The MBA Student Voice

Applied Management Research -- my project

In the second your of your MBA experience at Anderson, you will be required to complete a two-quarter thesis project, referred to as AMR (Applied Management Research). Although there is an option to create a business (aspiring entrepreneurs, email me if you'd like more information about that opportunity, and I'll put you in touch with friends who are going the BCO -- business creation opportunity -- route).

My project has been amazing. On top of getting work with four talented, brilliant classmates, I've been getting valuable real-world consulting experience. Our field study engagement is focused on improving the operational efficiency of a Ghanaian health care facility called Korle Bu. Korle Bu is the largest provider of medical services in Ghana, and is the teaching hospital associated with the University of Ghana. It's located in the capital city of Accra, and three of my teammates were there last week doing extensive research on the current practices employed by the hospital. In January, I'll have a turn to visit -- by then, we will have a set of recommendations and will take advantage of another week on the client site to test them out and put on the final touches. The project will conclude with a final presentation in early March.

Anderson is in the House - Get Going on Your Career

Hey Everyone,

Hope all of you out there in cyberspace are doing well. It is getting harder to come up with a catchy article title - hopefully I didn't disappoint. I have been getting emails from some of you (you really like me, you really really like me! .......sorry, I just had to pull a Sally Field). Okay, what was my point? Ah yes....I have been getting emails about my blog and general questions about the application and MBA environment; I am glad some of you got some use out of this. Feel free to contact about me about anything like the application process or why the heck you should even care about an MBA or whatever else is on your mind.

My week has been has been a little less hectic, although I am still writing this blog at 10pm, so not sure what that means. I'm a night owl I guess. I have been spending a lot of time working on my resume these days. The Parker CMC and my lovely ACTgroup have given me some good tips and pretty much inundated me with comments and revisions - but it's all good. It's amazing how much you improve with a little constructive feedback. My resume has gone through three revisions and will be seen another two times before I submit my final version to the career management center. Company recruiting has been picking up lately too. It's getting near that time when we will be applying for upcoming summer internships - oooh scary! I have also been practicing my 30-second pitch in the shower - hey! practice makes perfect - don't judge. FYI:  a 30-second pitch is a succinct and memorable way of describing yourself (in 30 seconds) to recruiters at company events. Now comes the next hard thing - coming up with a list of companies I am interested in working for. Yikes. Again, my ACT teamcomes to the rescue. They gave me some templates for how to evaluate companies and how best to pitch to to them. For those of you who haven't been reading my previous posts (I shudder at the thought), the ACT group is led by two second year students who have been there and done that when it comes to first year recruiting. They lead a session every week or every two weeks and basically keep you on track. With all the fun college times to be had, we definitely need people to keep us in check. The ACT coaches, which are the 2nd year students, guide you through all the elements of recruiting from learning to handle yourself at company presentations, preparing a rockin' resume, marketing yourself, to grabbing an interview, among so many other delicious things. I am part of the Strategic Ops and Management ACT team. There are also a gazillion databases available to Anderson students (including our large and helpful alumni database). These databases contain every company known to man (or woman) based on industry or location or whatever other manner of search criteria you choose.

Okay, some of you may be wondering what this poor blogger does for fun. Is she all about resumes and internships? I must dispel that opinion at once! Aside from getting some exercise on the weekends and checking out the town, I joined Riordan Scholars on campus where I will be mentoring high school students. I've also attended so many fantastic workshops offered through many campus clubs. One in particular that I just attended yesterday was titled "Launching an Internet Business in One Hour." How awesome is that? The speaker had launched several of his own companies and basically gave us an insiders look at some of the most common pitfalls to avoid and some of the great resources to take advantage of.

I am also itching to try the indoor rock wall at the John Wooden campus gym. It looks awesome. I just need to carve out some time and go.

Alright folks. It's been a pleasure as usual. Until next time!

Anderson Guide to MBA

Hi Everybody!

I'm back again for yet another delightful post - okay, I'm a little bit chipper today even though it's 11:37pm and I am catching up on some homework and also writing this blog. Now for those of you who are freaking out as to why I am up so late, let me tell you now that this is not unusual - well not for me. You see, as most of you might have read in my previous posts, I am a little unsure of what my career focus should be. Therefore, I ended up joining a ton of clubs to learn a little bit more about various industries and job functions. So, instead of having some nice quiet afternoons with my books, I've been in one company presentation after another. Don't get me wrong - I have enjoyed each and every meeting and only wish it were humanly possible to attend all of them. But the art to being successful in anything is having a good balance. So today, I decided to forgoe my club events and company meetings in order to catch up on homework.

