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14 Oct 2021, 12:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Five Pieces of Advice for Admitted Fuqua Students |
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When you receive that wonderful call from Admissions on your admittance, the last thing on your mind is how you can make the best of your experience. But, the more you’re aware of what Fuqua has in store for you, the better prepared you’ll be. 1. Ensure you know what areas are important to you This will pay huge dividends when you’re in the thick of things, especially in the fall, when events are aplenty. The ranking of your priorities, including but not limited to recruiting, classes, social gatherings, family, and personal time, will vary from your classmates’ priorities. Recognizing which of those will contribute to the goals you have at Fuqua will help with the time management decisions you’ll have to make. 2. Trust what current Fuquans and alums have to say They’ve been through it before, and chances are, whatever you’re going through, someone’s probably gone through it themselves at some point too. So, don’t think that you’re the only one. 3. Think about how you can exemplify Team Fuqua during your time in the program Team Fuqua is the singular thing that sets itself apart from other top business schools. Understanding how you contribute to that will give you appreciation for the community you’ve become a part of. 4. Take changes that come your way in stride What you imagined your business school experience being like may not be exactly how it plays out. But, that’s okay. It’s what the whole MBA journey is all about. You may be dead set on recruiting for a career path, only to realize that it wouldn’t have been a compatible match after all. 5. Embrace your learning team members Get to know your consequential leadership team (C-LEAD) as early and as much as possible. Your C-LEAD members are going to be your lifelines throughout your first year, and, your first year will fly by quicker than you realize. I hope this list is a good primer for preparing for your time at Fuqua. From what I’ve learned in the program, I’ll always be thinking about how I can be a better leader and what that means for various stakeholders. Giving back is something that fills my cup. Providing insights for others to learn from is helping me prepare for leadership opportunities in the future and allowing me to exercise my desire to serve others. The post Five Pieces of Advice for Admitted Fuqua Students appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
19 Oct 2021, 11:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Being an MBA Dad is the Best Way to Experience Fuqua |
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Looking back at my past two years, the reason I was always chased by time was mostly because I was still unsure of what I was looking for. Not the bigger picture things like being able to spend more time with family or being a useful member of society, but rather on a somewhat tactical level, the “whats,” “wheres,” and “hows” of life. These were the questions I was forced to ask myself, but in a hyper-distracted state of mind because of all the classes, recruiting events, and interesting classmates I desperately wanted to get to know better. Not to mention the time spent on thinking how my expectations coming to school had been so different. Wasn’t an MBA all about having a good time learning how to ’network‘ over golf and improve our ’leadership skills‘ in exotic places during spring break? In addition to all that, I had uprooted my family, put a hold on my wife’s career, and dragged them here with me into a situation where time was already scarce as it is. Doing all of the above while trying to figure out how to schedule drop-offs and pickups for our child, how to help my wife settle into this new environment and enjoy this phase of our lives, and obviously prioritizing what would be best for our family as a consideration during recruiting were definitely added challenges. Watching my single care-free (exaggerating for production value—obviously nobody was carefree) classmates plan weekends together and have nothing else to worry about besides getting an MBA and landing a job, at times I felt that I was very late to the game. That I should have realized sooner that I would end up here at some point, that perhaps if I had come at an earlier phase in my life things would have been so much easier. Misery loves company. Speaking to other classmates who were also parents, we would often complain about not being able to go out at night with the rest of our friends, worrying over how our partners were doing while we were at school. Coming to school we had been completely ignorant of just how hectic things would be and had actually hoped this would be an opportunity to spend more time with our children. How ironic? At the same time, these conversations often made us realize how the hardships were actually helping us build a stronger foundation as a family. Many of the conversations I was having with my wife were topics we were newly exploring together—how we need to learn to express ourselves to one another better, what line of work we each want to be in but also what kind of lifestyle we want to lead, geographically, where we want to be after school. All topics that somehow, we had failed to go deeper into before coming to Fuqua. In retrospect, it was definitely a different experience. Instead of going to a different continent and meeting new people as most of my classmates did, we traveled to nearby beaches or went camping with other families. We shared tips on family-friendly events happening in Durham on the weekends, discussed how the school system in NC was different from other states and which strawberry farm had the least visitors on weekends. Our children got closer with each other on playdates, and after moving to different places after graduation, we still Facetime with the kids just because they miss each other. If anything, all the second thoughts about being an MBA dad that I had at the beginning of school were long gone—silly thoughts that had looked at only one side of the meadow. Now my family is as attached to Duke and Fuqua as I am, and Durham has become a place of many, many good memories that we wouldn’t trade for the world. And most importantly, both my wife and I came out of this experience closer than ever before, ready to take on whatever challenges lie ahead of us. Many of the soul-searching activities that I partook in at school were around keywords. What are some keywords you would use to describe yourself? Mine have, and always will be, first and foremost, husband and father. Now I can add Fuquan to that list. Everything else is mayonnaise. The post Being an MBA Dad is the Best Way to Experience Fuqua appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
21 Oct 2021, 07:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: How Our MBAs Found Meaningful Work (and Set Records!) in 2021 |
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I’ve been privileged to serve on the careers team at Fuqua for more than 20 years and have seen many employment trends come and go during that time. No two years are ever the same when it comes to the types of jobs our students are seeking and the ways our team helps facilitate connections. Agility is essential to meet both student and recruiter needs in an ever-evolving business landscape. However, none of us could have predicted the many twists and challenges of the pandemic—which makes the record-breaking results from our Daytime MBA 2021 Employment Report all the more impressive. In a year as turbulent as 2021, the resilience and sustained excellence necessary for each Fuqua student to secure a desired position tells an important story about them, and about the strength of our faculty and curriculum, experiential learning, recruiting and career resources. In light of such complexity, their career outcomes are even more noteworthy. Here are some of this year’s key takeaways and my thoughts on what’s behind the shifts: The Class of 2021 set new Fuqua records in annual salary and how quickly they landed jobs. A one-year increase of five percentage points in job acceptances, from 91% in 2020 to 96% in 2021, is the highest in all my years at Fuqua. A significant driver is that more graduates accepted full-time offers from their intern employer, also up five percentage points from 2020, to 58% of the class. This trend benefits students who work hard to secure a desired internship, as well as employers, who invest in their internship program as a primary channel to full-time employment. International students experienced increased job success, up to 94% employed (when we collected the data three months after graduation) from 87% in 2020. We attribute this jump to the increased popularity of Fuqua’s Management Science and Technology Management (MSTeM) second major, which benefits both students and employers. MSTeM offers two additional years of U.S. work authorization to eligible students for a total of three years of work eligibility in the U.S. In addition to the potential visa benefit, MSTeM graduates are also highly sought after for the skills they bring in data analytics and in leading and managing technological transformation. Mean annual salary rose four percentage points over last year, from $135,935 to $141,109, also a new high. The consulting, technology, and financial services sectors saw salary gains of three to five percentage points each. MBAs went into many of the same fields as previous years, but into slightly different roles. Consulting, technology, and financial services account for 76% of acceptances in both 2021 and 2020, yet the types of roles are evolving with business needs. For example, with increased reliance on online shopping, the percentage of technology jobs in e-commerce jumped by 30% in just one year, from 40% of all tech in 2020 to 52% in 2021. We also saw an uptick in the operations function, as supply-chain bottlenecks impacted industries from retail to manufacturing, due to the pandemic. While still small at six percent of our graduates’ jobs, operations has tripled in the past two years, up from two percent in 2019. Graduates accepted jobs in 25 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Although New York City continues to be the top single destination, the Western states have become a regional favorite, the largest this year at 28% of the class. Our newest alumni accepted positions in California, Washington, and Oregon, and Seattle and San Francisco were two of the top five metro locations. Approximately three percent of 2021 graduates accepted positions outside the United States in comparison to six percent in 2020. Destinations included Mexico City, Paris, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Seoul, and Toronto. Students Continue to Find Jobs Through our Career Management Center and Fuqua. Employers had to rethink their high-touch, largely in-person engagements when travel came to a halt and students weren’t on campus. We are grateful to our employer partners and students for their ingenuity, flexibility and patience in adapting to a virtual recruiting environment. Despite the changing landscape, Fuqua was committed to playing a central role in student employment. In 2020 – 2021, 