Tag: employment

Texas MBA Career Treks

Each year, the Texas MBA Career Management team leads Treks to various cities to visit the main offices of different companies, giving Texas Full-Time MBA students a great opportunity to learn more about their industry of interest and allowing them to become more familiar with the culture at these companies. Visits typically consist of presentations, Q&A sessions, and numerous opportunities for networking with alumni and executive management.

One of the biggest trends our Employer Relations and Career Management teams have seen has been an enormous increase in student career interest in the West Coast.

In 2010, 9% of Texas MBA graduates landed jobs on the West Coast — that percentage has nearly doubled with the class of 2016! Interest in technology companies has exploded, making it a large area of focus for our annual Treks.

Complementing those two trends, West Coast tech companies have been opening offices and/or growing their corporate presence in Austin i.e., Facebook, Google, Apple, Cisco Systems, eBay, PayPal, VMware and Electronic Arts just to name a few. We continue to build our relationships with these firms, as well as seeking new opportunities.

We have also seen every facet of student interest in entrepreneurship increase, from coming into the program already running a firm, or founding a company in business school, to working at a startup or fast growing company post-graduation.

In response, the Texas MBA Program has created many unique opportunities for MBA students to network with and connect to the startup community. We now host a biannual McCombs Entrepreneurship Night, which showcases startups founded by McCombs MBA students and/or alumni.

That event is held in conjunction with Austin Startup Week in the fall and during SXSW Interactive in the spring. The contacts made during these events are invited to our Entrepreneur Society (ES) events during the school year, such as the Pitch Party in the Fall and ES Connex in the spring, a networking night for local startups looking to hire interns or full-time candidates.

2016-2017 Career Treks 

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Texas MBA students at the Boston Consulting Group offices in Dallas, TX

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Texas MBA students at the Chevron offices in Houston, TX

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Texas MBA students at the A.T. Kearney office in Dallas, TX

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Texas MBA students at the Bain & Company office in Dallas, TX

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Texas MBA students at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch office in New York City

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Texas MBA students at AT&T headquarters in Dallas, TX

 

Full-Time Travelers: Texas MBA Treks

Source: VH1.TUMBLR.COM

Source: VH1.TUMBLR.COM

Great Scott! Back to the Future Day was October 21st this year, and that week McCombs first-year MBAs glimpsed their potential destinies. With a two-day break from their courses, students trekked across the city, state and country to become better acquainted with companies from local startup RealMassive to investment banks in the Big Apple.

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McCombs alumni welcomed visitors all along the way with warm greetings, fond memories and useful career development tips, as well as branded swag and delicious treats. And speaking of Hollywood classics, there were some big screens too, like this one at Austin big tech trek participant Emerson…

Thanks to MBA career advisor Daniel Liu for this photo from the big tech trek

… and futuristic motor vehicles that make modern-day stagecoaches seem so last century (yes, even when they have no class, McCombs MBA students stay classy).

Thanks to Tina Mabley, Director of the Full-Time MBA Program for capturing the tech trekkers in their best hook 'em poses

Thanks to Full-Time MBA program director Tina Mabley for capturing the tech trekkers in their best Hook ‘Em poses

For 20 MBAs on the Dallas marketing trek, the Monday morning agenda comprised coffee, juice and breakfast pastries served by American Airlines, Pizza Hut for lunch, and Frito-Lay’s Rold Gold pretzel dippers as a late-afternoon snack—all at those respective firms’ corporate headquarters. Presentations from members of the Longhorn family and current employees on navigating a major merger in the travel industry, managing relationships with franchisees and reaching target customer segments through emerging platforms like Periscope, among other topics, provided the food for thought. 

Six first-year MBAs at the Dallas headquarters of Pepsico's Frito-Lay division

Six first-year MBAs at the Dallas headquarters of Pepsico’s Frito-Lay division

Houston Energy Finance (visits including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Phillips66), Houston Clean Tech (visits including NRG and First Solar), and Dallas Private Wealth/Asset Management (visits including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse) were among the other treks. The adventures in networking continued throughout the next few weeks in Houston and Dallas, as consulting firms and Houston investment banking institutions hosted more forward looking McCombs MBAs.

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