Post-MBA goals: Breaking into tech leadership

The recruitment process for tech companies changes over time and trends, which means that there is no definitive list of factors that are used in every hiring cycle. However, in Lawrance’s experience running MBA recruitment at Amazon across Europe, he looked to top business schools for the best hires. This was a data-based strategy that was ultimately more efficient for Amazon’s recruitment needs at the time. 

So, how many graduates who are offered jobs end up accepting them? With all the commitment that goes into the recruiting process at a top school, companies have to be efficient. Amazon’s process involved mobilizing senior leaders from across Europe to give presentations, connecting with alumni, rolling in 20 interviewers to conduct approx. 100 student interviews a day, planning resources, and getting directors to step away from their job for a couple of days. Efficiency was the overriding rule.  

Having also worked with the University of Oxford Said Business School in their careers team, Lawrance had valuable insights into the other side of the recruitment process. Business schools have to be just as smart with their time as companies. They ensure that employers coming to campus know what their sell is – the quality of students and the resources they provide.  

For Oxford Saïd, classroom diversity and the curriculum are major draws. This matches Amazon’s hiring requirements. The company benefits from knowing that they can hire from a diverse pool of people who are taught relevant industry skills like SQL during their MBA. 

So when Oxford Saïd significantly increased their class size to approximately 330, the number of Amazon hires went up as well. Even with an increased class size, they retained the quality of candidates.  

Product management is one of the more popular post-MBA roles in the tech industry that graduates pivot to. According to Lawrance, this is simply a matter of supply and demand. When he worked at Oxford, he helped build a product management roadmap – a track that helped students visualise what product management in tech entailed.  

Bringing in alumni from different sectors to share what product management looks like for them was also useful for graduates looking to enter this function. The role varies from sector to sector. For example, a healthcare product manager works with products and responsibilities that are different from those of a fintech product manager.  

Besides product management, roles in marketing have grown over the last few years. MBA graduates who have previously been in creative roles pivot their career into tech marketing, where they can use the data driven decision-making skills they learn during their degree.  

Additionally, roles in sales and business development have emerged as interesting and under-tapped opportunities to understand tech products and align MBA skills to your career. 

So, what does a realistic transition into tech from another industry look like? “This might sound cheesy, but anything is possible,” said Lawrance. When he was recruiting at Amazon, he helped hire veterans, dentists, a nuclear submarine engineer, and other professionals from various backgrounds. It came down to the individual and their fit for the role. 

For graduates to make a realistic transition to tech, they should consider the transferable skills they possess that they can use to get their foot in the door. For example, Lawrance worked with a lot of MBA graduates who wanted to get into strategy in big tech, which is a highly desired role in a competitive space.  

Not everyone can start out in such a high-impact role. So, graduates should be prepared to approach their first role post-MBA as a stepping stone that will eventually lead into strategy.  

Broadly speaking, the tech sector is open-minded about candidates’ work experience. The focus lies on transferable skills and the individual’s alignment with company values, like Amazon’s leadership principles. These principles aren’t just words on a wall or poster; they are actively used in the company’s assessment of candidates.  

So if you want to transition from a marketing role in real estate to a strategy role in big tech, consider a marketing role in tech first. This would be better aligned to your pre-MBA experience and skill-set, and you can then work your way up to strategy in a few years. A good way to find an organisation that can help you make the transition to tech is through networking, research, and meaningful conversations with people who have a similar career path.  

At many tech companies, making the transition to high-impact roles is supported by leadership development programmes. These programmes typically track MBA graduates into more senior roles and help develop their careers.  

At Amazon, this is called the ‘launch’ programme. Candidates take on two different roles over a period of three years - 18 months in each role. They get exposure to different business functions and teams, and develop a wider network. Launch gives candidates the opportunity to drive their career within the organization and possibly receive earlier promotions. This program is harder to get into, especially as structured hiring has slowed down, but candidates can still join the organization directly.  

The recruitment process varies from company to company, which reiterates the importance of research and networking to get specific insights for each company.  

Amazon, in particular, uses a mix of behavioral interviewing, online assessments, and case-type questions.  Like Amazon, the primary approach for other big tech companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, etc., is the behavioral interview. This is where the school’s career services come in handy; career coaches are well versed with behavioral interviewing and can help graduates train to answer confidently. A behavioral question could look like this: “tell me about a time you resolved a team conflict”. The interviewer will assess how your response aligns to the company’s culture and work ethic.  

Other parts of your interview may include more technical components, like coding or data analysis, which require practice and technical skill. Google is renowned for dropping brain teaser questions. Overall, the tech recruitment process is fast-paced compared to other industries.  

Candidates who want to pivot to tech should use the time between their offer of admission and the MBA’s start date to network with people in the tech sector. LinkedIn is a great resource to find business school alumni who work in tech. Ultimately, networking is all about having meaningful conversations that will give you real insights into the tech industry – the more perspective you get, the better.  

When Lawrance went through the job search process himself, he was recommended the book The 2-Hour Job Search by Steve Dalton. It proposes a systematic methodology to reach out and connect with people to secure interviews more efficiently. According to Lawrance, it’s one of the most important books you can read before your MBA. 

Establishing these relationships early helps you keep in touch with your network during your MBA and update them on your progress. This becomes a valuable part of your journey further down the line, as having an advocate can help you position yourself better for a job and potentially even help you get your resume in front of the right person.  

The work you put into networking and research in advance will pay off handsomely later in your MBA. Many students spend the first couple of weeks of their MBA getting oriented with the program and the careers department. Ensure that you immerse yourself in these opportunities from day one and understand the timelines you’ll be working with.  

For Lawrance, it’s music to his ears when a candidate says, “I’ve read the book and these are my priorities.  I’ve been talking to these people.” Being clear about the work you’ve put in leads to productive conversations with the careers department about tangible next steps you can take for your goals. 

When it comes to the curriculum, it’s useful to do research on the skills you’ll need to have by the time you interview and how you’ll get those from your degree. One way to do this is by looking at job descriptions for tech companies using websites like Otta.com for UK-based tech start-ups.  

Outside of speaking with people and researching the curriculum, it’s useful to create a plan B in case you shift goalposts. Over the duration of your MBA, the opportunities that you’ve had an eye on may change.  

It’s important to be resilient and open-minded to the fact that some things will be out of your control. Ensure that you have enough irons in the fire to be adaptable and explore other options.  

Watch the full video interview with Tom Lawrance and find him on LinkedIn.