80% of both graduates and interns attribute their accepted role to a school-facilitated opportunity or event, a number which has held steady in recent years. What shifted are the channels through which students and recruiters engaged. As campus interviews went online, they became more decentralized and accounted for less acceptances than in recent years. Conversely, Fuqua job postings increased in volume and importance. These trends are especially notable when comparing internship recruiting over the past two years – job postings increased by 216% from 12% of the 2021 intern class finding opportunities through listings to 26% for internships in 2022. Our community continues to show up for each other, even in difficult times. I remain grateful to our students, alumni, recruiters and our careers team for the commitment they exhibit, year after year, to make sure our newest graduates find the best possible career match. It is a gift to be at the intersection of the work of so many talented people. Our faculty are continuing to evolve our courses to make sure our graduates are as prepared as possible for the complexities they will face. In fact, the Class of 2021 was the first to experience our newest curriculum update and will take these new learnings with them out into their first jobs, and beyond. I look forward to learning how our Class of 2021 will positively impact their teams, companies, and communities. Now more than ever, we need business leaders who can instill common purpose to work toward a common goal. I’m proud to be part of a team making that happen—one graduate at a time. The post How Our MBAs Found Meaningful Work (and Set Records!) in 2021 appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
25 Oct 2021, 07:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Fuqua’s Approach to Entrepreneurship Education |
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Sometimes people ask me why entrepreneurship education should be taught within our MBA program if most students don’t aspire to launch a venture immediately post-graduation. The answer is twofold: first, cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset is an essential skill for today’s business leaders and, second, entrepreneurship may not be the first step out of an MBA. In fact, a recent survey of our graduates suggests it’s a pathway that many choose later in their careers. An Entrepreneurial Mindset Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and honing an entrepreneurial toolkit helps our students excel throughout their professional journey, even if they never desire to start their own venture. At the heart of entrepreneurship is the ability to identify a problem worth solving, develop a solution that meets and addresses that specific problem; test, in a resource-efficient way, whether or not the target customers will pay you for the solution; and marshal resources to support and scale the effort. At Fuqua, we define this as the entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurship courses at Fuqua and the co-curricular programs offered through the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) are designed to cultivate exactly these competencies, which can be applied to driving growth through innovation inside a larger organization or launching a startup venture. Fuqua believes in the importance of the entrepreneurial mindset so strongly that in 2020 we introduced the Entrepreneurial Mindset and Action course and required it of all Daytime MBA candidates. The course allows students to learn and apply their newly acquired entrepreneurial mindset through hands-on, in-class exercises and an innovation project that threads through the course. The course content is designed to ensure Fuqua is preparing graduates with skills that will make them stand out among their peers as innovators inside large firms as well as prepare them to be successful in future entrepreneurial endeavors. I love learning stories about how the course is already making a difference, like this blog post by Claudia Ceballos, Daytime MBA Class of 2022. Becoming an Entrepreneur Mid-Career While entrepreneurship may not be the first professional step out of an MBA degree, a recent survey of more than 1,300 of our Fuqua alumni found that 16% launch an entrepreneurial venture over the course of their career journey. Additionally, we learned that our alumni start their entrepreneurial journey on average 13 years after they complete their MBA. While this may seem surprising to some, this is in line with an extensive body of research that studies successful entrepreneurs. Despite the fact that the media celebrates the persona of the recent college graduate living out of their parent’s garage, research has found that the average age of successful entrepreneurs is actually 45 years old. At this stage of their careers, individuals have deep knowledge and expertise within an industry and know what problems are meaningful and need to be solved. This is embodied in Fuqua alum Wayne Cavanaugh, who experimented with entrepreneurship during his time at Fuqua, gained operating experience through working in private equity post-graduation, before founding his own venture, Ninja Nation, a franchise of obstacle course arenas targeting youth and adults. Given this, it’s clear why an entrepreneurship education curriculum that focuses on cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset is the perfect fit with an MBA. Fuqua’s approach to cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset among all our students, not only students well in the early stages of their career as they support the growth of their chosen employer, but it also equips them with the skills that they will need when they see the right opportunity later in their careers and are ready to take the entrepreneurial leap. The post Fuqua’s Approach to Entrepreneurship Education appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
02 Nov 2021, 08:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Why I Decided I Needed to Learn to Speak the Language of Business |
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Language has always been a guiding force in my life, opening doors and windows that have shaped the course of my personal path and career. My experiences with languages beyond English have not been limited to a classroom. I have spent more than half of my life immersed in German and Spanish. My world view, forged by the pursuit of language, has been facilitated by my ability to move among the many places I have called home, and most impacted by the people in my life who haven’t had this ability. The languages I speak, and more importantly don’t speak, as well as my reflections on home and borders is what led me to pursue an MBA at Fuqua. While working at a language school in Mexico after college, I relished the opportunity to immerse myself in every layer of the school, from transitioning the institution’s finances from clunky Excel sheets to accounting software, to forming lifelong ties with community members. Growing into my position was a thrilling, uphill battle. Not only did I have to convince my team that even though I was much younger than most staff and students, I was qualified to manage the English and Spanish programs. As an American, with a majority Mexican staff, I also had to convince my colleagues that I deserved this responsibility. I came to realize that my differences proved to be my greatest strength. I could speak Spanish fluently and had a deep understanding of Mexican cultural and societal norms. Coming from the U.S. and having lived in Europe, I could also relate to and advocate for our international students, serving as a unique bridge between the two groups. My journey with education also brought me to Vienna, Austria. Volunteering with Middle Eastern refugees while participating in a co-sponsored Austrian Ministry of Education and Fulbright program, I was reminded of how precarious the idea of home can be.  Enjoying winter in Vienna, Austria in front of Schönbrunn Palace, a quick ten minute metro ride from where I used to live, December 2018 Through teaching German and English, I formed meaningful relationships with young men who, pushed to the brink of desperation, left everything behind, only to encounter significant roadblocks to building sustainable lives in their new home. We could relate to each other as foreigners in the land of schnitzel and Mozart, forging new lives and ways of being in Austria, but faced drastically different realities due to the passports we held. After Austria, I came back to Mexico. Building a life in Mexico on and off for eight years throughout my twenties gave me a unique outlook on borders and the definition of home. By the time I left, I felt the same sense of home in the middle of a Packers football game in Green Bay, Wisconsin as I did walking through my neighborhood market in Queretaro, Mexico.  Me (third from the left) with my first class of students at the language school were I worked in Guanajuato, Mexico, September of 2013 While traversing the borders of the two countries I love so dearly is as simple as purchasing a plane ticket, I know that for so many others it involves extreme hardship and means that some borders may never be crossed again, or they may be forced to cross back. My experiences in education led me to pursue work with a financial public relations firm because I realized my toolkit was missing critical vocabulary and hard skills that would have allowed me to leave a more profound impact. Entering the public relations industry introduced me to the beauty of conscious capitalism through my work with sustainable investing clients, and allowed me to begin to acquire the language of business. Working with wealth and asset management clients was also personally very empowering because it gave me the tools and language to better understand personal finance and the inner workings of the financial industry. While working in both the education and public relations sectors allowed me to form meaningful connections with individuals and businesses around the globe, and understand what change is possible, to truly make this change lasting and farther reaching, I realized I wanted a seat at the table in the spaces that hold the most power, using the language of those in the room.  My class at the teachers college in Vienna, Austria knew my love for the Green Bay Packers well! December of 2017 I chose Fuqua because I felt that it is the right place for me to align the vision that has shaped my life – a global outlook rooted in authentic human connection and compassion – with the business toolbox I seek to acquire with an MBA. Business has the unique ability to touch lives across borders, for both good and bad. At Fuqua, I am proud to be surrounded by classmates that are determined to use this power for good. My journey here has only just begun and I know so much learning is yet to come. As a Forte Foundation Fellow and through my involvement on the Net Impact leadership cabinet, the Fuqua Consulting Club and the Fuqua Tech Club, I look forward to continue finding ways to learn the language of business and work towards becoming a more effective changemaker. The post Why I Decided I Needed to Learn to Speak the Language of Business appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
