broker-dealers. Wrestling technology development staff time from projects involving higher-margin products, such as retail and retirement investment accounts, requires a justifiable payoff timeline. For a smaller broker-dealer with only a few hundred or even a few thousand advisors, the cost to implement omnibus is not economically justified. ï ¿ ½It requires significant resources and time for broker-dealers to convert individual 529 accounts to an omnibus structure in a given 529 plan,ï ¿ ½ says Ascensusï ¿ ½s Chief Product Officer, Scott Morrison.ï ¿ ½In many cases the broker-dealer account base will not justify such an investment.ï ¿ ½ However, when you reach the scale of a wirehouse where you have tens of thousands of advisors, there comes a tipping-point where it may be less expensive to oversee and administer 529 business in-house, due to reduced paperwork, administration at the advisor level, and better internal reporting and oversight controls. When you add in how much easier it makes life for the advisor, who can open and fund an account within their own firmï ¿ ½s systems, it makes for a compelling case to secure those internal resources for implementation. Yet it can still be a challenge because it further requires partnerships between the broker-dealer and each 529 provider, legal agreements between both parties that can take months of negotiation, and ï ¿ ½ usually ï ¿ ½ the review and approval of the state sponsor. Further, some state sponsors are more diligent than others, extending the process in terms of time and resources. Given all of these challenges, itï ¿ ½s not surprising that after more than ten years of discussion omnibus implementation only a handful of firms have a live omnibus environment with one or more 529 providers. Several have had delays after starting the process, only to find one or more of the aforementioned challenges insurmountable. In the next newsletter we will look at alternatives to omnibus and what the future may hold for 529 plan administration. FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL CONTENT This article assumes you have a basic understanding of what omnibus is based on its preceding article located here: Omnibus: What it is and why advisors should care. In a previous article, I discussed what makes omnibus so alluring: Clients receive statements and all tax reporting documents from a single firm and advisors are able to create, open, and administer 529 accounts from within their in-house system. But if omnibus is so great and provides all these unified services, why doesnï ¿ ½t every firm do it? 1. There are logistical challenges Omnibus creates an additional administration layer between the state sponsor and the 529 provider. From the stateï ¿ ½s perspective, assets inside an omnibus account appear as a single account. This means they cannot audit individual accounts without the cooperation of the broker-dealer that has taken over the recordkeeping of those accounts. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the state or the plan provider to conduct any sort of antifraud and AML (anti-money laundering) oversight in a systematic and routine way. Instead, those responsibilities are reallocated to the broker-dealer through the omnibus agreement, where the broker-dealer ensures that they will conduct all the required anti-fraud and AML due diligence. This is not to say that the broker-dealer isnï ¿ ½t capable of performing those activities, as they already do so every day for many other products. However, itï ¿ ½s the additional layer and complexity that is cause for concern. The current regulatory culture favors transparency, which omnibus accounting masks by its nature. Just this year the CMFI (Coalition of Mutual Fund Investors) sent comment to the SEC expressing concern over transparency in omnibus accounts and intermediary subaccounting. That being said, when a 529 plan provider is also a sizable broker-dealer, their systems may already be vertically integrated. For example, Merrill Lynchï ¿ ½s Next Gen accounts already sit in their proprietary recordkeeping system, which services and supports their own advisors. ï ¿ ½As the program manager for the Maine NextGen College Investing Planï ¿ ½, Merrill Lynch has always had the NextGen plan integrated (aka, omnibus) on our platform,ï ¿ ½ says Rich Polimeni, Director, Education Savings Programs. 2. There are legal challenges Almost every 529 plan has a state sponsor, and each state has different laws and oversight requirements for its respective 529 plan(s). Some of these laws were created to protect 529 account holders from exactly the kinds of activity made opaque by omnibus: fraud and money-laundering. A state may require annual audits for purposes of reconciling tax credit or deduction claims and grant requests. In other states the laws were simply written in a way that makes implementation challenging without a change in legislation, which is time-consuming. In each case a unique solution to omnibus implementation may be required to meet state legal requirements ï ¿ ½ if they can be met at all ï ¿ ½ further driving up costs and diminishing the appeal of going omnibus to both broker-dealer and 529 plan provider. 3. There are cost challenges In the 529 space, which is a low-margin and relatively low-asset business, getting the resources necessary to implement omnibus requires some internal campaigning at the broker-dealers. Wrestling technology development staff time from projects involving higher-margin products, such as retail and retirement investment accounts, requires a justifiable payoff timeline. For a smaller broker-dealer with only a few hundred or even a few thousand advisors, the cost to implement omnibus is not economically justified. ï ¿ ½It requires significant resources and time for broker-dealers to convert individual 529 accounts to an omnibus structure in a given 529 plan,ï ¿ ½ says Ascensusï ¿ ½s Chief Product Officer, Scott Morrison.ï ¿ ½In many cases the broker-dealer account base will not justify such an investment.ï ¿ ½ However, when you reach the scale of a wirehouse where you have tens of thousands of advisors, there comes a tipping-point where it may be less expensive to oversee and administer 529 business in-house, due to reduced paperwork, administration at the advisor level, and better internal reporting and oversight controls. When you add in how much easier it makes life for the advisor, who can open and fund an account within their own firmï ¿ ½s systems, it makes for a compelling case to secure those internal resources for implementation. Yet it can still be a challenge because it further requires partnerships between the broker-dealer and each 529 provider, legal agreements between both parties that can take months of negotiation, and ï ¿ ½ usually ï ¿ ½ the review and approval of the state sponsor. Further, some state sponsors are more diligent than others, extending the process in terms of time and resources. Given all of these challenges, itï ¿ ½s not surprising that after more than ten years of discussion omnibus implementation only a handful of firms have a live omnibus environment with one or more 529 providers. Several have had delays after starting the process, only to find one or more of the aforementioned challenges insurmountable. In the next newsletter we will look at alternatives to omnibus and what the future may hold for 529 plan administration.

