The MBA Student Voice

Random thoughts on recruiting

My trusted Anderson padfolio

My story
It's hard to believe that the school year is almost over. I'm looking forward to my summer internship at Glooko, a start-up based in Palo Alto, CA that makes a mobile app for diabetes patients that help them manage their condition. I'll be an MBA Strategic Marketing Intern. It's a role I'd never have had I not gone back to business school.

I'm very lucky in a way: As a dual degree student, I had the luxury of not having to have an internship. (Of course, that wasn't really an option for me since I wanted a unique experience. Making money again wouldn't hurt also.) Consequently, I had a lot less pressure. I could take my time to explore and not put a lot of weight on each interview.

I did just that. I conducted informational interviews with varied people. I learned to ask great questions (helped get me a couple offers for academic internships). I was able to develop my stories for interview questions. I was able to concentrate on school more.  I got advice from the Parker Career Management Center and from my other school: The Fielding School of Public Health was wonderful in providing me with additional support.

I went through the actual interviewing process. Had a couple hits, a couple misses. It's all part of the process, the highs and the lows.

I recruited from the end of September (with Orientation and ACT) to mid-April (to my offers and final acceptance). I'm probably not giving the process justice, but it's hard to know until you've gone through it. It's definitely more intense than undergrad recruiting and b-school interviewing. I learned a lot about myself in the process, so there's intrinsic value in it.

Afterwards you pat yourself on the back and take yourself out for a celebratory dinner. I went to Grilled Cheese Night at Literati Cafe and topped it off with a Coke. Maybe not the most exciting but hey I'm a student, it's healthier than a steak and baked potato, and my girlfriend wasn't in town so I thought I'd have myself a bachelor's meal.

My trusty Anderson recruiting manual and recruiting materials

My advice (primarily for incoming first years)
1. Be focused.
Some of my friends were exploring different functions AND different industries. It's hard enough trying to recruit for corporate finance and preparing for companies as diverse as Mattel, Amazon, and Warner Bros. Try adding consulting, where you have both external (think McKinsey, Bain) and external consulting, and your life will quickly disintegrate into a recruiting nightmare. If you can, try to limit yourself.

2. Utilize the Parker Career Management Center.
It's a great resource. As Alejandra pointed out, you should go once a week. I didn't do that, and I regret it. Interviews are (at least in my opinion) more about getting reps than anything. Which leads me to my third piece of advice.

3. Develop relationships with two of the advisors at Parker.
Set up an appointment with every advisor and see who you jive with most. I'd develop relationships with two of them to get a different perspective on your resume, cover letter, etc. and to make sure you have someone to talk to in case your preferred advisor isn't available.

4. Don't compare yourself to others.
Easy to say, hard to do, I know. It's very difficult not to feel pangs of jealousy when you hear your friends getting offers. Of course, you're happy for them, but you still feel a heightened sense of anxiety. Also, remember that many internships are found outside of Parker and on-campus recruiting. It may seem that the whole class has gotten internships in January and February, but that's not true. I got the offer I wanted in January.

5. Keep an open mind.
It seems antithetical to my first piece of advice, but it's not. And let me explain. You may be dead-set on a particular company. But there could be an even better company experience out there for you if you just keep an open mind.

6. Take the long view.
You never know how things may turn out. That dream internship you got may not have turned out so great. Or maybe there wasn't enough funding for a full-time offer. Whatever the reason, you may need to re-recruit. Again, I had an advantage as a dual degree student: I knew I was going to have another summer internship, so I made sure to keep in touch with everyone I met along the recruiting process. I'm more primed to begin again next year.

That's it for now.

~Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15

Jim Stengel Special Visit: Marketing Guru of P&G and Anderson Prof

Hey future-CEO-type readers,

Jim Stengel recently returned from the Microsoft-hosted CEO summit with the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington and today he arrived at Anderson to speak to a room full of Anderson students.

Anderson is lucky to count Stengel amongst its illustrious adjunct professors. Stengel teaches an annual course for which he teaches an ideals-based approach to marketing, brings in his incredible award-winning industry experience and application and presents high-profile speakers to share insider insights.

