MIT Sloan students speak: MBA class of 2012

Thoughts on 2nd year from 30k feet

I am currently sitting on an Icelandair aircraft on my way back to Boston after spending the weekend in Iceland. Just realized than more than half of my blog posts have been written on an aircraft. Somehow this seems to be the best chance to find spare time for such activities.

This means that when doing the MBA at Sloan you are busy. I‘ve already written about the intense experience of the first semester, but I am actually quite surprised how busy we are during the 2nd year as well. I am taking a fair amount of interesting classes (Business Law is the one I‘ve been the most positively surprised by), but that is not the whole reason for the busy schedule.

In addition I am TA‘ing (which means that I am the Teaching Assistant) a class, called Industrial Economics. That is taking up a fair bit of time split between attending class and paying attention to participation, grading homework exercises, running a simulation the whole class takes part in each week and doing a little research for the class material which we report back to the professor in weekly meetings. This is great experience and I enjoy the interaction with the students, the professor and the other TA very much.

Deciding on what to do once school is over also takes quite some time, but fortunately I‘ve got my decision now and will therefore not go through the intense recruiting cycle many of my class mates are taking part in right now. But I will surely be doing a case or two to help people prepare for consulting interviews.

Finally, I and two of my friends from my core team have decided to take on an independent study from now until the end of January for a large European airline. Our job will be focused on innovation for that airline in the medium to long term horizon. This project is turning out to be very interesting and we will have the assistance of a great innovation thinker, Pr. Azoulay.

So, I guess it is no wonder I have to get on an airplane to write a blog. That being said, the 2nd year is extremely enjoyable and thoughts about how little is really left of this 2 year MBA are starting to pop up at an increasing rate. So better make the most of it!

Beyond School @ MIT Sloan

It is amazing how the power of MBA students can be leveraged not only at school but also beyond with other b-schools.

This Friday, students from MIT Sloan and students from other three business schools led a full-day networking event in NYC open to any MBA students that had an interest to work in Brazil. The event was a huge success, with more than 150 sign ups, five-company presentations, and an opening presentation by the great Professor Damondaran of NYU.

From an MBA point of view, it is important to expand your horizons beyond the school of your choice, especially because there is a great chance you’ll be working with people from different schools in the future. From an MIT Sloan point of view, I am proud to be part of a school that fosters initiative beyond its walls. From more than 15 schools that participated, only 4 organized the event - including MIT Sloan.

In a nutshell, being an MBA student gives you the opportunity to go beyond. MIT Sloan fosters that. But of course, in the end, it depends on you to do so!

Cheers,

Tiago

 

Useful Link: MBA Brazil Networking

Direct Marketing: what does it mean in 2011?

Direct marketing methods (such as direct mail) are still the second largest advertising medium today – second to TV. So how should this field evolve and leverage new technologies, such as social media and online search? This was a topic of conversation with the CEO of OgilvyOne, Brian Fetherstonhaugh – who was kind enough to invite a small group of students from MIT Sloan and HBS to the DMA 2011 Conference, followed by an intimate dinner.

Over the course of a lovely evening, Mr. Fetherstonaugh shared some pearls of wisdom that he’s acquired as a seasoned marketing veteran, which are probably relevant to all business school students – regardless of their career choice.

Some interesting figures that came up:

• 90% of most people’s personal wealth is acquired after the age of 40.
• It takes 10,000 hours to become a true expert within an area.
• There will probably be only about 5 people that will truly propel you forward over the course of your career.

The takeaway from these numbers was to remember that your career is more of a marathon than a sprint. Choose one that’s meaningful to you, and makes you happy in the long term. Also, while networks are important, be extra careful to recognize and nurture those few critical relationships with your “career angels”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Esther Faust on 10/17/2011 | Permalink | Comments (0)

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