Karl Marx s Theory Of Human Exploitation And Alienation...

Capitalism is an economic system in which the investment and distribution of wealth is maintained by individuals and businesses under little governmental regulation. It protects individual rights, allowing one to hold private property and investments in their own name. That being said, some, such as Karl Marx, find the capitalist system dehumanizing and see a dire need for its abolition. In this paper, I will present an argument against Karl Marx’s theory of human exploitation and alienation under capitalism. I will begin by discussing Marx’s basic beliefs on human nature. I will then use this foundation to present Marx’s argument against capitalism and how he believes it leads to human alienation. Lastly, I will refute Marx’s argument against capitalism and provide a compelling argument in defense of capitalism. The Marxist view of human nature is rooted in the belief that humans are essentially productive beings that work for their living. They have an inherent drive to engage in purposive productive activity. The way that one exerts this productive activity is socially learned and directly affected by the economics of the society in which one lives (Stevenson 197). On an even larger scale, Marx claims that a society’s economic base conditions its entire ideological superstructure, which includes its system of beliefs, laws, morality, politics, and philosophy. There are two components to a society’s economic base: its material powers of production and itsShow MoreRelatedKarl Marx : A German Influential Philosopher And One Of The Intellectual Fathers Of Communism1477 Words   |  6 PagesKarl Marx is known to be a German influential philosopher and one of the intellectual fathers of communism, writing when the industrial revolution and imperialism period was changing the nat ure of both the economies of individual nations and the global economy itself. 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Elagabalus - Roman Emperor

The Human Lifespan Is Full Of Growth And Development

Morgan Howard PSY 2023- Developmental Psychology Professor Hanselman-Scott 26 April 2015 The human lifespan is full of growth and development. Lifespan development is categorized into five major stages, which are the prenatal period, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. While physical changes are obvious, we also develop in less obvious ways, such as cognitively and socially. Development begins during the prenatal period. This developmental stage begins as soon as the sperm meets the egg and fertilization occurs. During this period, the mother’s diet, age, and drug use can have a major effect on the fetus. Cognitive functions can be affected by the drug and alcohol use of the mother. An example of this is seen in a child with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. A child with FASD may have a poor memory, difficulty paying attention, and/or language delays (â€Å"Alcohol Use in Pregnancy†). The mother’s use of drugs and alcohol can also lead to difficulty dealing with multiple stimuli and forming attachments. Intelligence and certain personali ty traits may be partially determined during this time. The prenatal period ends with the birth of the infant. During infancy, infants experience many cognitive changes. Infants begin to express curiosity and explore their surroundings. They may do this by reaching and grasping for objects that interest them, or by wiggling and crawling towards an interesting object. Jean Piaget studied cognitive development from infancy throughShow MoreRelatedLifespan Development1516 Words   |  7 PagesLifespan Development and Personality Luis Cervantes PSY/103 January 11, 2016 Susanne Nishino Lifespan Development and Personality Developmental psychology is the study of how human beings age and transform throughout the eight major stages of life. 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For animals that migrate throughout the year ecologists use a capture-recapture method, by which theyRead MoreHuman Development,Family and Society Essay1650 Words   |  7 PagesHUMAN DEVELOPMENT, FAMILY AND SOCIETY Author: S.Aswathi – I MBA SSM School of Management, Komarapalayam. Co-Author: A.Pravinth – I MBA SSM School of Management, Komarapalayam. ABSTRACT This paper gives an overview of Human development, family and society from three angles via., biology, psychology and humanity. In biological terms, this entails growth from a one-celled zygote to an adult human being. 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Hiv And Its Effects On Society - 1724 Words