Today,  Stengal us gave an overview and valuable business lessons about how to make a difference for your business, as second year students near graduation and first year students head to their MBA summer internships.

1) Purpose: If you have a brand that means something, take care of it.
There is nothing more valuable. Work with a purpose, an ideal and a mission. How it comes to life, how you activate and how it infiltrates your company is key. Corporations are focusing more and more on EQ rather than IQ.

2) Measurement: The importance and power of outputs is immense.
For example, Clay Christenson talks about three types of innovations: disruptive, sustainability, and efficiency. We focus on efficiency because it is easy to measure in the outcome, but how can we measure less quantitative tangible outputs that can equally add value that will help us think long term.

3) Critical Thinking: Checks and balances create knowledge and stronger value.
For example the CEO of PIMCO not only has an executive counsel, but then also has a secondary internal counsel committee, an external counsel committee and a group of MBAs scrutinize their thinking and ultimately mobilize better outputs.

We students were also lucky enough to hear Warren Buffet's top four insights, Bill Gates' top three challenges facing the world today and Steve Baumer's three key factors to building a successful business from Stengal. If you want to hear those for yourself and tap into the wealth of speakers that come to Anderson's campus, then I encourage you too to pursue an MBA at UCLA Anderson.

xo from Anderson,
Ashley

Ashley Mallinson, @AshleyMal

Chicago Microfinance Conference!

We first-years are gearing up for our second-year capstone project, the Applied Management Research (AMR) Program. Per the syllabus: 

The Applied Management Research (AMR) Program is a two-quarter, 10-unit course (MGMT 444A, 444B & 
444C) that provides a unique educational experience for second year MBA students and fulfills the 
comprehensive examination requirement of the MBA program. It is the capstone of the UCLA Anderson MBA 
program. It matches teams of MBA students with companies or organizations to develop a comprehensive 
business strategy that will enable the organization to move to the next stage of its organizational 
development. 

 

In other words, it is a two-quarter management consulting project that is our Master's Thesis. 

 

A field study is not the only way you can fulfill your Master's Thesis requirement; you can also create your own business or do an actual Master's Thesis with a faculty advisor.

 

My team and I are looking to work on an international microfinance project. A team member and I went to Chicago for the 10th Annual Zell Center Chicago Microfinance Conference. Thanks to the generosity of the Center for Global Management, our trip was subsidized. We learned a lot, hearing the President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation speak to hearing about the impact microfinance will have on entrepreneurship.

 

Definitely recommended for next year's incoming first years to go to. A great learning experience. 

 

The two highlights for me was 1) watching a Anderson team present its AMR project and 2) watching Anderson professor Bhagwan Chowdry moderate the session "Funding Microfinance: Financing the Financiers.

 

(In an aside, Professor Chowdry has a very interesting idea. From the Anderson website: "Professor Chowdhry has recently proposed Financial Access at Birth (FAB) initiative in which every child born in the world is given an initial deposit of $100 in an online bank account to guarantee that everyone in the world will have access to financial services in a few decades." You can even see his TED talk too.)

 

Without further ado, some pictures:

 

We went from 70s in California to 40s in Chicago. Makes you appreciate living in California more!

 

The Conference was at the University Club of Chicago. Awesome venue. Had a great view (see next picture).

 

 

We had to go see the Bean, didn't we? F for our jump though. 

 

What's a trip to Chicago without deep-dish pizza?

 

I love the Chicago skyline. It's beautiful.

 

Went to Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. I did a case study competition with some friends fall quarter so it was cool going to see it!

 

Was able to go to The Art Institute of Chicago before I left. Saw American Gothic!

 

That's all for now folks.

Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15

Over Already? Looking Back on My Two Awesome Years at UCLA Anderson

I am amazed (and a bit embarrassed!) to realize that my last post about my goings-on at UCLA Anderson was almost a year ago! But as graduation looms (what? where did the time go?!?) in a mere five weeks, it seemed a final wrap-up post about my time here at this awesome school was in order.  To get you up to speed, when I last wrote I was one quarter into my tenure as president of the High Tech Business Association and about to head off to Seattle for a summer interning as a Product Manager in the Kindle division at Amazon.com. For a look back at all my old posts, you can click here.

