Last week, final thoughts

It is a little crazy to think the last week of my internship is upon me. Five days from now I’ll be on the other side of the world exploring the mysteries of China with a group of my fellow MBAs. But before that a lot needs to happen – my final presentation, wrapping up my projects, final lunches and drinks with my team and fellow summer associate, cleaning, packing,… - the to do list seems to go on and on.

The fact my summer is coming to a close means fall and full-time recruiting are right around the corner. So it is reflection time. I used to work and live in New York City before business school – the Greatest City in the World as New Yorkers modestly call it. And I loved it! My goal was to go back there for the summer but it didn’t quite work out. I gave Chicago a try and I have to say that although I wasn’t very enthusiastic at the beginning I’ve been really pleasantly surprised. It is a beautiful city – a greener, cleaner, less packed version of New York. There are tons of great restaurants and a lot of neighborhoods that have a unique character. And there are tons of outdoors events – just this weekend the city is full of visitors from all over the country (and even abroad) who are here for Lollapalooza (or Lola as the locals lovingly call it) – an annual music festival that brings in performers from all over the world. All in all, I have really enjoyed it here.

So I started asking myself – do I really want to go back to New York or should I give Chicago a try full time. I have been thinking about that for the past few weeks, I’ve passed through a couple of stages and the jury is still not out on it. But I think this summer has once again made me realize how important it is to be open to new experiences and try to make the best out of any situation because when you do so previously unimagined possibilities open for you.

Work. Enjoy. Learn.

It is amazing (and maybe even a bit scary!) how fast time flies! Especially when you are enjoying it. Seven weeks of my internship are now gone and three weeks from now I’ll on the other side of the world, in China, touring with incoming MBA1s some of the most ancient historic sights of the world. And it is about that time when my fellow Groupon interns and I start asking ourselves “If you got an offer, will you take it?”

According to me, it is impossible to answer this question without first thinking whether the company culture fits me and thinking even beyond that – what is it that I am looking for in my future job and/or company? In one word! For me, everything boils down to two words: continuous learning. I believe it is extremely important to be surrounded by people who are smarter than me and who push me to be the best I can be, to grow, to learn because in my opinion once you stop learning it is time to move on. This is why I decided to quit my previous job and get an MBA and now, having spent a year among peers who are as driven as myself – this is what I am looking for in my future company.

So does Groupon offer continuous learning? I think so. Probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed most so far is the Summer Learning Series – a series of breakfast & learns that gives MBA Summer Associates exposure to some of the CXOs of the company. So far we have had the chance to poke the minds of the CFO, CMO and COO (not to mention that I ran into Andrew Mason himself in the elevator) and learn more about their road to Groupon and their visions for the future of the company. I have to say that I have been impressed not only by how accomplished and smart all these people are but also by how approachable, energetic, down-to-earth and passionate they are. And it was great to hear my own thoughts about the importance of continuous learning and “surrounding yourself with people that make you feel dumb” vocalized by Jeff Holden, one of the most charismatic and poised people I’ve met, last week. 

Fortunately, this culture of learning (and teaching) does not stop when you become a full-time employee. There are multiple lunch & learns when employees who feel they are an expert on a given topic, anything from Excel to marketing to self-defense is fair game, share their expertise with their fellow Groupeners.

Networking ends when you get that internship. False!

      If you think networking ends when you get that internship offer, you are up for a surprise – it does not! Your efforts to build relationships are far from being over regardless of whether you are interning with your dream company, or you are with a company that you hope will turn out to be the dream company, or you know you will, with 100% certainty, recruit again in the fall. And the fact that you need to turn the internship into a full-time offer is only one of the reasons why. So what are a couple of instances when you’ll need to network? Here are some Groupon examples:

• Networking with your fellow interns – probably, a more pleasant way to think of it is “making new friends.” It’s the familiar drill from the beginning of MBA1: “Where did you live before b-school? What did you do? What do you hope to do after your MBA? How are you liking Ann Arbor?” In the one month between the end of school and beginning of my internship I went through a self-reflection stage and came up with a few “MBA2 resolutions,” one of them being to make an effort to be more pro-active. I think the internship has given me a great opportunity to put thought into action even before school begins again. For example:
• I noticed that most of the interns have lunch together around noon each day in one of the common kitchens so when possible I try to join them. It’s fun and a great excuse to get away from the desk for half an hour. 
• Every week there is at least one email about grabbing a drink after work, going to one of the fairs and festivals Chicago is known for, etc. and I do my best to go. I’ve noticed that if people invite you a few times and you never accept, they just stop inviting you.

• Networking across the organization – at Groupon we have Breakfast & Learns every other week designed to help us learn about different divisions and functions within the company. During one of these events my interest was struck by the work someone on the branding team was doing so I followed up with an email and we set up some time to talk. Not to say that a job opportunity will open for me because of that but knowing one more person and knowing what the possibilities are could not hurt.
  
•  Networking with your HR – don’t think that the role of the HR is done once they give you that call to let you know you got the internship. At Groupon, my HR contact has been really involved in making sure I am enjoying my time and feel I am making the most out of my internship. And when I said I’d be interested in doing something a bit more analytical and strategic she said she’d ask around to see if a team had a mini-project for me.

So get your odyssey on – it’s networking time!

Your internship is what you make of it! Or, is the glass half empty or half full?

