Investment Banks Find MBA Level Talent at BYU

BYU MBA finance students are impressing many of the biggest investment banks and receiving internship offers for the summer of 2011. BYU MBA's received offers from Barclays, Credit Suisse, Wells Fargo Securities, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

A big factor are two MBA programs: The Silver Fund and Cougar Capital.

Read more!

Nestle Heavily Recruits BYU MBA's in 2011

Nestle, one of the largest food and nutrition companies in the world, looks to the MBA program at Brigham Young University to find talent to fill full-time and internship positions.

This year three MBA marketing students will head to St. Louis for the summer as part of the brand management internship program in the Nestle Purina division.

Also, a graduating student will be heading to San Fransisco to accept a job as a brand manager working for Nestle's ice cream division. Another graduate student will head to Los Angeles to also work as a brand manager in the confection division which includes the Willy Wonka brand, Butter Finger, and all other Nestle candy.

Read more!

The Academy Positions You to Achieve Your Goals

As a junior undergraduate finance major, I had just barely begun to understand the benefits of continuing my business education when I was first introduced to the Academy. I wasn’t sure how or where, but I knew I wanted to eventually push on in school and get my MBA. My Academy experience has helped clarify these previously clouded ideas and goals.

Most BYU students are like me and knew little of the Marriott School Academy. The Marriott School website explains, “The Marriott School Academy is a structured program designed to assist prospective graduate students with the MBA application process, GMAT preparation, and the post undergraduate job search. Its purpose is to attract talented college juniors and seniors who can offer a diverse perspective to the Marriott School MBA program.”

I feel the program successfully completed its purpose. The Academy is designed to help students who are interested in a graduate degree in business identify the best possible option and put them in a solid position to achieve that goal. This is done by helping students in various ways. I have discussed just two below:

Learn How to Network. “Networking.” This word is so often misunderstood. It’s the word that often conjures up emotions of resentment, fear, political correctness, and even fear. At the same time, I’ve come to understand how “networking” may be the most important factor in learning about career options, making professional connections, and ultimately landing a career position. Through the Academy, I learned that networking was more about building mutually beneficial relationships that can open doors to you. Although we discussed networking in class, most of what I learned about networking I learned outside the classroom. The Academy offered me significant networking opportunities which were great opportunities to practice this skill but also to build real, meaningful relationships with recruiters and other professionals from reputable companies.

At one Academy event, I was able to pitch myself to 10 different companies, such as Cisco, Deloitte, Union Pacific, KPMG, and AFLAC. Each company then gave me feedback about my networking, what I could build upon and what I could improve upon. This proved valuable at later events at which companies such as Ford, Intel, and Goldman Sachs exclusively invited Academy members to attend luncheons with their representatives. As a result of joining the Academy, I was able to take advantage of the pre-existing relationships the Academy has with many companies, to learn to build my own professional relationships, and to confirm a career-launching position before leaving school.

Understand How an MBA fits on a personal level. “Fit” was a common word in many Academy discussions. Although I knew an MBA would be beneficial, the Academy helped me understand how an MBA “fits” with my goals and endeavors. As a student with an undergraduate business background, my eyes were newly opened to the fact that most MBA programs seek diversity. Yes, this means different nationalities but it also means different backgrounds. In the Academy, I found myself among psychology, dance, engineering majors who brought a different perspective to light and who all were competitive MBA student candidates.

Learning about this MBA “fit” produced different results in the Academy. One undeclared-major-student decided she wanted to prepare for an MBA by becoming an undergraduate business student. Another member and fellow finance undergraduate student decided he wanted to move in a different direction. He later noted that his Academy experience was “just as valuable as it was for those who decided to pursue an MBA” explaining it was just as important for him to know what he didn’t want to do. The Academy is organized to help students decide if an MBA fits for them, and if it does, provide every resource possible to find a job that will prepare them for graduate studies, prepare to take the GMAT, compare MBA programs, and even choose a specialty tract – whatever “fits” for the student.

Joining the Academy was one of the most influential decisions I made during my time at BYU. It has proven valuable in every aspect of my future professional life by guiding me to current opportunities, preparing me for future education as an MBA student, and increasing my ability navigate a successful career.

Spencer Barlow, Marriott School Academy Student

Read more!

What Marriott School Academy Can Do For You

A little known resource for undergraduates students interested in a graduate business program at BYU is the Marriott School Academy (listed as MBA Academy on the Marriott School of Management’s website). Many of you have probably never heard of the Academy. You aren’t alone. When I was first approached about heading the Academy, I wondered why I hadn’t heard of this program during the two years I was in MBA school and quickly discovered that the Academy was only started three years ago.