So much has happened since then, it’s hard to know where to begin, but I will start by saying my experience at Amazon was fantastic this summer, and I am delighted to report that I will be returning there after graduation full-time as a Senior Product Manager! Over 12 other Andersonians will be heading there too, joining the many others already at Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile and Nordstrom, and continuing our Seattle reach!

Josh Stark, me and Brad Lyman had awesome summers at Amazon and will be returning after graduation.

I was lucky enough to work with the Kindle team in the months preceding the launch of the next generation (Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire HD) on September 6, 2012. Because the team was so busy, I ended up with some pretty cool assignments, the coolest being building out a product that I got to present to Jeff Bezos. Yes, that Jeff Bezos.

"Bezos"? "War Room"? So yeah, pretty much the coolest thing ever.

Back at school, the High Tech Business Association (HTBA) continued on the upward trajectory started by the board preceding me and launching into high gear since last spring. A good overview of some of our activites and other opportunities in Tech that Anderson offers can be found in my fellow blogger Alejandra Rodriguez's post Let's Talk High Tech. One awesome event we added this year was Anderson's first ever High Tech Case Competition, sponsored by Amazon. Among the prizes winners received was guaranteed interviews with the company for summer internships or full-time positions!

Of course we promoted the case competition using social media!

Our annual Silicon Valley and Seattle Tech Treks took us to some of the most sought-after tech companies in the world - for example, over 20 in the Bay Area including Adobe, eBay/PayPal, Facebook, Google, Medallia, Salesforce, SanDisk, Twitter and YouTube.

HTBA inside the Zynga light tube!

HTBA "likes" Facebook!

We teamed with sister club the Entrepreneur Association to get more involved in the LA start-up scene, also known as "Silicon Beach." We incorporated company and incubator visits and events on campus like our Mobile in LA panel with start-up founders.

Founders from start-ups ParkMe, Shipmate, Mogreet, GonnaBe and Gumiyo

There's lots more great stuff to say about HTBA but I will let that thread continue with fellow blogger Ashley Mallinson, who is the newly elected president for the 2013-14 school year! (Unless of course she gets so busy with that position she doesn't find time to blog anymore. Not that I know anyone this has happened to.)

There were lots of awesome events at school and around Los Angeles, as always. Just this weekend was the annual Tour de Strand, a day-long pub crawl on bikes from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach along the beach paths. Things get pretty crazy by the end of the long, sunny, fun day, but here are two SFW pictures to give you an idea:

Biking from bar three to four along The Strand.

James Vogl, Kiara Barrett, and Kevin Hofstee were the "whistleblowers" or coordinators of this year's event, and they did a fabulous job!

Also this spring, the annual AnderGLAM Fashion show completely rocked the house. Students moonlighted as models, walking the catwalk in hot fashions sourced by the Retail Management Association (RMA), to the delight of their classmates. Several administrators and professors participated in this popular event, including the school dean, Dean Judy Olian! 

Kelsey Doorey, Dean Olian, Natalie Velasco, Al Osborne (Director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship), Sarah Alexander, Angie Lin and Kavi Kapadia pose on the red carpet.

A few other events from the year, in pictures:

The Women's Business Connection (WBC) Game Night, which included Board of Visitors member and school donor Marion Anderson (right) on the guest list!

My AMR Team made our final presentation in March after working on this project, the Anderson capstone experience, for six months. As professional and poised as we appear here, we were sooo excited to finally be done! (From left: Rob Michlovich, Jesse Pemstein, Matt Cautero, me, Uros Pajic)

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday at Anderson.

Street fair in Venice on yet another gorgeous Los Angeles day

On top of HTBA presidency, WBC vice presidency, classes, and all the rest, I still managed to run a few marathons in my free time, including Seattle in June, Santa Barbara in November (after going to New York only to have the NYC Marathon be cancelled in the wake of devastating Hurricane Sandy), Los Angeles in March, and Boston in April. My friend Dave Masterson and I took this picture at the finish line the day before the race - so chilling to think of what happened there under 24 hours later. I was so grateful to my wonderful Anderson classmates for all the support and love they showed me in the aftermath of this scary event.

