The Johnson and Cornell Alumni network

The same time last year, I was short listing business schools that I wanted to apply to in the fall. In addition to the reputation of the various MBA programs, I was interested in learning more about each school’s alumni network. I spoke with several students at the Johnson school, including my friend Srikanth Babu Tummala who was enrolled in the AMBA program. The fact that the students were willing to spend take time off their busy schedules to answer a prospective student’s (my) questions was an eye-opener. I was thinking that if these students were representative of the Johnson and Cornell alumni network, then I could only imagine the lengths that they would go to help their fellow “Cornellians”.

As a student at the Johnson school, I have had the opportunity to experience the generosity of alumni who are willing to help us in any way they can. The fall recruiting season at the Johnson school is in full swing with corporate briefings four days a week. On Monday of this week, Citi’s Global Transaction Services Group was here for their annual briefing. Johnson is a core school for Citi and the school’s alumni network at Citi is huge. Paul Gallant, the CEO of Citi’s GTS group is a Cornell alumnus who promotes the school and university in any and every way he can. Sean Day, a Johnson 03 alumnus was also here to talk about Intel’s new Accelerated Leadership Program (ALP) for graduate MBA students. Sean ensured that Intel included the Johnson school in its list of core recruitment schools for the ALP program. The same can be said for GE’s Rebecca Cain, Chad Schmidt and Monica Schmidt who come on campus every year to recruit for GE’s world famous Experienced Commercial Leadership Program. The list goes on and on, and I am sure that I will get to know more alumni in the coming weeks.

On a personal note, I have contacted several alumni across the globe for help and information about consulting and general management positions. Johnson and Cornell alumni can be found at every major consulting firm and almost all companies across industries. The school and university maintain a fantastic database that contains background and contact information of all alumni. The response from the alumni has been nothing short of outstanding. They have called and e-mailed me and offered invaluable company and career advice. Now, I finally understand what it means to have a powerful alumni network backing you up. Please consider this when applying for an MBA program. Its importance and usefulness cannot be overstated. I cannot wait to give back to the school once I have graduated. Some of you have read my blog and contacted me for information. I apologize if I have not responded as my schedule was all over the place. Rest assured I will get in touch with you shortly.

I found out this morning that I have been elected as the VP of special events and planning for the General Management Association (GMA). I will be working with my fellow AMBA classmate, Tayfun Uslu over the coming months to organize corporate events on campus. I hope that when some of you start the AMBA program next year, you will find the GMA as an even better resource that what it is now. My case interview practice comes along thanks to Dhruba De. It is time for me to get started on my cover letters. So till next time, goodbye.

Start of the fall semester

The fall semester has begun. AMBA’s are now officially second year students and we can customize our courses depending on our career preferences, having completed the core courses in the summer. As I have mentioned previously, I am interested in a consulting or general management career and have enrolled in courses that will augment my existing accounting, finance and economics knowledge. I will write more about these courses as the semester moves along.

One of the unique and performance learning advantages of the Johnson AMBA program is the management practicum hosted by Randy Allen, who is the associate dean of corporate relations and senior consultant in residence. During the summer, Randy works with several companies to obtain projects in consulting, high technology, healthcare and financial services. These projects are then assigned to us depending on our career preferences. The groups then work with the companies during the fall semester with both company and in house (Johnson) advisors, who provide us with guidance and feedback. The capstone of our practicum experience is a two week on site internship, where the teams present their projects to senior company executives. I am working with Citigroup’s Global Transaction Services on an industry analysis project that promises to be an exciting learning experience. In addition to the opportunity to apply our business education to a real corporate problem, the practicum provides us with interview talking points, especially since the AMBA program does not allow for an industry internship. We are extremely thankful to Randy who has done a phenomenal job in procuring these projects for us in a slow economy.

Some of us in the AMBA program including yours truly volunteered in facilitating the Johnson Outdoor experience, which is a two day off site team building event for the incoming first year students. This event is organized by second year students, but AMBA students are encouraged to help for a couple of reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it helps us network and build relationships with first year and second year students. Secondly, we have tons of fun. This is just another example of several leadership opportunities available in a small business school such as Johnson.

I am also a teaching assistant for the Strategic Hospitality Management course for Professor Cathy Enz in Cornell’s world renowned school of hotel management, which is situated across the street from the Johnson school. I am confident that this assignment will strengthen my ability to think strategically about business problems while allowing me to help undergraduate students with their coursework. The fall semester promises to be a roller coaster ride. I can feel the adrenaline flowing already.

The AMBA summer experience

This past Tuesday, the AMBA class of 2009 celebrated the end of the summer season, and the summer term with a dinner at Dean Doug Stayman’s house. It was a pleasant evening as I did not worry about completing an assignment or studying for a quiz or an exam. But it was also mildly unnerving as I was not used to having any free time on my hands. Technically, I do not need to be at Sage Hall (home to the Johnson School of Business) for the next two weeks, a thought that is all but alien to me. The summer semester was brutal, but arguably it was also the best summer of my life. Sleeping five hours day, waking up bleary eyed for early morning finance quizzes and seldom going home, tell only a part of the story. Learning from my incredibly talented classmates, the Johnson School professors and staff more than made up for lack of sleep, and this in essence is what makes the Accelerated MBA program at the Johnson School a unique and unforgettable experience. On our first day, Dean Joe Thomas remarked that we would all graduate in a “few weeks” and he was not kidding!!! The recruiting season is around the corner and I need to get cracking on preparing for consulting case interviews. The “free” time that I think I have is nothing but a mere illusion.

Greetings

Neela and I are originally from India, having spent the last seven years in Boston and Singapore. We have a beautiful 17 month old daughter Sanjana, who is extremely excited at the prospect of "exploring" the big wide world around her. Prior to coming to Ithaca, I spent three years leading a product development team in Asia for Teradyne Inc, the world's leading semiconductor test equipment manufacturer. Travelling across Asia was an exhilarating experience, but proved to be a big dietary challenge, yes I am a vegetarian!! I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune in India and a graduate degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. I want to switch careers from engineering to consulting, and found the Accelerated MBA program at the Johnson School to be the perfect fit given my background and career aspirations. I look forward to sharing my experiences and perspectives about life in Ithaca and the Johnson School over the next 12 months.