Life is an incredible journey, and now it's another start at Ross.

(MBA, Eli Lilly) I am a rising MBA 2 student. Yes, a rising MBA 2 student now. Time really flies before we realize it. My wonderful journey starts at Ross School of Business.

After the hectic recruiting season from Dec 2009 to Jan 2010, I got the offer from Eli Lilly Corporate Finance and will start my summer in Indianapolis! This summer internship is definitely giving me brand new experience in a dynamic industry – pharmaceuticals. I worked in an energy company before coming to Ross and this internship will provide a valuable opportunity to me to work in another important sector related to people’s life and happiness. I am very glad that I grasped this opportunity and look forward to tasting the real flavor there.

At Lilly, I will work in Treasury, leading the credit management improvement project. It involves creating new training materials, process improvement, building up new templates and streamlining SAP relevant modules. This is somewhat linked to my past experience in corporate finance and I think I could get on hand very quickly. For this internship, my goal is to test my fit to this company and find whether I like people there and the future job I am going to undertake on full-time base. This is going to be very exciting as I can meet new and different people every day, know more in depth about the pharmaceutical industry and Lilly, and also have fun with other MBA interns who live in the same building!

As for the things I am ‘nervous’ about, it may be whether I can quickly mingle with the team I am going to work with. As an international student, there are still too many things such as culture, language, working style, unwritten rules and etc, to learn. How to make you likable in the team may be an important task for me. : ) Therefore, I decide to do homework to research the company and team before I arrive in Indianapolis as well as refer to the internship 101 slides shared by OCD.

Alright, I will keep updating my internship experience in Indy and see you in May!

What I'm Expecting for my Summer Internship

I am a BBA and will be interning with Credit Suisse’s investment banking department. As a summer analyst, my role will be to support deal teams in whatever industry or product group I am assigned to. Above a summer analyst, there are analysts, associates, VPs and MDs.

I will be placed on an industry group (telecom, healthcare, retail, etc.) and work on a variety of projects throughout the summer. Projects could include creating a pitch book to present to clients, working on valuation for M&A deals or researching undervalued companies that can be sold.

From the internship, I am expecting to learn a lot about the industry I am assigned to. I will learn about how to value companies and about business strategies that govern M&A decisions between companies.

I am excited about the chance to work in New York, at a big bank and be immersed in a completely new environment. I cannot wait to start seeing how the real world works and leave the protective fences of academia.

However, I am nervous about working with new people. Since the internship requires frequent teamwork, I will need to adapt to a variety of working styles within a short period of time. Also, investment banking is highly stressful and demanding and I wonder if I will be able to perform under pressure.

First Post

I am a BBA junior, and will be interning at UBS Sales & Trading, Fixed Income and Commodities this summer. Talking to seniors who have interned on trading desks in the past, it seems that most of my summer will be spent building relationships with co-workers and full time staff, as well as basic office tasks like photocopying, scanning, picking up coffee, and picking up food. Outside of this, a lot of downtime is to be expected between tasks, with the onus on interns to take the initiative and seek out more work to maximize their learning experience.

As of now, UBS has not given any details about what my summer project would be, hence no one in the intern class knows what it entails, must be done or even what to expect etc. Given the amount of down time expected at work, working on the project and tuning it up to a high quality product should not be a problem since plenty of time can be spent on it.

Working at UBS will be exciting as they have a trading floor the size of approximately two football fields, with all traders on the same space. Such an environment will definitely be exciting and highly charged when markets are open, and is something I look forward to being part of. On the other hand, working for the first time outside of home and in a foreign working culture will be a challenge that I foresee must be overcome.

Introduction: Summer Internship at Harley-Davidson

I am a first year MBA at the Ross School of Business, originally from Goa, India. I will be interning at Harley-Davidson Motor Company this summer in their Leadership Development Program (LDP). The internship acts as a feeder into their full-time LDP program, which is a rotational program that hones management graduates into general managers. During the LDP, you can choose the functions and assignments you would like to work in, and also the duration of the total LDP. At the end of the LDP, you emerge as Director of the function of your choosing.