Sending support and healing thoughts to everyone affected by the tragic events on marathon day.

And that is an extremely high level overview of my second year of business school. Anderson has been a wonderful experience for me - well worth the time and money involved. That said, now it's time to start making some money again so I can pay off those loans! Next stop: SEATTLE!

Enjoying a beautiful summer day in Seattle with my husband Stanton.

Thanks for joining me for the last two years, I hope I've helped more than a few of you realize that UCLA Anderson is definitely the place to be. And now it's off to the real world again, this time as an officially MBA'ed professional:

Wouldn't you hire me?

-Charlotte Baxter Maines, Full-time MBA Class of 2013

Twitter: @CharlotteK

C4C Sports Weekend

The photos you've all been waiting for... C4C sports weekend! For those of you who missed earlier blog posts, Challenge 4 Charity is a non-profit organization that nine West Coast business schools participate in. Over the course of the year, students volunteer and fundraise for charities to earn points. Said points make you eligible to participate in the final event of the year, sports weekend at Stanford. 

It's an unbelievable weekend, which words can barely describe. It's a chance to show true school spirit, support your classmates while they compete in sports, and meet people from other schools in a casual environment. 

Without further ado... a picture journey through the weekend. 

UCLA Anderson brings 200+ attendees every year to C4C weekend. It's consistently the most people out of any program. How do we get so many people? Well not ony do we field teams for every sport imaginable, but we also bring far and away the most fans to support all those teams. 

Here's a picture of the Challenge Race team, which as part of the Challenge Race had to compete in the Tug-of-War. 

One great thing about MBA programs is the diverse background of individuals. On the left is UCLA Anderson's own Reggie Hall, who played college football. On the right is Stanford's Anthony Gonzalez, who just so happened to play a few years in the NFL. The talent on the flag football field made it an exciting sport to watch!

Dodgeball. One of the fiercest, most competitive sports all weekend. No lie. Emotions run high when the difference between winning and losing might be getting grazed by a ball. However, this photo is of the CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING dodgeball team. They kept their cool under fire. 

Yet another CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING team, Hadas and Lily dominated ladies doubles table tennis. It's handy that Anderson has a ping pong table in the student lounge for impromptu practices all year round. 

The swim team competed in a variety of individual and team events, but perhaps the most challenging one was the Investment Banker relay. Each member had to swim in a full suit, then take it off, have the next team member put it on, and then repeat until everyone was done. It's not easy taking a wet suit off and on!

Tennis was another sport where Anderson had a chance to shine. Here's a great shot of the outgoing Anderson Tennis Club President serving against USC. 

Beach volleyball was another sport where a lot of talent was on display. The Anderson team, shown above, featured a former D-1 national championship player. Being West Coast business schools, a lot of teams had talent that spends their weekends on the beach practicing and playing against a high level of competition. 

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend is the cheer competition. Here's a glimpse of the team practicing a throw. The schedule for the weekend is set up so that the cheer and the Men's A Basketball playoffs don't conflict with any other sports, so that the maximum number of fans can watch and support their teams. 

On Saturday night, the weekend closes out with Battle of the Bands. Anderson's band brought the house down! As you can see in the second photo, over 1000 people from all 9 schools participate and enjoy the weekend. 

All in all, it was one of the most memorable weekends I've had at Anderson to date. I got to compete in softball and beach volleyball, support my friends competing in other sports, and build stronger bonds of friendship with everyone in attendance. 

I've already got next year's weekend marked on my calendar!

Until next time, 

~Kyle Forrest, follow me on Twitter and follow UCLAMBA

 

My typical day

People ask me what my typical day is like. But I'm not exactly sure there is one. All I can say for certain is that each day is very busy and comes with its own set of unique challenges and opportunities. So much happens between Monday and Thursday that I'm thankful I made it to the weekend.

