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FEBRUARY 2001 MBA JOURNAL: YEAR TWO Stephane Goldsand: Academics, the Placement Process, and More "My impression is that during the second year of the MBA, or at least the third semester, students don't necessarily have it much easier than during their first year."
Scholastically Speaking The curriculum at CBS is designed to enable MBA students to choose elective courses in their third and fourth semesters. The selection of these electives determines each student's academic concentration. My goal is to develop a comprehensive managerial preparation through the combination of concentrations. That way I will be able to develop the approach that is most suitable for a career in strategy consulting. The courses that I have chosen are focused primarily on financial, entrepreneurial, and marketing subjects. In the finance and economics area, I took Financial Statement Analysis, which teaches students how to "read between the lines" of companies' financial reports. Through this course, I was able to further develop my understanding of accounting concepts and appreciation of the financial viability of the companies that were reviewed. I also took Modern Political Economy, which analyzes the macro and microeconomic relationship between the business sector and the state. This course was very useful in providing students with an overall panorama of the implications of governments' economic initiatives on companies' strategies. The marketing courses were Pricing Strategies and Retailing in the New Economy. Pricing Strategies was very interesting because it shed light on how companies competitively price their products and services. Many MBA courses focus only on cost issues, but this course taught us to appreciate the other side of the "strategy coin"--a company's pricing. Retailing in the New Economy was an amazing course. The classes were almost all case-based and included weekly lectures by outstanding CEOs and Chairmen of large retailing companies such as Leonard Roberts of Radio Shack, Martha Stewart of Martha Steward Living and John Eyler of Toys R Us. My entrepreneurship course, Introduction to Venturing, was also extraordinary. This case and lecture-based course gave students the opportunity to explore a venture idea, first individually and then working with a team. I learned a tremendous amount from this course and can now comprehend the various stages in starting a venture. I also better understand the process of launching a new product or service within an established business. In the third semester, classes are organized independently (see my previous entry Midterms: The First Seven Weeks of B-School) and students have the chance to mingle much more. I made friends with many students that started the program in January and that I had not met before. Needless to say, but worth saying nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed interacting with my professors, all of whom, I think, are extremely bright and talented. Recruiting Process Revisited The second most significant event during the Fall was the career search and interviewing process for full-time positions. My internship (see my previous entry Summer Internship), courses and discussions with classmates, alumni, and professors helped guide me to pursuing a career path in either consulting or media. I surveyed the consulting industry and decided to target the firms that offered strategy services in growing sectors such as new media, telecommunications, and finance, and were also involved to some extent in the execution of project recommendations. At the same time, I selected media companies that also put value on MBA graduates and foster their career development. However, getting ready for the interviews was more involved. I yet again updated my resume and undertook an intense resume-and-cover-letter-sending campaign to companies. I also did extensive research on the companies I was interviewing with to become familiar with their culture and recent events affecting them. I have to say, my interview skills for consulting positions were a bit rusty. Therefore, I decided to do many practice interviews to solve cases and get in shape again. The companies that interviewed me held two and even three rounds of interviews before extending any job offers. The environment for consulting interviews was still competitive. In general, people now appear more conscious about the significance of finding the right job for them since this is a more relevant career decision than the summer internship. Many classmates were not going back to work for their summer employer because they did not get offers and/or because they now want to try consulting. The demand side of the job search equation increased also because of the participation of January-term students in the interview process. These students, who will also be graduating in the class of 2001, don't participate in the summer interview process because they take summer term courses. Additionally, the collapse of dot-com firms in recent months triggered the now well-known B2C (back to consulting) and B2B (back to banking) job hunt phenomena. All in all, however, I felt that the recruiting process for full-time jobs was a bit more relaxed than internship recruiting. Interviewees were more confident because of the business knowledge they had acquired in their first year at CBS and their summer work experiences. This helped them highlight their capabilities. Many people were not interviewing because they were taking job offers they had from their summer employers. Likewise, more companies came to interview on-campus, increasing the number of job opportunities. I am proud to say that I was relatively successful and received several offers from consulting firms and media companies to work in New York and the West coast. I still have to decide from among my job options, but it is likely that I will join a strategy consulting firm and work in New York. Beyond Classes and Interviews One cannot be a true second year MBA student at Columbia without taking an active role in extra-curricular activities and assisting first year students in coping with this new episode in their lives. OK, this is probably just my take on being a "senior" student but it is nonetheless shared by a vast majority of my class. I was pretty involved in the Hermes Society, which promotes the schools' academic standards and career opportunities to applicants and welcomes admitted students to CBS. Hermes members go through training sessions and help organize diverse school events attended by prospective students. Furthermore, we are matched with admitted students and answer any questions they might have on the program or other issues. I also participated in the interviewing of applicants and had the chance to be on the "other side of the fence," so to speak. This felt somehow strange at first because it is similar to a flashback of yourself, or friends, trying to make your case for wanting to do an MBA at CBS. Nevertheless, it has been a valuable experience because it helps you understand what assets the school is looking for in the candidate and how to identify if the applicant has those assets. I was also active in the school's Media Management Association, where I am the Special Events VP and will organize an networking event with CBS alumni now working in the media industry. Over the past semester, the association put together a kick-off party and signed many new members from the incoming class. In addition, several well-known executives from the media industry were invited to give lectures on their firms' business strategies and current challenges. Another task was helping first-year students in their job searches. I chatted with some of them about my summer experience and gave resume suggestions and interview advice. I should be even more involved in these activities next semester, when first-year student will be starting their internship recruiting process. Major Takeaways My impression is that during the second year of the MBA, or at least the third semester, students don't necessarily have it much easier than during their first year. On the one hand, grade-related competition might be less intense, but the classes are still quiet demanding. Also, people are more serious and committed to their job search. On the other hand, I am fully aware of the importance of taking advantage of the rest of my masters program and have strived to work hard and play even harder during this experience. The last 18 months at CBS have given me not only a more mature and expanded business perspective but also much more efficient time management skills. I think that I can now put on different hats more effectively and with greater ease than before. In other words I have become poly-active! My fourth and last semester will most likely be a busy one too. There are a lot of activities lining up for the coming months. I will continue to interact as much as possible with classmates and the friends that I will not likely see often after graduating in May. My courses will also be a priority because they will be very relevant to my future career. Moreover, I look forward to participating in extra-curricular activities such as the Follies, a great class theatrical production providing CBS students and faculty with the opportunity to laugh at themselves together. Lastly, I will have to decide where to work after graduation. But before all that, I will escape from the metallic New York City cold and meditate about the upcoming challenges under the warm sun of the South American summer. Hasta pronto!  | | [an error occurred while processing this directive] Learn about your online education options |
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