The MBA Student Voice

Anderson Case Competitions: Pick your flavor

One of the items that topped my business school bucket list was “participate in a case competition.” I didn’t have the opportunity to compete in one during undergrad and thought it would be the perfect avenue to apply the many skills that I’m honing at Anderson. Plus it’s a quintessential bschool activity, almost a right of passage. Luckily, Anderson hosts a range of case competitions on campus each year, so students have a lot of interesting challenges from a range of industries to cut their teeth on.

During the fall, some of my classmates came up with the next big thing for Amazon during the HTBA Amazon Case Competition and solved a complex hypothetical growth problem for Smart Things during the 2014 Deloitte National Case Challenge. This winter quarter, my friend and fellow first-year, Dan Abbott, and his teammates took home the gold during the 4th annual Challenges in Energy Case Competition for their win-win solution for EV charging at commercial location. Another friend, Liz Prutting, competed in the Entertainment Case Competition during the annual MEMES Pulse Conference, sponsored by Paramount Pictures. Her team came up with a set of creative recommendations on how to move media consumers up the margin ladder for movie purchases.

I, on the other hand, leapt into the case comp pool by way of the Net Impact Consulting Challenge (NICC), which took place last weekend. While most case competitions are just a few days, the NICC was a fascinating 2.5-week real consulting engagement with a real client. All participating clients were local LA non-profit organizations that signed up with real issues they needed help analyzing. My team of five was paired with a client org, which will remain anonymous, that has a serious volunteer recruitment and retention problem. (They rely on volunteers for 90% of all activities.) As someone who is deeply interested in all things human-capital-management related, this was a great fit for me!

Over the course of the next two and a half weeks, our team conducted extensive secondary research on volunteer trends and best practices in the non-profit sector. This informed our primary research, as we did multiple site visits to interview volunteers and conduct surveys. Ultimately we came up with a detailed plan outlining different recruitment and retention tactics to increase volunteer numbers and keep them engaged longer, and presented our recommendations to a panel of social impact experts. I wish the story ended with "then we won first place!" But it doesn't, because we didn't. We didn't even advance to the finals. But that didn't matter - our client was thrilled with our research, analysis, and recommendations. In a follow-up meeting, they said that they planned to implement most, if not all, of our suggestions. That meant more to our team than any first place prize. Plus, now I think I've found a new organization to volunteer with here in LA!

In other Anderson Case Competition news (for all you bankers out there) - tomorrow marks the kick-off of the Fink Center Stock Pitch Competition 2015. Good luck to the team representing Anderson!

Team Sugar Dumplings: Richard Wang, Britney Sussman, Kirby Ryan, Lucy Prom, and Lindsee Redmond

Follow me on twitter: @brit808 

MBA Recruiting Season - Repost from FT

The same is reproduced on Financial Times MBA Blog - http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/2015/02/11/recruiting-season/

The winter quarter at UCLA Anderson brings On Campus Recruiting (OCR), changing the entire mood around the school. This year, a diverse set of companies started visiting, conducting internship interviews with first-year full-time MBA students. Happy hours were replaced with interview-practice team meetings and queues at the career management center seemed longer than those in food cafes.

The finance companies wrapped up their recruiting by the end of January, whereas the big tech and consulting firms are conducting subsequent rounds. Alums, career advisors and second-year coaches have been very helpful during the process, as is the internal database which helps students tap into a wealth of knowledge regarding interview questions and best practices.

What I learnt: Do not compare yourself to other candidates. Different industries have different recruiting cycles, so it is just a matter on time before you will land your desired internship. And remember – every failed interview is only practice towards cracking the job you really deserve.

Congratulations to all those who have secured their internship and good luck to everyone else.

My not-so-nervous colleagues waiting for their interviews

Challenge for Charity (C4C) Casino Night

What do raising money for charity, playing Blackjack with your professors and bidding on various awesome auction items (such as a signed shirt from David Hasselhoff!) have in common? The answer is Challenge for Charity (C4C) Casino Night. C4C, Anderson's student run charity organization helped setup casino night with a silent auction to raise funds and compete against other business schools on the West Coast in one of the largest fundraising activity of its kind, that culminates with Stanford weekend.

All proceeds from the auction go to charity. This year's theme was Venice Carnival style mask party. Students got to play blackjack with their professors as dealers, while some tried their luck at craps and poker. All the while our in house DJ blasted the best tunes for the dance floor. Even though the chips had no monetary value, students enjoyed playing to win big and get more tickets for the raffle draw. There was even a photo-booth style picture taking opportunity complete with props. All in all it was a great night of mingling for full-time, fully employed and executive MBA students.  

