MBlog

[Rida] Jobs and General FAQ

I understand that alot of you are interested in the career outlook. Here I am composing some general FAQs. This is just my personal opinion. My classmates may have other perspectives. (Hey guys, feel free to put in your 2 cents as well)

1) Is there enough time in the MLOG program to participate in extracurricular activities or networking while this is an intensive 1 year program?

The answer is: It all depends on how much you want to accomplish and how motivated you are. If you are class of '07 you have been personally handpicked and clearly you have the capacity and potential to succeed. So it is really up to you to steer your own course. Some of my classmates are taking many many units while still taking the time to participate in social events.

2) Could you comment on how recruiters and the business world view MBA versus MLOG? Is one of them more reputable than the other?

While the nature of the MLOG program is not the same as MBA, recruiters view MLOG students as focused supply chain professionals. This is not to say that the degree only confines you to pursue supply chain careers. In fact, this year our classmates are getting job offers as project managers, healthcare consultants, management consultants, supply chain analysts & managers, military leaders, startup founders, directors in various large industries.  There is an advantage to distinguish yourself from being an MBA. More recruiters are starting to know about MLOG now because of the strong alumni network and its reputation.

3) What is it really like for MLOG recruiting compared to MBA?

Chris brings in over 30 companies over the course of the year.   Quite a few offers was  made as a result of this exclusive MLOG recruiting.  Nonetheless, the choices might be limited so it is best that you take charge of your career hunt in the area that you really want.  Sloan students probably might have more choices when it comes to the breadth of jobs. However, there is an advantage of being MLOG over MBA. For one thing, many people from top MBA programs are competing for a limited number of highly demanded jobs such as management consulting.  MIT is well-known for engineering and MLOG is an engineering degree. In that sense you are able to "brand" yourself apart. In general, the trend is that there are many MBAs from many schools out there right now. Think about supply and demand in the long run.

4) What other venues are there to look for jobs?

There is MIT monterstrak that alot of students use. This is a good tool but not all the jobs might be fitting as some of these jobs are looking for graduates without experience. There are quite a few recruiting presentations among MIT ESD  that you might be able to find opportunities. I would have to repeat the cliche that the best way to get good jobs is build your trust among your networks  :)

5) What are my chances of getting into top management consulting firms like BCG, McKinsey, Bain, etc?

Every year in the MLOG program there are several people who chooses to join these companies. While I myself did not pursue this route, I should probably defer better advice to my classmates. In any case, I still believe that a smart way to go about this is to prepare and practice.. practice... practice your case study during this summer. Yes, I said this summer! You will not have time once school starts. Consulting recruiting starts Sep/ Oct :)

IMHO the key to landing these jobs is
a) make your cover letter/resume attractive to capture the recruiters attention
b) how good and confident you can answer the case questions during interviews
c) how fast you can think on your feet (Refer to my blog on improvisation)
d) can you present and communicate in a coherent way and structured way?

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide what you want to get out of the program. Classes, company presentations and various resources are abundant here at MIT so it's really your choice how to make the most out of it. You can take things as ambitious as you like. Enroll in classes in Harvard or join clubs. Or like me, while I have a general idea of what I want for my career, I prefer to take the time to truly enjoy the experiences and let that  guide me to wherever it might be.

[Rida] Improvisation

Recently I am self-studying the subject of "improvisation". I found that the skills can be applied not only to Jazz music and theaters, but also to real-life challenges in the workplace.

In general MIT students are well-known for the quantitative and analytical skills but we may benefit from more interpersonal and leadership skills. As much as MIT students might be excellent with our technical ability, if we don’t communicate and translate it in an eloquent way, then we cannot fully maximize our potential success.

When we graduate from MIT, there will be alot of expectation from our future employers. Let's say that we have decided to accept consulting jobs and we are faced with clients who are awaiting for answers for their problems. Here we need to think on our feet and come up with feasible solutions quickly so as to create the right perception for our clients.

There are 4 Main principles of improvisation for practices in business organization:

1) Using "Yes, and" instead of "Yes, but" - This is referring to acceptance of a new idea or approach. When people say "yes, but" this may tend to stop further exploration of new ideas.

2) Practice deep listening skills. Reframing situations to explore creative possibilities. Shifting perspective, focus, position.

3) Thinking on the fly.

4) A willingness to step out of our comfort zone and to not be afraid of appearing foolish.

I believe that improv is a great skill to have as an effective leader because it teaches us to be more flexible, to listen deeply to others, to be creative, to react with calmness while under pressure and to “act” as an expert to carry through difficult situations.

At times we tend to let our emotions get into the way of thinking clearly. Sometimes the frustration and anger cloud us from making sound judgment. If we put ourselves back into the objective scenario and let emotions stay out of the way we would be able to make better decisions and hence become great leaders.

When we don’t know how to act during crisis, we can step back and project ourselves to be somebody who is in control. At the same time, improvisation allows us to avoid being control freaks while staying focus on the main course. Finally, improvisation trains us to take risks and step out of the comfort zone to be successful leaders in organizations.

For those of you in 'MLOG 07' there is a course offered in the Spring of 2007 from Sloan 15.969 Dynamic Leadership: Using Improvisation in Business that I wished I could have taken but it wasn't offered this year. However, I did meet with Prof. Lakshmi Balachandra who is now teaching at Harvard and thought that she was excellent.

[Rida] Time Flies

Like Tai mentioned, time flies. I still remember looking forward to coming to MIT back in early 2005.  It felt like yesterday when all of us arrived at the orientation.

The last couple of weeks have just been thesis thesis thesis. There are only a few more weeks left in the program. On one hand I am very excited to be graduating. On the other hand, I feel that I will miss the school life and the fun times hanging out with the friends I have made over the last year. It's sometimes hard to believe that in a short while we will all be going separate ways.  Besides the degree, education and experience, I personally feel that one of the most important things I got out of the program is the friendships, bondings and camaraderie among our class. I know that  someday all my classmates will become very successful as  Fortune 500 CEOs, politicians, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, professors, consulting firm partners, supply chain gurus, etc etc.

Hello from Rida

Welcome to Mlog Blog :)

I am quite new to blogging so  I will have to get warmed up a bit. Well as mentioned by my fellow classmates we're in the thesis mode. Our first draft due date is just around the corner.

The weather is supposed to get better here in Cambridge but somehow it was snowing yesterday. I live in the graduate dorms "Warehouse" we have these shuttles that take us directly to classes which are mostly located in the East side. Twice in a row the passengers in our dorm were rejected by the shuttle driver because he had already taken a full load at Sidney Pacific before it reached our dorms.

So I ended up walking to class with my classmates in the snow. Luckily we were only 12 minutes late.  Anyway, the shuttle was a smaller one designed for spring/summer. Normally during the winter MIT uses a bigger shuttle to carry a bigger capacity.  All of a sudden "logistics" came to my mind. I was thinking about Yossi's "Resilient Enterprise" because the book discusses how to design flexibility when crisis comes. This is analogous to our situation with the MIT shuttle in which they didn't prepare for this snow in April and the customers (passengers) are upset because some of us waited 30 minutes just to get rejected by the shuttle drive twice. Hence, the cycle service level drops and only if we had other choices, we would have chosen other means to go to school.

Anyway, I don't want to bore people with so much logistics but I find that what we are exposed to can be applied to even mundane activities which makes MLOG applicable to all facades of life.