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During the first weeks of the new school year, there is an air of excitement around Ann Arbor. MBA students – both new and old – roam the Winter Garden (the main gathering place in the Ross School of Business) in search of classrooms, club events and directions on how to settle into a study hall.
I remember feeling like a tidal wave hit me during my first two weeks of MBA. Within the first three days of school, I was already back to my undergraduate ways of reaching for instant noodles. I gave 110% effort in classes, readings, and assignments; meeting so many different clubs and funds and understanding that they all require written applications to join; and I struggle to find time to attend various social events with the rest of my energy. This doesn’t include the anxiety that can come with starting the recruiting process and wondering if I can land an internship or a job.
Ross Recruiting Fair
Going into my second year, I feel that there is a much more relaxed atmosphere among my classmates. Many received full-time job offers from their summer internships and completed their recruiting journey. Others have offers but still want to explore what’s out there. Of course, there are those who have decided to retrain entirely for one reason or another. Fortunately, as a second year MBA you know that it is possible to get an offer and an internship and that there are resources to support you. So, to demystify first-year recruiting, I wanted to share my journey.
MY RECRUITMENT TRIP TO MICHIGAN ROS
At Michigan Ross has the trifecta. The first is the Ross Career Development Office (CDO), which has professional staff employed by the school. The CDO’s responsibilities are to develop relationships with recruiting firms, create programs to prepare students for recruiting, and serve as a key resource for students as they move through the entire job search process, including the peer mentoring program . The second is the FACT (Functional Career Accountability Teams) group, which are weekly small groups led by second-year MBA (MBA2) students to prepare first-year (MBA1) students for recruitment. The third is professional clubs. Professional Clubs are also run by MBA2s and cover the more specific opportunities for functions not covered by the FACT Group. This summer I interned at Nike in global operations. Going into the MBA, I was very keen on functions and roles related to consumer packaged goods or retail. I’ve always been interested in consumer industries because you can touch and feel the product and understand how decisions are made with the customer in mind. I had a list of companies I definitely wanted to interview with and Nike was among them. I guess the question here is how did the trifecta help me?
#1 GROUP OF FACTS
My general management CDO FACT group consists of eight other first-year students and an MBA2 CDO peer coach. Here I was able to lay the foundation for my recruitment journey like the odyssey, networking and interviewing. CDO FACT groups are sorted by function (ie, general management, technology, investment banking) and meet weekly until January, when most campus interviews are completed. They are meant to be a support group and literally hold you accountable for your recruitment.
In the CDO FACT group, the first key piece we work on is our odyssey or our ‘why’. In short, the odyssey tells the person you’re talking to who you are, what you’re looking for, and why you want to talk to them. For example, here’s how I styled my odyssey:
“I worked in both institutional and private wealth investment management after completing research in retail equities. During that time, I realized that I was most excited about analyzing companies and discovering what was fascinating about stocks. It made me realize I wanted to be closer to the product and led me to get an MBA so I could pursue an industry role in retail.”
Esther Chen, University of Michigan (Ross)
The second component of CDO FACT groups is the opportunity to do stocktakes, resumes, and reviews of behavioral responses. Through the peer review sessions, I was able to gauge whether someone with no experience in the financial services industry was able to understand my story, my motivation, and the skills I could bring to a completely unrelated job. I also found the peer review sessions useful to get to know my classmates, who all had very interesting previous careers, and also to get a feel for how others were structuring their thoughts. For example, one of my peers previously led logistics operations for the US military and served in Germany and South Korea. Another had three very cute children, and seeing them occasionally pop into our Zoom group meetings brightened up a very long day. This information helped me connect with them on a more personal level.
#2 ROSS CAREER DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (CDO)
Through the CDO recruiting platform, I was able to view Nike’s online recruiting events and submit a resume. Nike does not officially recruit on campus, so I tapped into the network of Ross alumni and second-year MBA students who were kind enough to volunteer their time to speak with me. During these conversations, I initially started by asking standard questions like Walk me through what a day in the life looks like; What is the best part of the job; or How an applicant can stand out in the application process”. However, as I interacted with more people, I found myself engaging in more organic conversations about life at Nike, such as favorite athlete encounters, favorite Nike products, or what alumni wish they had done more at Ross. Through networking, I learned the importance of having a personalized cover letter tying together what Nike and sports mean to me.