Pictures from the event say it all.

 

6 things to keep in mind when you are getting ready for an admissions interview

    I have had an opportunity to meet so many great prospective students in the past several months while interviewing them for admission at UCLA Anderson and I would like to share some advice for future candidates to help them get ready for an upcoming interview.

 1)      Know your resume! You need to know your story well in order to make a good impression. Think about it: when you get to business school, you will be talking to companies and you will have to know your story well.  It’s much more impressive when a candidate knows his or her story without having to refer to a copy of the resume during the conversation.

2)      Treat a skype interview as a face-to face interaction.  Eye contact and strong presentation skills are just as important over Skype as in person, so be sure to look in the camera while you are talking! Avoid having ready answers printed in front of you.  It is very easy for an interviewer to realize that you are reading the answer instead of telling it from the heart. This one thing can quickly make the wrong impression.

3)      The interview normally is about 30 minutes long, and the time flies very quickly.  Remember your goal is to show you are a strong candidate, while the interviewer’s goal is to get to know you. Be mindful of time and aim for 2-3 minutes for an answer to a question, avoid taking up most of your precious interview time discussing too many details in your responses. Use a high level approach describing the situation, your impact and the results. The interviewer will ask follow up questions if something is not quite clear.

4)      Come up with good questions for the interviewer! Show your interest in the school and the person! The worst situation is when the interview went well and then the candidate asks very general questions about the program with answers easily found on the web site or even worse says: “I have no questions”…

5)      Don’t rush to the answer especially if you are taken aback by the question. Take a second to think your answer over and I guarantee you will find a good answer that will demonstrate how awesome you are and what you will bring to the program!

6)      Relax and smile! It is an opportunity for you to talk to somebody who was in your shoes some time ago and who is interested in learning more about you! Smile, be positive and speak about yourself with passion!

Good luck with the interviews!

Stay well,

Alena

 

Dean Olian Makes Anderson a Place for Women in Business

“Recently I was introduced as a ‘female CEO’ and I laughed because I have never heard a man introduced as a ‘male CEO’.” Said Tory Burch during the 2013 Women’s Rule Summit. I stood with the 200 other women in the conference room who represented some of the most powerful individuals in Washington and clapped in agreement. While in D.C., I had the privilege to not only participate in, but also lead a number of women’s events. I was proud to bear witness to President Obama’s speech commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, and inspired to work with my corporate members at Business Forward to lift up best practices for retaining, developing, and promoting women executives. Possibly my biggest take away (apart from LEAN IN!) is that the environment of a company or organization plays a critical role in a woman’s success.

So, when I began looking at business schools, I knew that I needed a program didn’t just talk the talk, but actually walked the walk when it came to empowering its female students. Looking strictly at the numbers, Anderson has a similar ratio to most top business schools; women account for 34% of my class. But we have something no other business school has – Dean Judy Olian. Since being appointed the first female Dean of UCLA Anderson in 2006, Dean Olian has worked tirelessly to break through glass ceilings, benefitting all students, past present and future. She isn’t just a role model; she’s a gladiator. She is confronting both student and faculty gender ratios. Anderson doubled the number of female faculty members and tripled the number of women who are full professors since 2006. (Yet women still account for less than 20 percent of the faculty.)

Imagine my excitement when I was given the opportunity to organize a lunch with Dean Olian for the ladies of Anderson on behalf the Women’s Business Connection (I have the awesome job of WBC Director of Professional Development). So last Thursday, 40 gals gathered together and lunched, while Dean Olian dropped some serious insight about life over sandwiches. I think it’s really rare for a leader of any organization to be so humble, honest, and genuine. She shared with us her incredible background because “we are products of our roots” and the below advice for women in leadership. It was inspiring.

Top Ten Lessons By Dean Judy Olian:

10. Be excellent or more than excellent in your performance.

9. Say YES to assignments.

8. When you fail, force yourself to learn from the experience.

7. It’s not personal.

6. Take risks! Don’t be afraid to be afraid.

5. Figure out what you’re really good at and try to structure your role around your strengths.

4. Take care of you.

3. Turn adversity into an advantage.

2. Be great mothers, sisters, and aunties. Be a role model and a mentor.

1. Choose the right partner. 

 President Barack Obama delivers remarks from the East Wing on the 50^th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, signed by President Kennedy. President Obama is no stranger to gender-pay equality issues. The first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was widely considered a huge win for women and civil rights. 

Dean Olian refuses to accept the status quo and views all students as the key to Anderson’s continued success. Apart from last Thursday’s lunch, she continually makes herself available to all members of the student body hosting office hours, events, and joining us every Thursday at Anderson Afternoons (seen here). 

