The MBA Student Voice

On the end of week 5

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged! It's already the end of week 5 here at Anderson, and times have been pretty crazy. Between readings and write-ups, planning events weekly for the Entertainment Management Association, trying to finalize my team's AMR project, prepping for A-Days (the annual admit weekend event), and working a part-time internship, I'm exhausted! At least I don't have any midterm exams, just one group project for Entertainment Marketing. The days are going by quickly, but my classmates and I are doing our best to keep each other's spirits high throughout this busy quarter. Things should quiet down after next week, and I promise to post more updates. Until then, let me know if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to write about!

Resources at the Parker Career Management Center

The quarter is rolling along pretty quickly and the search for internships and full-time jobs is heating up. UCLA Anderson's Parker Career Management Center (CMC) offers many opportunities for students to prepare for their career search. Some of the many offerings from the CMC include one-on-one appointments with the fifteen counselors, online company information databases, industry-specific podcasts, or skill-building workshops.

I've really enjoyed my experiences as one of the eight student career counselors at the CMC. As a counselor, I can offer feedback on resumes and cover letters, facilitate mock interviews, assist with job and industry research, and help build job/internship search action plans. I consider this one of the most rewarding experiences I've had at UCLA Anderson so far because it enables me to use previous professional experience to give back to the MBA community.

One of the CMC's fall offerings includes Resumania, an eight hour event where any Anderson student can bring their resume to the CMC for a 10 minute feedback session with a counselor or second year student volunteer. 279 students were served during this year's Resumania, an amazing accomplishment!

This weekend, I'm taking my own job search to the Reaching Out Conference in Washington, DC. Look out for an update on the conference in the upcoming week.

Side note: After four weeks, I've had 7 turkey sandwiches from Cafe Roma. That's lower than I thought it would be. (For those of you that are lost, see my previous post entitled 'Time Management in a MBA Program.')

Fall Quarter Begins!

The UCLA Anderson 2008 fall quarter is in overdrive as everyone dives head first into classes and tries to come up for air every now and again. Maybe if classes were the only place to focus our attention things would approach manageable. The class of 2010, like all classes before them is presented with a overwhelming buffet of options to partake in outside the classroom. On top of all career related activities through Parker Career Management center, there are professional clubs, social clubs, and identity clubs to join and participate in. These are far from passive participation where the club sets up activities or presentations and you attend at your leisure. No, the students at UCLA Anderson truly run the school; it is up to us to organize these events. We get to tailor the clubs to what we want and get more reward therein.

For example, the Entertainment Management Association saw interest in Entertainment Consulting and is planning a 101 series on the subject. The 101’s are a series of events when professionals come in and give an hour or two briefing on the ins and outs of a particular industry (Investment Banking 101, High Tech 101, Entrepreneurship 101, etc). The Entertainment 101 was the other night and it was mind blowing.  The speaker/professor was Gigi Johnson, president of Maremel Partners, an entertainment consulting firm. She spoke about the challenges facing the general industry as it transitions into the digital age. The transition will be daunting but exhilarating to be a part of. I’m just glad I have two years to think about it before I apply my MBA knowledge to the subject.

UCLA Anderson at Tesla

Two years in the making, the Anderson Automotive Association (AAA) held its opening for the 2008-09 school year at the brand new Tesla Automotive showroom in Santa Monica, CA.  A new club to the Anderson Student Association (ASA) in 2008, the AAA is currently under provisional watch – but with the number of 1st years showing-up at Tesla, it looks like the club’s future has been ensured.  While it is still up in the air whether or not I’ll be joining the AAA enthusiasts (although I’m looking forward to taking on my fellow peers in a go-kart race on a slick track… on one of the club’s socials), I have to admit it was pretty interesting walking-up to a showroom that has a huge floor to ceiling window looking in on the fume free shop.

UCLA Anderson Recruiting in Full Swing

Three weeks in and my calendar is already filling with presentations from companies looking for potential summer interns and full time employees for 2nd year MBA students.  Most will come back a second time around for the summer interns, but for those of us still trying to figure out what we want to do following our years at Anderson, it gives us an opportunity to get a brief (all be it an hour) view into a company you have any interest in learning more about.  The hardest part is deciding which ones you cannot go to, due to scheduling conflicts with other presentations, but the Parker Career Management Center on campus makes it easy to get your calendar in order.  So far I’ve been pretty consistent sticking to both Marketing and Consulting presentations.  We’ll see if my decision sways one way or another.

Hispanic MBAs

The 2008 National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) conference provided an excellent networking opportunity for attendees.  I attended the Conference with a group of UCLA Anderson students, including students from Latino Management Student Association (LMSA) and African American Students in Management (AASM), and representatives from both MBA Admissions and the Parker Career Management Center (Parker CMC).   

UCLA Anderson students interacted with recruiters from diverse employers, ranging from not-for-profits such as the Broad Foundations to global consulting firms such as Deloitte, as well as with UCLA Anderson alumni.  Many of our students received on-the-spot interviews for both internship and full-time positions.

Prospective students got exposure to current UCLA Anderson students as well as to MBA Admissions and Parker CMC staff.  Also, our Parker CMC staff strengthened UCLA Anderson’s relationships with numerous recruiters.

Overall, the Conference was a great success.  UCLA Anderson’s participation in the Conference is just one example of UCLA Anderson’s commitment to increasing diversity in business school.  You can learn more about diversity at UCLA Anderson by attending Embracing Diversity (11/8-11/10).  

