The MBA Student Voice

Since Graduation in June ...

Four years after enrolling at UCLA Anderson, and later UCLA School of Law, I graduated with a JD and an MBA. Immediately after graduation, I spent the summer studying for the CA bar examination. I took a brief break after that to visit Puerto Rico, before starting my new job as a regulatory consultant. Given my background and future goals, this job was a great fit - and my company is great. I've been with the company now for about six months. My projects vary, but generally consist of consulting clients on how to comply with securities laws, rules and regulations. A lot of my work is done onsite, at the client, so I travel very often. I just returned from New York last night and I'm off to San Fransicso on Monday. More updates to follow ....

Recruiting, Races, Amazing Weather: Winter Quarter at UCLA Anderson!

It's hard to believe winter quarter is already halfway done! If I thought that things were going to slow down a bit after the craziness of Fall (full disclosure: I did.), well, I was wrong! But, at the risk of sounding like a broken record in all my posts, I am still loving all of it.

Where to begin: it's been a crazy quarter, full of RECRUITING and schoolwork and RECRUITING and wedding planning and Marathons and RECRUITING. That's right, first-years are allowed to attend company presentations and network in the Fall, but companies can't actually solicit applications from us until the Winter. So they do! Before we were even back to class, I was in Seattle for the great Days on the Job event put on by the High Tech Business Association (HTBA), visiting the offices of Amazon, Microsoft, Expedia, and T-Mobile. Resumes and cover letters were due en masse all throughout January, and interviews are still being conducted as I type. I have been lucky enough to interview with some truly excellent companies; a sampling of them includes:

Awesome companies that came to UCLA Anderson to recruit it's even awesomer students!

The process has treated me well with all my hard work this Fall and Winter paying off in the form of second round interviews and even an offer so far. You'll have to stay tuned to this blog to find out where I decide to spend my summer! But I do want to offer faith for those career and function switchers out there: if I can go from being a real estate developer to a product manager at a top-tier technology firm, anyone can do it!

In between recruiting I have managed to squeeze in two big races, qualifying for the 2012 New York City Marathon by running a 1:35 at the 13.1 Los Angeles Half Marathon in January, and qualifying for the 2013 Boston Marathon by running a 3:32 at the Huntington Beach Marathon last weekend. I bring this up here because I was talking to a prospective member of the class of 2014 over coffee the other day, and he told me he had heard that there isn't time for exercise because you are so busy in school. Well, he obviously asked the right (wrong??) person, because I set him straight. Continuing to run during all the insanity has kept me centered and provided me with some coveted "me time." In addition, I'm exploiting the fact that we don't have to look neat and polished like in a work setting at school, as I will go running around campus at lunch and then return just in time for class. This might explain why no one ever sits next to me, but hey, at least I'm staying sane. (Just kidding, I do have friends - honest!- and with SoCal's dry weather, I sweat about 1/16th as much as I did in humid Florida.)

This begs the question, was it me... or was it those amazing pink socks???

I should clarify that I did not photoshop myself into a beautiful beach background in the above photo, this is actually what I ran along for 26.2 miles. Yeah, it's pretty nice here. The weather has been downright amazing for the last two months. Temperatures hover around 78 degrees every day, the sun is shining, the air has a light breeze, people are wearing shorts- I feel like I need to pinch myself to be sure it's really January and February. Having experienced the fantastic weather out here, I think YOU would have to pay ME to go to business school in New England at this point! 

Hire Learning

In college football, signing day is a big deal. It marks the first day a recruit can sign a letter of intent to play college football. It also represents the culmination of what can be four years of recruiting. Signing day was especially kind to UCLA this year, as the Bruins hauled in a class that some analysts rank as high as number 12 in the nation. Why am I mentioning this? I don’t know. Maybe more people will go to Anderson tailgates next year.

What I’m getting at is that it’d be really nice if business school had a signing day. Why can’t the first Wednesday in February be the day in which every first-year student signs a letter of intent for a summer internship? Wishful thinking, I guess. Still, many of my friends have landed their summer gigs. If you’re an investment banker, you’ve most likely accepted an offer. Same goes with some on the consulting and marketing career paths. But for those of us who are chasing more non-traditional MBA roles, the recruiting process can take longer.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m recruiting for entertainment. I liken entertainment recruiting to Chicago winters. They can start as early as September and last into April or May. I started the recruiting process in September by reaching out to alumni for informational interviews. Right now I’m sending out applications and doing a few interviews. But I’ve fully conditioned myself to the fact that I may not have an offer until the spring. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not throwing a pity party. Instead, I look at this process as an opportunity to network more, learn about the opportunities out there, and find the perfect one.

So what is the perfect role? I’m glad you asked. I don’t know. But what I do know is that Anderson is doing everything in its power to help me figure that out. Thanks to the resources of the Entertainment Management Association (EMA), I’ve been able to do some incredible networking this quarter. Since being back from break, I’ve made recruiting trips to a number of studios, including Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney and Fox. I’ve also participated in sponsored trips to Hulu and Creative Artists Agency.

Our esteemed group at Paramount. I’m the guy in the dark suit.

If you’re not impressed, consider my recent trip to New York. In two days in the Big Apple, a number of entertainment-focused classmates and I visited NBC Universal, IAC, Focus Features, Tribeca Enterprises, Google, ABC/ESPN and Fox. We met with alumni at pretty much each stop and adhered to my b-school motto: ABN (always be networking). 

I know what you’re thinking, but no, I did not make the cut in the Rockettes tryouts. Why do you think I'm looking for a job?

I also found time to go to the Sundance Film Festival with some friends from the EMA. I saw a few great movies, soaked up the celebrity scene, and attended a Stella Artois party that was highlighted by free waffles. Free waffles! I mean, seriously, does it get any better?

Snow in Utah. Very pretty. You know what it doesn’t do in L.A.? Snow. And I’m fine with that.

My point is that if I already had my job, maybe I wouldn’t be as eager to take advantage of these amazing opportunities. Still, if you’re hiring, let me know. 

-Willem

Follow me on Twitter: @willsouthwood

 

Settling into 2012

Winter quarter is well under way, and it is safe to say that we are now entering the "meat" of the quarter.  Most of us have completed what I like to call the "courtship" period of any new quarter - the introductory period when students attend various electives before locking down a schedule.  One thing that this "courtship" period has shown me is the extent to which my classmates seek to customize their classroom learning over this 20 month journey.  UCLA Anderson provides its MBAs with a flexible curriculum (12 electives), which provides us substantial freedom to organize our academic experiences around our specific needs and interests.  It's encouraging to see my peers take that freedom seriously.

Given the amount of time I spent recruiting last quarter, it's tempting for me to think that getting a dream job is the main objective of coming to b-school.  But with the recruiting season behind me, I have realized that I truly enjoy having more time and space to savor the academic component of b-school learning.  If all goes according to plan, I won't have to miss any more class due to job interviews.  That said, I must say that my professors last quarter were incredibly supportive of my recruiting efforts.  I appreciate the fact that the faculty and career services staff are on the same page when it comes to supporting their students' career aspirations.

As for my classes on deck for the winter quarter?  Thinking On Your Feet, Marketing Strategy & Planning, and Motivating Management.  I am also doing a Fall/Winter AMR Field Study with four of my most stellar classmates working on a marketing plan for a client seeking to launch a plus-sized women's clothing line.  More detail to come in my next post.  Should be a fun quarter.

- Jesse Ferlianto '12

Me and 2 of my stellar Applied Management Research (AMR) teammates