There are still more events to come so I don't think I missed out too much. So, I'm feeling good because I have a better handle on my classes and ALSO because I just finished my ACT group meeting. ACT stands for Anderson Career Teams and is a small group that every student is assigned to based on their interests. I picked the strategic operations ACT group because I have an interest in operations and figure that this group paired with all my other clubs will nicely round out my plethora of informational sources. We just practiced our 30-second elevator pitches for potential recruiters. It was a really great session in that we discussed the pros and cons of different approaches and I received some valuable takeaways.

So back to the main goal. I laughed when I read my earlier posts because I sounded utterly lost. But surprisingly, due to the lack of time, I have quickly narrowed down my focus. There is simply no time to manage classes and eight different professional clubs. So, I've had to pick and choose which club sponsored events were more important to attend. It's amazing what you learn about yourself when you don't have a lot of time to waste making a decision. So here it is - the career options I am interested in: Strategic operations, finance, and business development (entrepreneurship). The industry I am most excited about is renewable energy - simply because it is cool to be part of the future (I got inspired during a recent club event). But I am also happy with high tech, manufacturing, or bio tech. Pretty much any industry will do.

My next task is to reach out to 2nd years and alumni for their take on the internship experience as well as any advice they might have. The great thing about Anderson is that the student body and alumni have been extremely helpful. I have not come across this degree of helpfulness in any other place - it really feels like family out here. Alright.....I'm getting a littly mushy. That means it's time to go to bed.

Until next time!

Knock! Knock!

They say you better be ready when opportunity finally comes knocking on your door, but it doesn’t seem to apply to Anderson’s MBA program.  Here, you see, opportunity is a 300-pound sumo wrestler who will knock down your door and throw you in the street in your underwear.  At least that is the way it has felt to me so far.  The following is a list of professional opportunities that were made available to me during the last week only.  Granted, they might not all lead to something, but my point is that finding them was exceedingly easy; I either sent an e-mail or received an e-mail.  Keep in mind that I just started the program.

The first thing I did was to write to a few second year students to discuss their summer internship.  Next thing I know, I was speaking to the president of DCF Ventures, a consulting company that seeks to help researchers on campus commercialize their inventions.  I did not come to Anderson with that kind of career in mind, but considering my experience as a mad scientist I would find it very interesting.  I have applied for an academic internship with DCF, and we will see if I am selected.  In addition, second year students have allowed me to start making contacts at Amgen.

As you might remember, the CEO of DaVita made a strong impression on me, and I am hoping to visit Davita’s facility as early as next Friday.  If I am selected for DaVita’s Day on the Job event, I will get to visit the local facility, lunch with people who work there, and have my questions answered directly by the company.  Finally, I just participated in an All-Anderson networking event, where I met a fully employed MBA student with interesting ties to a growing tutoring company.  It’s just that easy!

–Simon

Another Adventure in the MBA Career Search

Hi Everyone,

As you all know, I am a first year MBA student and already riddled with questions regarding what career I should focus on. If any of you read my previous post, you'll know that I am still in the process of deciding - sigh. Yes, I am a bit overwhelmed. But like all those before me, somehow I will manage to get through this, especially with support from my fellow students and faculty at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Yes, that was a plug for my school, but hey, when it's the truth what does it matter?

Okay, let's get real. With my background in accounting, I could fair reasonably well in consulting (would be like working for the Big 4 - long hours but a variety of interesting projects and clients), finance (but then why did I come to MBA school when I could have found a finance job on my own), entreprenuership (not exactly sure what this is but it sounds cool), and a whole assortment of other areas. I think the areas that would instantly get me labeled a career switcher if I chose them are Marketing, Investment Banking, Human Resources, or say, Sports Management. Nothing against these avenues, but I decided that I need to pursue a field where I can leverage off of some of my skills. That's not to say I couldn't switch completely if I wanted to, but quite honestly I enjoyed being an accountant - at least parts of it. So why go off on a completely different course?

So, I just completed my second week of orientation. There were so many fun events! We did a ropes course where you have to basically compete with yourself the whole time and learn to trust your team members. You learn a lot about your determination and courage and also learn that your class is comprised of many awesome individuals. I came over my fear of the dreaded 40 foot log (or however high it was) and stood on top of it. Then I jumped off of it and sucessful grabbed a trapeeze bar several feet away - my legs were shaking the whole time. Sheer determination kept me from falling I think. Okay, enough sap. For the readers who are still with me, thanks for hanging in there. Back to business. Suffice it to say that I met a lot of people because Anderson put together these amazing events that just naturally made you bond with members of your team. After talking with several of them, I realized that I am not the only one confused about which career path to take.

