Tier 1 MBA | Left toxic startup due to safety issues | Need off-campus targeting advice (No formal pre-MBA exp)
I am a 2026 graduate from a Tier 1 B school with an undergraduate degree in Economics. During my MBA, I interned in growth marketing (SEM focused), working on category growth for my summer internship.
I received a campus placement at a startup but left shortly after joining because of serious workplace safety and ethical issues. The other fresh hires who joined with me also resigned, so I'm now looking for opportunities off campus.
During campus placements, there is a highly structured process for Management Trainees transitioning into roles. Off-campus, there is no such thing. In such a situation, what roles do I target?
I've been applying through LinkedIn and Naukri and also cold emailing alumni, but I'm getting very few responses. So far I've been targeting associate-level roles in::
• Category Management
• Brand Management
• Consumer Insights
• Growth Marketing
• Marketing Analytics (currently building my profile)
One challenge is that I don't have formal pre-MBA corporate work experience, so I'm unsure how that affects off-campus hiring. I want to work on improving my outreach in any way I can, so I would genuinely be grateful if anyone could help me figure out the following:
- What specific job titles or keywords should I target beyond the standard MT path?
- What should my target companies be that are open to hiring Tier-1 MBA grads?
- Should I continue focusing on marketing, or would it make sense to broaden my search to areas like consulting or commercial strategy?
At this point, I'm looking for the right way to break into the market off-campus. Any advice from people who've gone through off-campus hiring after an MBA would be greatly appreciated.