16 Nov 2021, 13:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: How I Achieved My Goal of Pursuing an MBA in the U.S. |
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I am a proud, Black, Brazilian, engineer woman, who since high school had the opportunity to study in great schools. I have always been aware of both my race and gender. The challenges imposed by belonging to a minority group, only made me chase my dreams even harder. I always dreamed of studying in the U.S. I got to know the country when I participated in an exchange program to study English, which is not my first language. I fell in love with the U.S. I knew that studying an MBA there would set me apart in both the Brazilian and U.S. employment markets. At first, I didn’t believe that this dream would be possible, because I had no reference to anyone, family or friends, who had completed an MBA in the U.S. In 2020, in a conversation with my former director, he commented about how the experience was when he completed his MBA in the U.S. He talked about the incredible experience and that he was able to move forward with a scholarship and loan assistance. After listening to him, I decided to follow this dream. I am a person who is very attached to my family and the church I attended. So, I knew it would be difficult to move to a different country. Therefore, I wanted an MBA program that had a community spirit. Team Fuqua was the first thing I read and heard about the Daytime MBA program. I started researching it. I talked to students and former students in order to understand more about the school. It was after these conversations that I decided that Fuqua was the right place for me. It was all still a dream when I applied. But all dreams can come true if we believe and pursue it. Studying for the GMAT, soliciting letters of recommendation, writing the Fuqua essays, (which were the most fun because I had to write 25 Random Things about myself) really allowed me show who I am to the university. And after all these steps, the dream came true. I got a call from Duke saying I had been accepted to the Daytime MBA program at Fuqua.  Me with my Learning Team members: Jen Sibel, Hank Nguyen, Zachary Gilbert, James Kim and Lauren Johnson, July 30, 2021 It was a moment of great joy for me and my family. I am the first of my generation to be studying an MBA in the U.S. and I believe I will not be the last. I will definitely encourage others of my generation to believe that what seems impossible is possible. When I arrived at Fuqua, I realized that what I imagined of Team Fuqua was not even close to reality. I really felt welcomed here in different ways: 1.) The diversity that the university offers with the number of international students was impressive. 2.) The fact that for the first time in my entire academic life, I’m not the only Black person in my class. Fuqua has countless Black people with whom I can build a friendship and be part of a group as active as the Black and Latino MBA Organization (BLMBAO). 3.) The teachers are available to help us during office hours or through a quick chat after class. 4.) The second-year students, who have no obligation to help us, make themselves available in our personal and academic life, and in the recruiting process. 5.) My learning team, which is so diverse, but we managed to complement and help each other in all the activities we had during the Fall Term 1. In the last three months, I had the opportunity to live several moments, about what Team Fuqua represents. And I know that in the coming years, I will live many more. I am grateful to be here living this dream and I will live this dream intensely. The post How I Achieved My Goal of Pursuing an MBA in the U.S. appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
07 Dec 2021, 07:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: From a Marching Band to Fuqua, How I Learned to Value Teams |
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You might be wondering how a marching band experience relates to a top MBA program like Fuqua. I was asking myself the same question when I received the offer call from the fantastic admissions team at Fuqua. Then, a couple of weeks into the program, I looked down after conquering the wall with Team Fuqua and saw the faces of my new, lifetime friends and family. I suddenly realized that it was all connected. Being an international student was pretty challenging. I was 18 when I left China to attend Michigan State University all by myself. Like many other young, international students, I felt something was missing in my life, and that there was something that I should be looking for. Then I stumbled into a Spartan Marching Band (SMB) practice. The way the band flowed as one intrigued me, and inspired me to try it out. I failed the first tryout because I wasn’t prepared, so I joined the campus band to improve my skills and sat on the sideline to watch and learn. After a year of learning and preparation, I won the audition on the second try and subsequently became the first Chinese member of the Spartan Marching Band since 1870. During my time in the SMB, we got to play in the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl, twice! It was a life-changing experience, but more importantly, it gave me lifetime friends and taught me what a team is. The band practiced every day for two hours, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. We would play, practice, and improve together. I’m a better person because I got to learn from the great people around me. Moreover, the bonds go beyond the practice field. I got to propose to my wife in front of my friends from the band and marry her with the blessings of our band friends. The marching band also provided me with precious opportunities to give back to the community. I worked with artist Jennifer Wen Ma on the China Show, which promoted Chinese culture to the entire university. I worked with the Office of International Student Scholars to better welcome new international students to the U.S. and help them jumpstart their careers. All of these experiences would not have happened if I did not take that initial step to try out, fail, and then try again and succeed as a member of the band.  Why am I saying all this? Because Team Fuqua is just like that and maybe some more. After being away from the university environment for five years, I missed that feeling of being a part of something greater than myself. Team Fuqua was the harbor for me when I needed it. It all started with the most relaxed conversation with the amazing admissions team. I remember during a Zoom meeting with Meghan, we spent half of the time just chatting about my marching band experience, and I got too excited, so I ran to another room and grabbed my band jacket just to show it to her! After the meeting was over, my wife looked at me and asked, “You sure you were on a meeting?” I had previously never had such a great experience with an admissions team. They really want to know YOU as a person, more than just as an applicant. The Team Fuqua spirit doesn’t stop with the admissions team either. It is everywhere at Fuqua. One day, during Fall Term 1, I was leaving a team room and bumped into a second-year student looking for an empty room. Instead of just entering the room, he stopped and said, “Thanks! You are a first-year, right? How are you doing so far?” Totally out of the blue, I went with the conversation. After learning that I’m interested in recruiting for the technology industry, he said, “I interned at Google this past summer; let me know if I could help in any way!” I mean, where else in the world would this happen?! So what makes Fuqua unique? Team Fuqua. It is not only a spirit, or a tradition, but it’s also a bond that bands us together, marching towards the same goal. Because a great team is always better than a group of great individuals. The post From a Marching Band to Fuqua, How I Learned to Value Teams appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
10 Dec 2021, 08:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Taking Our Family Startup to the Dragons’ Den |
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When my family moved from Egypt to Canada in 2011 we would always make hibiscus—a traditional and popular drink in Egypt—for new friends and neighbors. People loved it! There wasn’t anything similar to it in the Canadian market, and we saw an opportunity. So in 2018, my mom and I started Nuba. We make certified organic, freshly-brewed, all-natural, ready-to-drink hibiscus tea and other authentic drinks from the Middle East. We source our hibiscus flowers from small-scale farmers in Egypt—a region called Nuba—which is what we named the company after. We’re proudly a women-owned, BIPOC business, and I’m very grateful to get to share this journey with my mom. How Business School Fits Into the Plan My objectives for pursuing an MBA are to expand my professional skillset, deepen my technical knowledge, and gain mentorship to accelerate the growth of Nuba. I believe that an MBA will provide access to valuable resources and a support ecosystem that will fuel my success as an entrepreneur. It’s been great connecting with the larger Duke and Fuqua network during my first year here, and everyone has been very generous with their time and expertise. Also, broadening my perspective by learning from the diverse experiences of my classmates is something I’m eager to do. My objective after completing my MBA is to focus on implementing our international growth strategies, and there are a lot of valuable perspectives to tap into here. I’m really excited to be taking entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial strategy courses in the spring—I think both will be incredibly helpful. I’m also taking the New Ventures Delivery class and working with a team of other MBA students on a strategic project for Nuba.  Our product line displayed on the Dragons’ Den set The Dragons’ Den Experience We’re very excited to be contestants on the TV series “Dragons’ Den” in Canada, which some of you might know better by “Money Tigers” or “Shark Tank” as the series is named in other countries. It’s been an incredible experience so far. My dad has been pushing us to audition for years, and we never felt ready. But the stars aligned for us this year and he’s really proud. Being on the set of a show that our family has watched for a decade was surreal. We filmed our segment this summer after a whirlwind audition process and the wait to hear whether our segment was going to make it to air required a ton of patience. And now we’re eagerly awaiting our appearance to finally air on December 16. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we trying to make the most out of it. The post Taking Our Family Startup to the Dragons’ Den appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
04 Jan 2022, 14:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: How I Ended Up at Duke — Twice |
