MBA Insider's Blog

Student Perspectives: Interview Prep at UCLA Anderson

This post is a part of the Student Perspectives series - each post is written by a current UCLA Anderson student, and provides first-hand perspectives and experiences about being an MBA student at UCLA Anderson.

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It doesn’t matter how good you look on paper, the interview is where you get the job. My main purpose of coming to business school for many is to get a job. Parker, our career center, is world renown and includes help on networking, resumes, cover letters, interview prep, etc.   The Parker Series includes interview preparation that everyone goes through, but for select industries there are additional groups call Interview Prep Teams (IPT). I made the decision to recruit for consulting in my 3^rd week at Anderson. At that time, I was told about the rigorous recruiting process and extensive interview prep. Many of the professional clubs offer interview preparation and the preparation for consulting is one of the most extensive. Everyone has experience with behavioral interviews (we did one to get into business school!), but case interviews out of business school need their own preparation. Here is a taste:

 

Step 1 – Norming Sessions - The consulting IPT starts with 4 sessions to go over casing norms and introduce us to how to give and receive a case. In these sessions we go over frameworks, questions, organization, and more. In addition to taking a case, learning how to give a case is just as important. Seeing the case from the other side and how people solve the problem helps you refine your own case strategy.

 

Step 2 – IPT – After the sessions, we are split into teams of 4 with a second year coach. We meet every week for 5 weeks to receive 4 cases and give our assigned case to the other team members. This is where we make the most improvement in our casing and get to “work out our casing muscles.” It is all about consistency and seeing a variety of problems. However, it is more about quality over quantity. It is important to review a case you have already done and understand your mistakes and how to improve. Like everything in casing, we break down what we need to work on and focus on that 1-week at a time.

 

Step 3 – Continue the Preparation – Over Winter break, we continued to case on our own and fine-tune our behavior questions. The interviews are generally in early January. We received some more last minute prep in a casing marathon before school started.

 

Step 4 – GET THE JOB!! - Anderson is unique in their interview prep as it includes structure that won’t let you fall through the cracks. A variety of casing experts come to campus and offer workshops to help practice and give tips. This process is a great example of our culture of “share success” is obvious as we are in this together. I feel supported by the advisors, the second years, and my fellow first years. I have heard constantly to “trust the process.” The structure is welcome in a stressful time of doing everything we can to take the next step in our careers.

 

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Student blogger: Ben Nichols

Hometown: Houston, TX

Undergraduate Studies: University of Texas

Pre-Anderson: Engineering

Post-MBA Goals: Management Consulting

Activities @ Anderson: Admissions Ambassador Corps, Management Consulting Association, Energy Management Group, AnderEATS, Anderson Creative

 

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Student Perspectives: Is Parker really a reason why I should pick Anderson?

This post is a part of the Student Perspectives series - each post is written by a current UCLA Anderson student, and provides first-hand perspectives and experiences about being an MBA student at UCLA Anderson.

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To answer my own question -- Parker was not my reason for picking Anderson. However, I got very lucky that my other reasons led me to UCLA Anderson and Parker. 

Prior to Anderson, I attended a pretty well-reputed undergraduate institution. A couple reasons why I chose to go there for undergrad were its collaborative culture, location, and course/professor opportunities. So, that being the only time I've ever picked a school, when it came time for me to pick a Business School I naturally gravitated towards evaluating business schools through similar parameters. 

Looking back, that's not necessarily the best idea. I had different objectives for going to business school, I was at a different point in my academic and professional career, and my goals had shifted. However, everything worked out well in the end and my final decision was to attend Anderson.

Now before starting Anderson, we had a Parker Career Center presentation and they gave us some homework before starting school. To be very honest, I thought this was going to be busy work and not that helpful. Initially, I even was resistant to making some of the changes they suggested. My thought process was that I did well in undergrad recruiting, I'm comfortable during interviews, and I have several great achievements that employers will like. However, given it was homework, I did what they ask with the mindset that if needed I can go back to what I originally had. 

After doing my first resume iteration just by following Parker's videos,  it amazed me that anyone even had the patience to read my old resume. It had a non-standard format, read as a job description, and was not aligned at all with the industry I wanted to pursue. Over the course of the quarter, I'd met several times with various Parker career advisers and every single experience was a critical learning experience for me. They taught me much more than how to build an attractive resume or memorable cover letter, but instead they taught me how to present myself to employers, how to approach questions (whether it be interview or casual conversations), and really how to leave a memorable impression. 

