My first two weeks in New York Citi- Part 2 of "from CPG to Banking"

Hello everyone,
Has been a while since I posted my first blog. You may think that the title of this  second one is a miss spelling, however it is not. I just didn't want to be one more person talking about Citibank, as I just saw that my intern classmates have been very active.
The ver first week went by very quickly. We had a trainning during the whole week, along with some networking events and an speech of the CEO of Citibank consumer banking division, Manuel Medina Mora, who happens to be a mexican that has a long career in the banking industry. This conference, was just the cherry on the cake that confirmed the things that I am enjoying at Citibank. First. Diversity of backgrounds, and second,  approachable senior management. As I consider both relevant elements when it comes to build a strong organizational culture. Also, they come very useful when evaluating whether I see myself  working for Citi in the future, because, from an international student perspective, I would not like to be working in a place in which thediversity in background is not appreciated. Another thing that I have enjoyed from the program so far, is the caliber of the interns. I can tell that I've had interactions with people from all of the  top 15 business schools. Which has been a great opportunity not only to expand my network, but also to realize that The University of Michigan, Ross Business School, is very well positioned in the MBA market. Now, starting my second week, I have to confess that  going back to work after eleven months, is like working out, you need to keep up with your condition! It is not a big deal, but it is something that needs to be practiced again. Additionally, as it has been for other classmates, when  defining deliverables, it is not as easy as I had thought. I realized that my project is more ambiguous than I though, as it has to do with launching a new business model, which deals with increasing revenues, strategy and marketing. As a result, there are some roles that are still unclear in my team, but, the upside of this is that I am having the opportunity to work in something entrepreneurial, something very rare in a big organization like Citi. (You may have seen that also Citi just turned 200 years, and it is just  starting the 3th century of life ). The project has been great to leverage on my previous MAP experience as a team-member and on my Strategy classes. So far, I can tell that the project has exceeded my expectations, even though I still have to figure things out and develop many frameworks to deal with the unknown of a new business model.
I will keep you posted.
Miguel

All Good Things Must Come to an End

I can’t believe my summer stint at Ecolab is finally coming to an end. After spending 9 weeks with a group of incredibly smart and fun colleagues, I am almost tempted to extend my internship by an extra 3 weeks! Ok, I kid. My summer experience has been a phenomenal learning experience, but I am really looking forward to returning to Ann Arbor to see all my friends again! As one of my colleagues joked, it’s back to the academic bubble for the last time!

But before that happens, I have to complete my final deliverable, also known as THE final presentation. My final presentation is scheduled on the Monday of my last week at Ecolab (in 2 days’ time!) and I am feeling pretty confident about it, mainly because various colleagues in my division took the initiative and reviewed my presentation over the past week – it truly speaks volume about the company’s culture, when Directors and Senior VPs volunteer to take time off their busy schedule to offer feedback on the presentation.

Here at Ecolab, there is a tradition of inviting all the people an intern met over the summer (40-50 people in my case) to the final presentation. While it is a great opportunity to showcase my work and share my insights, one of the challenges is that the audience becomes very broad, and the content of the presentation has to cover both breadth and depth – my manager and I definitely spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how to work around this issue.

Well, as I enter into my final week of my summer internship, HR has also lined up a series of “tests” for us. We are required to complete an online aptitude / personality test, as well as spend half a day doing a leadership assessment (which includes role-playing and more online tests!) Ecolab is definitely investing more time and effort into talent acquisition and development, and as the company looks to expand overseas into emerging markets, these initiatives will ensure that Ecolab has the right talent to drive growth in these new markets.

So, one more week left before I head off to sunny San Francisco for my summer vacation. And then it is back to good ole’ Ann Arbor. See all of you in a few weeks’ time!

Go blue!

Social Events in the Twins Cities

Over the past 7 weeks at Ecolab, I have had many opportunities to learn about the inner workings of the organizations. Speaking with various people across all divisions, I understand the work of each division and how it fits into the larger organization. As I explore full-time opportunities within B2B Marketing, these conversations would definitely helped me make a more informed decision and decide if this industry is a good fit for me. And I can gladly say I really enjoy what I see right now.

