MBA Insider's Blog

Student Perspectives: Transitioning Back to Being a Student

About Allyson: Allyson Mason (’22) is a first-year FTMBA student at Anderson. Prior to business school, Allyson worked as a forensic accountant with a focus of civil and family litigation. Outside of school and professional work, Allyson loves to play golf and watch the Dodgers and enjoys spending time with friends and classmates!

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Do you ever let your mind wander and think back to how you used to have so much free time in undergrad? Maybe you were heavily involved in a club or were on one of your school’s varsity sports teams. Maybe you had a part-time job on campus. After working for 5 years in an 8AM to 5PM job, I was definitely nervous to transition back to school.

So, what is it actually like to transition back to being a student? First, identify your number one goal of pursuing your MBA. Are you pivoting careers? Do you have a business idea that you want to see to fruition? Are you trying to expand your network? As the full-time program is only two years, identifying your main goal is key to the success of your MBA experience. 

For me, I wanted to pivot careers into the real estate industry and grow my professional network. During the summer prior to school, I spent my free time reading as much as possible and trying to game plan my MBA experience. Once the summer quarter began, I truly understood why my friends who previously pursued their MBA were so busy. You want to do everything but there is only so much time in the day. However, as I quickly learned, class time is roughly 10 to 15 hours of your week. 

Given that you only have class for a few hours each week, what are you supposed to do with all of your free time? Since my goals were to pivot careers and grow my network, I would spend my free time reading up on the real estate industry. Additionally, I attended various real estate lectures, workshopped my resume, and brushed up on my interviewing skills. I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward so that I learned everything I needed to know to land an internship position within the real estate industry. Moreover, in order to grow my network, I spent as much time as possible getting to know my classmates and industry professionals. I would schedule two to three coffee chats with professionals to broaden my industry knowledge and network to land my dream internship position. I also made sure I spent time getting to know my classmates, as my peers and I will be reentering the workforce together. I did make sure to allocate some of my free time to schoolwork; after all, part of the MBA experience is becoming a student again. 

When you step on campus during the summer quarter, it may be a bit overwhelming. Take a deep breath, figuring out what you want out of the MBA experience, and start chasing after your goals. After all, you are the driver of your MBA experience and career.

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Student Blogger: Allyson Mason ‘22

Undergrad: Boston College ‘15

Pre-MBA: Gursey | Schneider (Forensic Accountant, CPA)

Leadership@Anderson: VP of Events, Anderson Real Estate Association (AREA); VP of Diversity and Inclusion, John Anderson Golf Club (JAGC); Director and Student Ambassador, Admissions Ambassador Corps (AAC); Admits Weekend Planning Committee

Student Perspectives: Navigating the Career Pivot in Tech with Anderson

About Tracie: Tracie Liu (’22) is a first-year FTMBA student at Anderson. Prior to business school, Tracie worked in tax management consulting with a focus of data analytics and management for high-tech firms.  Outside of school and professional work, Tracie devotes herself in community work, loves exploring food culture across the world, and enjoys hiking along the rivers and forests! 

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In February 2020, as a freshly admitted MBA candidate of 2022, I finished my first Parker advising session before school started in August. I walked out of the Marion Anderson Hall with more excitement than ever, envisioning career opportunities in tech, but at the same time with a million questions and reflecting on myself. Coming from a consulting background, I have worked for high-tech clients and knew that I wanted to get a stronger footing in the industry. But I was hesitant choosing a function that could best align with my interests and passions. I’m sure most of you planning to pursue a career in tech will encounter similar situations. Hopefully the following can help smoothen your journey and prepare you the best for your next career endeavor.  

 

Stay close within the Anderson alumni network.

Right after I was admitted to Anderson, I was paired with an alumni buddy who worked for a leading technology firm. This buddy program really helped me gain first-hand industry insights and distinguish areas that I was interested in early. Starting from differentiating ‘product manager,’ ‘program manager,’ and ‘project manager’ (believe me this will be your first knowledge check in the tech world) to evaluating industry culture, I couldn’t be more appreciative of how much I’ve learned from my alumni buddy and figure out my career path early on. During the fall quarter, I was super excited that my buddy came back to Anderson for the DOJ week and represented her company to recruit on campus! Even if your alumni buddy has a different career background than your target, staying connected and taking time to cultivate that relationship will help you learn beyond what you are seeing now and grow long-term.