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There is a general fear that Millennials will abandon or even negatively impact philanthropy. That charity work and giving back are things only our parents and grandparents do; however, I would argue that my generation is going to transform philanthropy and the ways real impact is achieved. For me, this mission to impact and transform social impact is part of my every day, in and out of business school. I grew up in a big family with five siblings and was fortunate to have two loving parents who I watched consistently go above and beyond for others. My father was a Greek Orthodox priest, caring for thousands, and my late mother, as a nurse, constantly helped others get through difficult situations. My parents instilled a love for people and moved me to take action whenever a need presented itself. At 16 years old, with the support of my family and friends, I launched an environmental education nonprofit organization in my hometown of Boca Raton, FL, now called Marine Education Initiative. Running this organization with thousands of children showed me the power of philanthropy and the impact that anyone, no matter the age, socioeconomic status, gender, or race, can have when bringing people together around an issue/cause.  From left to right, Edmund Dorsett, Valentino “Scrooge” Brown, and me at the site of our first center under construction, June of 2017 As I looked for universities to help me foster this social entrepreneurial passion, I came across the perfect fit at Duke University. The institution has an amazing mixture of school spirit, academic rigor, camaraderie, and countless professional growth opportunities. I did not hesitate in choosing Duke for undergrad and studied public policy as part of the Class of 2015. While a sophomore at Duke, through an independent DukeEngage project, I created a nonprofit in Nassau, Bahamas, called Lend a Hand Bahamas. After graduating from Duke, I was confronted with the real world but had this burning passion for combining my enthusiasm for community service with a career path. Thus, I began working in development and assisting schools and nonprofits with fundraising to further their missions.  A rendering of the Lend a Hand Bahamas community center, set to be built in 2022 After raising millions of dollars for a wide array of causes in the United States and the Caribbean, I realized I had a burning desire to do more with my fundraising skills and experience. I wanted to hone my finance and strategy skills to leverage opportunities for a more significant impact in marginalized communities. Thus, I set out on a mission to choose a business school that would fit who I was and where I wanted to go. Naturally, Duke came up first on my list as a school that supported and helped create who I am today. At first, I fought returning to the same institution, but I realized that looking elsewhere did not make sense over time. I was a Blue Devil for life. The Fuqua School of Business had everything I needed, from a social entrepreneurial concentration to world-renowned faculty to a diverse and close-knit student body. Now nine years since my DukeEngage project in undergrad, I have watched the nonprofit I started in the Bahamas grow and impact tens of thousands of lives. The organization supports hundreds of youth in educational efforts, has fed more than 50,000 people weekly since March 2020, aided hundreds of Hurricane Dorian evacuees, and is now building a second, much larger community center in downtown Nassau. The new center will include a STEM lab, reading room, and a culinary training kitchen.  Me helping deliver 1,000 donated toys in Nassau, Bahamas in partnership with Lend a Hand Bahamas and FTX, December of 2021 When I was accepted to Fuqua, I was nervous that I would abandon who I was. I thought, how could philanthropy and business be combined? However, I quickly realized that our professors and peers are here to support your passions and help you grow. Fuqua is not just a business school. It is a family that is there for you and expects that you will graduate and make our world a better place in the best way that you can. The post How I Ended Up at Duke — Twice appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
18 Jan 2022, 14:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: How the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum Prepared Me to Become a Strategic Leader |
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I came to Duke’s Fuqua School of Business with the goal of building out my strategy skillset to make a pivot from customer marketing to a more strategic function, such as product marketing or internal/corporate strategy. I had worked across a broad range of industries (education, non-profit, tech), but I had limited experience with the discovery and recommendation process that is so critical to strategy design. To make the pivot from being a tactical marketer, to a strategic leader, I knew that I needed to bridge this gap in my experience. As a tactical learner, I focused on taking advantage of all the experiential opportunities that Fuqua offers, including the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP), where students get to collaborate and consult on real issues facing businesses. The Project While exploring the different and amazing project options, I realized that though I was interested in nearly all of the project content areas, there was specific criteria that I was looking for with the clients, or organizations involved with FCCP. I wanted to work for a large firm, in an industry that I hadn’t worked in before. I knew that pushing myself out of my comfort zone was where I would learn the most. Using this criteria as a guide, I was excited to get placed on Citi’s, “Agile Career Mobility” project, which focused on developing an internal mobility pilot strategy for their North American marketing team.  Our FCCP team conducted a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research to understand internal mobility best practices, outline Citi’s existing internal mobility process and identify gaps limiting the company’s success. My favorite part of the FCCP project was analyzing the wealth of information we gathered from interviews with people within the North American marketing team and responses to the cross-org survey, to define clear themes and recommendations for paths forward. The project culminated in a final presentation to not only our project leads in HR and Learning & Development, but also the North American Chief Marketing Officer and other leaders in the marketing organization. My Takeaways Without my experience with the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum I feel confident that I would not have felt as prepared for my internship at LinkedIn over the summer. Learning the skills to execute a consulting project from start to finish, culminating in an executive-level presentation was invaluable. When I look back at my time at Fuqua, I know that FCCP will be one of my most influential courses that I took. The post How the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum Prepared Me to Become a Strategic Leader appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
20 Jan 2022, 14:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: The Value of Cheerleaders for Entrepreneurs |
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What’s the one tool that every entrepreneur, from Elon Musk to Muhammad Yunis to the 10- year-old girl next door selling lemonade, utilizes on a near-constant basis? Well, besides a bit of ingenuity, of course. Feedback. Whether from your mom or a future million-dollar investor, anybody you share your idea with is going to have something to say. Of course, feedback is invaluable. It’s what spurs new ideas and allows us to look at a problem or product through another’s lens. If we aren’t open to letting someone poke holes in our concept or model, we’ll rarely progress. Oftentimes, an individual’s ability to filter feedback, adjust, and move forward is what ultimately defines receiving seed funding from just a fun idea. However, while feedback is almost ubiquitously well-intentioned, constantly being told that your idea, your vision, your view of the world isn’t right…it can be exhausting. Maybe you were up until 2 a.m. the night before trying to perfect your pitch deck, only to be told that it looks “unprofessional” the next day. Or you’ve finally worked up the courage to tell your mentor about the new side hustle you’re working on, and they tell you there are better ways to be focusing your energy. Listen to any number of episodes of the “How I Built This” podcast and you’ll hear stories of stubborn, idea-blinded entrepreneurs who were told “no” tens of times by big venture capital firms but kept pursuing their vision because “they knew they were onto something special.” What I find those (now very successful) founders often leave out though, and what I’ve come to value most about Fuqua’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation ecosystem, is the role of cheerleaders. Cheerleaders, in this context, are those people in your life who balance out the “this isn’t scalable” comments with “wow, I know so many people who could use this” compliments. Creating a safe space of people who instill confidence within you, believe in your idea, and help you reach your potential isn’t as easy as going to Foot Locker and trying on new shoes until you find the perfect fit (Do people still buy shoes in malls anymore?). It takes time, intentionality, and the ability to put oneself out there. However, through Duke and Fuqua’s entrepreneurial offerings, that is exactly what I’ve found this past spring. From the Student Founder’s Program to the New Ventures Course series, it’s humbling to have a community of peers, professors, alumni, and administrators who want nothing more than for myself and my co-founders to succeed. The community in those small groups and classes are the first ones to congratulate the team if we’ve secured an important meeting or had an enlightening customer feedback session. Our classmates, some of them even competitors, successfully voted our venture as the “People’s Choice” finalist at a pitch competition. Even a Duke alum turned entrepreneurial mentor reviewed our teams’ application to Y Combinator. It wasn’t just that he gave us great feedback (there’s that tool again) on our application narrative, but it was the lengthy email he wrote explaining why he thought YC will love our model that gave us the moral boost to finally hit submit. Just as important as the outward demonstrations of support, are those that show a quiet faith in what we’re building. Our professor’s willingness to open her rolodex because she trusts us to reflect well on her and the school fills our team with unspoken confidence. Did I ever think I would be asking someone for hundreds of thousands of dollars? Absolutely not! But is that what I’ve felt empowered to do knowing that there’s an army of people who believe in our idea? Yes. After being told a bevy of times that “I can’t wait for you all to be billionaires with this idea,” I’ve admittedly got about $999.9 million to go until I start believing it. But, to know that somebody else thinks that highly of us, it’s that kind of flattering words that make us feel like a mbillion bucks. The post The Value of Cheerleaders for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
20 Jan 2022, 20:41
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: The Value of Cheerleaders for Entrepreneurs |
