Tag: MBA women

Part of a series about summer internships from Olin MBA ’20 students. Today we hear from Claudia Otis, who worked at Microsoft as a finance intern.

How did I prepare for my interview/land the internship?

I applied to the finance position at Microsoft through Prospanica’s job portal. Shortly after, I got an email saying that they wanted to interview me at the career fair.

I researched the company and the cultural change it was undergoing since Satya Nadella became CEO.

I prepared behavioral and technical questions. For example, the reasons why I wanted to work in tech and at Microsoft after working in investment banking.

After I passed the first round, Microsoft called me for the on-site interview. I prepared by doing mock interviews with my career coach at the WCC and with another classmate who was also going to the final interview.

Once the day of the final interview arrived, I just tried to be myself, relate to people and be confident about my preparation. I was so happy when I got the email saying I got the position!

How I am using what I have learned at Olin during my internship?

At Olin, I improved my networking skills, which helped me during my internship to interact with different teams and people, expanding my network within Microsoft.

Thanks to my class of Power and Politics with Peter Boumgarden, I was aware of the politics within the company. I was able to read the room and navigate conversations taking the lessons I learned from the course into account.

The CEL project I did over the spring taught me how to work on a broad end-to-end project and manage relationships with the team and main stakeholders.

How the internship is preparing me for my final year at business school?

Managing my own project at Microsoft has helped me develop the confidence to lead a CEL project in the fall semester. I also feel more comfortable with broad or ambiguous projects. The internship at Microsoft gave me the opportunity to interact with very talented people, interns and full-time employees, and make new connections I can leverage during my last year of the MBA.

Part of a series about summer internships from Olin MBA ’20 students. Today we hear from Fifunmi Ogunmola, who worked at United States Tennis Association as a finance intern.

How I prepared for my interview/landed the internship

Over the summer, I was a finance intern at the United States Tennis Association. I had applied for corporate finance intern roles on LinkedIn, MBA Focus and other job boards and then, I received a call from a director at the USTA as part of a pre-interview screening. I eventually interviewed with a senior finance director, who became my manager.

I prepared for the interview with resources from the Weston Career Center. I had mock interviews with some of my peers. Also, I had access to resources to help me prepare for finance-specific interview questions.

How I used what I’ve learned at Olin during my internship

With multiple team projects and club activities in our first year, we learned collaboration. This proved useful during my internship. I had to work with my teammates, other interns and staff in other departments.

In addition, learning critical and strategic thinking in my classes helped me put my summer project in perspective; the model I was developing was not just to solve a department’s problem, but to provide a solution with nationwide impact.

How the internship prepared me for my final year at business school

Prior to the internship, I asked my manager in an email how to prepare for the internship. He asked me to come with an open mind. I saw the relevance of that advice multiple times during the internship. Beyond learning new technical and managerial skills, I learned so much about an unfamiliar industry.

As I begin my final year of business school, I intend to have an open mind; to explore more opportunities to connect and to embrace learning in all forms.

A day in the life

9:00 a.m.: Workday officially begins.

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Check emails; check-in with manager on revisions to the 2020 budget presentation; check-in with teammates; complete pending tasks.

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Intern check-in with the New York office.

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Work on tasks for the day; attend meetings (with teammates, other departments, work mentor etc.).

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch and learn (professional development sessions over lunch).

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Complete tasks for the day; work on summer project or other projects.

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Intern project meeting.

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Work continues.

5:00 p.m.: Already?! Tomorrow is another day!

How the internship is shaping my long-term career goals

The projects I worked on during the internship further revealed my career interests in finance and data analytics. This has guided my selection of classes and my decision to take complementary courses on LinkedIn Learning.

In addition, some of the lunch and learn sessions I attended taught practical skills on corporate communication, networking with senior executives and building a personal brand, all important elements of career success.

I believe that as I continue to gain the academic knowledge required to achieve my career goals, and as I build upon these specific skills learned during my internship, I am on the path to an enriching career.

Part of a series about summer internships from Olin MBA ’20 students. Today we hear from Destiny Davis, who worked at Inspiring Capital as a consulting and strategy intern.

Over the summer of 2019, I interned with Inspiring Capital, a New York-based strategy consulting firm that integrates profit and purpose within the social impact sector. Being in a joint degree program, I knew I wanted to infuse both of my worlds of social work and business together to have impact. Inspiring Capital gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that.

How I prepared for my interview and landed the internship?

The interview process for Inspiring Capital was a combination of three rounds. This included a virtual video interview, a strategy deliverable and a group business case. I made sure to be my genuine self throughout the entire process, and made sure to know about the firm to the best of my ability. This included knowing the history, past portfolio of clients and level of impact had the previous year. As a part of my preparation, I did case prep as well.

