New Internship, New Career?

I left TRX with the objective of getting an MBA, then going back to work in the upper echelon of a technology company's management, quite possibly in travel, and quite possibly in product management, with the goal of becoming a CEO asap. And that's still in play. But I started to question my original plans, which I think is a healthy exercise now that I'm free and clear of the working world.

Is travel a good industry? It's one of the least healthy industries in the world, it's cutthroat competitive, and has tight margins. The clearest proof may be that I had to leave the industry to go for an MBA to expand my opportunities. So maybe I should reconsider travel.

What about tech companies? Well, I actually really do like high-tech stuff. I worked in two high-tech firms (telecom and software development) and enjoyed both. They were both relatively dynamic, and I embrace change and ambiguity. I follow news on cutting edge gadgets and technologies just because it all fascinates me. And good opportunities seem to go hand-in-hand with technology. So I seem at home in tech; it just suits me.

What about product management? What I've read about it still sounds quite interesting. Product managers control a product, setting marketing strategies, and recommending / requesting (depending on the degree of authority) product changes. It's basically a mini-CEO role, but over a single product within a company that has several products. Sounds great - but it turns out that those roles don't go to fresh MBA's in Europe. You have to start a few rungs lower and work into the job. So I still like the idea, but it isn't the immediate "CEO path" I thought it might be.

At school, I've learned more about management consulting. Consultants are hired by a company to give advice to senior management on its biggest issues. And since they get practice with top management issues, they are often recruited to become corporate executives (read: CEO!). So, maybe I should become a consultant? But often, and especially lately, the issues they handle are "ugly" problems - cutting costs in a warehouse, downsizing a company, etc. Imagine consulting a carpet manufacturer in a village in Eastern Europe for 6 months on how to reorganize its factory. Not my style, even if it does add a ton of value.

But then I learned about boutique consulting firms - relatively smaller firms that focus only on a specific industry - like technology, for example. And I thought, "Aha!" This might be another path to the same destination, and might be an even quicker path to the top. And maybe along the way I'll decide that I love consulting, and might just stick with that.

The big news is that I have an internship lined up with a Technology-Media-Telecom consulting firm that works exclusively on really cool strategy projects. It has a great, convenient office at an exclusive location amidst the tailors on Savile Row. I start in January. This is exceptionally rare for an MBA; I would say that in our class of 400, maybe 10 of us will be interning during the year. I couldn't be happier, and quite frankly, am way ahead of the curve for MBA's. Now back to studying - I've got finals in a couple days!