 

Gear up with Anderson career resources early.

The kick-off of the summer quarter is one of the most exciting moments for most first-year students. New faces, new events, and a brand-new start of yourself. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed when I saw so many career, academic, and student club resources landing in my inbox every day. I wanted to try out everything but then I quickly learned my lesson on prioritization– a key piece of advice here is to focus on areas that matter the most for your targeted development. I prioritized recruiting the first half of the quarter. Parker Career Center definitely played a significant role in my journey. Not only did we meet with second-year TAs weekly but also could schedule appointments with Parker advisors based on our chosen topic. Since everyone came from diverse backgrounds, these one-on-one conversations indeed helped tailor the focus and made it more efficient. When I was debating between the operations and the product management tracks, both my advisors Phil and Mef provided me invaluable advice on my strengths and weaknesses. In addition, Parker developed a structured course to help first-year students stay on top of their recruiting preparation including but not limited to resumes, cover letters, informational interviews, and etc. These tasks may appear tedious at first, wiping out the school kick-off excitement, but trust the process that there is a reason for each assignment and the goal is to prepare you the best when the fall storm kicks in. If I were able to go back to the summertime again, I wish I could be more proactive in completing each assignment and spend more time revising each exercise rather than crunching the deadline. 

 

Your classmates are your best support and power. Learn from them!

You might have been tired of hearing “share success” but the past few months have truly proved to me that it is a real thing at Anderson. My classmates and my learning team are my go-to places whenever I encounter ups and downs. Through the AnderTech club, I’ve had my IPT (Interview Prep Team) partners who were willing to spend the entire winter breaks with me practicing interviews even on Christmas Eve. They are the people who encouraged me through the most challenging times and provided me critical feedback and kept motivating me to improve. In class, a simple question on Slack always impressed me with how smart and knowledgeable our classmates are. Either a fully automated excel model for technical classes or well-crafted review notes, everyone contributes their best and adds value to the community. We never hesitate to offer help, show empathy, and always have each other’s back. That’s the Anderson community! 

The past nine months have been an incredible journey. I look forward to the new adventures with the current, the past, and the future AnderFam!

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Student Blogger: Tracie Liu ‘22

Undergrad: UCLA ‘16

Pre-MBA: Deloitte (Tax Management Consulting)

Leadership@Anderson: VP of Career Development Operations, Strategy and Operations Management Association (SOMA); Director and Student Ambassador, Admissions Ambassador Corps (AAC)

Student Perspectives: Making a Triple Pivot

About Cody: I’ve lived in nearly every state on the west coast, but I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and followed my mom’s footsteps to become a Sundevil at Arizona State. I graduated with degrees in Economics and Supply Chain Management before I went to work for American Airlines as a Supply Chain Manager in Dallas for the past 4 years. After racking up close to 300 flights and visiting 25 countries, I got sick of airports and decided to follow my passion for the real estate industry. I decided on UCLA Anderson for its well renowned real estate program, the faculty, and incredible opportunities that southern California has to offer.

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Wait, what’s a triple pivot?

We refer to a pivot in business school as transitioning industry, function, or location. Therefore, the triple pivot is when you transition industry, function, and location. Akin to Tony Hawk landing the 900, the triple pivot is legendary because you start out feeling like you have virtually zero transferrable skills when you are jumping between two very different industries, and then you layer on the fact that the new function requires an entirely different set of technical skills. Moving geographic regions is the cherry on top because your professional network might not be as strong as it is in the location where you began your professional career. After a few months of battling imposter syndrome, receiving incredible coaching from Parker, and leveraging all resources that Anderson has to offer, you realize that you are crushing it and on track to land the triple pivot.

Tell me about your pivot:

When I left American Airlines I had developed strong leadership abilities, negotiation skills, and analytical skills, but my financial acumen was limited and I wasn’t proficient at creating dynamic models in excel. Pivoting into the real estate industry, I had to create a compelling story of why I wanted to make the switch and what function I wanted to work in. After refining my 30-second pitch and carefully crafting my story, I had to acquire a whole new basket of technical skills such as creating proforma cash flow statements in excel and learning a new software (ARGUS Enterprise). Making the location pivot is probably the easiest of the three because you have the support of UCLA, your new classmates, and it is easy to explain why you want to live in southern California.