These skills that Parker taught me aren't taught in any classrooms, but rather can only be taught by dedicated one-on-one guidance from very skilled advisers. Furthermore, these lessons are skills that I know I will take with me beyond just MBA recruiting. These are skills that are essential in every professional setting, and is the foundation to building a successful career. 

So overall, I just got very lucky. I didn't care too much about Parker when I decided to come to Anderson -- but they've taught me some of the most important lessons for my career. So, I really encourage you that when you consider schools you should evaluate aspects you may not have thought of. Talk to individuals on why they made a specific choice and how that worked out for them. And, always keep your end goal in mind. For most, the primary goal of business school is to get a good job or start their own company. Once you have your end goal work backwards and see what skills do you need to be successful and make a plan on how you will build those skills. 

 

-P

 

 

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Student Blogger: Prithwis Mukhopadhyay ‘20

Hometown: Woodbury, MN

Undergraduate Studies: MIT, B.S. Biological Engineering

Pre-Anderson: Senior Client Engagement - Broadway Technology

Post-MBA Goals: Management Consulting

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Student Perspectives: UCLA Anderson’s Energy Management Group

This post is a part of the Student Perspectives series - each post is written by a current UCLA Anderson student, and provides first-hand perspectives and experiences about being an MBA student at UCLA Anderson.

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One of the most exciting parts of my UCLA Anderson experience thus far has been joining professional clubs to explore the wide array of possible career paths. At UCLA Anderson, professional clubs are an excellent way to collaborate and share success with like-minded students pursuing careers in similar fields of interest. While working in investment banking, my interest in the energy industry was sparked when I was involved in financing energy transactions made by private equity sponsors. Knowing that the energy industry was an area I wanted to explore during business school, I joined the Energy Management Group (EMG) during Anderson’s career fair and became as involved as possible, participating in the following incredible events organized by the club:

1. Weekly Industry 101s: The Energy Management Group hosts Anderson alumni at energy companies in the LA area for weekly presentations and panels to teach students about various topics within the sector. Throughout the fall, firms have presented on areas including the basics of power and utility markets, the future of electric transportation, and the financial aspects of renewable energy projects, to name just a few. As a student with little prior energy market exposure, the weekly series organized by the EMG has been vital in helping me build a strong foundation of energy knowledge while teaching me about emerging trends within the industry.
2. Days on the Job: The Energy Management Group organizes a comprehensive week of job visits, referred to as Days on the Job (DOJs), at a variety of energy companies across California every fall quarter. This year, EMG visited fantastic firms in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco such as EDF Renewables, California Edison, Bird, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Tesla. Days on the Job are an excellent way for students to hear firsthand from companies and functions they find interesting. I was incredibly impressed by the variety of companies that the 2^nd year directors in the Energy Management Group organized for us to visit, and I undoubtedly have a much better understanding of firms and roles I’m interested in because of it.
3. Networking Opportunities: The Energy Management Group also coordinates networking events with Anderson alumni, local companies, and other business schools. So far this fall, there have been opportunities to have dinner with energy alumni in San Francisco at the Olympic Club, talk to representatives from Cyprus Creek Renewables in Santa Monica, and grab drinks with USC Marshall’s energy club in Culver City. No matter who I have wanted to get in touch with, I have found that UCLA Anderson and the Energy Management Club have helped me make professional connections, grow my network, and further explore positions within the energy industry.

The Energy Management Group is one of UCLA Anderson’s extraordinary professional clubs which I’m proud to be a member of. I’m excited to be part of the growth of the club within the Anderson community and look forward to building even more relationships with alumni and local LA firms in the future.

-- Bob Owlett '20

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Student Blogger: Bob Owlett ‘20

Hometown: Wellsboro, PA

Undergraduate Studies: Claremont McKenna College, B.A Economics, M.A. Finance

Pre-Anderson: Wells Fargo Securities - Investment Banking Analyst

Post-MBA Goals: Strategy & Operations

Activities @ Anderson: Energy Management Group, Strategy & Operations Management Association, Anderson Ambassador Corps

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Stay in Touch: Introduce Yourself

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Questions? Contact us at: [email protected]