I attended a one-on-one Parker Career Management Center (CMC) meeting last week and had the chance to talk to a counselor about my career options. It was really helpful. She gave me a guide as to how to do some introspection and see where my skills and desires align. The Parker CMC also put together this really comprehensive and insightful package explaining all the different career options, tips/tricks for recruiting and resumes, and quiz sheets and assessment tests to help me figure out what types of careers migh be suited to my interests and skills. I have my work cut out for me.

This coming week is going to be fun as well. After doing some community service with Junior Achievement we all get chance to pick our Anderson Career Team (ACT). This team will provide all sorts of career guidance throughout the MBA experience. Will let you know how that goes.

Until next time!

De-blasé-fied!

I am so jaded I would probably yawn at my own funerals.  Personally, I blame Hollywood movies and video games for murdering my awe, but every now and then something makes me go “Wow!”  Of course, I am too blasé to actually say it out loud, but nonetheless…  Thus, imagine my surprise when I had two such moments this week only, and this is only my second week as an Anderson MBA student.

My first “Wow!” popped out on Wednesday during a presentation by Kent Thiry, Chairman and CEO of DaVita Inc.  I will not bore you with details depicting how Mr. Thiry brought the company back from the dead over the last ten years, although the end-results are impressive.  Instead, I want to mention why I think Mr. Thiry has been so successful; he understands that happy employees have no incentive to leave or work poorly.  Big deal?  I think so, considering DaVita Inc. has over 15,000 employees.  How Mr. Thiry does it on such a big scale completely mystifies me, but it might have something to do with the fact that DaVita actually seems to take its values seriously.

My second “Wow!” moment was triggered by Pr. Al Osborne, Senior Associate Dean at Anderson, and entertainer (from what I can tell!).  I will not bore you with his accolades, for they are numerous, but I’ll attempt to recount an especially interesting part of his story.  Early in his career, Pr. Osborne decided that he wanted to promote entrepreneurial businesses, but was told that it was just a stupid idea that would kill his career.  Unsatisfied, he left his job for a position at UCLA, where he eventually founded the Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.  The Price center oversees teaching, research, extracurricular, and community activities related to entrepreneurship.  How’s that for seeing one’s vision come to fruition? 

–Simon

UCLA Anderson - Choosing a MBA Focus

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my first official blog. I am a first year MBA student at the Anderson School of Management. School has not yet begun, but I just attended a one-hour Q&A session at the Parker Career Management Center, which is a group that helps MBA students find internships as well as choose a career specialty (for those of us, like me, who are still not sure in which direction they want to go). The information session was informative to say the least. The discussion touched upon things like recruiting timelines, recruiting tips and tricks, and research tools and people that might help students decide on a MBA focus.

So, yes, the session was informative. Do I feel completely overwhelmed now? The answer is YES. You've heard it before, but I will say it again, students who know what they want to do with their careers have an easier time in MBA school. What the Q&A session reminded me is that B-school moves fast and decisions like career focus (and by extension the clubs you want to join) must be made within the first few weeks of starting school. The reason being that the summer internship recruiting process starts in the fall/winter.

So what am I to do? Some might call me a career-switcher, but I like to think of myself as an explorer - which still doesn't make it any easier but sounds cooler. I am not sure what I want to do, and I came to B-school to, dare-I-say-it, explore my options. Well, hope is not lost. I am not the first MBA student to feel this way, as the folks at the Q&A session reminded me, and I won't be the last. Countless students like me have made it work, so why can't I? The one great thing was that UCLA Anderson made me feel like they were there to support me in any way possible through one-on-one counseling sessions and other events. They also have second-years and a huge alumni network who are there to share their experiences and advice regarding summer internships and careers.  

I invite you all to join me on my quest in determining which career direction I should go. Will it be finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, strategic operations, consulting, or back to my previous career in accounting? I will describe the events I attend, the people I talk to, and the research I do to help me make a decision.

Until the next blog fellow explorers!

LA Here I Come!!!

As I write this I'm getting ready to move from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles to start what's shaping up to be a great adventure at UCLA over the next few years.  It's funny as a northern Californian I never really pictured myself living in Southern California but I've fallen in love with UCLA so LA here I come!!!!!! 

Before the LA adventure starts I figured I should introduce myself.  I'm a Berkeley, CA native but I spent most of the last ten years elsewhere.  I went to school in Upstate New York at RPI, when I graduated in 2003 I moved to the New York City area to become a management consultant first with American Management Systems (now CGI) and later with IBM.  I consulted to financial service firms, at AMS in a technical role, at IBM in organizational change and regulatory compliance roles.  I loved consulting both for the work and also because it allowed me to feed my love of travel, I did client work in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Gabon, Vietnam and Laos.  The more exotic work locations came out of a consulting engagement I had with one of the worlds biggest environmental NGO's that ran in parallel with my financial service roles over a four year period.