My internship assignment is to create a go-forward strategy for HD's Next Generation Personalization (NGP) initiative. NGP is a means for HD to build stronger one-to-one relationships with their customers by enabling them to create a one-to-one motorcycle, thereby deepening their emotional connection to their bikes. My role is to help HD develop a formal strategic approach that optimizes the balance of customer service, minimized waste, individualized product offerings, and complexity concerns for the organization.

I am excited not only about the project, which is a huge jump for HD in their customer marketing strategy, but also about working at HD. The company has a great working culture, where everyone I've met has been friendly, intelligent and humble. I am most excited about the free HD riding lessons and gear that all interns are provided during the internship.

I fully expect this summer internship to be a roller-coaster ride, mainly because of how different it is from my previous experiences. I have worked for 8 years before joining Ross, primarily as a Consultant. I have never worked in ‘industry’ before, as the consultants call any work outside of consulting! I am completely new to the manufacturing industry, and what’s more have never ridden a bike in my life! So I am trying to re-invent myself with this internship.

Watch out for more details about my sojourn at HD in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer.

Raring to go!

I’m a first year MBA student from Nigeria, West Africa. As a background, I majored in pharmacy at undergrad, switched careers to public accounting with PwC (including a two year stint in Texas and Oklahoma) and will now be spending the summer with the Investment Banking Division of Citigroup in New York. As the more perceptive reader might be able to tell, I’m kind of interested in finance and look on the summer program as an opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time – become a bona fide “master of the universe” (aka investment banker).

I’m pretty excited about the timing of my sojourn as the economy’s rebounding and I expect there’ll be many exciting deals to work on. I’m hoping fervently that on my return to Ross in the fall, I will be able to point to some major deal and say “hey, I helped to make that happen”. I also hope that I make a huge impression and secure that coveted full-time offer. The major downside lies in the fact that my chosen industry is extremely intense. For example, there is an expectation that I’ll frequently be required to work 16-20 hour week days as well as long hours on weekends. This would somewhat limit the opportunity to properly explore the good things that New York has to offer. I guess my attitude is that if all those other people can do it, so can I.

All told, I’m raring to go and “I’ve got a feeling….. that [this summer’s] going to be a good one”. I look forward to the prospect of sharing my experiences with you.

First Post

(BBA, Washington Nationals Baseball Club)

Hey Everyone!
My name is Callie Robins. I am a rising junior BBA student at the Ross School of Business. This summer I will be interning in Washington D.C. with the Washington Nationals Baseball Club. I will be working in the Ballpark Enterprises Department. I expect my work this summer will be challenging, yet extremely fun and rewarding. My major responsibilities include assisting with research projects, performing administrative functions within the department, and assisting with events at the ballpark.
I have a unique opportunity to use my knowledge from my first year at Ross while gaining insight into the sports industry. Over the summer, I hope to have the chance to challenge myself by working on dynamic project, but I also hope that a lot of my time will be spent with other interns working on group assignments. The only expectations I have for this summer are to have real life work experiences while having fun. I live about 30 minutes outside of Washington D.C., so I would have to say I’m pretty nervous about the commute to work everyday.
I’m excited for my first “real” job, and I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. I don’t know much about baseball, but I am sure by the end of the summer this will change. Wish me luck! I look forward to updating everyone.

-Callie

Taking the most out of it!

Hi all,

I would like to introduce myself. I'm Douglas Storf, a rising MBA2 and will be spending my summer at Amazon in Seattle where I'll be managing a product called S3 at the Amazon Web Services group. I'm really excited about the opportunity. One of my goals when I came Ross was to have an working experience with marketing at a High-tech company, preferably outside Brazil (my home country). I can say it is mission accomplished: not only I got a Marketing position at Amazon in Seattle, I only got a MAP project at Google in London!

