Hey All,

I have a question. I would like to transition into the field of social impact investing, and it looks like there are two choices:

1. Do a top MBA at a school like Berkeley or Wharton, and take advantage of their elective offerings and social impact projects, etc.... or:
2. Do a specialized MBA in a field like CSR. I understand a lot of these programs are in Europe, like St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Any advice? I wonder if doing an MBA in Europe, even if it has a CSR focus, would limit my job opportunities in the US.

I am skeptical about the hypothesis that such roles go to entry-level MBAs, and suspect that there is much more student supply than employer demand. Read How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571

[Edited by Duncan on Dec 05, 2014]

I think this kind of career path is possible, but it's not common, since the investment firms that are successfully doing this kind of work don't hire people in droves, MBAs or not.

So I whole-heartedly support the idea of doing a top-tier MBA program like Wharton or Harvard and doing whatever you can to get practical experience and build your network during the program. That's probably your best way to get your foot in the door, and barring that, the degree will carry weight in other functional areas or other parts of the investment sector as well.

And yes, in general doing an MBA in Europe would not give you the same kinds of job opportunities in the US. St. Gallen is a great choice for working in the DACH region though.

Thank you both for the time that you've taken to reply. I don't plan on working in the DACH region, since I don't speak German, so I think I'll scratch St. Gallen off the list.

So say somebody was interested in this career path but wanted to keep his options open to the broader fields of investing and finance. Would Wharton, Cornell, or Northwestern be a better choice? All offer curriculum or projects in impact investing, and seem to place well in finance.

Wharton especially: http://find-mba.com/lists/top-business-school-by-speciality/top-business-schools-for-a-career-in-finance-or-financial-services

Wharton would be a great choice for anything finance- or investment-related: consistently in the top five on the FT rankings, solid curriculum in finance, and great connections with recruiters in the space. In terms of impact investing specifically, I'm sure you already realize that the school has an "Impact Investing Initiative," with an impact investing fund that students can work on. This kind of experience would go a long way, both in the field but also for a job in finance more broadly.