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What’s the one tool that every entrepreneur, from Elon Musk to Muhammad Yunis to the 10- year-old girl next door selling lemonade, utilizes on a near-constant basis? Well, besides a bit of ingenuity, of course. Feedback. Whether from your mom or a future million-dollar investor, anybody you share your idea with is going to have something to say. Of course, feedback is invaluable. It’s what spurs new ideas and allows us to look at a problem or product through another’s lens. If we aren’t open to letting someone poke holes in our concept or model, we’ll rarely progress. Oftentimes, an individual’s ability to filter feedback, adjust, and move forward is what ultimately defines receiving seed funding from just a fun idea. However, while feedback is almost ubiquitously well-intentioned, constantly being told that your idea, your vision, your view of the world isn’t right…it can be exhausting. Maybe you were up until 2 a.m. the night before trying to perfect your pitch deck, only to be told that it looks “unprofessional” the next day. Or you’ve finally worked up the courage to tell your mentor about the new side hustle you’re working on, and they tell you there are better ways to be focusing your energy. Listen to any number of episodes of the “How I Built This” podcast and you’ll hear stories of stubborn, idea-blinded entrepreneurs who were told “no” tens of times by big venture capital firms but kept pursuing their vision because “they knew they were onto something special.” What I find those (now very successful) founders often leave out though, and what I’ve come to value most about Fuqua’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation ecosystem, is the role of cheerleaders. Cheerleaders, in this context, are those people in your life who balance out the “this isn’t scalable” comments with “wow, I know so many people who could use this” compliments. Creating a safe space of people who instill confidence within you, believe in your idea, and help you reach your potential isn’t as easy as going to Foot Locker and trying on new shoes until you find the perfect fit (Do people still buy shoes in malls anymore?). It takes time, intentionality, and the ability to put oneself out there. However, through Duke and Fuqua’s entrepreneurial offerings, that is exactly what I’ve found this past spring. From the Student Founder’s Program to the New Ventures Course series, it’s humbling to have a community of peers, professors, alumni, and administrators who want nothing more than for myself and my co-founders to succeed. The community in those small groups and classes are the first ones to congratulate the team if we’ve secured an important meeting or had an enlightening customer feedback session. Our classmates, some of them even competitors, successfully voted our venture as the “People’s Choice” finalist at a pitch competition. Even a Duke alum turned entrepreneurial mentor reviewed our teams’ application to Y Combinator. It wasn’t just that he gave us great feedback (there’s that tool again) on our application narrative, but it was the lengthy email he wrote explaining why he thought YC will love our model that gave us the moral boost to finally hit submit. Just as important as the outward demonstrations of support, are those that show a quiet faith in what we’re building. Our professor’s willingness to open her rolodex because she trusts us to reflect well on her and the school fills our team with unspoken confidence. Did I ever think I would be asking someone for hundreds of thousands of dollars? Absolutely not! But is that what I’ve felt empowered to do knowing that there’s an army of people who believe in our idea? Yes. After being told a bevy of times that “I can’t wait for you all to be billionaires with this idea,” I’ve admittedly got about $999.9 million to go until I start believing it. But, to know that somebody else thinks that highly of us, it’s that kind of flattering words that make us feel like a mbillion bucks. The post The Value of Cheerleaders for Entrepreneurs appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
I could feel the environment and support that people get there!
02 Feb 2022, 14:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: 4 Myths About Applying to Fuqua in Round 3 |
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Applying to business school is a journey—one that takes diligent research and some careful soul searching. Here in the Office of Admissions, we get a lot of questions about the best time to submit your application. And it’s a question that makes a whole lot of sense, right? You’ve invested so much time and energy putting together a competitive application, optimizing your chances for admission just makes good sense. Our advice is (perhaps frustratingly) pretty simple: apply when you’re ready. Apply when you’ve put together an application you feel accurately represents your abilities and potential. Apply when you know business school is the right next step. When it comes to differentiating between application rounds, people seem pretty knowledgeable about Early Action, Round 1, and Round 2. Early Action is binding, and a great choice if you know Fuqua is definitely where you want to spend two years. We get the majority of our applications for the year in Rounds 1 and 2, with a similar number submitted during each. Round 3, then, is inherently a smaller round. And we know it’s also one that people are often warned away from. So we thought now was a good time to speak candidly about Round 3, and dispel some of its associated myths and misconceptions. Myth #1: People Don’t Get Accepted In Round 3 While we have awarded many of our seats in earlier rounds, we admit students every year in Round 3. Each year, these final applications help to round out and complete our class, and they’re an essential part of the admissions life cycle. Again, it all comes down to your readiness—and if Round 3 feels like the right time, we encourage you to go for it. If you are applying in Round 3 it’s important to help the admissions team understand your timing. Sometimes that’s related to a work project. Maybe you needed more time to prepare your application because you took the GMAT or GRE multiple times hoping to get the score you were seeking prior to applying. Or perhaps it’s simply an epiphany you had recently about where you want to be in the next two to five years. Whatever the case, make it clear in the application what that catalyst was and why this timing is right. Myth #2: International Students Can’t Apply In Round 3 While we do encourage international applicants to apply earlier in order to allow sufficient time for visa processing, we have always accepted international students in Round 3. Visa timelines vary year to year and country by country, so if this really feels like the right time for you it may still be feasible as an international applicant. The timeline is tight, but still possible. The best course, as an international student, is to be aware of visa requirements and typical timelines in your country at the time you submit, and be ready to move ahead quickly once you receive an admission decision. If you have questions about your particular circumstances, we encourage you to reach out to our team and we’ll connect you with your country’s admissions counselor to discuss in more detail. Myth #3: There Won’t Be Scholarship Money Left This one is 100 percent false. We award scholarship money every round that we have admitted students. As in all rounds, your application is also the criteria for evaluating your candidacy for a merit-based scholarship. Candidates have the same access to funding no matter the round they apply, and we keep funding aside specifically for our Round 3 applicants. Myth #4: The Timeline Before Enrollment Will Be Too Tight Because Round 3 is a smaller round, our admissions team works on a much tighter timeline. This compressed turnaround means you don’t have to wait as long to receive your decision, and you have plenty of time to secure housing, relocate to Durham, and arrange any additional financial aid. As an admitted student you’ll also be connected with a current student “Fuqua Buddy” to learn about the student body and experience. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with classmates on our active admitted student group on social media. So, if you feel you’ve put together a competitive and compelling application, and the timing is right, we encourage you to apply. The Class isn’t complete until we fill those final spots. This blog has been updated since its original publication on January 31, 2019. The post 4 Myths About Applying to Fuqua in Round 3 appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
18 Feb 2022, 13:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Five Fuqua Myths—Busted! |
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We all think we understand business school life—until we actually start living it! Most of us have at least a couple of misplaced notions about going to b-school; here are some of mine about Fuqua that have been busted during my time here! 1. You will be cold-called in every class. The dread of getting cold-called in a class you have no idea about is real. But the truth is, you’ll likely never feel this dread at Fuqua. Moments where professors need to cold-call are extremely rare because they’ll usually always have voluntary participation, given the incredibly enthusiastic, bright, and diverse students in each class. In fact, the environment is so engaging that you will often find yourself raising your hand in the discussions—especially as most are tied to very interesting real-world case studies! Add to that the encouraging and fail-safe classroom environment facilitated here, and you’ll feel even more comfortable sharing your perspective! 2. Lunch break is a quick bite at the cafeteria. I assumed a lazy lunch can never be part of a hectic MBA routine. That was until I went over to the JB Duke Hotel—a campus hotel connected to our cafeteria by a 2-minute walkway. If you have a break between classes, an extended team meeting, or a wine craving, you can head over for a relaxed lunch! The place is always buzzing with Fuqua students who get discounted lunch rates on a pretty wide menu. And if you head over post your semester exams, you’ll be sure to find at least half your class raising a toast here! 3. MBA Recruiting wraps up in the first year. At this time, most first-year students have just come out of a hectic internship recruiting season and several companies have given out full-time offers in addition to internship offers to their selected candidates. But rather than assuming that this is the end of your MBA recruiting journey, most candidates are encouraged to keep an open mind about re-recruiting in the second year. An internship is the best time to evaluate whether you are the right fit for a given industry (and vice-versa). Some candidates love their internship experiences and decide not to re-recruit in the second year. Others have chosen to re-recruit post their internships, having realized that they may enjoy their time elsewhere more as full-time employees. When in doubt, you can count on your second-years, peers and the Career Management Center at Fuqua to help you make the best decision for you. Keeping an open mind about trying different things is the essence of the MBA lifestyle! 4. You eventually start hanging out with one tribe. Six months in, I’ve realized that this just isn’t true. From section mates, to fellow club members, to affinity group circles, to study groups across different electives—you’ll be a part of plenty of tribes; the only difficulty with that is figuring out how to attend all the plans being organized across your different circles each week! Since everyone lives within a 10-minute radius of one another here, you just have to figure out the optimal hopping strategy. You’ll likely build deeper connections with a few people, but the process of getting to know others and continuing to build more of those connections doesn’t stop throughout the MBA journey. 5. The Tavern is only vibing on Tuesdays. “Tavern Tuesdays” has been an age-old Fuqua tradition. Grabbing a drink at this neighborhood bar is a given on Tuesday evenings for most, and is a great way to stay in touch with your classmates when schedules get busy. But more recently, Tavern has found an even more loyal Fuqua base; we no longer restrict our attendance to only Tuesdays! Walk in on any week night and you’ll likely find at least a few Fuquans hanging out, even if just for a quick study break. Karaoke nights here have definitely been popular lately! The MBA journey is full of surprises and plot twists, and discovering each of them is the thrill that has made the past six months fly by so soon for us on campus! The post Five Fuqua Myths—Busted! appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