Each year Dean Olian generously hosts students who are not traveling home for the Thanksgiving holiday at her home. For many it's their first time celebrating Thanksgiving, and the Dean makes it extremely memorable. 

 

Anderson Ski Trip 2014

Hello folks! This week I am going to talk about one of the major excursions you take as an Anderson full time student. Right after finals and before wrapping up the first quarter of business school, both first and second year students will hop on flights to go skiing together. There is no better way to de-stress from the exams and feel proud of all the accomplishments in the last few weeks, from classes to recruiting to leadership positions in professional clubs. This year the group picked Utah as the destination and stayed at the Canyons resort for four days. To top it off the High Tech Business Association (HTBA) organized a day on the job trip to the local office of Adobe where students got to interact with Anderson alumnus currently working there and learn firsthand what working for a next generation high tech firm is like on a daily basis.

Skiing conditions were optimal for two of those days but that did not stop the crew from having fun. We organized cowboy themed parties to pub crawling in the nearby town to seeing the Christmas lights in Salt Lake City. It was a great way to experience winter weather (which people can sometimes miss living in Southern California) while hanging out with some of the best people. If location is a major concern for you when choosing a business school, Los Angeles offers warm sunny days while still being a short flight away from some of the best skiing locations in the nation.

Canyons Resort.

Getting ready to hit the slopes.

Favorite Recruiting Moments of Fall 2014

I survived my first quarter!! No, I didn’t just survive; I flourished! But it wasn’t easy. Over the last three months, I was stretched and challenged in ways that change a person. I had 36 hours of things to do each day, and I had to bring my A-game to everything. First quarter classes are extremely rigorous and Google was recruiting on campus Day 1, so for 12 weeks I did a calculated dance between academics, recruiting, and social activities. It was intense and I’m a better version of myself because of it.

Sometimes I would be on the phone to my parents and would have to stop myself and say, “It might sound like I’m complaining, but I’m not. I love this. Every email I send, every informational interview I do, and every hour I put into studying is all about me and my future. It’s not about my boss or the organization I work for. It’s about me. It’s a uniquely selfish time and I love every minute of it.”

All of the hard work paid off, and at the end of the quarter, I accepted an offer for a summer internship (stay tuned for more about that in a future post). However it’s not about the destination, but the path you take to get there, and I really enjoyed the recruiting process. I recruited for human capital consulting and internal human capital management roles at tech companies. It is a field that is gaining interest at Anderson as more companies think strategically about how they manage their employees. Companies make presentations daily and nightly on campus, but here are my top four favorite recruiting events of fall quarter:

1. MCA Firm Kickoff – At Anderson, a lot of the recruiting takes place through on-campus professional clubs. The opportunities for consulting are run through the Management Consulting Association (MCA). At the MCA Firm Kickoff, over 15 top firms sent representatives to meet Anderson students. Each practice was stationed at a cocktail table, and for three hours, students could walk around and network with each one. It was a formal yet casual affair, and the perfect venue to make a good first impression with a variety of firms. The event was also on the night before the Statistics midterm, so it served as a good lesson in balancing academics and recruiting.
2. National Academy of Human Resources Foundation – The NAHR hosts an annual dinner and meeting with its fellows in New York City each November. One of the NAHR Foundation initiatives is to include select MBA students in the event, with the goal of attracting “top first year Master’s students to the HR profession.” I was chosen to represent Anderson at this year’s NAHR dinner, where I had the chance to chat with CHROs from a range of Fortune 100 companies. It was inspiring to hear from executives who have shaped the HR function over the last few decades.
3. Deloitte Human Capital Case Workshop – Deloitte has one of the leading human capital consulting practices and a growing office in LA. So I jumped at the chance to learn from some of the best at a case workshop they did on campus. Five practitioners, who were all also Anderson alumni, generously spent four hours on a Friday walking us through the Deloitte approach to casing. They provided us with valuable feedback after we worked through a practice case in groups. The day wrapped with a happy hour at a bar in West LA, which was a great way to get to know the Deloitte HC Anderson team a little better.
4. Days on the Job Tech Trek – Fellow Student Voice Blogger, Piyush Jain, published an earlier article that talks about this week in more detail, but to quickly summarize: for one week in November deemed “DOJ Week,” classes were canceled and Anderson students flew all around the country, visiting companies they are interested in. The High Tech Business Association (HTBA) organized the Tech Trek, which allowed me to jet up to Seattle, then down to San Francisco and visit Microsoft, Amazon, Adobe, Visa, LinkedIn, eBay, Intel, and Autodesk. It was an incredible opportunity to network with Anderson alumni working at each of these companies and experience the corporate culture first hand. I was able to ask recruiters about strategic HR summer internship opportunities and hear about their human capital issues. For example, we toured Visa Inc.’s recently-opened innovation outpost in the heart of San Francisco. As Visa prepares to do a lot of tech hiring, the new office is a statement of how Visa is branding itself to compete for top talent against other companies.

