Networking

Last summer, I (accidentally) ignited a seemingly massive debate among my incoming classmates centered on the Who-you-know v. What-you-know polemic. Now at the midpoint in the MBA program, I find it interesting to reflect on this conversation.

When I initially decided to pursue an MBA, it was because I wanted better business skills. But after a number of my personal mentors challenged me to view my MBA first as a networking event, I began to change my paradigm. Was it true that I would forget most of the frameworks and formulas but that my contacts list would be my greatest career resource for life? For me, that was a tough pill to swallow and it definitely went down slowly. But here’s what I saw over the past year:

1. The hiring process is imperfect despite all the best practices known to man. You’ll see top-rate students get bypassed without really understanding why.
2. Being likeable, interesting and genuine adds a lot to a job candidate’s appeal. Those lacking these traits have a much more difficult time finding jobs.
3. Failing to befriend the right people can really stand in your way of getting where you want to be. These people might be faculty members, administrators, classmates, and alumni.
4. People don’t do favors for you if you seek only to exploit a relationship in order to further your career. MBA’s do this all the time and it is incredibly obvious and painfully inappropriate.
5. Building relationships with people can open up a world of opportunity.
6. You really do make some of your best friends during the program.

As I review this list, I really don’t see anything outside of common sense; and yet, I think if you surveyed my class about how their views have changed over the course of the program, nearly all would report seeing significantly more value in effective networking than they did a year ago. This is because so many of us have seen the power of networking come to life (or work to our defeat) as we’ve run the proverbial gauntlet searching for internships.

So here’s what I plan to do to capitalize on these observations, and while I’ve already been trying to do some of this, I am recommitted for the year ahead:

1. I will spend as much time as I can reaching out and getting to know people. I expect this to require effort and to take me outside of my comfort zone.
2. I will be genuinely interested in my classmates, my professors, administrators, and alumni. I will seek to develop lasting relationships with these individuals.
3. I will maintain relationships with past friends, acquaintances, and associates.
4. I will strive to develop deeper relationships with my classmates.

-Merritt Aho, Marketing, Class of 2011

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Trip to the Big Apple

One piece of advice: Join MBA clubs and take advantage of club activities. I am a declared Finance major so I will focus on the Graduate Finance Association (GFA); however, other track majors have great clubs as well. During this past year, one of the most valuable aspects of being involved in the GFA was the relationships that I formed with my classmates. These relationships were strengthened on the GFA New York trip that takes place each fall. The trip took place October 21^st, 22^nd, & 23^rd with approximately 70 BYU students (both MBA and undergraduates) having the opportunity to meet with 40+ financial services firms that are located in New York. Our fearless mentors on the trip were Jim Engebretsen and Kim Smith and they provided a first-class experience for all of us.

Students paid their own way on the trip and were richly rewarded with unbelievable exposure to finance professionals that were happy to meet with us and talk about their respective firm. We divided up research on the firms beforehand so that we could create research material that was distributed to all students in attendance. The purpose of the organized research was to ensure that quality questions were asked after each presentation and all those in attendance represented BYU extremely well. Each day of the trip was spent at one firm’s headquarters and then all of the presenting professionals made the trip to visit us. This eliminated the logistical nightmare and lost time of 70+ students trying to make their way to and from different locations in New York. Below is a brief summary of each day of the trip and names of firms that presented:

October 21^st – Stamford, CT – We started off the first day of the trip in Connecticut at the offices of US Trust and heard from professionals in Private Wealth Management, Private Equity, Investment Management, and Hedge Funds. (Starwood Hotels, Merrill Lynch Private Wealth, Portfolio Advisors, Millenium, Columbia Management, US Trust, RSB Greenwich Capital, & FE Clean Energy.)

October 22^nd & 23^rd – Manhattan, NY – These days were spent at the headquarters of Cerberus Capital Management on Park Avenue. We were hosted extremely well in two large boardrooms throughout both days. Again, Private Wealth, Hedge Fund, Private Equity, Investment Banking, Investment Management, and Corporate Finance professionals presented to us. (Cerberus, Citigroup, Lazard, Lightyear Capital, Clearlake Capital, Oppenheimer, DE Shaw, Bernstein Global, Morgan Joseph, NYSE, Prudential Capital, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, GE Commercial Finance, Houlihan Lokey, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, American Express, Wells Fargo, Moelis & Co., Bank of Montreal, Partners Group, Barclays, JPMorgan, SAC Capital, Corinthian Capital, HSBC, Nomura, and Morgan Stanley.)