So what's my typical day like? I won't venture a guess as to what a typical day in Fall or Winter Quarter was like - they're eons ago now. Every day is different like I said. Let's take a recent Wednesday as an example. View this photo I was basically busy from 8:30-7 at night. Another Wednesday was different. View this photo I had ample time to work out, relax, and do some schoolwork.

And even if each day is long, it's all worth it. Everything that I do is for my professional development or for fun and bonding with classmates. I just try to take each day as it comes. It's been a rewarding experience so far.

 

~Dwight Asuncion, MBA/MPH '15

A little bit of the everyday Part 2

Bus pass!

Many of you coming for A-Days will see several students' apartments in Brentwood, West LA, and Santa Monica. If you're scared of the commute from any of these places because of the dreaded LA traffic (and yes, it can be as bad as you've heard), don't be. You'll probably be near a bus stop for the Big Blue Bus.

 

I've started taking the bus more this quarter and I've really enjoyed my experience so far. Yes, door-to-door takes longer, but I'm able to relax, read on my phone or read for school, and not worry about traffic. And as a student, you're able to buy the BruinGO! Flash Pass which gives you unlimited rides on the Big Blue Bus or Culver City Bus during a quarter. Or you're able to pay for a ride $0.50 (vs. $1 as a non-student) each way Just something to think about and look into next year.

 

Working out

In my last post, I forgot to mention the pools! Probably because the ones I know about are all outdoor, and it's been too cold. But it's been warming up lately, and I intend on taking full advantage of them. North pool's right next to Anderson, the SAC only a stone's throw away. Sunset Canyon is a bit of a hike, but well worth it. Olympic size pool and beautiful. I love that area.

 

Over and out for now

 

Dwight Asuncion '15

A little bit of the everyday Part 1

If some of my fellow bloggers have commented that they have fallen off the face of the earth, I certainly have! Been a pretty long time.

Ayushman's, Melanie's, Kyle's, Alejandra's, and Chris' posts have all touched upon the many highlights at Anderson, so I'll just write about some of the everyday.

 

Working out

As a university, UCLA has the best combination of world-class academics and athletics. They have great facilities for both student-athletes and other students. Many of you will work out at The Wooden Center, which is centrally located on campus, and Drake Stadium, the track-and-field stadium. Anderson is close to both these facilities; even better, your parking is even closer. Typically, students end up at Lot 7, some at Lot 4. See here for a map. Notice Drake Stadium and the Wooden Center to the left and to right of Lot 7, respectively. I keep some work out clothes and shoes in the trunk of my car. You can also leave some in either your locker or in the changing room (Anderson has a changing room, so you don't have to wear your suit all day for interviews).

 

E-Reader

I highly recommend buying an e-reader before coming to campus. A lot of courses at Anderson are case-based and have e-readers. Carrying an iPad around is much better than lugging around lots of paper in the form of a physical reader or having to organize your cases in a binder, at least for me. And if you're worried about the cost of an iPad, know that e-readers are routinely $20 cheaper than purchasing a physical reader; Kindle and Nook books are also less expensive.

 

That's it for now. I'll post a little more soon.

 

~Dwight Asuncion '15 (I guess I'm actually gonna graduate with you guys rather than the cohort I started with)

 

2/3 Through Year 1, 1/3 Through the MBA!

With the winter quarter having wrapped up and spring quarter just beginning, it's hard to believe... I'm 2/3 of the way done with my first-year! All that remains between me and my summer internship are the 10 weeks of Spring Quarter (which will be action packed). On top of that, I'm 1/3 of the way done with my entire Anderson MBA experience! That is even more mind-blowing...

With that in mind, I'm dedicating this blog post to some activities that took place over the end of Winter Quarter and Spring Break. 

Academics Wrap-Up

The one required core class for Winter Quarter is Operations and Technology Management. Above you can see the wheel of knowledge that you move around throughout the quarter. While the class is challenging, as its the first time many of us have been exposed to operations in a granular fashion, I certainly learned a lot. Especially after learning about Queuing Theory - now everytime I see a long line I just want to fix it!