After spending the last 6 weeks working and living in London, getting back to Ann Arbor had a contrasting impact on me: I'm happy to be back to where I now call home, but I know I'll miss Europe.

This week is the last week of the first year and is definitely a time for reflections. We are just getting ready for our internship experiences while our friends from the second year are getting ready for their full time experiences. "It will go fast" That is what I was told before coming to B-School. "It went too fast" That is what our MBA2 colleagues are saying now and I second their voice! I'm doing my best to take the most out of this experience but I find it inevitable to have a taste in my mouth that I am still missing a lot!

The internship is not going to be any different: it will go supper fast, I'll do my best to take the most out of it, I'll still get the feeling I'm leaving a lot behind! I guess I'm getting used to that!

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.

First post

Hey, I am Biswaroop and I am a 1st year MBA student at the Ross School of Business. I am an international student from India and am interning at Microsoft, with their online advertisement strategy group. I am very passionate about internet technologies and therefore was thrilled to get this offer.

I am very excited about the opportunity to work with amazingly smart people at a very innovative company and hope to utilize this opportunity to do some great work over the summer. Microsoft and Amazon interns from Ross stay in the same apartment in downtown Seattle. This summer, there will be close to 25 of us in the same apartment complex and I am looking forward to enjoying Seattle and having a good time.

Prologue: A clean slate

Hi there – my name is Kripal Kavi and I a second year dual–degree student (MBA/MS) here. I will be spending my summer as a consultant with Booz & Co. in their Chicago office. I am an international student from India, and yes, I was an engineer before I came to school. I am very excited to be going to a top–notch consulting firm this summer. And quite frankly, I feel a little lucky as well, given the caliber of the students here at Ross and the high level of competition for consulting internships.

I, like most other business school students, want to generate a full–time offer out of this internship. That would make the final year a lot less stressful! But at the same time, I am using this internship to determine my fit with consulting, and decide whether this is a career I would like to pursue for a prolonged period of time after business school. I have multiple reasons to be worried: never worked in the US before, don’t have a background in consulting, not sure what to expect, etc. etc. But at the same time, this is a tremendously exciting opportunity for me – to work with some really smart people, do some fantastic work and basically have a great time over the summer. Right now, it's a clean slate, and it's up to me to see how the story gets written!

Take care, and happy readings!

Sink or Swim

Being an international student at the Business school for the undergrad program, finding an internship can be quite a daunting, troubling and frustrating experience as a sophomore, especially in such an economic climate where companies look to hire only full time or students with Junior standing. Add to that the fact that I’m international, questions regarding work authorization, sponsorship etc all come up that often discourages prospective employers from looking to hire prospective, strong and equally qualified international talent. Having said that, it is quite gratifying to know that as a sophomore I do have some sort of job lined up for the summer ahead in these tough times.

Being the Franchise Manager for College Pro painters has for sure been one of the most defining experiences of my life here at the States. For most, internships star over the summer, for me, I have already begun working since January, attending training sessions in Ohio, Kalamazoo and East Lansing, and learning how to run my own business. I view this job, if I may call it, as an opportunity to discover what my passion is and where do my interests for business really lie. I might end up realizing that running my own business is not my thing, but perhaps the financial and accounting part of it is!

So to say that I have learned a lot would be an understatement. Having grown up in Dubai in a closed pampered environment, I have been forced to push past my comfort zone and actually try living the "real world" experience that some crave for while others are a little nervous about it.

I am confident that by the end of my summer, I would have accumulated a vast base for experience in dealing with people, managing my finances and being an entrepreneur. I am sure to be light years ahead of most of my peers. For this I am grateful!

First post from me!

Hi there, readers - which are - I am certain - legion. My name is Nir - a first year MBA at Ross. I am originally from Jerusalem, Israel - and for more than a decade have been a software engineer and IT manager at an Israeli startup, a large educational institute, and the Israeli Defense Forces. This summer I will be interning at Dell, in Austin, Texas. I also hope to be interning with a local startup here in Ann Arbor.