That said, a summer internship is also about letting your hair down once and in while and simply enjoy the beautiful summer weather! Last weekend, MBAs in the Twin Cities gathered at CRAVE, an amazing rooftop bar in downtown Minneapolis, for the annual MBA Soiree. I was amazed to see such a huge group of MBAs in the Twin Cities. There are quite a number of companies in this region – Ecolab, Cargill, 3M, General Mills, Medtronic and Target, just to name a few – but still, the turnout was larger than I expected.

After spending a few days recovering from the late night, the Ecolab interns were once again out in full force this weekend! We were invited to watch the Minnesota Twins-Detroit Tigers baseball game from the Ecolab suite, which happens to offer the best view in the house. After a week of hard work as we tie up our project, we definitely welcomed this treat! The Twins lost the game but hey, as someone from Michigan, it was nice to see the Detroit Tigers win.

As I move into Week 8 of my project, I will be spending a lot of time reviewing my final presentation with different people in the company. While it’s good to keep the project scope focused, it might be helpful to find out if there are perspectives I failed to think about as I wrap up my project. This is the definitely the final lap, and I am excited to showcase the work I have done over the past few weeks.

Till then!

A month already!

Well, it amazing how time goes by, it has been a month already since I started my internship. I am definitely busier than I used to be the first days, as I am working in a project, I don’t have daily tasks to do. In the beginning, my usual day was divided by doing research and meeting with some people that can give me more information about the product I am analyzing. Now, I got almost all the information I needed, so I am in the phase of putting everything together to build a story (as my boss says). So, as many of us, I am in the power point phase, and this is more stressful than I thought. My boss is a former consultant, so you can imagine she has high standards in presentations. In fact, I knew I had to do a final presentation to my boss, but I didn’t know I had to do a midpoint presentation to my VP, that will be this week. So, you can imagine how much I have been working this week.

Additionally, as we are getting near to the end of our program, we have more social and networking events. Unfortunately, I had to miss one happy hour because I had a very early meeting the next day. I was sad, but I knew this following week we will have even more events, so I felt more relieve. This week, we will have breakfast with HR representatives, the usual lunch and a scavenger hunter event. So I will definitely have fun.

And to end the week, as most of us have been really busy, some of the Summer Associates decided to go out for dinner on Friday. What rally surprised me is that we went to a Peruvian restaurant, without my recommendation, so you can imagine I was more than happy. I had a Peruvian friend visiting me for the weekend, so i went with her, and we really liked the food, and my friend did also. We had a great time and most of us couldn't finish. Here is the photo of us, I was really happy that people from Italy, Brazil, the Philippines, and of course, US, could enjoyed Peruvian food.

I will keep you post!

Shila A.

Getting Into the Groove at Ecolab

I can’t believe it has been three weeks since I started my summer internship at Ecolab! Time flies when your schedule is packed to the brim!

I spent the majority of the past two weeks learning more about the company and the project I am working on – the learning curve is definitely very steep, given the fact that my project is relatively complex in nature and high on the agenda of senior management. Having said that, my manager has been extremely supportive and has made this learning experience truly enjoyable. In addition to weekly meetings, she also checks in with me on a daily basis to review my progress and provide me with guidance if necessary. Seeing how I am getting increasingly comfortable with my work and familiar with my colleagues, my manager has also invited me to participate in a couple of high-level meetings, so I can understand how my project fits in the grand scheme of things.

During the past week, I was also asked to define my own project scope. While some interns had their project scope defined for them by their managers on Day 1, others like myself are given the opportunity to craft our own learning journey. I made sure my project was relevant to what my manager was doing, but at the same time, I also avoid something that was overly integrated with her work, since that would give me some autonomy on how I envision the final results – something that I personally enjoy.

That said, next week is going to be crunch time for me. My mid-point presentation is due and I will be presenting my work to a team of senior management. I have completed the number crunching, solicited feedback from my colleagues on my project, and it is now a matter of putting all my insights together and telling the story to the audience. Hopefully I will be able to complete all the tasks I have set out for myself, so I can enjoy July 4^th (i.e: four day weekend)!

Till then!

Greetings from Minneapolis!

Greetings from Minneapolis!

It has been a week since I started my internship at Ecolab and I am enjoying every minute of it.

Ecolab’s headquarters is located in downtown St. Paul (the older and more historical part of the Twin Cities) but I decided to live in Dinkytown Minneapolis (where you find students from the University of Minnesota, as well as tons of pubs and restaurants). To a certain extent, Dinkytown reminds me of Ann Arbor, so it’s good to have a little piece of “home” with me.