29 Mar 2022, 11:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Landing at Goldman Sachs and the Steps that Got Me There |
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Prior to coming to Fuqua, I was an Army officer and worked in human resources, operations, and culminated as a strategic advisor to a four-star general. I grew up in a military family, so joining the service was a natural inclination for me, but I knew that I would eventually want to transition into a role in corporate America that allowed for a more predictable lifestyle. I had no idea how to translate my skillset from the military to the corporate world and felt that an MBA would best allow me to bridge that gap. Discovering My Interest in Investment Banking During the summer prior to starting at Fuqua, I attended a consulting and finance summit with a few fellow veterans and soon-to-be classmates that I had met at Blue Devil Weekend. At this point, my primary interest was consulting since I felt that my skill set was most aligned with this career path. However, I found that I was more intrigued by the investment banking presentations that occurred throughout the weekend. I was particularly drawn to the prospect of banking during a conversation with a partner who specialized in real estate—an industry I had always found fascinating. I realized by the end of the summit that I needed to focus less attention on what would make the most sense for me to do given my previous experiences and instead, go for the opportunity that excited me the most. It turns out real estate investment banking did just that. Building My Knowledge Base at Fuqua Once my MBA began, I looked for opportunities to further explore the investment banking space. The “Week on Wall Street” trip during fall break was an awesome way to network with potential employers in New York, get a feel for the culture at each firm, and get a little preview of what life as a banker could look like. I also started to take classes based on my new career interest. There are several accounting and finance classes that I found to be incredibly helpful outside of the core requirements of intro to accounting and corporate finance. Financial Statement Analysis, Project Finance, and quite frankly any class taught by Professor DougBreeden are musts! Testing the Waters with My Internship I interned at Goldman Sachs in New York as part of the Real Estate Investment Banking team and loved it. That summer was both challenging and incredibly rewarding—I was treated like a full-time associate, so by the end of the internship I felt that I knew exactly what I was getting into. I really enjoyed the people I worked with and had already begun to establish rapport with clients, so returning to the firm after graduation was a no-brainer. Beginning My Career at Goldman Sachs I joined Goldman Sachs in the summer of 2020 as an investment banking associate. I think the most rewarding aspect of my job is the fact that I am constantly challenged and learning as I go. No two days in this industry are identical, so I get to cultivate my creativity and really test myself daily as I navigate situations with clients. I also love that I am surrounded by so many brilliant, successful people who both value my input and invest in my professional development. Plus, seeing a deal you worked on make the front page of the Wall Street Journal is pretty cool too  . The post Landing at Goldman Sachs and the Steps that Got Me There appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
21 Apr 2022, 08:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Is an MBA Worth It? Yes, but Not for the Reason Most People Think. |
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“The only real things in life are the unexpected things. Everything else is just an illusion.” Watkin Tudor Jones “Is an MBA worth it” is one of the most searched keywords related to business school. You longer need an MBA for many job positions that used to require the degree. If you’re already in debt, do you really want more debt? Is the network worth it? Can I get good networks without an MBA? For me, an MBA is absolutely worth it, but not for the reason most people think. My Journey Prior to Fuqua, I spent two years thinking about what I should do for the next 5 to 10 years. I did every personality test I could find. I bugged my mentors with the same questions again and again. “What do you think I’m good at? What do you think I should do as a career?” I meditated. I read every article I could find about “how to find your passion”. For sure, I’ve gotten some good ideas around those big questions: I think I like client-facing jobs; I like intellectually stimulating jobs; I watch a lot of talk shows. But I still wasn’t sure about my strengths. People say I’m good at talking to people. OK, but what should I do as a career? Sales? Product Manager? After research I arrived at this—I think I will be interested in being a management consultant. Since an MBA would be very helpful in transitioning into a management consultant, I embarked on the business school journey. But it wasn’t that straightforward either. As an international student, I didn’t want to bet my future on just one industry, so I recruited for the tech industry too. Tech jobs are very different from consulting—strategy, business planning, product marketing, and product development. I was presented with more possibilities. I became even more confused than before I joined Fuqua, but only for a little while. Tech Clubs organize many sharing sessions where alumni working in various companies and positions come to share with us the details about their jobs. They give us their 9 to 5. I was able to visualize very quickly whether I’d be happy doing those jobs. Meanwhile, John Nance, a professor teaching my Leadership Communication class told me that my presentations were captivating and that he “can see me on camera one day.” That comment was illuminating, like the light at end of a tunnel. Many of us have imposter syndrome. We doubt our abilities. We don’t think we’re good at anything. But John’s comment hit me, somewhere deep down. Later on, I received more feedback from coaches at the Career Management Center, including “You’re one of the best story-tellers I’ve come across” and “You’re really good at public speaking.” Wow, those comments gave me the clarity I never had about my strengths. Prior to Fuqua, I might have some idea that I could be good at public speaking, but is it 6 out of 10 or 9 out of 10? I had no idea. My Eureka Moment One of the best things about an MBA is that you will be able to see your strengths very clearly and quickly because you’re thrown into a pool of very talented people. Once you see it, you no longer doubt yourself. The most “life-changing” feedback came from an interviewer at Adobe. It was my last round with a general manager. After giving my “tell me about yourself” introduction, he paused, and said, “I must have interviewed hundreds if not thousands of candidates. Your introduction is the best I’ve ever heard.” That was my eureka moment. Something inside me screamed that I should do something about it. I should build on my strength. I should pursue a “passion project” during my MBA. I realized that my self-introduction was different because it is professional but also personal and memorable. I used tricks I learned from talk shows, advertising and digital marketing to stand out. I realized that my hobby of watching and analyzing talk shows can be more impactful than I had ever imagined. I immediately started organizing the talk show notes I’ve kept for years into a book. I set a goal of publishing it before I graduate and head to Boston Consulting Group full time. I’m very grateful that my book was published a few weeks ago, and it became a #1 best-seller on Amazon. I also launched my YouTube and TikTok channels following the suggestion of David Solloway, a Fuqua career coach, and gathered 5 million views within two months. An MBA is worth it. Fuqua is worth it. 100%. But not necessarily for the reason you expected. Changing jobs and accessing the network are no doubt very important reasons. But the #1 value of an MBA, in my opinion, is fast-tracking your self-discovery. I’ve learned more about myself within two months of my MBA than I have in the past two years. Self-discovery is crucial because whatever you do for the rest of your life, it probably will only be a success if it’s the overlap of your strength and passion. And that’s what I’ve gained from Fuqua. The post Is an MBA Worth It? Yes, but Not for the Reason Most People Think. appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
25 Apr 2022, 11:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: Want to Work in Tech? Go to Fuqua |
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Every student interested in technology asks the same question: “Should I have a tech background to work in the industry?” And the answer is “No!” Regardless of your experience prior to enrolling, Fuqua provides an array of resources to guide students and help them navigate tech including industry education, recruiting preparation, and experiential learning opportunities. While classes allow students to acquire valuable theoretical knowledge, combined efforts from the Career Management Center and the Duke MBA Tech Club help students learn from industry professionals and alumni about new industry trends, required technical skills, and how to succeed in recruiting. Moreover, since tech is not only for those interested in project roles, initiatives across other clubs and their respective sectors, such as marketing and finance, present students with the perspective of different roles. If you are interested in joining this industry for your summer internship or upon graduation from business school, here are some of the main resources available at Fuqua to check out! Experiential Learning Opportunities Here are some student blogs that dive into the details and benefits of each of these opportunities.