Summary: The key takeaways are exposure to many different types of financial services firms and the opportunity to build relationships with professionals and your classmates. (A number of internships were a direct result of this trip, but those internships came from relationships.)

Jeremy Burgon, Finance, Class of 2011

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BYU MBA is Family Friendly

Children are born under all different kinds of circumstances. I entered the MBA program with five children, and we welcomed a new addition between my first year and my internship (lucky timing!). My oldest child just turned 8 in January. I have the most kids in our class, but I’ve heard that there are two different students in the Class of 2011 that also have six children apiece. I’ve also discussed that matter with Craig Merrill, the MBA Program Director, and he said there tends to be at least one or two every year that have six children. So if you have six children or less and are considering an MBA, don’t worry about navigating unchartered territory; others in similar situations have gone before you successfully. As for those of you who have 7 children or more (or are considering having your 7th during business school), I’m probably not qualified to comment, but I will anyway: You are awesome and BYU would love to have you. That being said, the road is not free of challenges.

One of the things you may want to consider if you are entering the program with a number of children is where you will live. My wife and I lived in a place that was approximately 2,500 sq. ft. in Denver before we came to business school. Due to the large number of children we have, we decided that we needed something comparable for our business school experience. We had a hard time finding a place this big to rent in Provo for a reasonable rate, so we ended up going to Lindon, which is about 25 minutes north of campus. I’m comfortable with my commute, and there are some students that have much longer ones (coming from SLC, for example).

Another thing to consider is the time commitment associated with being in the MBA program. You may have become accustomed to working 40 hours a week at a nice job, bringing home the bacon, and having time with your family. If you are going to be successful in the MBA program, you will need to spend more (and perhaps a lot more) than 40 hours a week away from home. As a result, you will most likely have less time with your family. Financial pressures can add to this and place stress on your family, so it is REALLY important to be sure that your spouse understands these risks and is on board with your decision to start business school.

That being said, we have found the BYU MBA program to be super family friendly, and if we had to do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing.

Jason Merrill, Class of 2010, Finance

Internship: American Express

Full-time: Still searching

*This article was written in direct response to the following prospective student question:

I’m considering a BYU MBA, and I know that the school is consistently ranked very high on quality of family life. I did my undergrad at BYU, and at the time I had 1 small toddler. Now, I’ve added another child to the mix and our oldest would be 6-7 years old by the time that I would begin the program, and we would possible have another child for a total of 3 by that time.

Is there anyone out there that has either gone through the program or is currently in the program with a family situation that is similar to mine? I’m looking for someone to connect with and someone that could offer some sound advice. Thanks!!

-Anson

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BYU Business Plan Competition

I spent the last 5 months launching a business with several classmates. Bazari is a mobile marketplace where people can buy and sell goods over even the most basic mobile phone. Through simple text messaging people can browse for products, purchase them and have them delivered. Our business is targeting developing countries such as the Philippines and India. We originally came up with the idea for the idea pitch competition, an early BPC (the Marriott School annual Business Plan Competition) event. We placed third in that competition and won some cash to help us further build out the idea. We spent countless hours strategizing and discussing how best to launch the business. We had the opportunity to meet with many industry professionals and pitch our business to many investors.

We applied aspects of just about every class that we had taken in the MBA program as we wrote the business plan and worked to build out the product and sign up partners/customers. Being students, we were able to gain access to many industry professionals and gain valuable insights that would have otherwise been difficult to obtain. We found great mentors and learned some extremely valuable lessons as we made significant mistakes early on.

Participating in the BPC and launching a new business requires significant sacrifice of time (something that is already extremely scarce in the MBA program). This semester alone, I have had to miss a lot of classes to participate in these events and even to travel to India for nine days to setup partnerships with several large organizations. Most of my professors have been supportive of missing class for this purpose although my grades may suffer for it. My older brother taught me an important lesson as an undergraduate student in regards to missing class and sacrificing grades for valuable learning experiences. He told me to not let school get in the way of my education. This same principle applies to participating in the BPC. Although it is important to learn the materials in class and work hard, it is even more important to find opportunities to truly apply those classroom lessons to real world situations.

~David Bishop, MBA Class of 2010

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Life Outside the Marriott School

While in Business School, you may occasionally find yourself with some additional time. Alright, so rarely or almost never may be more accurate than occasionally. However, living in Utah does have its benefits. Here are just a few things you can do outside of the program.