On the alumni network of UCLA Anderson

I know, I know - all business schools boast about their alumni network. But since I've only had direct interaction with that of UCLA Anderson, I can only vouch for one. And, boy, is it strong!

You probably already know the power of networking. In today's job market, it really (really, really) helps to know someone in the company, in the division, in the department, on the team where you dream of getting employed. As an MBA at Anderson, you not only have the fantastically resourceful Parker CMC for all your recruiting needs, you also have an extensive network of highly successful alumni just at the other end of your phone or email connection.

In my time so far at Anderson, I have interacted with alumni in a number of ways: at industry/function panels organized by professional clubs; at social events organized by identity clubs; as representatives of companies at industry career nights; as guest speakers at various clubs' 101 events; as volunteers for Orientation and A-Days events; at Days-on-the-Job (company site visits); and for one-on-one informational interview sessions.

While all of these forums are great ways to meet former Andersonians, I have been especially impressed with the openness and supportive manner in which alumni have responded to requests for informational interviews. They have been consistently willing to spend (lots of) their own time to discuss their role and company with me, and best methods of how to direct my career. The alumni benefit, too - by helping us, they are often able to help themselves with the opportunity to find potential interns. (Especially for those wishing to enter the Entertainment industry, this is huge because a foot in the door can help you by leaps and bounds.)

My point is, Anderson alumni are active. Really active! They're more than happy to help out current students in any number of ways. Like I said, I don't know what the networks are actually like at other business schools, but I do know that ours is positively connected. And that's what makes the Anderson community so awesome.

Where do you want to lead? Submissions due for Leadership Positions at Anderson Week 2

Prior to Orientation, the Parker Career Management Center had all the incoming class of 2010 submit their resumes in the standard UCLA Anderson format.  Under the heading for UCLA Anderson there were three categories Honors, Leadership, and Membership which were all created a bulk of unwanted white space gleaming a top the first few inches of my new Business Resum.  Little did I know I would be able to fill two of the three headings by the end of week 2, which is a bit overwhelming and comforting all at the same time, - because the consulting firms are already making their way onto campus for summer recruiting.  That’s right, be ready to start dawning your "business formal" wear the second week of school if you’re interested in a consulting career. 

Picking which professional clubs you want to serve in leadership positions in is a bit of a crap shot, partly because several deadlines can fall on the same day and not entirely knowing your chances, a student can easily find themselves overwhelmed with too many positions or come out completely empty handed.  As it turned out, lady luck was on my side (or perhaps it was the insatiable writing skills that really sold the current 2nd year leadership on my abilities), I’ve been dubbed a first year director for the Management Consulting Association’s Career Night as well as a first year director for the Marketing Association Day’s on the Job for Northern California.  Not only am I happy that I have some robust fodder for the top of my resume, I’m excited about the opportunities both can bring me as I begin the hunt for a summer internship only two weeks into school.  Here’s to summer, if I make it through the rest of the quarter.

On the close of Round 1 admissions

To all those who completed their UCLA Anderson application for Round 1 - congratulations! As a Round 1-er myself, I feel your pain with realizing how quickly that early due date rushes towards you as you scramble to get everything in. But, you did it! And, now you get to sit back and relax...er, well, sort of...until you get that decision email from Admissions.

For those of you who are planning to apply to Rounds 2 or 3, as well as those who haven't yet decided if UCLA Anderson is the place for you, let me know if you have any questions or topics you'd like to read about. I wish you all the best of luck!

On a typical day at UCLA Anderson

As I walked through the hallways of UCLA Anderson at lunchtime today, I overheard several 1st years discussing their lunch plans. These included working on a group marketing paper, reading cases for afternoon classes, and attending corporate presentations. One of the 1st years neatly summed it all up as, "So much to do, so little time." First quarter of the full-time MBA program can certainly be overwhelming, but it does get more manageable 2nd year - relatively speaking, of course. To give you a better idea of a typical day at Anderson, here's what I did today:

7:00AM: Woke up and got ready for school.

8:30-11:30AM: Ethical Considerations in Business with Professor Cockrum.

11:30-1:00PM: Sat with my friend, who was holding an office hours session for her Strategic Operations ACT group. Only one student came by, but she was able to answer his questions, and he left seemingly relieved. I kept busy catching up with emails and reviewing the agenda for my AMR team's afternoon meeting with our advisor, Professor Caro.

1:00-2:00PM: Lunch! Topics discussed ranged from movies to class schedules.

2:00-2:30PM: Met with another board member of the Entertainment Management Association (EMA) to discuss logistics for the upcoming Video Games 101 event. He's actually a fellow section mate from last year, so we also spent some time catching up and sharing internship stories.

2:45-3:45PM: Our meeting with Professor Caro went really well! We discussed expectations and possible project scopes. We're planning to meet with the client soon, so it was helpful to have another perspective on our ideas before we present our proposals.

4:00-7:00PM: Entertainment Law with Sky Moore. Sky is a prominent lawyer in the industry, so we get to hear direct accounts of actual transactions.

7:00-9:00PM: Attended the annual kick-off event for the EMA to welcome (back) members, both new and old. I chatted with several 1st years interested in leadership positions for the board, and reconnected with some of my section students from Orientation.

9:00PM: Whew, time to go home! Made a list of everything I need to get done in the next few days and followed up with emails, while watching some TV.