It's going to be a long - and - especially considering the location of the Dell internship - stifling hot summer. Kind of like being shoved into an oven while being sprayed with water. Try that once. It ain't fun.

My role at Dell will a Project Management internship - it's still unclear what my projects will be - but they will likely involve a cross-account look into their services practice.

What do I hope to gain from my internship? Certainly, a way to defray my tuition costs would be nice - but mostly I am looking to apply what I've learned during the first year of the MBA in an actual business setting. I'm excited about the prospect of discovering how an American corporation makes decision, and I hope to learn as much as I can from my experiences this summer!

Preparing for the summer

MBA at Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago

Role / Function: Finance Senior Analyst; Corporate Finance
Working closely with a business unit, advising them on decisions based on financial information.

Hi! My name is Preeta John and I am an Indian student looking forward to sharing my summer internship experience on this blog.

I come from a background in architecture/design. Working in corporate finance is going to be a paradigm shift for me. The opportunity to work in retail is definitely exciting. I perceive tremendous potential to learn about the workings of a business unit in a large corporation. Most of my past work experience has been with small to medium firms, so Sears will give me access to a radically scaled-up and structured perspective.

As an international, this is my first experience of corporate America. I am expecting to be challenged and stretched by this internship. I also see tremendous opportunities for learning and growing, and also for going beyond the requirements to provide value above and beyond expectations. I believe my diverse background can be leveraged to provide my business unit with a fresh perspective.

The biggest challenge I face is embarking on a project in new territory while expecting a baby at the end of the internship. This internship is going to be a test of my ability to multi-task, prioritize and work with extreme efficiency. Somehow I am not nervous; just certain that I am going to do both jobs well.

I have spent a lot of time in preparation – getting logistics in order, finding an apartment, a doctor and a hospital, while also preparing myself for my professional tasks. I took a semester’s worth of work in Excel and a workshop in financial modeling. I feel confident that I have the basics and know where to look for the answers to complex problems.

Wish me well! I will keep you posted.

To consult or not to consult? or how did I get so far

(MBA,Booz) Beginning to write is always the hardest, once few words are already written the whole operation becomes natural and easy :-)

So who am I?

My name is Rotem, a student from Israel who relocated to the US to pursue a MBA at Ross.

Besides studying, I spent the past eight months exploring the internship opportunities and learning a lot about the different roles and industries. As time passed by I came to the understanding that I would like to become a consultant or work at High-Tech. How are these two connected? that's a good question! I can't draw a clear line that connects both of these opportunities, though I can say that preparing for recruiting in two different industries was not easy at all. In fact I quite failed to prepare for the High-Tech part of the deal... luckily I received a consulting offer that put me right where I wanted to be :-)

So this summer I'll be interning with Booz & Co. in Dallas, which I find very appealing as the Michigan winter was found to be a bit too cold and snowy for me - I'm still Mediterranean...

I will be assigned to a team dealing with a strategic IT problem that one of Booz's customers have.

It seems very clear to me that this is where I want to be,but I yet lack the practical experience doing it. From my research on consulting companies, I learned a lot on the challenges of the consultant lifestyle,and now I am looking forward to experience it first hand this summer.

I am really excited about the opportunity to experience hands on team work in a new environment, I believe it will be a major challenge.

Before I end this post, I would like to share what I take to be the three most important things I learned through my consulting recruiting experience:

- 1st and most important - have a backup, unfortunately, out of more than hundred students who want to intern as consultants, only few tens receive an offer - which might leave you offer less! don't give up though - it's a two year process and full time offers are much more generously given! but as for the internship - choose another industry you are passionate about and prepare for its interviews.

- 2nd, start as early as possible, prepare your resume , consult your peers and second year OCD consultants and practice cases and fit with them to be as ready as possible for your interviews.

- Having that said - don't burn yourself! taking 5 cases a day will be less effective for most of us than taking only 2 and concentrating on the learning from each one of them.

Best,

Rotem