The second core class that you have the option to take in the Winter Quarter (if not in Winter, then you take it in Spring) is Strategy. This was my first class that is truly case-based - every class there was a case to read. Above you can see the themes that we learned about through all the cases. It was an amazing class, and a great way to learn a lot about a wide-variety of industries and companies through the case material.  

Our Strategy professor also closed out the quarter for us with some "gratuitous remarks" (shown above). The biggest takeaway I had was that people should keep their minds open to careers they hadn't previously thought of before entering business school - examples include health care, where the large scale reforms require tons of changes that business managers can assist with, and "non-sexy industries" such as baby carrots, where people have the opportunity to do exciting work and make a great living but might not have an exciting job from an outsider's perspective. 

UCLA Anderson Harlem Shake

 

On the non-Academic front, Anderson hopped on the Harlem Shake trend to pull together a video of our own right before spring break. Here it is, along with a look behind the scenes below. 

Behind the scenes

 

And from a smaller group of students, done on a beautiful, 75 degree day in Hermosa Beach... Harlem Shake Hermosa Beach

 

 

Japan Spring Break

This trip was unbelievable. 120 first-years, second-years, and significant others visited Kyoto, Osaka, Atami, and Tokyo over the course of 9 days. I need to give another HUUUGGEEE shout-out to the organizers who pulled off an incredible job! Some highlights are below: 

In Kyoto we had the pleasure of witnessing the last day of a 15-day long sumo tournament, which rotates cities on a bi-monthly basis. Our timing couldn't have been better! Having heard about sumo, but never seen it on TV or live before, it was quite the experience. There were some epic bouts that really got the crowd going, some matches that ended almost before they even began it seemed like, and plenty of ceremony.  

At one shrine along our journey, we had the chance to be instructed in zen meditation. It was a very peaceful moment during the trip, and gave everyone a chance to pause, take a breath, and relax. During the second part of meditation, we had the opportunity for the monk to help us "focus" by asking him to politely tap us on the back with a stick. Apparently this is done to monks in training to help clear their minds - not as painful as I thought it would be!

Another highlight was the trip to one of the Toyota factories and showroom. In the Operations Management class we had a case about Toyota, where we learned all about the Toyota Production System which is world-renowned in manufacturing circles. This was an incredible chance to see what we had learned in action - and also check out some really cool cars. One of the Lexus' on the showroom floor had back massages installed in the back seat! 

We had the good fortune of being welcomed by blooming cherry blossoms upon our arrival in Tokyo. Apparently they bloom annually sometime between March 25 and April 4, so we were truly lucky. It made for some gorgeous photo taking and walks around town from one location to another. 

Some of my classmates were adventurous enough to go to the Tsukiji fish market to witness the auction that takes place every morning for fresh fish. Now we know where the sushi we eat in LA comes from!

Looking forward into the Spring Quarter, it's jam packed! Over the course of April we have Anderson Admit Days (aka A-Days) where a large number of admitted students from the class of 2015 will come to Anderson for a weekend full of events; we have C4C Sports Weekend at Stanford where the battle for the Golden Briefcase will be decided; we have AnderProm, the annual spring formal; and tons of other events that take advantage of Anderson's location in LA and the beautiful spring weather. 

I'll be sure to keep you filled in on all the action!

Until next time, 

~Kyle Forrest, follow me on Twitter and follow UCLAMBA

 

 

Winter has come and gone!

It was perhaps not a long time ago when the air nipped, leaves began to fall, Anderson Afternoons became Anderson nights and the rare hoodie-covered soul who'd be found roaming the Anderson compound had but one thing to say with a grim stare, "Winter is coming..". Just the thought of a winter quarter with the heavy recruiting, interviews, sitting in classes with suits and the wretched Operations Management course haunted almost everyone, except ofcourse the above-mentioned bravehearts. My absence from this blog, therefore, is pardonable. Hibernating seemed to be the safest thing to do.

Alas, hibernate I did not. As we slowly began to ease into the rigorous MBA program, a lot more began to be piled up on our frail shoulders. Here are some of the highlights, from my perspective, of the war that ensued.

