MBA Blogs » Career

What Woman Want: Mission Paraguay

MBA Association — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:15:10 +0000

Summer Series – Kimberly Clark, Paraguay

For the last 2 months I’ve been immersed in the jungles of Paraguay (both urban and rural) trying to unveil and understand the mystery that is woman. I am on a quest to understand how women decide among products that are so intimate, so personal, and vital for her confidence self esteem and even health – and why isn’t this process even more complex? This is my job as an MBA Intern in Kimberly-Clark Paraguay, responsible for the general management of the FEM category products.

Now you would think this would be a hard task for a GUY that was raised in copper mines and who sold mining trucks for three years… but it hasn’t, thanks to the transportability of the concepts learned in the program and how they empower us with a great set of tools to leverage. Though during our first year at times I came to question the practicality in the approach of some of the courses, I’ve quickly become to realize how necessary this MACRO view really is, especially when connecting dots and presenting to upper management. I’ve also realize how everything makes sense and how easy it has been to integrate all functional areas, once we start applying what we’ve learned. On August 21^st, I’m representing our branch (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) in the annual Interns’ Speech Series presided by Tom Falk (KC’s CEO), on which I present the results of our project and its impact on sales. This generally determines who gets an offer and a special bonus as best speaker, so I’ll do my best to represent the “Smealers” and its marketers.

I’m deeply thankful for this experience and for what I have learned during our first year. I can’t wait to go back and continue to grow. I hope to see you all in a couple of weeks in what I’m sure will be a great Second Year… Hasta la vista!

Phillip Jarpa
President, Marketing Association

Excited Evan’s Expedition to Shanghai

MBA Association — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:10:13 +0000

Summer Series – eChinaChem

Ni hao! Greetings from Shanghai, China. I am fairly sure I win the “where would you rather be” award, or at least tie with Jon and Hector (classmates who are in Shanghai with me!) I work for eChinaChem, a 100 person company that focuses on end to end solutions in assisting global companies buy chemicals from Chinese manufacturers. We also have a second product, eChinaBio, which is a little less developed and needs some serious work. Our CEO, who happens to me my boss, has put me in charge of the project. The project turned out to be creating the eChinaBio strategy, and making changes to both our services and products. One year at Smeal certainly teaches you a lot, as I feel like I really do have a grasp on the business as a whole. Still, it’s quite the endeavor being able to mold products and services over a summer.

Other than working hard, we are really getting to explore the city. We have met some really awesome people here who will be friends for life, and I think all three of us will certainly explore the option of coming back here after graduation (so if you have connections, hook me up!). Zai jian,

- Evan Weiss

Class of 2010

J&J + Cincinnati = Happy Hoover

MBA Association — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:26:43 +0000

Summer Series – Johnson and Johnson

Heeeeeeeelllllllllooooooo from Cincinnati! I’m currently spending my summer rocking out at Ethicon Endo-Surgery here in Ohio. The Johnson and Johnson EES business unit creates, markets, and sells medical devices for minimally evasive surgery. As a supply chain specialist, I’ve been working with suppliers, warehouse logistic managers, and transportation carriers in order to reduce the amount of product expedited (air freighted) from the suppliers to our warehousing facilities. Not only have I been plugging away at my project, but I’ve also met with Chief Procurement Officers, Vice Presidents, and Presidents of various departments in one-on-one meetings. Can you believe that they’ve already flown me to New Jersey for a three day trip? Seriously, how can you lose?

As a hardcore Steelers fan, I did have some initial doubts about moving into Bengals Country (not to mention the home of many Ohio State fans). However, I’ve already watched a Reds game from a luxury box, knocked the stuffing out a few softballs in our company softball league, spent more than a few evenings in Mount Adams (a social haven for young professionals), plan to tear it up on the golf course this Thursday, and hope to visit either the Zoo, Aquarium, or King’s Island Theme park before I leave. Woo Woo Woo.

Catch you on the flip side, my friends.

- Dave Hoover

VP of Recruitment, MBAA

Interning @Chase Card Services

MBA Association — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:26:54 +0000

Summer Series – Chase Card Services

This blog is brought to you direct from Wilmington, Delaware. That’s right, Delaware – home of tax free shopping and Chase Card Services (among a few other things). Gonzalo and I are down in Wilmington working in the Marketing Division of Chase Card Services. I’m working in the High Net Worth BU with a focus on Branding, Advertising, and Media, and I’m having a great time seeing how things work in a large corporate setting.

So far I’ve helped design a micro-site, attended usability testing, shared a phone call with Dreamworks, met two division presidents, and my team even won an arcade night at Dave & Busters! Coming up I will attend a wine tasting, participate in a P&L Case Study, volunteer at a local charity, meet the CEO of Chase Cards, present my findings on Social Media and Branding, and attend a Blue Rocks Baseball game.

