Career development is team coached at Goizueta Business School
The recruiting journey for the One-Year, accelerated MBA program at Goizueta Business School can be a bit, well, fast and furious. We start the program in May, complete the core semester from May to August, and begin official on-campus recruiting as early as September! I came in ready to jump in and apply myself to career preparation, and I knew Goizueta provided additional support along the way. Still, I was pleasantly surprised at how willing members of the Goizueta Business School community were to assist me in my recruiting journey.
The preparation began in the Spring, before I even attended orientation. I started “coffee chats,” typically a 30-minute meeting that is part get-to-know-you and part informational interview, with current Goizueta students. They were so open and helpful, sharing their experiences with recruiting and often connecting me to other Goizueta students who might also be helpful as I tried to figure out whether to pursue an internal strategy role or a strategy consulting role.
During the core summer, the Career Management Center (CMC) provided weekly sessions for the entire One-Year class. I was also connected with my CMC coach, Naya-Joi Martin 14MBA, who spent two hours helping me shine up my resume to highlight the impact I made in my past roles. When navigating whether to stay in consulting or move to industry, my peer career coach Ramya Ramaraju 20MBA shared with me a curated list of potential target companies that fit my skills and interests.
As I continued to decide between consulting and industry, many alumni were incredibly helpful. While there are too many to name to fit the word limit of a “blog post,” these women were especially willing to share with me about their impressive careers: Marisa Preston 02MBA, Dedra Casey 14MBA, Shobhika Somani 12MBA, and Creedence Rossi 19MBA. Additionally, the content and connections accessible through the Goizueta Consulting Association (GCA) and Goizueta Healthcare Association (GHA) provided valuable resources to assist in determining which route to choose.
As I narrowed in on consulting, the GCA resources helped me prepare. The student leaders shared their perspectives throughout the summer so One-Year students could be prepared for interviews in the fall. About 20 of my peers administered practice interviews with me – some several times. Sam Lichtveld, Jordyn Hodge, Tom Egge, and Willie Sullivan (all second-year/21MBA) were extra gracious with their advice. Two of my One-Year MBA core teammates, also interested in consulting careers, Andrew Nickerson and Addison Winkler (both One-Year/21MBA), and I held a weekly “accountability check-in” to discuss our progress on recruiting preparation and encourage one another.
I am grateful to say that all of this led to a full-time offer I was thrilled to accept! Next fall, I will join the Atlanta office of Bain & Company as a Consultant. While I was ultimately the only one who could perform in my interview, I know the Goizueta community had prepared me to be the best candidate I could be. The Career Management Center, Goizueta clubs, my fellow students, and alumni of all years were, and continue to be, incredible coaches in my career development!
