Why an MBA Program Could Want a Stay-at-Home Mom

Photo courtesy donnierayjones from Flickr.com

Last time I talked about the advantages of being an English major going into an MBA program. I'm also part of another underrepresented group in MBA programs--women returning to the work force after being stay-at-home moms via an MBA program.

I was more nervous about being part of this group than being an English major. While I certainly had been working (24-hour shifts, 7 days per week, for 15 years), I hadn't been out in the work force for quite some time, and was pretty sure it would work against me.

Well, I got my application in on the second round for UT-Dallas's full-time MBA program, received an invitation for an interview several days later, and was accepted within a month!

A little surprised that I was invited to interview in the first place, I was prepared for a rigorous process (one current student interview, then an interview with the director of admissions). I prepped by working through how my experiences as a PTA president and more distant positions in a newspaper might translate to the business world. And I was super nervous. I mean, why would they want someone who hadn't had full-time work experience in 15 years and couldn't quite reach their average GMAT quant score?

At least for me, these weren't what a lot of the questions centered on. I think my resume and grades must have told enough of that story. What they wanted to know most from talking to me was how I work with other people, deal with diverse viewpoints, and handle stressful situations with work-life balance.

I have five kids, am a PTA president, and am married to someone who was raised in Mongolia. I guess you could say I have been gifted the opportunity through my life circumstances to become a master of negotiation. And apparently that is becoming increasingly valuable to MBA programs and companies hiring MBAs.

According to bizjournals.com, employers told GMAC that the top skills they were looking for from MBA grads are:

"Adaptability/flexibility, organization/time management, relationship management, Excel/spreadsheets, ability to put theory into practice."

Try not being flexible when you have five kids ranging from 5 to 15. It doesn't work out well. Try not being organized when all those kids have to get to [insert extracurricular here] on the same night as five other things. Try keeping relationships smooth when you have an entire family of little people whose prefrontal cortexes are 10-20 years from maturity.

Excel....well, I can brush up on that later. Putting theory into practice, ahem. In theory my kids should have less screen time, go to bed earlier, and eat more broccoli. You know where I'm going with that.

But seriously, a sky-high GMAT score and recent full-time work experience don't tell the whole story about you, and MBA programs know that. Don't be scared off because you chose to stay home with your children for a few years. Your soft skills could be just what an MBA program, and post-MBA employer, are looking for.

photo credit: donnierayjones

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