The MBA Student Voice

Another year over, a new one has begun...

I know this is a few weeks late to qualify as a new year post but hey, I go by the Chinese New Year so technically I'm a few days early yet! ;)

Seriously, can you believe it is the year 2014?! It just sounds so futuristic to me... I didn't think it was possible but fall quarter second year went by even faster than it did first year. Looking back I realize I was a pretty big slacker on the blogging front so here's a quick photo recap of the last few months:

AnderCanadian Thanksgiving brunch with bottomless mimosas at Le Soleil Westwood

AMR Midpoint Update

As many of you who have been researching Anderson know, an integral part of the second-year experience is the Applied Management Research program. 

If you've been following my blog posts from year two, you also know that I'm on a project that is working with a breast cancer clinic in Ethiopia (if not, you can catch up here). 

From Dec 30 to Jan 12, right in the middle of the AMR experience, AMR Team 49 (Bo Pulito, Lindsay Todd, Devin Scott, Briana Kelly, and myself) had the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Ethiopia to conduct primary research for our client. 

Here's some pictures from our trip and an update on what's next with our AMR project. 

We flew from LA to Dubai, had a 14 hour layover, and then Dubai to Addis Ababa. Pretty incredible to think that we managed to stay in the dark part of the world for the entire duration of the flight. I may or may not have taken advantage of Emirates in-flight entertainment to watch 6 full movies...

During our first day of interviews in Addis Ababa, we had to stop for the obligatory UCLA photo overlooking the city. 

Guest Post - High Tech Business Association

An increasing number of UCLA Anderson students are pursuing careers in tech after business school, so it's not surprising that the High Tech Business Association (HTBA) is one of the most popular professional clubs on campus.  The HTBA hosts numerous networking and professional development activities for members, one of which is highlighted below by 1st year student Leslie Kwoh. Read on to learn more!

As we learned during orientation, technology is an increasingly popular career path among UCLA Anderson students, with one-quarter of last year's class entering the field upon graduating. 

The trend appears to be continuing this year; nearly 120 students, including myself, attended the High Tech Business Association's Fall Career Night in November. Representatives from 11 tech firms, including Amazon, Microsoft, LinkedIn, LiveNation and AT&T, joined us for the networking event.

Career Night was so popular this year that HTBA said it had to draw up wait lists for both students and companies alike. "Companies were knocking down HTBA's doors to meet Anderson's best and brightest tech talent," said Ashley Mallinson, president of the club.

The event follows a roundtable rotation format, and each of us were assigned to three company tables for the evening (I sat with Amazon, LiveNation and LinkedIn). Over the course of three hours, my classmates and I gained a better understanding of each company's mission, culture, workflow and strategic direction.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was a keynote speech by Symantec senior product manager Rafael Alvarez, who gave a humorous but candid glimpse into the life of a tech employee. The job isn't always easy, he said. Ideas sometimes don't move as quickly as one would like, and the process can be bogged down by the need to get buy-in from many different divisions. A simple task like redesigning a webpage, for example, can require many iterations -- so knowing how to build consensus across functions is extremely valuable. 

But the final product, he assured us, is almost always worth it.

Learn more about the HTBA on their website.