Hello everyone.

I'm planning to apply for an MBA in an university in USA or Europe (I'm considering this choice since I have EU passport). Profile summary: 30 years, graduated with a mechanical engineering diploma from an university in Argentina. +5 years of experience (not counting internship experiences), specialized in industrial products and applications management and GMAT score of 690.

One of my doubts is in regards to the managerial experience: although I have managed projects with budget and timeline, I don't have year of experience with the "manager" title in any of my job positions. Could this lack of managerial experience play against me in my MBA applications? One further question: what could be an adequate b-school for switching/expanding my area of experience. I'm particularly interested in the technology field. I've seen the Top 10 MBA lists (i.e. for consulting or IT) but switching careers is a whole other thing.

Thank you.

There are a few useful posts that might help you: GMAT Tiers - strong schools for your GMAT www.find-mba.com/board/27082

Best MBAs for international students' placement http://www.find-mba.com/board/41143
Do you need to speak the local language? www.find-mba.com/board/34713
Specific career goals help you to pick the right MBA

Do you have any specific goals for a job function? Do you want to return to Latin America, or work in the North?

Hi Duncan, thanks for replying. My goal for job function is to become product manager, either in the industrial/manufcturing or technology field. My intention is to stay in the North and get international work experience. Regarding the language, I use my English on a daily basis because of my job, no problem with that. I also speak German (thus I'm considering WHU), but although I studied for 14 years (earning bilingual diploma) , I haven't used for a while now. Spanish is my first language, so IE or IESE (Spain) could be a good choice. Thank you.

Europe makes a lot more sense if you want to find work. Why not look at that list of schools with the best placement and then compare their alumni with LinkedIn: look for schools that have the most MBA alumni as product managers? 

Narrow your goals down in terms of where exactly you want to work and go from there.

IESE would make a lot of sense if you want to work in Germany / Spain. Even some parts of Latin America as well. 

The US is probably a tougher nut to crack, but with your career goals (especially tech / product manager) it could make sense. Are you eligible to work in the US? 

Narrow your goals down in terms of where exactly you want to work and go from there.

IESE would make a lot of sense if you want to work in Germany / Spain. Even some parts of Latin America as well. 

The US is probably a tougher nut to crack, but with your career goals (especially tech / product manager) it could make sense. Are you eligible to work in the US? 

After graduating from a US MBA program, you basically get 12 months on a work visa (called the OPT visa). After that if you want to stay you would need to convert to something more permanent, generally through a green card, or an H1B. There are a limited number of H1Bs issued per year, and they're issued by a lottery system, so it's not a sure bet. Getting married to an American is probably less risky in that sense. :)