My first week at Ecolab passed by faster than I expected. My manager has been spectacular in ensuring that I could “hit the road running, right off the bat”. Quote, unquote. She arranged a total of 22 meetings for me in the first 4 weeks, making sure that I have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with senior management. Prior to my internship, I was advised by MBA2s that the summer internship is not just about delivering a good project. It is also about familiarizing yourself with the culture of the company and getting acquainted with individuals from the organization. In fact, one of the senior executives I met advised me that as an intern, I was not expected to understand ALL the details of the business. Rather, I was there to get a holistic picture of how the business is run, and more importantly, to provide a fresh perspective on critical issues.

Apart from executive meetings, HR has also filled the interns’ calendars with multiple social events. We will be spending a full day on a Habitat for Humanity project; going for a Minnesota Twins baseball game; touring the Twin Cities; and visiting the Research and Development facilities of Ecolab, among many others.

My summer is definitely looking very busy, but again, every minute of my first week at Ecolab has been phenomenal and I am excited to find out what the next 9 weeks have in store for me.

Till then!

Beginning of summer!

Hi all,

This is an introductory post. I am an MBA and this summer I will be interning at Ecolab in St Paul, Minneapolis! Ecolab is one of the few companies that recruits for business-to-business (B2B) marketing positions at Ross. I am in still in the midst of determining my internship scope, but I am excited to share that options include working for the Global Food and Beverage Division, to the Healthcare, Hospitality and Commercial Division - I am torn between a few really exciting projects but regardless of my final decision, I am certain this summer internship going to be an amazing experience.

Prior to Ross, I worked in the wealth management industry in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as the non-profit industry in India. Coming to business school, one of my main goals was to do a career switch to B2B marketing. With the support of OCD and the Marketing Club, I successfully made the switch. This opportunity at Ecolab will give me the critical first-hand experience I need.

Speaking to friends who have worked or lived in Minneapolis, they all told me that summers in Minneapolis are beautiful. People in the city are very active in the summer and sports play a huge role.

I will be starting my internship in the first week of June, so till then!

Wrapping up!

As I get closer to the end of my internship, it’s a good time to think about what I’ve learned during this time. One thing I did well was insisting on getting to know the manufacturing and R&D process. After my request, a Company tour was organized and I was able to visit the application labs and the manufacturing plants. I confirmed that I love to visit operation facilities in order to get a better picture of the process but I would rather spend most of my time at my office. I also learned that different projects keep me excited. The possibility to interact with people is also key for my ideal job, I wouldn’t want to be isolated. On the other hand, one thing I could have done better is networking prior and during my internship. For instance, the Division General Manager is a Ross alumn. I wish I had contacted him before.

In order to present results for my projects, I will do one presentation for each one of them, before my manager and the project sponsors. After that, I will do one presentation for the higher management, on my final week. It would be a very good opportunity to gain visibility and show my work. I need to excel at both the presentations and the networking in order to leave the positive impression I want to leave. And I will be leaving soon, next August 13th will be my last day.

Eleven weeks, which seemed like a long period at the beginning of my internship, are coming to an end so fast! In a nutshell, and without a doubt, I can say it was a good experience! I meet good people, enjoyed a nice city and formed part of a company with a promising future. I would love to have the opportunity of returning to FMC. But I hope, whatever happens, I will get what it’s most convenient for my future… both my personal and my professional life.

I’m off to Colombia after my presentations and my internship are done. After a short vacation, I will be finishing my second year of the MBA and then it’s back to real life. It’s my last post here, so bye for now!!

Amazon: Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History

I can definitely check the first two off the list. Am I making history? Time will tell I guess, but I sure hope so! So my last month at Amazon just began this week. Time really has flown by. I have learned a lot about Amazon through other interns, the frequent speaker series (where Senior VP talk about their teams and careers), and through speaking with Ross alumni at Amazon. It seems that each team has its own sub-culture, but the common theme at Amazon is “casual intensity”.

Intensity: Everyone is very passionate about the customer, their work and their business segment. People work very hard and are very absorbed in their work. People love to get involved in different aspects of the business. For instance, engineers brim with ideas for solving business problems and marketing managers get involved with the technology architecture and bug fixing. I also love the meeting culture here. Meetings longer than 30 minutes are unusual. Attendees focus on the topic at hand and so meetings are very efficient. In fact, efficiency and frugality are also a common theme at Amazon, which contributes to innovation at every step.