A day in the life?

My day-to-day activities at Inspiring Capital were two-fold. Tuesday through Friday were spent working directly from my client’s office on my project on evaluation in downtown Brooklyn. My project was to work with my client’s operations department to make a sustainable business strategy to enhance their impact value, evaluation metrics and data management processes.

In addition, every Monday was spent at a different company. From understanding the importance of the roles that both not-for-profits and for-profits play in achieving our nation’s sustainable development goals with the United Nations Global Compact, to design thinking with Salesforce, to comprehending the landscape of innovative impact investing with The Rockefeller Foundation, along with using Blockchain for Good with IBM and grasping the long-term impact of circular economy in fashion with Eileen Fisher Inc.

This summer was nothing short of impactful. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing what business for good looked like in all of these different spaces—therefore, helping me to understand what profit and purpose looked like being integrated together to change the world.

How did the internship prepare me for my final year at Olin? How is the internship shaping my long-term goals?

My summer at Inspiring Capital solidified what I truly want to do. I enjoy the idea of doing strategy for a firm that wants to maintain profitability, but still considers the social impact of their footprint on the world.

Understanding this, I am able to take classes that pertain to this area of work. For opportunities, I am willing to seek out connections that will allow me to use the mindset of profit plus purpose, and doing great business while having impact.

Note: Women’s Weekend is Nov. 10-11, 2017. Find information here.

This time last year I was flying to St. Louis for Women’s Weekend! I felt so lucky to have gone to WashU for undergrad about 5 years ago that when I heard about Women’s Weekend, I jumped at the chance to visit campus again.

It sounds cliché, but campus was just as I remembered it: gorgeous fall foliage, students playing ultimate frisbee on Mudd Field… But where I remembered a colossal, cement building from the 70’s (formerly Elliot Hall), now stood Bauer Hall, the new home of the Olin Business School.

The new building took my breath away. (You should definitely come see it in person!) My eyes immediately rose to the glass ceiling above me, covering the atrium. Flash forward one year and that atrium is my favorite place to study under the skylight or grab coffee with friends between classes. (Thank goodness for the Starbucks on the third floor!) In my first three months as an Olin MBA candidate, Bauer Hall already feels like home.

The Olin Women In Business (OWIB) club got us off to a running start with my first MBA classes. I remember walking through my first case in a practice session at Women’s Weekend. It was quickly followed by a highly sought-after seminar on negotiation taught by Prof. Hillary Anger Elfenbein.

We also heard from amazing Olin alumnae like Dr. Mary Jo Gorman, EMBA ‘96, and Zoe Hillenmeyer, MBA ‘13. Dr. Gorman is a serial entrepreneur who founded Prosper STL, a start up accelerator for women in the St. Louis innovation ecosystem. She’s just one of the many incredible WUSTL alums who visit campus regularly. Zoe Hillenmeyer won the Forte Foundation’s Edie Hunt Award and has since gone on to IBM. At Women’s Weekend, her energy and devotion for Olin was contagious and convinced me that I could make my MBA experience exactly what I wanted it to be at Olin.

Zoe Hillenmeyer, MBA ‘13, presents to attendees at last year’s MBA Women’s Weekend.

With my first semester flying by, I know that is true. I’ve found campus to be welcoming and open to new initiatives, suggestions, and feedback. One recent example is our new OWIB initiative to involve allies on campus. Our aim is to deepen conversations on gender equity and inclusion on campus, and provide more structured ways for allies to get involved. Even before applying, I knew this was a priority for me—and from Day 1, the Olin community has found ways to support and facilitate this goal.

I can’t wait to meet women just like me a year ago at this year’s Women’s Weekend! I’m excited to tell you more about what we’re working on in OWIB and to show you more of my favorite aspects of the Olin experience!

Guest Blogger: Julie Kellman, MBA 2019

The St. Louis Business Journal salutes its annual list of the Most Influential Business Women this month and it’s no surprise to find five outstanding Olin MBA women graduates among the honorees. Congratulations to all 25 women on the list!

We’re especially proud of the five Olin alumnae featured on the 2016 list. Drumroll, please:

• Mary Jo Gorman, MD, EMBA ’96, Lead Managing Partner at Prosper Women Entrepreneurs Startup Accelerator
• Linda Haberstroh, EMBA ’10, President, Phoenix Textile, Corp.
• JoAnn Levy, AB ‘83/JD ‘86/EMBA ‘99, Vice President of Systems Operations at Mercy
• Mary Mason, MD ‘94/PMBA ‘99, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of Specialty Companies, Centene
• Sara Wade, EMBA ‘07, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Express Scripts

“The 25 women featured on this list have helped grow the St. Louis business community while making a difference with local charities and nonprofit organizations,” according to the Business Journal. Link to article.