Consulting provided all sorts of amazing professional opportunities, it also opened the door to a really amazing personal opportunity.  Through all my work travel I built up a lot of airline miles which made it possible to pursue my life long dream of taking an around the world trip.  Last year I turned in a little over 200,000 miles for an around the world plane ticket and traveled through twenty countries. 

I came back from the trip and launched into the school hunt which is a little more complex for me because I'm hoping to get a JD/MBA.  I knew I wanted to attend a west coast school, first and foremost because after ten years away from home I was ready to come back and secondly because I wanted schools with a strong focus on entrepreneurship and social ventures.   

I moved back to California last summer and started looking at schools.  I actually didn't initially look at the southern California schools but I eventually decided to take a trip down to LA to check out the schools.  During my first visit to UCLA I absolutely fell in love with Anderson, the campus culture just clicked, I really liked the interaction between the students and faculty in a class I sat in on, UCLA has great entrepreneurship and social venture programs and I really liked the area around the UCLA campus.

With my heart and mind set on attending UCLA I applied and got into Anderson, the law school side of my JD/MBA is a little complex so I'll get into that during a later post.  Once I had the application process behind me I decided to learn more about what it's like to work at a social venture so I took a volunteer role with Kiva.org in San Francisco, CA for six months prior to school.  I had an amazing time at Kiva and learned a ton, I'm now wrapping things up in the Bay Area and preparing to move down to Los Angeles.  I'm really looking forward to my time at UCLA, I'll be posting again soon as school gets going in the coming weeks. 

One way ticket to Los Angeles...

You have to admit, it is a fitting picture. 

Over four years ago, I arrived on a one-way ticket into London Heathrow's Terminal Four, at the time its nicest terminal.  My firm was transferring me to London; I flew business class, was picked up in a corporate Mercedes Benz E-class, then was whisked into a corporate apartment, fully kitted out including a 50-inch plasma TV. 

Now, I am sitting in Heathrow's worst terminal, Terminal Four.  My firm, Lehman Brothers, famously went bankrupt.  Mrs. V drove me to the airport in our VW Golf; I bought my own economy class ticket and will turn up in Los Angeles needing an apartment and, among other things, a new 50-inch TV. 

When I decided to go to UCLA Anderson, I knew nothing about Los Angeles.  So I bought, then binned, the Lonely Planet guidebook and decided to watch a lot of LA-based TV shows.  Research, I explained to Mrs. V.   

After marathon days of "24" and "Entourage", I confidently explained what will happen upon my arrival at LAX: I will immediately be issued loads of military gear so that I can arrest some terrorists before going to see the Lakers or Kings at the Staples Center with Emmanuelle Chriqui.  

Mrs. V was not amused. 

I'm excited to go to UCLA Anderson.  Like many others in my class, for me, the MBA course will be the start of a career change. 

I spent the past seven years trading, structuring, and selling the now-infamous derivatives known as collateralized debt obligations.  I love the energy and pace of a trading floor, where decisions that affect millions of dollars are made in an instant.  Doesn't every job involve being in seven conversations in three languages at once (two phones, chat, email, Bloomberg, your neighbor, and someone shouting at you from two rows away)?  

But after seven years, I knew it was time for something new.  Being laid off made me realize how much of a sports geek I really was - not as an armchair quarterback, but in a business sense.  After boring Mrs. V, my friends, family -- anyone who would listen, really -- about my ideas for the sports industry, it finally occurred to me to try to make a career out of it. 

For me there were many reasons to come to UCLA Anderson, but one sticks out in my mind more than any other.  It's no secret that investment banks and consulting firms recruit heavily at MBA programs; but I felt that UCLA Anderson had a great mix of other potential employers as well -- not to mention strong links into the sports and entertainment industries.  UCLA Anderson's famed entrepreneurial bent was icing on the cake.

Time to board.  Last thoughts before the flight: to London -- I love you, will miss you, and am proud to call you my adopted hometown.  

To Los Angeles -- tell Emmanuelle my flight lands at 2pm. 

Business skills for the future, not just now

One of the great things about UCLA Anderson is the entrepreneurial spirit that’s infused throughout most things we do. It’s a helpful attitude to carry into work for Fortune 500s as well as start-ups – and is especially relevant in today’s economy. CNBC wrote a somewhat bleak article last week about how the financial crisis has affected MBA recruiting; we’ve all heard this before, right?  But what I took away from the article was Kunal’s confidence in himself and in the skills he’s gained while at school.

That goes double for me. Watching classmates prep for the Knapp Venture Competition finals or create consulting teams for our upcoming AMR projects reminds me that the skills we’re picking up here are relevant in all sorts of economies and hiring atmospheres.

--Linda