Mattel's Rules of the Job Game

Work at Mattel is less about playing games than designing and marketing them. Thaiz Chanman has been at El Segundo (Calif.)-based Mattel (MAT ) since May, 1997, and is now serving as its MBA program manager. Before assuming her current role a year ago, Chanman worked on a variety of executive-development projects, as well as in packaging, marketing, and corporate communications within Mattel. In her time as MBA program manager, Chanman has increased recruiting significantly, doubling the number of summer-intern hires from 20 to 40.

About 80% of summer interns receive full-time offers. MBAs looking to be among that group need to demonstrate a blend of creativity, passion, and innovation, Chanman says. She recently spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Jeffrey Gangemi. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

Where do you do most of your MBA recruiting?
Traditionally, we targeted the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and UCLA Anderson School of Management, as well as Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management. We have also gone to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for a few finance people.

This year, because we doubled our internship hires from the previous year, I tried to include more California schools, like Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business, as well as The Paul Merage School of Business at University of California, Irvine and Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business & Management. For finance, we're also targeting the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

How well is the MBA recruiting program supported within Mattel?
This program is truly the pipeline for talent within our organization, specifically on our finance side. Our CFO believes strongly in developing people, and he supports our program. This is where the new generation of management is coming from.

What's your on-campus recruiting schedule?
We start in the fall. All through October and early November, I go out to campuses and conduct information sessions and presentations. I'll then go back to campus in January or early February to conduct the first round of interviews on campus. We then extend offers by early March.

Because we try to use our intern program as a pipeline for full-time hires, we don't generally go back on campus to recruit second-year students.

Can you provide any tips for having a good interview?
Many candidates will do all of their research on the Mattel Web site. But it really stands out in the minds of our interviewers when someone goes the extra mile and makes a call to someone within the organization to get a feel for what it's like at Mattel. Our management is happy to discuss working here and is happy to help. Networking is very important.

Also, it's important to really know why you want to work at Mattel. We look for creativity, innovation, and passion -- for our products, as well as for marketing or finance.

What jumps out at you on someone's résumé?
When formulating a résumé, it's important for an applicant to assess how their experience can add value to our organization. There isn't one specific thing I can tell people -- there's no formula. Our marketing department looks favorably upon past consumer packaged goods experience. Within the brands group, they're looking for a candidate with something a little bit different and sometimes quirky.

What's a big mistake applicants make?
We often ask applicants why they want to work at Mattel. And many people respond by saying that they want to work here because they like toys. That's not the answer that we want to hear, because it's too obvious.

A good answer might be about the opportunity to create new toys, innovation, etc. A more well thought-out answer is appreciated -- something more strategic. What is Mattel to you? That speaks volumes.

What skills do MBA applicants need to improve?
Applicants need to have strong analytical and strategic thinking, as well as presentation skills. They also need to be up on the markets -- from the standpoint of Mattel as well as one of our competitors.

Is there mentoring for interns?
Within the summer program, we do provide mentoring. It's not very structured, but each intern has access to a senior-level executive. When someone comes in as a full-time hire, we provide a substantial orientation program. We're working on making all of our orientation programs more function specific.

What's the culture like?
Because we're in Southern California, we often get lumped in there with organizations like Walt Disney (DIS ) or Warner Bros. Entertainment (TWX ). We do partner with them on many projects, so our culture has some of the flair of the entertainment industry.

It's a fun place to work. You can really enjoy all the hard work. At the end of the day, you're making kids' toys, so everyone is a kid at heart.