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AUGUST 31, 2001 MBA JOURNAL: FIRST YEAR REVIEW Pablo Velazquez: Reflecting on the First Year of B-School, Part II "I have finally found something I can be passionate about! I was worried I would get to the last class in the core curriculum without finding something that really ignited the fire in my belly." So far I've taken six core classes. There are two more classes left in the core which I will complete this fall, after which, I will begin my elective classes. After the financial accounting course, I confirmed my previous notion that I did not want to pursue a career in accounting. The same thing happened after economics and then finance. I really enjoyed the organizational behavior class but a career in human resource management failed to pique any interest - same result for statistics. And then came marketing. I have finally found something I can be passionate about! I was worried I would get to the last class in the core curriculum without finding something that really ignited the fire in my belly. I am now extremely excited and, at the same time, terrified about someday having profit and loss responsibility for a brand. Since I now had a target, the next logical step was to make a plan to get there. For this, I got in touch with the Director of Career Management at Cox. He has provided me with a wealth of information and assistance that has added a great deal of value to this premium priced education. We met for a series of half-hour sessions where I got the chance to ask questions and seek advice. I discovered that being at the Federal Reserve Bank, while great for an economist, was not the ideal place for an MBA candidate. Since the Fed is not profit motivated, I knew it would be more difficult to make myself more attractive if and when I decided to leave. However, I learned from the counselor that my experience at the Fed was considered "non-experience". It appears that this is the case for all government agencies, as well as educational institutions. That puts me at a distinct disadvantage at graduation time, considering that most of my classmates hold private sector jobs. I'm glad I'm finding this out with two years still left in the program. This gives me an opportunity to make some adjustments between now and then. The first time I met with the counselor I was not sure what direction I wanted to go in after school so I was given a values test to see what was important to me both in my work life and personal life. I compared the results against 10 careers that I might possibly consider from the Career Leader assessment I had taken earlier in the year (See my previous entry, "More on Year One".). By the time I finished the values test I was two weeks into the marketing class and had already fallen in love with the field. Fortunately a career in a marketing management was consistent with my values. Some of these values include intellectual challenge and lifestyle. Lifestyle is the value that considers time away from work. Investment Banking, for instance, was at the bottom of the list in this area. Twelve to sixteen hour days for the first two years - I'll pass. Now enlightened about the direction in which I wanted to go, I decided that I would need to consider the next two years as the summer internship I wouldn't otherwise get as a part-time student employed full time. The counselor helped me tune up my resume and gave me advice on searching for the right fit. My search begins with the pool of approximately 200 senior executive level mentors Cox makes available to prospective MBAs. This program is what originally attracted me to the school. From this pool I have selected about six mentors in three different industries (Automotive, Consumer Products, and Telecom) to contact. I cannot wait to ask them about their businesses and experiences. I want to find out what they do, how they got there, and what it will take for me to do the same. Though I would not be offended if an opportunity for employment presented itself, I am more interested in what I can learn from these professionals. I will contact Cox alumni for more direct queries as to any opportunities that may be available. Given the current job market, I am not overly optimistic about my chances. That is where my faith comes in. I just do my best and God will take care of the rest. After all, I am Jesus' employee first, and His work will be done no matter where I go. With that weight off my back, I am free to concentrate on other things such as my wife, current job, coursework, and two new matters - buying a house and starting a family. God, a bit more help please! In addition to Divine assistance, I have enjoyed a tremendous amount of support from my study group members Chris, Aaron, Paul, and Andrea. Everyone has been eager to help where possible and I have never heard "figure it out yourself" come from anyone's mouth. The same has been true for our classmates in general. In marketing this summer, the hour or two before each class was spent in large groups going over the case that was about to be discussed. It was more professor vs. students than every man for himself - as no one wanted to get stumped by a question they couldn't answer. Though it may breach the surface later in the program, the "shark" mentality associated with MBA programs hasn't been spotted in my section here at Cox. On tap for this fall are Operations & Technology Management and Strategic Analysis in a Global Era. It is certain to be a more hectic fall considering I will be working on more than just classes (e.g. seminars and contacting mentors and alumni). It's going to be a great year. Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | [an error occurred while processing this directive] Learn about your online education options |
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