Full-time MBA Blog – Page 10

June 15, 2018June 15, 2018

Crisis Simulation in the Leadership Development Program

“In the real world” is a phrase that you hear all too often as a student. Sure, you learn all of the theories and principles about Finance, or Marketing, or any other subject. But what does it actually look like in the real world?

This past semester, I had the opportunity to take many of the principles that are taught at Stern and apply it to a real world setting as part of the Leadership Development Program (LDP). One of the main reasons why I chose to pursue my MBA and specifically go to Stern was to have the opportunity to focus on learning principles of leadership which I will be able to apply to my future career. Naturally, I applied to be a part of LDP to make that a reality.

The first major programming for LDP was a crisis simulation, which put groups of students in a potential real-life scenario. In this scenario, we were given a real company, and each student would assume the role of a different executive. We were briefed with a developing crisis situation and placed in a “war room”. Over the course of the next 3 or 4 hours, the phone in the war room would ring and we would learn new information or be connected with new people, such as an ambassador to a foreign country, police chief, or news reporter. We were tasked to respond to everything coming in and communicate out our plan.

To some people, perhaps this exercise wouldn’t feel “real” enough, or they wouldn’t take it completely seriously. But in our war room, we were the company executives, and this was a real crisis that we were facing. Although our team didn’t win for the best overall response to the day’s action, it was still an incredible experience. The most important key to making this activity a success was the buy-in by everybody. This is why I have enjoyed my experience with LDP so far. Everyone in the program is committed to learning more about themselves and becoming a better leader.

One of the great things about Stern is that you don’t need to caveat what you learn by how it would be in the real world. The school gives you ample opportunity to know how everything does work in the real world. Whether it is the crisis simulation, experiential learning, guest speakers, or even the impressive resumes of our own professors, we are constantly exposed to learning about real applications of the many principles that are taught in the classroom. I know that these experiences will better prepare me to be a member of the Stern community, my internship this summer, and my career and life after Stern.

March 13, 2018May 4, 2018

Post by Farah Karim

While we all come to business school to hone our analytical or quantitative skills, build upon the experiences we had while working or switch careers, another reason we come back to school is to learn from others. At Stern, I have had the opportunity and pleasure of taking classes taught by the most well-known professors in their respective fields: Aswath Damodaran, Scott Galloway and Charlie Murphy. I’ve learned Corporate Finance, Brand Strategy and all about Financial Services. I have also learned what it means to be an adult, what it means to live life and what it means to succeed in the real world. As Sternies, we want to succeed in our personal and professional lives. We want to become CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. We want to be the next big leaders, following in the footsteps of the greatest.

But, how did they get there? I truly enjoyed attending every Charlie Murphy lecture last semester, especially because it taught me exactly what investment bankers do, something I did not understand before. My favorite Charlie Murphy lecture was our final class and the end to his last fall semester. Not only did we learn about the financial crisis and how the housing bubble burst, but we also learned Charlie Murphy’s top 10 life lessons. It was unforgettable, and my friend and I left the classroom still talking about how we can apply these life lessons in our careers.

I impart on you the wisdom that I have learned from Charlie Murphy:

When you start work, differentiate yourself – “physical not digital”
Have empathy
Have humility
Don’t have kids if all you care about is your career
Live your life, not somebody else’s
Take risks now
Have a hobby
When you start, work hard, but don’t take on more than you can
Create your network
Figure out how to spend more time with the CEO / people at that level

At Stern, you are constantly learning how to improve yourself personally and professionally. With exciting projects, exciting class topics and truly inspirational professors, the opportunities to grow yourself at Stern are endless. Stern really is an “education in possible.”

March 13, 2018March 26, 2018

Reflections on First Semester

Reflections on First Semester

I chose Stern partly for the obvious reasons. It is a top MBA program that is well-respected and has a robust alumni base in my industry of focus. More, my wife and I relished the opportunity to move to New York and have a new adventure after calling Boston home for 8 years. However, it was the people I met during my interview on campus that really sold me on attending Stern. I vividly remember walking into KMC through the Bobst entrance and being warmly greeted by the security guard. After he let me in and wished me luck, I ran into multiple Sternies on my way to the admissions office all of whom went out of their way to welcome me to Stern, give me advice and wish me luck. From that moment, I knew Stern was the place for me.

Fast forward to August. I am fresh back from my honeymoon and ready to dive into LAUNCH. The days leading up to LAUNCH were filled with anticipation, excitement and nervousness. I was excited to begin my MBA journey and to meet my classmates, yet nervous about how I would get along with everyone and how I would fit in. About 10 minutes on campus, those nerves were replaced by a feeling of comfort and belonging. The feeling I had was the same as I experienced during the day of my interview.

