An excerpt from the Vault Guide to Management Careers
Looking to learn Management administration and development from the ground up? If you're just coming out of college, many large companies such as General Electric have general management rotations where you'll get a chance to work in many business functions. But big companies aren't always the answer. If it's your first management role, you may have better luck getting in the door at a small organization where you can take on a greater amount of responsibility quickly.
If you are interested in manufacturing, your best bet is to hone your skills at a manufacturing company such as Toyota or 3M. While each of these companies manufactures different types of products, they all have a high number of employees.
Management roles pique your interest? Look to industries that have some of the largest companies in the globe., such as consumer products and financial services. Companies such as Wal-Mart and Bank of America have large, fully staffed organization development functions with internal consultants who address the development issues of different business areas. For every Management and business function, there's a way to learn more about companies known for success in those areas.
Starting any career is tough -- you don't want to start in one job, find out you don't like it and then start over with another. But as a management professional, your experience in the field, regardless of its type, will always be valuable. A good way to start an management career is to determine what side of management you want to work on: People Management or Developmental role.
It has become common practice among U.S. business schools to require potential students to have substantial work experience before admission to MBA programs. Yet, the benefits of this selection criterion have not been fully articulated nor empirically examined. This article explores the relationships between years of pre-MBA work experience and post-MBA career outcomes. Specifically, we examine the effects of prior work experience on cash compensation, career satisfaction, number of promotions, and individuals' propensity to stay with their first post-MBA employer. Results indicate that previous work experience is not significantly related to graduates'' tenure in their first post-MBA position. Furthermore, counter to conventional wisdom, MBAs without prior work experience were more satisfied, had received more promotions, and earned more cash compensation than some of their more experienced counterparts. The implications of these findings for those responsible for admissions in graduate professional schools and for corporate recruiters are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.