Career Support In addition to bringing the most-wanted companies to Fuqua to recruit our talent and supporting customized, off-campus recruiting, the CMC champions different initiatives to help students to navigate and succeed in internships and full-time position recruiting in this industry. For instance, the CMC has leveraged our fiercely loyal alumni base by naming “Fuqua Alumni Champions” in strategic tech companies like Airbnb, Salesforce, Uber more than a dozen others. These Fuqua Alumni Champions engage with their company’s MBA recruiters to encourage them to facilitate recruiting activities with Fuqua, share job postings, and ensure that any student who receives an interview invite also receives non-evaluative mock interviews and insight into the team they’re interviewing with. This initiative will help to drive a higher number of Duke MBAs into these Tech companies. Student Clubs The Duke MBA Tech Club The Tech Club is a student-led organization responsible for providing students additional resources helpful in recruiting for their dream job and fostering community. Among the student-led initiatives are:
FinTech Club Students are also looking for jobs that are finance and tech hybrids. The Duke MBA FinTech Club focuses on growing the awareness of and interest in the industry and related career paths. It also connects students with the broader industry community, developing relationships with industry experts, recruiters, alumni, and faculty. Other Clubs Other clubs constantly partnering with the Tech Club to develop a diverse range of initiatives are the Duke MBA Marketing Club, the Design & Innovation Club, and the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club. Academics In your academic experience at Fuqua, you will acquire valuable knowledge about this industry, as well as master diverse tools that will help you to succeed in the role you chose to pursue after business school. Given the relevance of tech nowadays, Fuqua has recently created a class to discuss technological disruption and the impact of technology on businesses and societies. Technological Transformation of Business is part of the core and is taught during the summer term of students’ first year, being one of the initial classes you take together with your section. During the classes, cases of tech companies such as Amazon and Apple are discussed, helping to set the ground for an MBA experience focused on the relevance of this industry. Additionally, Fuqua has a comprehensive offering of electives that are directly or indirectly linked to this industry, including Managing Innovation in a Global Organization, Marketing of Innovations, and Innovation and Cryptoventures, just to name a few. Lastly, among all the concentrations and certificates you can pursue while at Fuqua, these four are especially useful if you want to pursue a career in tech. Management Science and Technology Management (MSTeM) Deepen your expertise in the tools, frameworks, and models that address managerial problems. The classes will prepare you to both lead and direct analysis, and to get deeply involved with and understand the tools and models that should be utilized to inform and improve decisions. Here’s why one of my classmates pursued MSTeM. Decision Sciences Learn to master the key analytical tools that are broadly used. Gain expertise in constructing decision tree models to evaluate different R&D projects, using regression models to forecast sales, building optimization models for production or distribution systems, or using game theory to analyze the impact of launching a new product in a competitive marketplace. Marketing You’ll learn to capture the voice of the customer, deliver value via product, price, place, and promotion, and choose and maintain relationships with everyone from customers to suppliers, and even competitors. Fuqua offers two concentrations in this area:
Other Student-Led Initiatives Duke’s Innovation Co-Lab is an incubator from the university that approximates students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds, interests, and skillsets to new and emerging technologies. The organization promotes seminars, panels, workshops, fairs, and open demonstrations about the latest industry trends. The Tech Club and CMC partner with the Co-Lab to bring different initiatives to the business school. The post Want to Work in Tech? Go to Fuqua appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
28 Apr 2022, 07:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: What is Fuqua Friday? |
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TGIF. As the clock rushes towards the end of classes on Fridays, students across Fuqua get a little excited to head over to the Fox Center. This time it is not because there is a speaker series or a company presentation. It’s because it’s Fuqua Friday! Every Friday during the fall and spring terms, Fuqua comes together to celebrate the end of the week in the popular ritual that is Fuqua Friday. Every student and staff member can attend the event and can invite their partners, families or guests to the event to experience part of the Fuqua culture. Fuqua Friday works to bring the entire community together at the same time and place, helping everyone to reconnect and laugh together. It also presents a unique opportunity for students from different programs—including Daytime and Executive MBA, MMS, MQM, and PhD—to come together and get to know each other. Often, students are joined by professors during the evening for a lighter discussion than what is typical in the classroom. The deans of the school are also present, chatting with people and just reminding everyone how big the Fuqua Family truly is. So, what exactly happens at Fuqua Friday? It starts every Friday evening a few minutes after the last class ends. There is a delightful spread of food available for everyone to come and take a plateful. The food is complemented by a variety of drinks and desserts that are also available. The food and drinks are plentiful and so are the opportunities to meet people during the event. Students often hang around in the Winter Garden (the tables are usually full as well) or play ping pong (if they get the table). Fuqua Friday is organized by the Daytime MBA student body leadership of Fuqua—the MBA Association (MBAA). The sponsorship for the event is provided by the MBAA unless there is a joint event where clubs partner for sponsorship as well as for activities or entertainment. In these cases, Fuqua Friday comes bundled with plenty of interesting and unique events. One example is Fuqua partnering with the Rise Against Hunger organization to pack tens of thousands of meals for those in need during the first hour. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Fuqua School Of Business (@dukefuqua) Many other iconic Fuqua events such as the Brand Challenge, where different brands fight in a fun event and the Iron Chef competition, a culinary face off organized by the Duke MBA Culinary Club and judged by guests including our deans, are organized during Fuqua Friday. Finally, larger events at Fuqua, such as FuquaVision shows (some of the most fun events of the year) are often planned to occur right after Fuqua Friday so students can grab some food, enjoy a hearty show, and share a laugh. It transcends your time as a student. Fuqua Friday is also special in many other ways than just the event. While over the years, Fuqua Friday has evolved in many ways (even during the pandemic), the purpose has always stayed the same—to feel connected to the Fuqua community. Fuqua alumni who come back to school during Fuqua Fridays are generally surprised by the scale of which the event has reached and reminisce about their times and traditions during school. Many students take this as an opportunity to invite their friends over who are considering an application as well. I know stories of students who visited Fuqua Fridays with family members years prior to becoming a student themselves. Attending for the first time as a current student was really a sentimental moment for them. Nothing exemplifies this more than one of the MBAA VPs of student life during my time at Fuqua who used to visit the event in the early 2010s with his elder brother, giving him a special connection with this event. But how did it all start? The story goes back many years before the millennium. The year was 1983 when a few friends, who had a Fuqua swag kiosk near the Fox Café exit (now the foosball table and vending machine area) had a good day of sales on a Friday and decided to celebrate. And so, they got a keg of beer and some snacks and invited all their friends and classmates to celebrate with them and have a fun Friday evening. The keg and the snacks became symbols of one of the most celebrated Fuqua traditions today.  Fuqua Friday, 1988 The tradition has spread. Fuqua Friday is not limited to Fuqua’s campus anymore. During my summer internship, students who interned in various cities across the United States celebrated Fuqua Fridays with their classmates in the region along with local Fuqua alumni, particularly at the Amazon and Microsoft offices. We shared stories of those meet-ups with deans and professors back at Fuqua, making the Fuqua Friday tradition an incredibly powerful connection point to the school for the students, who ultimately become the greatest brand ambassadors of what Fuqua represents. In a way, the Fuqua Around the World global networking event is also an extension of the Fuqua Friday tradition. New roads, old destinations? In the words of our deans, Fuqua Friday is a way to connect the whole Fuqua Family. Fuqua Friday in many ways represents Team Fuqua itself, bringing the whole community together including even the administration, whose presence reassures the students that the school’s leadership is around for them. Fuqua Friday evolves with time but remains centered on the idea of meeting your Fuqua Family—so if you are at a Fuqua Friday, grab some chicken tenders or southern barbeque and come say “Hi.” The post What is Fuqua Friday? appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
19 May 2022, 13:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: A Women’s Guide to Recruiting for Investment Banking |
