Real MBA Stories …

With November came a new trimester for those of us in the MBA program.  It seems kind of crazy that the first one is complete, but I suppose that means that us first year students should now have a good understanding of what is expected at W. P. Carey.  Some of my first-trimester teachers taught me so much that I was actually a little sad on the final day of class; however, I am sure that I will learn just as much from this new set of classes.  Economics, Finance, Supply Chain and Marketing should be an interesting combination of classes, and the teachers are very enthusiastic about their respective topics.

One brief side note – I now understand why people want to live in Arizona.  The weather is great!  It is just a little chilly in the morning but then by the time class is over it is in the 70s and comfortable to go do whatever you like outside…in November!

We recently held our Entrepreneurship Society opening social at the ASU Skysong campus, and I must say it’s pretty amazing all that Skysong is doing to promote business development right here in Phoenix! Skysong provides student grants, office space, and training for entrepreneurs, many of which hire W. P. Carey students as interns to help with their start-up companies. Not to mention they played great hosts to our opening social. If you get a chance, take a drive up Scottsdale Road and check them out!

As a supply chain student, I have not only been extremely busy with school, but also with all the recruiting that has been happening here on campus.  This brings me to an important part of the experience at W. P. Carey – information sessions.  Companies that are coming on campus to recruit will often have some sort of event where they prepare a presentation for students to talk about their company.  It has really been a good experience because some companies I didn’t think I was interested in have changed my mind following the information session. My recommendation to every student is to attend as many sessions as possible since you never know which one will actually be interesting to you.   Some of the companies that I found interesting following their information sessions were Johnson & Johnson, Dell, and Raytheon.  Hopefully, some of my classmates will start to receive internship offers in the near future as a result of these information sessions.  On a side note, I can’t believe we are already in the 7th week of classes!

Next week, I get the opportunity to take a step away from W. P. Carey and venture into the outside job market (although it seems like I just left there).

The internship hunt has already begun, and this week I will take my journey to Minneapolis, MN for the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s Conference and Career Expo.

It’s going to be competitive, diverse, and hopefully very beneficial. I’m looking forward to applying the networking skills that the CMC Staff has been teaching us! More to come after the conference….

My colleague Jayne knows how much I love riding trains. So when I told her that I was having trouble finding a flight between San Diego and Los Angeles that didn’t go to Las Vegas or Phoenix first she said, “You should take a train.” I had no idea that was even an option. But it worked out very well. The Amtrak train departed a block from the host hotel for the “Inside the MBA” event in San Diego, and it arrived about a mile from the location of the “QS World MBA” tour event in Los Angeles. Perfect! I avoided the hassle of getting to the airport two hours early, and I had a choice of departure times.

Just like Amtrak, W. P. Carey offers you a choice of “departure times.” We call them deadline rounds. Which deadline round you select depends on when you think you’ll be ready to submit your most competitive application, and when you want to have a decision from the Admissions Committee.

Our first application deadline round is coming up quickly. It’s Sunday, October 18, with decisions due back to candidates by mid-December. If you can make that deadline, fantastic! But whichever deadline you select, Jayne and I will be ready to greet you at the gate.

Last week, as part of our Career Management class, we had the opportunity to go to several professional panels based on each of the specialization areas offered by W. P. Carey. I was able to attend two – Marketing and Supply Chain Management. I was really amazed at the quality of people that they had come in so we could ask them questions and pick their brains!  COOs, Presidents, and Executives were commonplace and they representated a wide variety of companies, including pharmaceuticals, marketers, consultants and defense contractors. I think it was extremely useful to go to and learn about what each of them do on a daily basis, as it allowed each student to get a clear understanding of what each specialization entails. It really helps to have these activities to prepare us for the various career fields we will be entering the near future!

As I enter my second year of the MBA program, I feel as if I have transformed from an overwhelmed freshman, into a confident senior in a matter of a few months. While going to class is still an important priority, I also have that extra task of figuring out my life post-MBA. Luckily, ASU offers students a lot of opportunities to interact with those employers!

Juggling the schedule of a dual MBA/MHSM student means that I am in class during the day and in the evening. This also means staying on campus during those in-between hours to meet with my groups, study, and finish up assignments. I’ve also been attending various information sessions with companies and meeting with prospective employers every chance I get. My advice to any MBA student -  Take advantage of the opportunities that come on campus and familiarize yourself with how to both interact with recruiters and hone your professional skills. It makes a world of difference when the time comes to go after that dream job!

Next week, I am heading to Nashville with a group of MBA/MHSM students to take part in the Healthcare Business Alliance Conference! We are very excited about the opportunity to network with over 100 leading companies in the healthcare field and learn about healthcare reform from some of the keynote speakers. So although it is only September, and graduation is far away (or not?!), I am once again reminded that it’s never too early to start prospecting for potential employers.

It has been another excellent week in the MBA program. This one has been a little stressful, as we are trying to juggle all the demands of class with now the arrival of internship applications. While this seems to add to the workload, it is really amazing to me that companies know the education is good enough that they want to interview and hire us when we have only been in the program a month! In addition, we have had the chance to meet with a variety of current industry professionals. It has been very valuable to get their perspective on the things that we should focus on in our studies. I already know that I am specializing in Supply Chain Management, but it was great to hear what other classes might be helpful for me in the real world.

This week starts our first mid-term in statistics. It really is fast-paced here, but that’s the way I like it! I’m also starting to get involved in the clubs. It seems like there is stuff for everyone here, which really provides a balanced approach when you are just about to go crazy from studying!