MBA friends Magazine MBA friends Magazine 1 issue | Page 14

here 6 years, I have been able to work on three different teams. I went from a sales
role into a more operations and strategy role and finally into an even larger umbrellaan operations and strategy role in which I support all of North America across all of
Google’s properties.
So, I’m very happy that UCLA gave me the right connections to alumni who were in the
field and the right connections to the classes that helped me make the transition. UCLA
also provided me with the academic rigor that a company like Google expects. I’m very
fortunate that all the stars aligned for me and I’m very happy that UCLA Anderson was
my choice.
WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE ON CHOOSING A BUSINESS SCHOOL?
If you’ve already made a decision to get your MBA, there are some things that I would
recommend you consider for finding the right program for you. One thing to consider is
how reputable a certain school is with the types of companies where you’d like to be
employed. Essentially, do these job recruiters have a good relationship with the school
you are considering? Also, what about the geographic location? Some recruiters and
companies have a geographical preference for schools that are in their region.
Another consideration is the academic rigor of the program. There are a lot of schools
which have great reputations for being quantitative, some have great reputations for
being more marketing focused and some schools have great reputations for being more
operations and strategy focused. Some are just general management schools. The
types of classes that you’ll take at a school is a good indication of the type of focus that
schools puts into their program and what you would hope to get out of that program if
you select that school.
Most importantly, you need to consider the overall fit of the school. When you choose
what school to attend, there are hundreds of other students in the same position as you,
who are also choosing that school. So, if you think that school fits you personally, it’s
likely that you’ll find like-minded students in your class who also made the same
decision.
WHAT FUN ACTIVITIES DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN WHILE AT SCHOOL?
While I was at UCLA Anderson, I was one of the social chairs. Essentially, I helped plan
fun events. Being in the Los Angeles area, we were very close to all of the TV and film
studios, so we did a group excursion to “The Price Is Right”- the game show that had
been on TV for years and is still on. While we were there, Bob Barker was the host. So,
we were fortunate to have him in his prime before he retired. One of the most
memorable parts was the fact that one of my classmates spun a dollar on the wheel,
made it to the Final Showcase Showdown and won the Showcase Showdown! It was
great to have a group of 30 of us students rush the stage and congratulate him. He won
a Dodge Ram Truck, a vacation and all these other fun things. So, that was a great
experience and only one you can have if you are local to Los Angeles and close to those
TV and film studios.
HOW WAS YOUR INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE?
Between my first and second year, I did my internship with AEG: Anschutz
Entertainment Group. You may not know their name, but they are basically the parent
company behind a lot of sports entertainment franchises such as the Los Angeles Kings,
The Staples Center, The Nokia Theater in New York, and the New York Red Bull Soccer
Team. Those are all examples of AEG enterprises. My internship was in database
marketing. Although it doesn’t sound very sexy, keep in mind that I came from a sales
background so I didn’t have any exposure in my previous line of work to marketing and
I wanted to get into marketing and strategy post business school. So, this was a great