Internship

I did my summer internship at Golden Flake in Birmingham, Alabama. I worked in the cash flows part of the finance department. It was an excellent experience that taught me a lot about how to work in an office environment and also how to work with different types of people. During my time at Golden Flake I handled the affiliate banks, and ran reports daily for the CFO and controller. This was a valuable experience in accountability and taking responsibility for my job. I also gained valuable knowledge of the financial reporting for a publically traded company, as well as observing an audit. During the summer we had auditors come in to make sure that the numbers we were going to report at the end of July were accurate. I also went through the annual earnings report that went out to NASDAQ. All of these responsibilities and events that I got to do or witness really helped me put together the things that I had learned in the classroom. Even though I have done several internships before I felt like this was the first time that I had the knowledge, experience, and maturity to contribute. It was also a valuable time for me to see how the upper management ran the office and dealt with the employees. I loved the interaction with the other employees and getting to know them in a work environment. One of the main skills I learned from my first year that I applied to my internship was the excel work. I used excel everyday and being able to troubleshoot problems with different spreadsheets helped me tremendously in my internship. Overall the internship was a great experience that helped to tie book knowledge with real life scenarios. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to do an internship and try to use it as a great learning experience and a springboard to the future.

MBA Ambassadors - What are they? What do they do?

This past Fall, Connie Chambers and the MBA Faculty decided they wanted to implement and ambassador program for the Manderson Graduate School of Business MBA program. The ambassadors are being used for many different reasons. First, the MBA program has many companies that come visit and do on- campus interviews. The ambassadors would be responsible for making the representatives comfortable on our campus by maybe giving tours, taking them to lunch, talking about their experiences in the program, etc. Further, the ambassadors are to help the faculty while they are traveling to establish and sustain corporate relationships. Taking current ambassadors to companies gives the executives at the company the opportunity to see what the program has to offer, plus the ambassadors can give an inside look at the Manderson Graduate School of Business.
Also, ambassadors mentor to prospective students by giving them a personal opinion of the MBA program and what it has to offer. Ambassadors discuss their experience in joining the program, why they joined, what they have done since they have been here, how the program is valuable to students and some advice on what the potential students should do if they are admitted.
Being an ambassador gives a feeling of being a part of something that is influential and valuable to our MBA program and our personal careers. It has given me exposure to executives, given me the ability to travel, and given me the opportunity to get to know in a deeper sense, the faculty and other ambassadors. Once immersed in MBA it is hard to take time to get to know people on a deeper level because of the course load. Being an ambassador gives that opportunity and gives the opportunity to take a leadership position – a definite win – win situation.

Mac vs. PC: Which one should I choose?

As an avid Mac user, I never thought about buying a PC or any machine with a Windows operating system. That is, until my second week of MBA classes. I love my Mac for its long battery life, user-friendly operation system, portability, and honestly, for its design. But, in order for your Mac to work with some of the programs needed for classes, a few modifications will be necessary. In Operations Management we use several Microsoft Excel 2007 specific add-ons that are not compatible for Macs. For Management and Marketing we have the option of using ExamSoft, a program that allows you to take essay tests on your computer. This program also does not work on Macs. But, no fear, there are options to make your Mac compatible in the PC world of MBA school! First, you will need some sort of virtualization or hard drive partitioning software such as Parallels or Bootcamp. These programs help you install and run Microsoft Windows XP or Vista on Intel-based Macs. Then, you will obviously need to purchase Microsoft Windows XP or Vista to install on your computer. Finally, you will need to purchase Microsoft Excel 2007 in order to run the add-ins needed for Operations Management. I suggest just buying the entire Microsoft Office suite so you can use Word and Power Point too. All of these programs can be purchased at the Supe Store for a student price, which definitely helps cut the cost of upgrading your Mac. All in all, I’m happy with my Mac and glad I didn’t have to make the switch to a PC. If you already have a Mac and don’t intend to purchase a new computer for the fall semester, I suggest just upgrading the one you have. But, if you’re already a PC user I suggest using your current PC or buying a new one.

What MBAs should expect when starting a job or internship

As the career counselor for the MBA program, I'm constantly asked "what kinds of things will surprise me when I start work?" Since most of our students lack corporate experience, this question is much more relevant than most would think.

Here are some things to expect:
*Being disoriented the first few weeks--just learning the phone system can be a challenge! Remember to be especially kind to the support staff during this period. They can make your transition a pleasant one.

*Keep in mind that Facebook, email, texting, and using Twitter may be prohibited and that the company will most likely monitor your internet use. Many new hires forget this and get reprimanded on their first day!

*Technology may not be at the level you've become accustomed to in B-school. Also, because of your age, others may simply assume that you know how to fix anything technology-related. It'll come as a shock to them if you don't know how to retrieve information off the hard drive that just crashed.

*Remember to avoid talking about your personal life at work--at least until you're sure where the office gossips are located. Just avoid gossiping anyway; it doesn't do anyone any good!

*Expect to have to make an immediate impact, especially given the state of the economy. Companies used to give new hires up to a year to see results--that time has been tremendously reduced. Be prepared to volunteer for projects immediately, appropriately sell your skills and then be effective when you use them.

*Remember to keep track of all your work by documenting EVERYTHING. Yes, this takes time, but it avoids misunderstandings when you can look at your notes and remember a promise you made in a phone call two weeks ago. This also works to your advantage when you're up for evaluations!

*You're always making an impression on your co-workers whether or not it's the way you dress or how you treat others. Manage your brand--think about the people you respect most and why, and that will give you some ideas about how to approach this aspect of your professional career.

Obviously, there's a lot of things to consider when you start your brand new job or internship. There's an excellent book out there that was published some years ago by the name "Find the Bathrooms First." This book takes you step by step through your first year at work and includes questions to ask, issues to address and how to establish goals for yourself. Check it out!

Good luck with your career!

Angelia

Student Tickets

Student tickets- For student at the university, new or current, getting a student ticket package can sometimes be an ordeal. First there is the 7 a.m. buying time as well as the “wait room” which sometimes turns into a “stay room”. Second there is possibility that your computer won’t even work in the “wait room”. Finally there is the frustration of only being able to by 1 ticket to away games. The process is not perfect and I do not think it will ever be but for a majority of people it is fine and at this point that is all we can hope for. Hopefully with the new stadium expansion some of the stress on student tickets can be elevated. Luckily the tickets to home games are cheap and part of the experience at The University of Alabama and any southern University is watching college football. The atmosphere around the game as well as the festivities is truly unique to Alabama and is something that you can only describe if you have been a part of it. Also there is an MBA section to sit in as long as you get there about 30 minutes early. So I suggest that you get up early and have multiple computer around you to buy your student tickets, it will make the fall much more enjoyable and help any student to get the full experience at Alabama.

Welcome to Alabama's MBA blog

The purpose of this blog is to provide a place for prospective students, current students and faculty to get as well as share information about The University of Alabama's MBA program, the city of Tuscaloosa, student life in general and any other related areas of interest.

We would gladly welcome any feedback on what we can do to improve the blog and make your Bama MBA blog experience more enjoyable!