The MBA Student Voice

Random thoughts on academics

I'm from Section E y'all (just like fellow bloggers Ayushman Jain and Ashley Mallinson), so I'll give you the three E's of academics: Entertaining, Enlightening, Engaging.

Entertaining
I've enjoyed all of the classes I've taken at Anderson. They can be quite entertaining actually. Most sessions involve some sort of class discussion, and invariably someone says something funny. I love it. It also helps having two of the three Lit Club Librarians for next year. ;)

Enlightening
Many of our classes are case-based, so we have frequent class discussions. Even if you're not going to go into the particular industry you're talking about in a class session, the case discussion helps you understand how to approach different business situations and how to apply business frameworks going forward. You get out of it what you put into it, so I try to prepare for and engage in the discussions as much as possible.

Engaging
They're not merely enlightening, they're fun also. We talked about Xbox and the video game industry, in the process discussing Nintendo and Sega, some of the favorite parts of my childhood. We also talked about Google and Microsoft's battle over Internet search, and we're going to talk about Patagonia, one of my favorite outdoor brands (I frequent REI).

I'm very happy with my education, and so will you when you get here :)

~Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15

Random thoughts on recruiting

My trusted Anderson padfolio

My story
It's hard to believe that the school year is almost over. I'm looking forward to my summer internship at Glooko, a start-up based in Palo Alto, CA that makes a mobile app for diabetes patients that help them manage their condition. I'll be an MBA Strategic Marketing Intern. It's a role I'd never have had I not gone back to business school.

I'm very lucky in a way: As a dual degree student, I had the luxury of not having to have an internship. (Of course, that wasn't really an option for me since I wanted a unique experience. Making money again wouldn't hurt also.) Consequently, I had a lot less pressure. I could take my time to explore and not put a lot of weight on each interview.

I did just that. I conducted informational interviews with varied people. I learned to ask great questions (helped get me a couple offers for academic internships). I was able to develop my stories for interview questions. I was able to concentrate on school more.  I got advice from the Parker Career Management Center and from my other school: The Fielding School of Public Health was wonderful in providing me with additional support.

I went through the actual interviewing process. Had a couple hits, a couple misses. It's all part of the process, the highs and the lows.

I recruited from the end of September (with Orientation and ACT) to mid-April (to my offers and final acceptance). I'm probably not giving the process justice, but it's hard to know until you've gone through it. It's definitely more intense than undergrad recruiting and b-school interviewing. I learned a lot about myself in the process, so there's intrinsic value in it.

Afterwards you pat yourself on the back and take yourself out for a celebratory dinner. I went to Grilled Cheese Night at Literati Cafe and topped it off with a Coke. Maybe not the most exciting but hey I'm a student, it's healthier than a steak and baked potato, and my girlfriend wasn't in town so I thought I'd have myself a bachelor's meal.

My trusty Anderson recruiting manual and recruiting materials

My advice (primarily for incoming first years)
1. Be focused.
Some of my friends were exploring different functions AND different industries. It's hard enough trying to recruit for corporate finance and preparing for companies as diverse as Mattel, Amazon, and Warner Bros. Try adding consulting, where you have both external (think McKinsey, Bain) and external consulting, and your life will quickly disintegrate into a recruiting nightmare. If you can, try to limit yourself.

2. Utilize the Parker Career Management Center.
It's a great resource. As Alejandra pointed out, you should go once a week. I didn't do that, and I regret it. Interviews are (at least in my opinion) more about getting reps than anything. Which leads me to my third piece of advice.

3. Develop relationships with two of the advisors at Parker.
Set up an appointment with every advisor and see who you jive with most. I'd develop relationships with two of them to get a different perspective on your resume, cover letter, etc. and to make sure you have someone to talk to in case your preferred advisor isn't available.

4. Don't compare yourself to others.
Easy to say, hard to do, I know. It's very difficult not to feel pangs of jealousy when you hear your friends getting offers. Of course, you're happy for them, but you still feel a heightened sense of anxiety. Also, remember that many internships are found outside of Parker and on-campus recruiting. It may seem that the whole class has gotten internships in January and February, but that's not true. I got the offer I wanted in January.

5. Keep an open mind.
It seems antithetical to my first piece of advice, but it's not. And let me explain. You may be dead-set on a particular company. But there could be an even better company experience out there for you if you just keep an open mind.