Remember to have fun during your summer internship everyone – use local events to network with people at your location! (I’m not attending a wine tasting by myself, ha!) Get some sun, relax, and I’ll see you entirely too soon again this fall.

- Christy Conley

VP of Communications, MBAA

NAWMBA National Conference & Career Fair

National Association of Women MBA's — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:01:55 +0000

For a day it was easy to forget that women are a minority in the MBA program and in the workforce. Everywhere I looked I saw women in business professional attire, shaking hands with recruiters and going in and out of the ladies room for a make-up retouch. I, along with other first year classmates, was at the National Women’s MBA Conference held in Stamford, Connecticut.

My day started at 8 a.m. where I met the national officers and talked to fellow members at the National Leadership Conference Breakfast. We spent an hour discussing the goals and initiatives of the organization and the value it has brought to women MBAs. By 9 a.m., it was game time. Armed with a bundle of resumes and everything I have learned – and practiced – in our career search preparation, I was off to cajole, woo and charm my target companies.

After hours of walking around and pitching my story to recruiters, I managed to secure a couple of interviews. While I am yet to land my dream internship, the conference was a great opportunity to hone my interviewing and networking skills and meet fellow MBAs who are as passionate as I am about developing myself as a future captain of industry — who can wear a skirt, heels and make-up.

-Margret E. Ortega

Penn State – Smeal MBA Class of 2010

Small Group Meeting with Alumni from Citibank

MBA Program — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:29:07 +0000

One of the Citi Group Penn State alumni, Krishna Nadella gave a presentation of current Wall Street banking situation and career search strategy last week. It’s has been a priceless opportunity to get insights from the people who directly deal with sub-prime products, witness the asset write down and involve in the major Citi Group issues in the recent couple of months.

For the 1^st year MBA, it is valuable to grasp the big picture of sub-prime mortgage and related such product with current finance class topics. For the 2^nd year students, in such difficult market situation, opinions from real bankers regarding to career search strategy in finance industry is crucial. During the conversation we all had the same question–what’s our value to the company when facing economy recession and people lay-off? Krishna gave us a great example of how he reacted effectively and efficiently to this situation.

In addition to his working experience, he shared a lot of personal experience in job searching. He had strong interest in banking, and moreover, he had strong will to get a job in Wall Street. I was very impressed that during his MBA, he went to New York biweekly to meet with alumni and learn about career in Wall Street! His effort in continuously building network during his MBA and his career distinguished himself from other strong competitors in the market.

It’s great time for me to meet with alumni who is so truthful. The next step is to improve my networking and work harder.

-Paul Wang

MBA Class of 2008

Paul wang is a second year student who has strong interest in investment and portfolio management. Originally from China, he believes that there is huge potential in China financial market and he would like to contribute his knowledge to the improvement of that market.

Personal Development Luncheon with Net Stoddard

MBA Program — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:05:51 +0000

On March 27, 2008, Nat Stoddard, Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, was
a guest speaker for the Smeal MBA Program’s Personal Development
Series. Over a casual lunch, several dozen Smeal MBAs were treated to
Mr. Stoddard’s own fascinating career history and the history of
Crenshaw Associates, specialists in career management for senior
executives. Mr. Stoddard’s personal and industry-gleaned wisdom will
almost certainly prove invaluable to all those who attended this
interactive and informative luncheon. Most saliently, Mr. Crenshaw
noted that while many MBA students are focused on getting A job or
getting THE job when they leave school, it is most advantageous to
focus instead on one’s desired end result, and to search for positions
that are clearly on the path to that result. This shift in thinking
was, for me, a simple one to make, and has helped me already by
enabling me to hone in on precisely where I’d like to do my internship
– saving me time in my search efforts. Mr. Stoddard’s simple speech
is sticking with me and, I am sure, will shape what career moves I
take this summer and as I move to plan to leave Smeal next year.

Mary Gorman

MBA Class of 2009

Mary Gorman managed a global supply chain the fashion industry for six
years before coming to Smeal for her MBA. She is concentrating in
Supply Chain Management and Corporate Financial Analysis and Planning.

Spring Career Fair

Supply Chain Association — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:31:32 +0000

The Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR) sponsored the annual Spring Career Fair held on Feb 5^th and 6^th. More than 70 companies participated in the event, which was open to both graduate and undergraduate students. Due to the overwhelming response of participant companies, this was the first time that the Career Fair was held for two days. Recruiters from the top Supply-Chain companies in retail, pharmaceuticals, energy, healthcare, technology, logistics, aerospace and virtually every other sector held on-campus interviews. Some of the shortlisted candidates were invited by the companies to either interview at Penn State the following day or to visit their facilities for on-site interviews. Many Penn State alumni were also present as representatives of the visiting companies and shared their industry experiences with the current students. The Supply Chain Career Fair was a tremendous success in offering new career opportunities for supply chain practitioners and has continued to grow over the years.