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It happened every time. Almost intuitively, as I walked into a packed room of investment banking prospects, I immediately knew exactly how many other women were present. You could usually count us on one hand. Although the financial sector has made strides towards greater representation of women, I was still surprised by how few female counterparts I had recruiting for investment banking at Fuqua (we make up about 30 percent of the group). So if you’re a woman at Fuqua interested in pursuing investment banking, here is some advice on how to thrive during recruiting season. 1. Don’t do it alone. I never could have imagined my ‘random’ roommate, Hebe, would end up being foundational to my investment banking recruitment experience. Hebe and I first met on a choppy Zoom call the summer before school and soon after school started we realized we both would be recruiting for investment banking. Despite the excellent career resources available at Fuqua, we found it still critical to build your own support networks. In the most frenzied and intense moments of first-year recruiting (and there were many), my friendship with Hebe kept me focused and boosted my confidence. Beyond our interview debriefs in our kitchen and finance study sessions in the living room, Hebe and I provided each other much-needed emotional support and a sympathetic ear for really stressful times. Once we start our full-time jobs, the community we have built at Fuqua will continue to grow, support, and inspire each other’s endeavors. 2. Lean into Team Fuqua. The Fuqua investment banking recruiting process is well structured and employs formal and informal teams to support candidates each step of the way. In my experience, recruiting for investment banking, especially as a woman, brought out the spirit of “Team Fuqua.” For example, I would check in daily with my assigned second-year mentor, who also became a close friend. My first-year classmates and I would share how our unique attributes and backgrounds contribute to our cohort’s greater good. I felt my strengths were in storytelling and behavioral questions, while I relied heavily on my finance friends to help me understand quantitative questions on P/E ratios. Second-year classmates offered us hours of their time to construct trainings, mock interviews, and technical resources. Above all, our cohort focused on building up each other’s candidacies, recruiting more as a team than as rivals. Collaboration, not competition, ultimately helped us succeed at Fuqua. 3. Have fun along the way. There’s no denying the interview process is nerve-wracking. We stayed sane by combining our social activities with technical studying through wine nights or group study sessions. We even found humor in the process. We still laugh about the time a male banker commented to one of my female classmates that she must be a Yankees fan, having grown up in the Bronx. She nervously responded, “Oh, I don’t know football very well.” 4. Know your strengths but focus on your weaknesses. One of my biggest surprises was how heavily the process focused on networking and soft skills, such as interpersonal communication, congenial attitude, and professionalism. While you are recruiting for the associate role, bankers are actually recruiting for future managing directors, who manage relationships and can navigate social situations and rapport building with poise. At the same time, there is still a baseline of technical knowledge you must thoroughly understand. Don’t rely too heavily on one skillset, and find avenues to work on both your networking and technical knowledge simultaneously. 5. Bring genuine curiosity. As a career switcher, I had a lot to learn. Given the strong focus on networking, you can expect to have nearly 100 coffee chats with Fuqua alumni bankers. Even on my ninety-ninth call, I was still learning and eager to hear the banker’s story and insights. For example, one senior managing director I met was a former horse trainer before becoming a banker. As an equestrian, I was thrilled to hear about her professional transition and stories likening 1500-pound animals to CEOs of billion-dollar companies. Don’t be afraid to show your personality and interests when getting to know the bankers. 6. There’s no single right way to recruit. While the investment banking process is unique, the way you choose to approach it is also unique. Regardless of the approach you choose, the process will take time and will require continued focus and commitment to your own journey. Of the MBA trifecta—recruiting, academics, and social—I prioritized recruiting. I cast a wide net and had to spend many Friday nights studying technical questions, missing out on key social events. While the short-term sacrifice gave me the freedom to fully pursue my investment banking recruiting goal, other successful candidates took a more balanced approach. It worked for me but there are hundreds of other ways to find the right balance that works for you. The adage, “it takes a village,” feels like an understatement for investment banking recruiting. My hope is that when future Fuqua women walk into investment banking recruiting events, they will see a room that looks representative of American society in 2022. As a future banker, I look forward to supporting the next generation of investment banking recruits from Duke! The post A Women’s Guide to Recruiting for Investment Banking appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
24 Jun 2022, 10:00
| FROM Fuqua Student Blogs: What’s New in the Duke MBA Application for 2022–2023 |
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The new application year is upon us at Fuqua, and we’re excited for what we hope will be a return to ‘normal’ after two years of disruption caused by the pandemic. When our Admissions team reviews the application each year, our goal is to ensure the process is as straightforward and stress-free for applicants as possible. We think you will see the results of those efforts this year. Additionally, we want the MBA experience to be accessible to everyone, so we are excited to share a new scholarship program as well! Read on to learn about the changes you’ll see when the updated Duke MBA application goes live on July 7, 2022. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Concentration We’ve launched a new academic concentration—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—that will join the 16 we have offered in the past. These optional concentrations allow students to specialize their education and further refine the business and leadership skills they feel are critical to their intended career path. The new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion concentration is relevant for any student who will need to effectively lead diverse teams towards common purpose. Applicants will have the option to select it under the other concentrations and certificates section of the application. Fuqua Impact Scholars We’re really excited to introduce our Fuqua Impact Scholars program! It will be a set of named, merit-based scholarships for high-potential admitted students who intend to make an impact on the world through business with a focus area that is tied to one of our research centers. These scholars will have the opportunity to attend special events with faculty, staff, and distinguished speakers, and will have access to specific resources provided by the centers most closely affiliated with their focus area. As with our other merit scholarships, everyone is considered upon applying to the Daytime or Accelerated Daytime MBA programs—a separate application is not required. Fuqua Impact Scholars will be awarded in the following categories:
Letter of Recommendation We made a change a couple of years back to require only one letter of recommendation with the application, but we retained the option for applicants to provide a second one if they would like. We are removing the second optional recommendation this year, and will only accept one letter of recommendation. We think this will cause less confusion and angst for applicants who might be wondering if the optional one is really needed or not, and create a more level playing field for applicants since only one letter will accompany each application. If applicants would like to have additional endorsements submitted, we have other mechanisms for that including the student/alumni endorsement form, as well as an alumni referral form—both of which can be found in the alumni volunteers resources section of our website. Reapplicant Interviews To avoid confusion and to allow all applicants the opportunity to be fully prepared to interview, we will no longer offer a separate interview period if you’re reapplying from the previous year. Instead, reapplicants are encouraged to interview during our Open Interview Period. If you don’t opt for this, you’ll be included for consideration during the interviews by invitation period after each round. Additionally, we will continue to offer the ability to clone a previous application, and will provide an application fee waiver for reapplicants. We do encourage reapplicants to provide updates to essays and test scores to increase their competitiveness. Interview Formats The pandemic enabled us to create more opportunities to meet applicants where they are and to offer flexible and more economic options for interviewing. Therefore, we will offer both on-campus and virtual interview options during the Open Interview Period and for interviews by invitation after each round. Application Fee Waivers We value your time, and we recognize it’s an investment for you to take the time to get to know Fuqua. In recognition of that, we continue to offer application fee waivers for applicants who attend a Fuqua event in the year of application. This year, we have also added the opportunity for Duke alumni who are applying to any of our graduate business programs to receive an application fee waiver. Additional Changes and Information Our Admissions truly wants to get to know our applicants as well as we can, so in an effort to improve our understanding, this year we will be asking our applicants to record a video pronouncing their first and last names. Don’t worry, it’s not a trick question – we want to ensure that we pronounce our students’ names correctly throughout their journey with us as applicants and students. Applicants to our one-year Accelerated Daytime MBA we are offering the ability to apply in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 this year. In prior years we only accepted applications in Rounds 2 and 3. We’ll be resuming our on-campus visit program this fall, and off-campus travel schedule starting this summer, going to cities in the U.S. and around the world to conduct recruitment events. Here is our full events list. We hope to see you soon! The post What’s New in the Duke MBA Application for 2022–2023 appeared first on Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog. |
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