Recruiting

The quarter sort of began with days on the job for finance, tech, entertainment, sports and retail industries. My sweet but short Florida winter vacation was cut even shorter by the "Tech trek" organized by HTBA. The allocation of companies was done through a bidding system where you bid 1000 points across the 9-10 companies chosen for the trek. I was somehow allotted companies I had bid only 1 point for and thus had no motivation at all to travel to the bay area. Frankly, being from the tech industry I already had contacts in most of my target companies who I could've contacted and arranged a meeting at a bit more convenient time. So the tech trek was a bit of a dampener in that sense for me. However, a lot of my classmates had a good experience because they could've never arranged to visit these companies on their own, so I guess it definitely has more value for people with non-tech backgrounds. 

As soon as school started in January, most of the big tech companie started pouring in and people like me recruting for tech were left gasping for breath. We were under the impression that the early recruiting is usually for consulting and finance but tech started real early this time.  I applied for about 20 jobs in January alone and interviewed with atleast 10 over the next 2 months. Almost everyone underestimated the time it takes to drop resume and cover letter into the Parker posting for on-campus opportunities! Interviewing itself was ofcourse time consuming because of the unique way one needs to prepare for different companies. All in all, it was hectic, but not stressful. So many companies come on campus at UCLA Anderson that it tremendously reduces your travel needs and time. Interviewing at Parker (with the friendly staff, Emily Taylor with the usual coffee and your friends offering you comfort) makes it much more relaxed. All through I was in touch with my friends from other schools and it was obvious that Anderson had the lead in the quality of companies to campus (atleast for tech, not sure whats the scene for other industries). Product Management, Product Marketing, Corp. Strategy, Finance and Buss. Development were the usual roles  in the offing. I ended up riding high on the first wave of recruting, got three offers and will be spending the summer in Seattle! My classmates recruting for rech have also reported some amazing offers, proving Anderson's reputation in tech.

Academics

While the coursework, as usual, was great and the professors awesome, it was hard to maintain focus while you're waiting to leave the class midway for an interview. You're physically in class, but in all other respects all you care about is the job you're interviewing for. Naturally, academics tend to suffer. It is worth mentioning, then, that the professors here make it really easy for students by bringing in a ton of energy to the classroom. I'm lucky to have been taught by Anderson's own Dougie Houser, Bruce Carlin, who has a way of spicing up Finance classes through Pink Floyd quotes and Philip Leslie, who got in his son's entire second grade class to participate in the Disney case discussion for the Strategy course. Yes, classroom continued to be a lot of fun!

Ander-fun

The recruiting stress couldn't keep the future business leaders here from partying fridays and being hungover Saturdays. While I'm bound by the Ander-honour code for partying, I can't really talk about all the crazy things that happened. What I can talk about are fun things we did on campus. A case in point being the Harlem Shake, where a bunch of MBA students-gone-crazy wore the most preposterous costumes and danced awkwardly to the meme of our times. Oh, and we even did one on the beach!
The song and dance continued into the Anderson Talent Showcase organized by Anderson Creative, a show where Anderson students perform to raise money for Challenge4Charity.  It was overwhelming to see the kind of talent we have in our class. We're surely gonna kick some butt in the upcoming Stanford C4C weekend!

Ander-families

This was the quarter that saw the first of Ander-babies, as some of my classmates became proud fathers/mothers. Our section put up a baby shower for four to-be dads, all at once! We're one big family and we're only growing. Sig-O's of Anderson students are a pretty active bunch as well! Never to miss the social scene, some of them are even making the most of their stint in LA. If you're a sig-o reading this or someone who has a sig-O, check out Sunny's blog to explore the possibilities.

Thats it for now. They say in the game of MBA, you either win or you die. That makes us a 360-strong class of survivors!

By the way, If you're a new admit still making a decision about Anderson, feel free to hit up any of us who post here and we'll be happy to talk! I've already spoken to a few people in the last few weeks and looks like we have amazing class starting this fall!

~Ayushman Jain, MBA '14

Follow UCLA on Twitter @UCLAMBA