Taking this information, I drafted a cover letter and worked with a CDO partner coach. The peer coach previously interviewed at Nike, so we tailored my cover letter to be more specific so I could give my best. A month later, I was ecstatic to receive an interview invitation and again worked with the same peer coach to prepare for behavioral interviews.
CDO Partner Coaches are perhaps one of the most important resources for MBA1. MBA2s have just gone through everything that MBA1s will go through, so they are a good source of information. In particular, the CDO peer trainers were very helpful with the mock behavioral interviews. For most MBA recruiting companies use behavioral interviews and cases. Behavioral interviews typically follow the format “Tell me about a time when you…failed, led a team, showed leadership, etc.” During mock interviews, when the peer coach was able to repeat back to me what I said in their own words, it showed me if my message was received or not. On top of that, I evaluated how much more concise or eloquent it sounded and revised my answers to achieve this.
Ross Recruiting Fair
For example, one of the questions I had was, “Tell me about a time when you showed leadership.” my good the answer revolved around looking at a regulatory product and how I created a system that allowed my firm to complete the result ahead of time. However, with my peer coach, I revised it to be a great a response where I not only addressed what I had done, but also the sense of urgency and how I was able to influence other team members to buy into my process.
Also, CDO peer coaches are usually there for emotional support. As someone who is a bit critical of myself and a bit of a perfectionist, sometimes all I needed was a little positive affirmation and someone to remind me to give myself some grace.
#3: PROFESSIONAL CLUBS
Finally, to the final piece of the trifecta, professional clubs! The professional clubs are run by students and are a great compliment to the CDO FACT group. In addition to holding weekly education sessions, they send out weekly newsletters with upcoming coffee talks and application deadlines, and host an annual flagship conference with corporate partners. For my purposes Consulting Club, General Management Club and Retail & Luxury Goods were added value.
Regarding the Consulting Club, whether you’re recruiting for consulting or not, the case interview is part of most job interviews (internal strategy, product management, corporate finance, rotational programs). These interviews involve a hypothetical business situation that is presented during the interview process. It is used to determine how the candidate thinks about a particular problem and how they would solve it. Every interview I did last year involved a case. I have found that the frameworks used for consulting cases are a good tool for me in structuring and communicating my thoughts.
I also attended several of the annual conferences organized by the professional clubs. Some highlights include a design thinking workshop, mock behavioral interviews with company representatives with live feedback. and chats over coffee with the companies that interest me. One of my “aha” moments in my recruiting journey was during a mock behavioral interview with a corporate representative, a Ross alumnus, who attended the conference in November. For context, most internship interviews take place in January, so it was still early in the hiring cycle and I hadn’t fully thought through my answers to behavioral questions. During the mock interview, I got a few questions that I hadn’t thought of yet, so I improvised my way through them. To my surprise, during the feedback session, my interviewer said he was impressed that I didn’t look confused. He added that he thought I had executive presence, even though my answer needed a little sharpening. It was an affirming moment for me and I thought, “Yes! I can do it!”
Coming back to campus this year, the experience has changed because campus recruiting is back!!! It’s definitely weird to see recruiters in the general hustle and bustle of the Winter Garden, but it’s also great to be able to connect with corporate representatives in person. Treks are also back, so I expect many Rossers to visit San Francisco, New York and Chicago among other cities for events like Tech Trek, Finance Trek and Retail Trek! As for me, my recruitment journey is still evolving, but I am confident that I have the knowledge and tools to meet the challenges ahead. Go Blue!
biography: Esther was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and attended Bryn Mawr College (Anasa Kata!) for her BA where she studied mathematics. After graduation, Esther worked in investment management in both institutional and private wealth and completed her CFA charter. Working in financial services, Esther realized she wanted to be closer to the business side of things and was inspired to pursue an industry role in retail, leading her to pursue an MBA at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business (Go Blue!). At Ross, she features on the Business Beyond Usual Podcast, Retail & Luxury Goods Club and Ross Open Road. She is excited to share her passion for the community and her experience at Ross Poets and quants. Outside of school and work, Esther enjoys drinking bubble tea, biking, and rock climbing.
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