HIV Song Choi 76914396 Public Health 1 2016 Dr. Zuzana Bic Public Health Problem HIV, which stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, belongs to a group of virus called retroviruses. HIV attacks the immune system and gradually causes greater and harmful damages. This means that without the proper care or treatment, a person who is affected by HIV is at a higher risk of developing infections and cancers than those who have a healthy immune system. HIV is an important issue in the society because according to the publications on Unlocking HIV, this infection is correlated with behaviors such as promiscuity, drug addiction, prostitution, or homosexuality. People become infected with HIV through sex,†¦show more content†¦According to The Aids Institution, scientists believe that a type of chimpanzee in West Africa was the source of HIV infections in humans. The earliest known HIV infection in humans was later detected in blood samples and it suggested that the root of the virus originated from chimpanzees. They believe that when humans h unted chimpanzees for meat and became exposed with their infected blood, a virus called simian immunodeficiency was transmitted to humans and then mutated into HIV. As time went by, the virus spread into other parts of the world and unfortunately became a nationwide epidemic. Researchers believe that HIV was introduced through the chimpanzees infected blood as people hunted the chimpanzees. The infected blood became the root of this retrovirus, which now is a life-threatening virus that affects the immune systems of humans. The community is already in great danger due to the HIV epidemic. HIV prevention efforts have helped people avoid this infection, but these efforts have not been able to stop this epidemic as a whole. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University estimated that the number of people living with HIV would increase as time goes by. Unfortunately, as more people become exposed to HIV, transmission will also increase. This will ultimately increase the need for prevention services and healthcare systems as well as the money invested into finding curable measures for

About Medical Marijuana Essay Example For Students

About Medical Marijuana Essay Marijuana is medicine. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of ailments. Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) was legal in the United States for all purposes industrial and recreational, as well as medicinal until 1937. Today, only eight Americans are legally allowed to use marijuana as medicine. NORML is working to restore marijuanas availability as medicine. Medicinal Value Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. No one has ever died from an overdose. It is also extremely versatile. Four of its general therapeutic applications include: relief from nausea and increase of appetite; reduction of intraocular (within the eye) pressure; reduction of muscle spasms; relief from mild to moderate chronic pain. Marijuana is often useful in the treatment of the following conditions: Cancer: Marijuana alleviates the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by chemotherapy treatment. AIDS: Marijuana alleviates the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the disease itself and by treatment with AZT and other drugs. Glaucoma: Marijuana, by reducing intraocular pressure, alleviates the pain and slows or halts the progress of the disease. Glaucoma, which damages vision by gradually increasing eye pressure over time, is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. Multiple Sclerosis: Marijuana reduces the muscle pain and spasticity caused by the disease. It may also relieve tremor and unsteadiness of gait, and it helps some patients with bladder control. Multiple sclerosis is the leading cause of neurological disability among young and middle-aged adults in the United States. Epilepsy: Marijuana prevents epileptic seizures in some patients. Chronic Pain: Marijuana reduces the chronic, often debilitating pain caused by a variety of injuries and disorders. Each of these uses has been recognized as legitimate at least once by various courts, legislatures, government, or scientific agencies throughout the United States. Currently, such well respected organizations as the National Academy of Sciences (1982), the California Medical Association (1993), the Federation of American Scientists (1994), the Australian Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health (1994), the American Public Health Association (1995), the San Francisco Medical Society (1996), the California Academy of Family Physicians (1996), as well as several state nursing associations have supported the use of marijuana as a medicine. In addition, anecdotal evidence exists that marijuana is effective in the treatment of arthritis, migraine headaches, pruritis, menstrual cramps, alcohol and opiate addiction, and depression and other mood disorders. Marijuana could benefit as many as five million patients in the United States. However, except for the eight individuals given special permission by the federal government, marijuana remains illegal-even as medicine! Individuals currently suffering from any of the aforementioned ailments, for whom the standard legal medical alternatives have not been safe or effective, are left with two choices: Continue to suffer from the effects of the disease; or Obtain marijuana illegally and risk the potential consequences, which may include: an insufficient supply because of the prohibition-inflated price or unavailability; impure, contaminated, or chemically adulterated marijuana; arrests, fines, court costs, property forfeiture, incarceration, probation, and criminal records. Background: The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 established the federal prohibition of marijuana. Dr. William C. Woodward of the American Medical Association testified against the Act, arguing that it would ultimately prevent any medicinal use of marijuana. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 established five categories, or schedules, into which all illicit and prescription drugs were placed. Marijuana was placed in Schedule I, which defines the substance as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. This definition is simply not accurate. However, at the time of the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana had been illegal for more than 30 years. Its medicinal uses had been forgotten and its reefer madness stigma was still prevalent. Salem Witch Trials Essay Marijuanas medicinal uses were rediscovered as a result of the tremendous increase in the number of recreational users in the 1970s: Marijuanas popularity compelled many scientists to study its health effects. They subsequently discovered marijuanas remarkable history as a medicine, inspiring many studies of its therapeutic potential; Many recreational users who also happened to be afflicted with conditions for which marijuana has therapeutic potential inadvertently discovered its medicinal benefits. As the news spread, the number of patients illegally using marijuana medicinally began to increase. Because marijuana is a Schedule I substance, however, doctors were not allowed to prescribe it, and research approval and funding were severely restricted. The Struggle In Court: In 1972, NORML initiated efforts to .