What advice do you have for someone making a double or triple pivot?

Buckle in, plain and simple. Big pivots are not for the lighthearted and you have to have the stomach to deal with rejection. I was rejected from probably 20 opportunities before I acquired my summer internship. Things didn’t start looking up until I started my academic internship and put some industry experience on my resume. You also need the discipline to miss out on many social events that your peers are attending. For me, that meant spending my spring break studying for the ARGUS Enterprise certification exam while my classmates were drinking mojitos on the beach. I also recommend taking advantage of industry resources and training programs if you feel really far apart on your technical skills. I took a course over summer focused on creating real estate financial models in excel because that is a baseline requirement to work in real estate finance. Most importantly, don’t give up. Don’t give into FOMO. You have worked so hard to get to where you are already, and you might as well ride it out. Your future self will thank you.

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Student Blogger: Cody Kuhne ‘22

Undergrad: Arizona State ‘16

Pre-MBA: Supply Chain at American Airlines

Leadership@Anderson: President, The Association for Real Estate at Anderson; First-Year Director, Admissions Ambassador Corps

Student Perspectives: Transitioning from an HBCU to a PWI

About Nicole: Nicole Rabiu (’22) graduated from Spelman College with a degree in Psychology and Studio Art. After graduation, she worked in New York City as an Account Manager at Coca-Cola and later as a Key Account Manager at Unilever. Nicole hopes to intersect her passions for psychology and art in a product marketing role post-business school. In her spare time, Nicole loves to hike the many treks in LA, oil-paint portraits, and visit the outdoor markets at Melrose and Abbot Kinney.

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When I decided to attend Spelman College - a small, private, all-women HBCU (historically black college or university) in Atlanta, GA – I knew I was going to be in a place of comfort that allowed me to flourish. I decided to attend UCLA Anderson for many reasons, including the high percentage of students entering tech and the ability to live in sunny Los Angeles. Despite my decision, I was scared to build connections with students with different racial backgrounds at a PWI (primarily white institution). The transition from an HBCU to a PWI was daunting for me, but after my first two quarters I am thankful that I made the plunge and I’m enjoying the journey of being in new territory with like-minded leaders.

Personally, Spelman College taught me the many facets of Black diversity. I met Black women from many cities both internationally and in the US, and I met Black women with interests that differed in many capacities. The connections between and my Spelman sisters had driven me to be comfortable in my skin in any circumstance. So when I decided to attend UCLA Anderson, I was scared of the lack of diversity in comparison to my HBCU. During my first two quarters, however, I again saw myself meeting students with different nationalities and distinctive career goals. Despite us having diverse racial backgrounds, we all had a common interest in growing our professional brand and connecting with different communities. I realized that my fears of not connecting with students were self-inflicted – like Spelman, I was having an experience of growing my network for the future. The Parker Career Center invested – and continues to invest – in me in ways that let me know UCLA Anderson’s commitment to its student body.

It was also important for me to attend a PWI that had students that embraced diversity and inclusion. I was worried that the lack of Black students in comparison to my undergraduate institution meant I would be met with ignorance or racism at every turn. Since joining UCLA Anderson, however, I have witnessed students embrace both Black Lives Matter and the fight against AAPI hate rigorously. The Anderson community rallies against racism and advocates for social justice as a collective. Students always have a safe space to express their thoughts, whether it is in a student-led town hall or a one-on-one chat with leadership. When HBCU graduates consider attending PWIs for graduate school, we need to pick a community that allows us to be transparent during conversations relating to our racial experience. UCLA Anderson students accept these conversations fully.

There is absolutely nothing like attending an HBCU, and I keep my undergraduate experience close to my heart in all situations. During my first year at UCLA Anderson, however, I have welcomed the idea of connecting with students through study groups, on-campus clubs, and extracurricular activities. By connecting with students, I realized I can find comfort in my Anderson family similar to my Spelman family – and likewise, I hope these connections build over time as we all flourish in our careers.

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Student Blogger: Nicole Rabiu ‘22

Undergrad: Spelman College ‘15

Pre-MBA: Account Management at Unilever

Leadership@Anderson: Director of Marketing Communications, AnderTech; First-Year Director, Admissions Ambassador Corps