After such a rewarding first quarter, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the school year has in store for me. Here’s to an incredible 2015!

The group of Master's students who were selected to participate in the 2014 National Academy of Human Resources Annual Dinner and Discussion Meeting in New York City.

Anderson students who visited Adobe during the San Francisco "Days on the Job" Tech Trek.

Tech trek week - Repost from FT

Originally posted on Financial Times MBA Blog - http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/2014/12/05/tech-trek-week/

Day-on-the-Job events are onsite visits to companies to learn about MBA opportunities and get a sense of work culture. A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit tech companies in Seattle and Silicon Valley. I was surprised by the number of companies we could visit. UCLA Anderson and on-campus High Tech Business Club (HTBA) did a great job organising this trek of more than 150 students. Below is snapshot of my tech trek week.

Anderson Black and Scholes Surf Club

One of the many benefits of moving to Los Angeles for school is access to the beach, even in winter. I was able to join the Anderson Surf Club on their kickoff event at Manhattan Beach and learn from experts how to surf (with zero surfing experience myself). The group met up on a beautiful Sunday morning with perfect conditions for beginner surfing, 3-5 feet waves.

My first attempts at paddling and standing was not very successful but after trying for some time I was able to get a handle of things, albeit mostly in shallow water near the shore. However, it was a super fun getting tossed up in the air and rolling around in the waves, an experience one must go through to become a surfer. Afterwards people got together for food and drinks on the beach and spent the rest of the Sunday tossing frisbees and playing beach volleyball. Just another reason why I am glad I chose UCLA Anderson School of Management!

The members of Anderson Surf Club.

 

No car? No problem.

When considering Anderson and making the move to Los Angeles, one of my worries was that I did not own a car. Coming from Washington, D.C., or any other walk-able, carless-commuter-friendly city, this is a huge consideration. Not only had I grown to enjoy not having a car and taking alternate modes of transportation, but I also wasn’t prepared to incur the costs of buying one. However, after living in LA for two months sans automobile, I can officially report that you really don’t need one. Here’s why:

1. Live very close to campus. I decided to live in the Hilgard Avenue Apartments offered through UCLA Graduate Student Housing. I live in one of the approximately 30 studio apartments, located on the eastern side of campus, just a 15-minute walk to Anderson. Electricity, water, gas, and cable/internet are all included meaning I have just one bill a month, which is great. Considering that I spend about 11-13 hours on campus a day (yes, you will spend A LOT of time on campus in your first quarter), living within walking distance has been a godsend.

2. The Big Blue Bus. As a UCLA student, when I show my Bruin card, a one-way trip on the Big Blue Bus costs me just $0.50. The Big Blue runs all over West LA and I take it to Brentwood, Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City, etc. It is extremely navigable and I have a stop directly across from my apartment building.

3. Carpooling. Off-campus bschool activities are widely attended by my fellow classmates and there is always an opportunity to jump in with someone who has a car. Plus for larger events, like tailgating at the Rose Bowl for UCLA games or Anderween, our Halloween party downtown, the social chairs always arrange for buses to drive Anderson students.

4. Not driving under the influence. To be honest, a number of the off-campus events take place at bars or somewhere alcohol is served. In these instances, I wouldn’t be driving even if I did have a car. Ride sharing through companies like Uber and Lyft is widely used by my classmates and offers a great, reasonably priced alternative.

5. Renting a car is cheaper than paying for a parking spot or the inevitable LA street sweeping tickets suffered by anyone parking on the street. If I’m dying to get out and explore, maybe go for a drive up to Malibu or down to Laguna Beach, I rent a car through any one of the many car rental companies that run continuous deals on one or two-day rentals. This ultimately ends up costing me less than just paying for parking. 

6. Rent a bike for the quarter. The UCLA Bike Shop rents bikes to students for just $50 per quarter. While LA isn't as bike friendly as some other major cities, as long as I take a road less traveled that doesn't feed right onto the 405, I find biking fairly safe. Plus, the bike path along the beach that runs from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach makes for an amazing weekend ride.

Hilgard Avenue Graduate Student Apartments

The Big Blue Bus - Making life for carless students in West LA easy for only two quarters a ride.