Cultural: BYU offers an impressive list of concerts, lectures, and performances. Last week on campus you could see the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, listen to General Petraeus, Commander of the US Central Command, or attend a the BYU choral showcase. Utah Valley has a lot to offer as well. This Friday, I went to a production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Orem, which featured the wife of one of my MBA classmates.

Outdoors: Utah is fantastic for outdoor enthusiasts in all four seasons. With the mountains so close, there are always opportunities for hiking, camping, rock climbing, and biking. And of course you can’t forget skiing and snowboarding with the best snow on earth! On Saturday, I went to Park City Resort for a little snow time with a few friends from the MBA program.

Entertainment: There are 4 movie theatres within 15 minutes of BYU campus. There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from in Provo and Orem area alone. If you don’t find what you are looking for locally, you can always head a little farther north. Salt Lake has a lot to offer. On Monday, I attended a concert of one of my favorite bands.

—Kelsey Harris, Class of 2011, OB/HR

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Visiting Campus

One of the most valuable things you can do to help you with your decision about which MBA program is right for you is visit the program. The Marriott School has a great campus visit process in place. If you go to the Campus Visit link (http://marriottschool.byu.edu/mba/life/visit.cfm) you will find a link to a list of classes that are available for you to visit. These classes cover a range of subjects and you should be able to find a number of classes that meet your interests.

Once you have decided which classes you would like to visit, all you need to do is email that information to mbacampusvisit@byu.edu along with the following information:

• The track that most interests you (Finance, Marketing, OB/HR, Supply Chain, Product Development, or General Management)
• Which date you would like to visit
• Whether you would like to meet with an MBA advisor
• Whether you would like to go to lunch or breakfast with a current student

Ideally, you will give us at least one week’s notice to schedule your visit. However, if you find yourself in Provo with less than a week’s notice, please submit your request and we will do the best we can.

As mentioned, visiting the program can really help in the decision making process, but it can also help with the application process. By having firsthand experience with the program, you will be able to share why you want to come to the program from that perspective. One of the most important elements of your decision to attend BYU’s MBA program should be whether BYU is the right place for you and there is no better way to know this than by getting to know the current students and professors and finding out what the MBA program here in Provo is really all about.

-Chloe Andersen, Class of 2010, OB/HR

Internship: Citigroup

Full-time: Citigroup

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Everyone Summits! The BYU MBA Sherpa Program

The greatest climbers in the world don’t do it alone! In fact, they have a significant amount of help along the way from trusted companions who have been to the summit before them and know well the path that leads to the top. Of all the valuable things we take from the BYU MBA program, there may be nothing more defining to setting the trajectory of our careers than the first job experience coming out of school. The ascent to the summit of securing an internship is not always a leisurely stroll up a well-groomed trail. Some encounter unexpected detours, while others find the climb more technically challenging than anticipated. Whatever the path, climbers need not navigate the ascent alone! At BYU, trusted companions who have successfully reached the summit help shoulder the load as first-year MBA students embark in their ascent to the top. Everyone summits!

Congratulations to all who have been admitted to the BYU MBA program! The Sherpa Program, the MBA program’s peer-led mentoring program, is excited to help you navigate your journey to securing an internship. As a first-year student, you will be assigned a ‘Sherpa’, a carefully selected second-year student who has successfully secured an internship, to help guide you through the recruiting process. Recognizing that every ascent is unique, your Sherpa will work with you individually to understand your background and career focus in customizing an approach that will enable you to reach your internship summit.

Despite what many believe, the most important difference between successful and unsuccessful job seekers is not education, skill, age, or ability, but the way they go about their job-search. Together with your Sherpa, you will engage in fine-tuning the necessary skills to be successful on the recruiting trail. As an incoming student, you can expect that your Sherpa will be reaching out to you sometime in June, 2010 to begin internship related discussions and preparation. In addition, the Sherpa Program will also provide a series of conference calls over the summer to help kick-start the process so you hit the ground running when you arrive at orientation! Emphasis will be placed on things such as the following:

· Clarifying career focus

· Targeting companies

· Building effective resumes

· Developing interview skills

· Networking effectively

Ultimately, every individual climber owns his or her own internship search. However, the Sherpa Program provides you the insight, mentoring, and network of somebody who has been to the top and knows the internship search terrain. The greatest climbers in the world don’t do it alone, and with the help of the Sherpa Program, neither will you. Everyone summits!

-Mike Christensen, Head Sherpa, Class of 2011, OB/HR

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