6. Take the long view.
You never know how things may turn out. That dream internship you got may not have turned out so great. Or maybe there wasn't enough funding for a full-time offer. Whatever the reason, you may need to re-recruit. Again, I had an advantage as a dual degree student: I knew I was going to have another summer internship, so I made sure to keep in touch with everyone I met along the recruiting process. I'm more primed to begin again next year.

That's it for now.

~Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15

Jim Stengel Special Visit: Marketing Guru of P&G and Anderson Prof

Hey future-CEO-type readers,

Jim Stengel recently returned from the Microsoft-hosted CEO summit with the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington and today he arrived at Anderson to speak to a room full of Anderson students.

Anderson is lucky to count Stengel amongst its illustrious adjunct professors. Stengel teaches an annual course for which he teaches an ideals-based approach to marketing, brings in his incredible award-winning industry experience and application and presents high-profile speakers to share insider insights.

Today,  Stengal us gave an overview and valuable business lessons about how to make a difference for your business, as second year students near graduation and first year students head to their MBA summer internships.

1) Purpose: If you have a brand that means something, take care of it.
There is nothing more valuable. Work with a purpose, an ideal and a mission. How it comes to life, how you activate and how it infiltrates your company is key. Corporations are focusing more and more on EQ rather than IQ.

2) Measurement: The importance and power of outputs is immense.
For example, Clay Christenson talks about three types of innovations: disruptive, sustainability, and efficiency. We focus on efficiency because it is easy to measure in the outcome, but how can we measure less quantitative tangible outputs that can equally add value that will help us think long term.

3) Critical Thinking: Checks and balances create knowledge and stronger value.
For example the CEO of PIMCO not only has an executive counsel, but then also has a secondary internal counsel committee, an external counsel committee and a group of MBAs scrutinize their thinking and ultimately mobilize better outputs.

We students were also lucky enough to hear Warren Buffet's top four insights, Bill Gates' top three challenges facing the world today and Steve Ballmer's three key factors to building a successful business from Stengel. If you want to hear those for yourself and tap into the wealth of speakers that come to Anderson's campus, then I encourage you too to pursue an MBA at UCLA Anderson.

xo from Anderson,
Ashley

Ashley Mallinson, @AshleyMal

Chicago Microfinance Conference!

We first-years are gearing up for our second-year capstone project, the Applied Management Research (AMR) Program. Per the syllabus: 

The Applied Management Research (AMR) Program is a two-quarter, 10-unit course (MGMT 444A, 444B & 
444C) that provides a unique educational experience for second year MBA students and fulfills the 
comprehensive examination requirement of the MBA program. It is the capstone of the UCLA Anderson MBA 
program. It matches teams of MBA students with companies or organizations to develop a comprehensive 
business strategy that will enable the organization to move to the next stage of its organizational 
development. 

 

In other words, it is a two-quarter management consulting project that is our Master's Thesis. 

 

A field study is not the only way you can fulfill your Master's Thesis requirement; you can also create your own business or do an actual Master's Thesis with a faculty advisor.

 

My team and I are looking to work on an international microfinance project. A team member and I went to Chicago for the 10th Annual Zell Center Chicago Microfinance Conference. Thanks to the generosity of the Center for Global Management, our trip was subsidized. We learned a lot, hearing the President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation speak to hearing about the impact microfinance will have on entrepreneurship.

 

Definitely recommended for next year's incoming first years to go to. A great learning experience. 

 

The two highlights for me was 1) watching a Anderson team present its AMR project and 2) watching Anderson professor Bhagwan Chowdry moderate the session "Funding Microfinance: Financing the Financiers.

 

(In an aside, Professor Chowdry has a very interesting idea. From the Anderson website: "Professor Chowdhry has recently proposed Financial Access at Birth (FAB) initiative in which every child born in the world is given an initial deposit of $100 in an online bank account to guarantee that everyone in the world will have access to financial services in a few decades." You can even see his TED talk too.)

 

Without further ado, some pictures:

 

We went from 70s in California to 40s in Chicago. Makes you appreciate living in California more!

 

The Conference was at the University Club of Chicago. Awesome venue. Had a great view (see next picture).

 

 

We had to go see the Bean, didn't we? F for our jump though. 

 

What's a trip to Chicago without deep-dish pizza?

 

I love the Chicago skyline. It's beautiful.

 

Went to Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. I did a case study competition with some friends fall quarter so it was cool going to see it!

 

Was able to go to The Art Institute of Chicago before I left. Saw American Gothic!

 

That's all for now folks.

Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15