Of Breaks and Preparation
Thursday, January 22, 2015
The first semester of the MBA program came to an end with a big bang. The program started with a case competition and it was apt that it ended with one. It is amazing how much we had learned in just three short months – analyzing financial statements, forecasting future growth of companies, understanding strategy and recommending solutions to problems like launching a new product in a saturated market. The final case competition exemplified how an MBA enables young professionals to have a great grasp of business concepts and also a true confidence in their decision-making abilities.
With the end of the semester, a lot of students had found their groove and knew what they were meant to do. The winter break is an opportunity to take the time to delve deeper and reaffirm career choices. While most graduate students, take this time off to rest, relax and recuperate, MBA graduates need to make the best of this time to hunker down and prepare to be the strongest candidates in the up coming internship interviews.
It sounds hectic and demanding but for those who have ambitions and dreams to follow, it is motivating and inspiring to do all this with the largest group of determined, self disciplined people you can find! At schools like Carlson where the number of students in a class is smaller than those in Ivy leagues, students get a tremendous amount of support from peers, seniors and the career staff.
Winter break is a time to meet groups of peers over laughs and practice behavioral interviewing, functional interview skills and case preparation. Carlson career center rallies the troops by organizing mock interviews with alumni and employers from fortune 500 companies who are invested in the students at this school.
This break is about rest, relaxation, recuperation and preparation.
The winning team for the semester-end case competition.