Cecilia Marmolejos is a current Fashion and Luxury MBA student, specializing in Luxury Marketing. Prior to Stern, Cecilia worked at Wayfair as a Site merchandiser, and as a merchant. Post-MBA, she plans to pursue a career in brand management. At Stern, she is involved in the luxury retail club, and Stern Women in Business.
At Stern, I have felt extremely supported when it comes to my career journey. I came in with an interest in beauty, and no prior experience in that segment, and feel like Stern has given me certain opportunities that I otherwise would not have had exposure to.
At the beginning of the Fashion & Luxury MBA, the Office of Career Development explained to my class that students have two different opportunities for recruiting. The first is called cyclical recruitment, which happens in the fall and is commonly found in large companies that can anticipate their headcount. The second is just in time recruiting which happens in the spring closer to graduation, and is much more prevalent in the fashion and luxury industries. For myself, I decided to recruit in the fall, and found the process to be manageable, despite how many steps there are, due to the career resources at Stern. Regardless of when you decide to recruit, I recommend working on polishing your resume and a draft cover letter, so when a job opens up, you have a base template that you can tailor to a specific job function. A great resource to elevate your cover letter is the Office of Career Development.
During my recruiting journey, I utilized Stern’s portal for campus recruiting jobs, which gives students access to jobs that are specifically targeting MBA students. I applied for a job through this portal, and additionally attended on campus presentations that Stern facilitates, where students hear from company representatives looking to hire Sternies. When recruiting, it can be an extremely time consuming process. I would try to segment out weekly time, to ensure I was taking time to network within Stern’s contacts, polish my resume, and look for job opportunities. By segmenting out time every week, it made it easier for me to enjoy on campus events and balance my social calendar outside of recruiting and classes. Additionally, given this program is one year, it provides you such a unique opportunity to experience an MBA, while also preparing for the workforce in an expedited timeline. For those who chose this type of program, I recommend consistently meeting with mentors and the Office of Career Development to keep yourself accountable at all steps of the process.
For my specific process, I applied to H&M’s rotational program and received so much support from the office of career development. I worked closely with Fatim, who helped me from my resume, to crafting my cover letter, and then helped me run through a presentation for my interview. Once I received an offer, the Careers Team was also there to help me walk through the offer, to ensure I was comfortable with accepting the position. I felt personally supported by Fatim, and am beyond grateful for her help and encouragement throughout an extremely stressful process.
In addition to the Careers Team, Stern’s alumni community is extremely supportive during the recruiting process. Stern helps connect students with alums who share their recruiting histories, and are willing to help chat with students about where they are now. There are a variety of corporate presentations led by Stern alumni, which is a great opportunity to network, and learn about different position openings. In my case, I was able to speak to alums that currently work at H&M, to understand what their day to day functions look like, and what their career trajectories would be post rotational programs. This really allowed me to get a feel for what the company would actually be like, and furthermore excited me to apply.
Overall, Stern has made the recruiting process less daunting, and I am grateful for all the support I have received throughout this process. Post MBA, I will be joining H&M in their Leadership Training Program. I am excited for what my future holds, and am beyond thankful for those who have helped me get here.