Rohit Gurtu

MBA Class of 2009

Prior to Smeal, Rohit has worked for more than 15 years in the automotive industry. He has undertaken various roles in manufacturing, purchasing, and procurement with Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel Cars, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Saud Bahwan Automotive, LLC.

Supply Chain Coffee House

Supply Chain Association — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:31:03 +0000

“Let me guess, you didn’t tell them about your 15 minutes of fame with the P-Funk,” my wife asked me after I told her the good news. She was referring to an old Andy Warhol comment and my former employment as a musician in LA; I was telling her about the Career Fair we had on campus. Over 50 Supply Chain companies had come to the Business Building recruiting for internships, co-ops and full time jobs. Because of the large number of companies who attend, success comes from knowing what you want and which companies are offering it. I was looking for an internship. I had already scheduled an interview with Dell later in the week, but I wanted one for a different department there as well. I also wanted to talk with ExxonMobil – my Dad worked for them his whole career and so I knew what a great company they are. I went to the Coffee House we had Monday night before the 2-day career fair where several companies each gave a short presentation and then met with students. We rotated through companies every 30 minutes. I met with the ExxonMobil recruiters and I was able to schedule an interview. Two days later at the Career Fair in the atrium, I met with the recruiters for Dell and I was able to schedule the second interview I wanted so much. Recruiters look for so many different things from students that it’s hard to know what they want. The best approach is to talk with other students who have interned or worked there to find out what the company is like. You can also find a lot of information on the web about the operations, locations and cultures of all of the different companies. Alumni are always willing to help also – so don’t be afraid to cold call them and ask questions. Career Services gets you ready for these events so you can hand your resume to potential employers with confidence knowing that they will like what they see.

I spoke with the ExxonMobil recruiters at the Coffee House just after they told the group they would collect resumes, review them that night and then call the people they would like to interview. However, I had done enough research on the company that I knew what to say and how to write my resume so that they would want to interview me. I got to sign up for a slot right then. Dell was no different; I knew exactly how to approach them. What took me by surprise, though, was where the conversation went – I don’t know how, but we got onto the topic of my musician days in LA and the recruiter not only ended up knowing who the Parliament Funkadelic was, but he was also impressed that I had once done a gig with their drummer. Yes, my experiences before coming to Smeal range all over – but I never thought (and neither did my wife) that I would be using that one to sell myself to a company.

I don’t think it matters who you are or what your background is – Penn State has such a diverse group of students and a broad range of companies who recruit here that you will be able to make the most of what is offered and companies will show up looking for you. My wife has teased me for our entire marriage about how nobody knows who the P-Funk is and how playing a gig with their former drummer won’t ever be of benefit to my new career – now when she pokes fun at it, I remind her that it was instrumental (no pun intended) in landing a great internship.

-Sammie Markham

MBA Class of 2009

Sammie Markham is a 1^st year Supply Chain student in the Smeal MBA Program. He has a background in facilities management and funk music.

Career Immersion

MBA Program — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:42:52 +0000

Last semester we had a week-long “Career Immersion” in between Mods 1 and 2. One of the events included a resume workshop with Paul Carozzoni from Career Services who gave some excellent insight on how to craft a resume. He told us very clearly (no confusion when he speaks J) that the most difficult resume to work on is your own. He then picked a resume out of a stack, put it on the screen and began talking to the person about the bullets he had on his resume. I didn’t think there was much that could be done to make the resume better, but Paul showed us how to reword bullets, emphasize key skills, and condense a resume to make it really strong.

Paul asked us to get together with a classmate sometime and do what he had just done – identify areas of improvement on our resumes and make them better. As I was walking back to the parking lot with another classmate, we started thinking out loud about how beneficial it would be to organize a ‘peer workshop’ to review resumes. We wrote up a plan of how this would work, pitched it to 220, and within a week we had a room reserved every other Friday for this purpose.

Several classmates have come to the workshops and the reaction is always the same, “My resume is A LOT better now.” I’ve seen classmates go from not being able to get an interview to getting an interview for nearly every position they apply for. Now that internship recruiting is on the forefront of everybody’s mind, we’ve added another aspect to the workshop, interviewing skills – it has become just as successful as the resume workshops.

The great thing about Smeal is that the students all want each other to succeed. There’s no competition here – just collaboration and support amongst the students to make sure everybody gets the internship they want. These workshops have been a very useful tool to get ready for the whole process and I’ve spoken with the MBAA – the workshops will be here to stay.

-Sammie Markham

MBA Class of 2009

Sammie Markham is a 1^st year Supply Chain student in the Smeal MBA Program. He has a background in facilities management and funk music.