Casual: In a nutshell - T-Shirts, Shorts, Sandals, Wii games, and Dogs. The culture at Amazon is very casual. On a sunny day, I often see people play Frisbee or picnic in the parks at work. People come to work in shorts and t-shirts and sandals (and that’s not just on Fridays). Even senior management dresses very casually. We have bi-weekly happy hours at work at the end of Friday that one sub-team puts together. And once in a while we have Happy Hours on other days for no reason except TGIF. There were local brews, dart boards, a Wii game set-up on a big projection screen and a heated discussion about Ninjas vs. Pirates at an impromptu Happy Hour organized by our senior VP just a few days ago. And, I also appreciate how dog friendly the company is. Employees can bring thier dog to work. In fact there is an off-leash dog park on campus, and every reception has a jar of dog cookies. There seems to be one dog for every 6 employees here at Amazon. My floor has gone to the dogs, said a colleague when introduced to two new puppies in the past month.
Here is a hilarious video by Woot, a recent Amazon acquisition that touches upon the company culture:

Almost there...

It's Nikos again from Hill's Pet Nutrition in the extremely hot state of Kansas, which I was told is the place where basketball was born. Having played pro basketball that sounds very cool!

Anyway, even though I have 4 weeks to go, I present to senior management next Friday. Logistically, it was easier to get all the marketing directors, VP, brand managers etc. in the same room for a 2 hour time when I and the other MBA intern will spend talking about our recommendations and overall experience. Frightened, terrified, and stressed are only some of the words that can describe my feelings. Not so much for presenting, but putting together a big deck while dealing with all the projects that I am part of. To make a long story short, my workdays have become dangerously long!

The good part is the experience. No matter what I say, words are not enough to describe it. Yes, I am tired! Yes, I am working till 9pm! Yes, I can't wait for vacation! But, I'm confident it will pay off. Being involved in several projects provides great exposure in the company and the opportunity to work extensively with cross-functional teams which, in my opinion, is the hardest thing to do no matter how much experienced you are in it. Actually, if I had to distinguish the single most important aspect of my internship it would be the cross-functional experience and the ability to coordinate with different people, different priorities, different perspectives.

Well, as another day of the week ends, I'm looking at this weekend as an opportunity to wrap up my presentation and get ready to rock it. The expectations are high and I'm looking forward to meeting them. Once that is done, I will spend time exploring the area, networking within the company, finish up my projects, and get ready to go back to Greece before school starts.

Fox Broadcasting and Networking

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hey! It's Alyssa Fried again! After working at Fox, my social life has changed. Usually during the summer I would spend my nights with my friends, until I went to camp at the end of June for two months. Now I am home the entire summer for the first time since I was 9 years old, and when I arrive home at 6:30/7 at night, all I want to do is go to sleep! I know this means I am working hard, and I am enjoying it. I would have to say that if I had to choose my old social life during the summer, or my internship at Fox, I would pick working at Fox. This is because I still have the weekends when I can see my friends and at least twice a week I use my lunch break to meet up with friends who are interns in New York City as well.

While working here, I have met so many people. There are so many different departments on my floor, and I have met most of the people in the various departments. After all this time, I can finally say that I feel like a true part of this office. Everyone is eager to show me their work, and the 'tricks of the trade.' They have started coming to me to request that I work on projects instead of me having to search for work all of the time. It feels great to be contributing to my department. Just the other day, I met someone new and shadowed him for the afternoon. When it was time for me to leave for the day, he handed me his card and told me it was for when I graduate, in case I have any questions, and also to have another contact at Fox. It felt great to be networking in the office.

Although I have only been here for about a month, it feels like I have worked here forever. I now have a routine that I follow every day. I get into the office in the morning, put my lunch in the fridge, and get my laptop from my supervisor. I plug it in, start it up, and travel down the hall to greet everyone and see who needs me to do work. At around 12:30/1:00 after I have finished whatever project I have been working on, I take a lunch break. Sometimes I just walk around the streets exploring, and other times I sit outside my office in the sun because it is so cold in my office. The rest of the day goes pretty quickly after that. I'm busy with projects or sitting in meetings observing, and before I know it, it's 5:00 and it's time to catch the 5:27 train home.