Another two weeks (or 20%!) of my internship down. So it’s time to sit back and reflect – what have I learned, what have I accomplished and equally as important – what else do I want to accomplish before the remaining 70% (I guess that’s what a B.A. in Mathematics does with you – makes you convert everything to percentages) elapse?

A few weeks into the job I now understand why during the interview process someone told me that Groupon is like a human who has the body of a grown-up person but the mind and heart of a child. So what does it mean?!  

Undeniably, the company has grown immensely since it first started some 3.5 years ago. It is now much more than a daily deals site and offers a wide range of products and services to both merchants and discount-seeking city dwellers and explorers. It has undertaken the ambitious task to transform the way SMBs (or small and medium businesses) do business. And to accomplish that Groupon now employs over 10,000 people across multiple functions in 48 countries around the world. And not in the last place – it is now a publicly traded company that had the audacity to reject a $6 billion take-over proposal from Google. Not too bad for less than 4 years in business (and that is probably why Grouponers say that 1 Groupon year is equal to about 3 normal years). That is the grown-up body.

The mind of a child refers to the fact that like many companies that have experienced rapid growth, Groupon wasn’t necessarily quite prepared for it. A lot of processes and structures that seem common sense for anyone who has worked in a big multi-national company, like knowledge-sharing and standardization for example, are not there. Yet! And while one way to think of that is “What a drag, dude!” (reference clarification link) I think the Groupon way is “Great! This means every little thing I do to streamline things can have a huge impact on the day-to-day lives of Grouponers around the world!”

That is what I am trying to do over the course of my internship – help with reporting standardization. And while it does not sound like the most glamorous or exciting thing out there, I have come to realize that if I do what I have set out to do it will truly leave a mark. What’s more – I learned a new trick in Excel that gave me that “I did it!” warm feeling so I guess it is all about the small joys in life and making the most out of every situation.

Outside of work, life is still sunny and wonderful. And windy! My explorations of summer Chicago continue. The free summer concerts in Millennium Park are in full swing and I have come to love my walks around the lake and the bell-like sound the boats make. And there are beautiful fireworks every Wednesday and Saturday! What more can you wish for?! :-)

It’s always sunny in Chicago! At least during the summer it is :-)

Chicago skyline

It’s been a week of many firsts – first week of my internship, first time living in Chicago, first time living completely on my own – no roommates, no nobody. I have to say seven days ago I was pretty anxious about how this adventure is going to turn out but so far so good!

My first week at Groupon went by fast – I actually cannot believe 10% of my internship are already gone between learning about the company, getting to know my team and getting back into work mode. I feel really lucky that the culture at Groupon is pretty laid back, people are extremely friendly and welcoming, willing to help and yet giving you the freedom to go explore on your own and define your own adventure, which makes the school-work transition pretty seamless.

I am a part of the Marketing team and more specifically the Customer Relationship Management (or CRM) team which is mainly focusing on consumer activation. For perspective, Groupon has about 40 million subscribers out of which only about 30% are active users (meaning they buy Groupons) at any given point of time. And that’s when the CRM team comes into play – the goal of the team is to get as many subscribers as possible to become active users and also to reward our best subscribers for their loyalty. 

As you can imagine, like any online business Groupon has no shortage of data, however the big question is how to organize and synthesize these data in a way that’s meaningful and allows people to make better-informed decisions. That’s what I will be tackling this summer – identifying KPIs (key performance indicators), thinking about consumer segmenting and then designing and working on implementing a reporting system. But before I can do all that I have to learn Groupon-speak. It always amazes me how many acronyms people use at every firm!

Outside of work, I’ve been exploring Chicago. I have to say before coming here I didn’t quite understand why all the people who’ve ever spent a summer in Chicago say it is so amazing but a week in I am starting to understand. There are so many events and festivals organized by the city authorities! Just this past weekend there were at least three festivals – an arts fair, a blues festival and a ribs fest. How amazing is that?! I am really excited for what’s yet to come and I’ll keep you all posted.

Enjoying summer in Chicago!

Hi all, this is Stefana – an MBA1 in transition. After 5 busy weeks in South Texas on-site at IDEA Public Schools and 10 hectic days wrapping up MAP from Ann Arbor, I am finally home for a one-month break before I head back to the US for my internship with Groupon, Inc.

For me this is shaping up to be a busy summer. I am kicking it off with a month or so in Europe where my time will be divided between Bulgaria (where I am originally from), Scotland (where one of my brothers goes to college) and Germany (where my cousin has been living for years). Once done with my “mini Euro trip,” I’ll be heading back to the US where I’ll spend 10 weeks as a marketing intern with Groupon in its Chicago office. And then – off to China, touring Beijing and Xi’an with the in-coming MBA1s.

In terms of my internship – there are still a few unknowns, like the exact project I will be working on for example. But what I do know is that I’ll be with the marketing team and it seems like my quantitative marketing research background will come in quite handy. I think this internship will be a great opportunity to show initiative and take ownership of my project and my overall summer experience.

I am excited to be joining the Groupon team since everyone I’ve met so far has been really nice and friendly. Overall, I am looking forward to making some new friends and enjoying summer in Chicago which from what I’ve heard is quite splendid. What I am not looking for is the moving experience – and to make things even harder and more stressful I have just one day between when I get back to Ann Arbor and when my internship starts in Chicago. We’ll see how that goes…