What is the purpose of the Academy? To quote the Marriott School’s website, “The MBA Academy is a structured program designed to assist prospective graduate students with the MBA application process, GMAT preparation, and the post undergraduate job search. Its purpose is to attract talented college juniors and seniors who can offer a diverse perspective to the Marriott School MBA program.” The program includes a three-day retreat before school starts and a student development class during Fall Semester.

Now that we have gotten through all the formality, let me give me you the inside scoop. Andrew Woo already had taken the GMAT and applied for Harvard’s 2+2 program when he joined the Academy, but realized an opportunity existed that would help him pursue his goal of an MBA. Little did he know where it would lead him.

Since September and October are big recruiting months on campus, I focused the student development class on resume building, networking, and interviewing. Andrew reworked his resume using the guidelines discussed in class then contacted me for another review. We spent over an hour reworking every line of his resume to reflect MBA principles of action verbs and quantifiable results.

In class we talked about elevator speeches and how to use these to begin conversations with recruiters. Andrew had a chance to use his elevator speech at multiple Academy networking events with such companies as Intel, Ford, Goldman Sachs, and Union Pacific. For one event, the Academy partnered with the ALPFA club (Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting) for the Minority Summit which had such companies as KPMG, Ernst & Young, PWC, AMEX, Cisco, AFLAC, and others. Once again, Andrew continued to hone his networking skills and found himself invited to company information sessions.

During this time, I introduced behavioral based interview questions to the Academy. The student development class focused on creating STAR stories from their resumes and Andrew was no exception. Current MBA students came to class and conducted mock interviews with the students and provided valuable feedback. Andrew took that opportunity to learn and refined his stories. He recognized the need for more practice. He reached out to me as the Academy coordinator, and I was able to help him improve his stories in multiple mock interviews.

All this work and diligent effort paid off. Andrew applied for a position with Bain and was invited for an interview. The day finally came that he had been waiting for. Bain called and offered him a full-time position. Andrew approached me at the end of class one day to share the good news. He explained why Bain offered him the position. “You interviewed like an MBA not an undergrad.”

That is what the Marriott School Academy is all about. We help students prepare and find valuable full-time employment which gives them the work experience necessary to succeed in an MBA program. Each student in the Academy has a story. Andrew’s is only one of many. If you are interested in applying for the Academy’s Fall 2011 class, email me at thamina@byu.edu. I’ll help you as you begin your own story.

Thamina Christensen, Class of 2010, Marketing

Marriott School Academy Program Coordinator

Read more!

BYU MBA Academy

Two years ago I received a formal invitation to attend an information dinner regarding the MBA Academy. The invitation stated that the dress code was business casual. When a Google image finally clarified what appropriate business casual was I asked myself, “Me? An undergraduate painting major? In business casual?” At the dinner, people spoke about all the benefits of an “embee-aye”—which didn’t sound too bad. I sat at a table with two business undergraduate majors and a mysterious MBA student. Once we finished dinner, we were asked to network with the MBA student at each of our tables. “So… do you have any kids?” I asked.

This was the beginning of many exciting and worthwhile experiences with the MBA Academy. The MBA Academy is a program that helps undergraduate students who are interested in getting an MBA achieve just that. It helps prepare students for the GMAT, holds a one credit-hour lecture class, and provides opportunities galore to excel in business. I have made friends and have learned about and been trained in some of the most important aspects of business because of the Academy. Here are two:

1. How to Network. Yeah, obviously I needed help. But help did not come through classes about good networking. Instead, imagine being invited to lunch every month with representatives from Intel, HP, and American Express who want to talk to you. It’s the scariest and most efficient way to master networking. After about two of these lunch meetings, I had networking down. I was able to keep up an interesting conversation with business representatives because I had experience in networking, and I was no longer afraid of asking questions. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to get out there and do it. The Academy provided me with opportunities to train in networking. Now, I am used to networking. I can do it well, and professionally without asking unfitting questions about personal family characteristics.

2. Understanding Where I Fit In. One of the best perks of the MBA Academy, however, is the people I've met through the Academy. I met people like me—who weren’t completely occupied with business their whole lives. I met people who did not have expertise in business, but rather medicine, photography, or political science. Each of them was excelling in the MBA program. They excelled because they were different. They had different understandings and brought diversity and new insights to business. They showed me that a painting major, who spends most of her time networking with a canvas, has the ability to succeed in business because I was a painting major. This understanding alone has shifted the direction of my life completely—and I could not be more excited about it.

Two years ago I had no idea what an MBA was. But I know now because of the MBA Academy. Sometimes I still ask myself, “Me? Get an MBA?” Because of what I have learned from the MBA Academy I can answer with a confident “YES.” I am indebted to the MBA Academy for empowering me and giving me the skills and knowledge I need to make my goal of an MBA attainable.

-Stephanie Godinez, BYU MBA Academy Member, Future MBA Student

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

I am wondering if any of you have attended the BYU MBA Academy and if it was beneficial for you if you did? --Annie

Read more!