The workload varies from day to day. Mondays are generally the busiest day and I spend most of the morning entering demo estimates into the computer. The rest of the day is usually spent doing analysis of reports from previous, present, and future years. I usually make about three spreadsheets in Excel each day. After my last post, I have grown a lot more confident in my work and have cut down my constant checking significantly!

Lately, I have begun to sit in on meetings to learn about how the sales people communicate with the advertisers, and how deals are formed. In this way, I am finally beginning to see the marketing side of this internship. There is an intern program in another department in Fox Broadcasting and next week I will be traveling to an ad agency with them to learn about media planning and buying. That should be interesting because I haven't been able to interact with interns my age at Fox as I am the only one in my department. I am excited and a little nervous. I look forward to telling you about it!

First couple of weeks at Hill's Pet Nutrition!

Hello everybody from Kansas! Certainly not the greatest place on earth but this is where I'm spending my summer so I'll have to find a way to like it...

Since my last post, the main difference is that I have moved to Lawrence, KS and been here for two weeks. Lawrence is a college town, very similar to Ann Arbor, but it's a half-hour drive to Topeka to get to work. I would love to give you more info on the location but unfortunately things have been pretty hectic at work and haven't had the chance to move around as much as I wanted.

I got my project(s) description and was given a cubicle (which as you can see I have decorated accordingly) the very first day. I was assigned to the Science Diet cat nutrition team for the summer. Basically, I will develop a promotional strategy for the special needs line, design the brand action plan for the life-stage line, and lead the monthly volume tracking to understand our sales activity, make recommendations on corrective actions, and comply with Colgate Business Planning.

In addition to my project, there are several daily "mini-projects" coming my way which reminds me what the real world looks like. However, I am fortunate enough to report to a Michigan alum who, along with other recent MBA grads from other schools, has been very helpful. Most of the people here are more than willing to help me get a better understanding of the business and daily tasks.

Yeah I know it sounds like a busy summer! Just by looking at my deliverables I feel some pressure but every day has been a learning experience, even during lunch with directors and VPs. This is the kind of company Hill's is-everyone is accesible.

If I had to point out my major difficulty so far, that would be the acronyms! They use more acronyms than full words which makes my communication a little bit harder. Until my next post, hopefully I will have figured most of them out...

Enjoy summertime!

First Post Before Fox!

(BBA, Fox Broadcasting)

Hi everyone,

My name is Alyssa Fried and I am an American who is a rising BBA junior. This summer I am working for Fox Broadcasting in New York City. I will be working in both the Pricing and Revenue Analysis departments during one of the busiest times of the year for the company. I will be working on the pricing and strategic placing of commercials broadcasted on the Fox network. This internship will give me a background in both marketing and finance, which is something I am very excited about because it is going to give me the opportunity to work with numbers as well as a little bit of advertising. I am nervous about my commute to the city from Westchester which will be a very large expense for an unpaid internship. I am also a little apprehensive about working with media math, which I have not yet had the chance to do. Although I have not taken any Finance or Marketing classes thus far at Ross, I will be able to use my knowledge in other aspects of business to help me succeed. Overall, I know that this will be a great learning experience and I can not wait to challenge myself outside of Ross and the University of Michigan, and in a real work environment. I look forward to updating everyone on my experiences at Fox!

My First Post

(BBA, Octagon)

Hi All! I am Michael Wieder a rising senior in the BBA Program. This summer I will be interning at Octagon, a global sports agency and marketing firm. They represent athletes such as Michael Phelps, Chris Paul, Emmitt Smith, and Lamarr Woodley (Go Blue) to name a few. I will be working in the Athlete and Property Marketing Division. I expect my projects will revolve around harnessing the marketability that Octagon's athlete clients have and find strategic ways to pair them with large corporations or events through sponsorships or endorsements. Currently I do not have many expectations for my job. I find that it is better to go in to new experiences with low expectations so anything that is good seems great and things that aren't so great do not seem so terrible. My internship is in McClean, Virginia and I will be living in Washington D.C. I am very excited about experiencing and exploring all aspects of a new city. Being from New York I understand what a big city is like, but Washington D.C. is going to a lot of fun and a great experience. I am not the type of person to be very nervous about new situations, however I guess I always a little concerned about the adjustment to a new corporate culture when starting a new job or internship. I look forward to updating everybody on my experience.