My wife has a B.S. degree in Operations and Logistics…an MBA in M.I.S. And she is PMI-certified as a project manager, has ITIL certification, and some Six Sigma experience…no certification.
She enjoys strategy creation and implementation tasks and roles and gets a little bit of those types of experiences in her current role. But, mainly she is a project manager and program manager.
How can she get a strategy job in corporate america? She wants to do more of what she feels passionate about and less of the administrative/repetitive tasks.
We live in the Chicago Northwest suburbs.
Oh…she also wants work/life balance since we have kids. So it would seem that management consulting with the big agencies would not be an option since they seem to work constantly.
3 responses so far ↓
1 smiling_freds_biz_info
So what useful practical ‘experience’ might she be bringing to the table.
Aperson with a theory is always at the mercy of a person with experience.
2 Nephroid
My original suggestion would have been to look into management consulting as a way to get into the strategic side of the business but if you are raising a family it may not be the most practical option.
One thing to keep in mind is that most large corporations do not a dedicated strategy function per se. Strategy is typically set by the executives who then rely on the business to carry out the neccesary change. The ones that do have dedicated strategic roles ussually have those people working to collect the data and do the analysis required to support or refute various options. It’s not always a glamorous job and the hours tend to be long (like consulting). Also those jobs tend to be rotational with people moving in then out every two years or so.
One thing your wife might consider is to find opportunities within your company to take a leadership role in any tranformation or special projects that her employer might be implementing. This would have the benefit of exposing her to some of the strategy side of the business while also her lots of airtime in front of key executives in the company. Most importantly it would give her the opportunity to demonstrate her ability to manage a strategic project. I would highly encourage her to seek out such opportunities if they are available. Best of luck.
3 Jeffrey B
This is the kind of job requirement that probably would best be found through your network of people you know and have a track record with. Your credentials are impressive, but one needs practical experience as much as anything else in these types of jobs. As one of the other people stated, strategy jobs are usually done by the executive teams and this is where you need to have people that know you and your real experience in order to use you. Especially if you impose restrictions on your time and presence for the job. (Hooray for you, by the way. You have a life and it’s important to you!) Good luck in your search.