After LAUNCH, first semester is a blur. Instead of days filled with team building events, workshops, and happy hours I now had class, recruiting events…and happy hours. Moreover, recruiting begins in earnest. Particularly for those of us recruiting in the fall, first semester is daunting. The best part about it is everyone is going through a similar experience and that shared…misery?….is something that helps further solidify relationships. Before I knew it, the first semester was over and it was onto winter break.

Returning to campus at the end of January (January and interview season can be a post all on its own) is a special experience. The feeling I had right before classes started was similar to the feeling I had at LAUNCH, except the nervousness was replaced with excitement. Seeing your friends after a month, hearing about their travels and interviews and time off over a beer (or two) is GREAT. Also, second semester is less structured than the first so I had the opportunity to craft my own schedule, get involved with different activities and meet more people than the fall.

Hopefully I have been able to convey that I have truly loved every moment of my Stern experience… even the recruiting and finals. The academic programs are top notch, the faculty and staff are the best around, and you cannot beat the location. However, it is the students that truly separate Stern from its peers. My initial intuition served me well, and if I had to make the decision all over again it is safe to say I would make the same one again.

March 13, 2018March 26, 2018

Post from Shante Frazier

Over the winter break, I had the opportunity to explore three different countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, and Scotland. I went to Colombia for a wedding, Costa Rica for a Doing Business In (DBi) class, and Scotland for a Stern Signature project. Although packing for three different climates was a challenge (imagine boots, flip flops, sunglasses and thermals in one checked bag) I would not trade the experiences I gained from each trip for anything.

My break began with me meeting up with classmates in Colombia. We flew to the country to celebrate the wedding of a classmate who I met during the Consortium’s orientation program. I always knew that the most valuable part of business school was the relationships you built but this trip solidified that fact. We spent a week laughing together, partying together, and crying tears of pure joy as we watched our friend marry his best friend. The trip was amazing and it made me realize how I lucky I was to find such a strong community Stern.

After leaving Colombia I flew to Costa Rica for a DBi class. The class, which focused on sustainable development, took place at the INCAE Business School. We had the opportunity to learn more about the rice and coffee industries through case studies and site visits. We also learned more about the tourism industry and the tough questions that come along with it. Overall, the trip was a great learning experience and a fun way to build new relationships with classmates outside of my social circle.

My last trip was to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. I went there for a Stern Signature Project, which is a program that pairs students with companies or organizations to help solve a problem. The company my team was assigned to work with was the Carloway Mill, one of the last three mills that produces Harris Tweed. My team was able to explore the island to see where the inspiration for the designs came from while interviewing key stakeholders. The town we stayed in had a population of 500, so it was completely different from our NYC experience. It was nice to be able to immerse ourselves in the culture so that we could have a better understanding of the mindset of the weavers and producers. The knowledge we took away from the trip was much more than we could have ever gained from a case study. We left excited about the relationships we had built and the ideas we had generated.

My classmates and I returned to classes and the halls were full of students exchanging stories about their Winter travels. Although I feel like I accomplished a lot during my 30-day winter break, my journey pales in comparison to the journeys of my classmates. It’s so exciting to hear about the diverse experiences and to see all the exciting things that everyone is working on. It’s clear that no one was truly “breaking” this winter.

August 21, 2017

Summer Internship Series: Macquarie

Evan Foo is a rising MBA2 and interning at Macquarie this summer. He is specializing in Finance and Leadership & Change Management and is a member of the Asian Business Society, Graduate Finance Association, and the Stern Private Equity Club.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Stern Transition
Growing up, I did not imagine I would one day be working in a bank. My journey has taken me from a budding entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, a venture capitalist for the Singapore government and a CEO of a wireless speaker business to becoming a student of finance at Stern and in Wall Street. Prior to Stern, I had developed a keen understanding of early stage business and finance, but wanted the complete picture of the corporate lifecycle, and resolved to learn firsthand Wall Street’s role in shaping global companies and markets.

With its reputed strength in finance and location in the heart of New York City, Stern provided the perfect opportunity to make this transition. Connecting these dots in my career led to my summer in investment banking with Macquarie being an ideal platform for continued development.

Choosing Macquarie
One of the first considerations when recruiting for investment banking is to understand the nuances of each firm, and where your fit lies. I was first attracted to Macquarie because of its unique merchant banking function, under the Principal Transactions Group (PTG). Macquarie not only provided transaction advice and debt financing, but could also use its balance sheet to make equity investments in companies. Macquarie thus offered the best of both worlds and slightly more. The stability and resources of a bulge bracket bank, the work experience of a boutique (through leaner deal teams) and the ability to forge unique relationships with clients and sponsors.

The second is to determine what you want from your summer experience. The leaner teams at Macquarie provided the hands-on experiences I was looking for. Being able to work directly with Managing Directors, build models and interact with clients were big draws for me. Having gotten along well with the bankers from the firm and demonstrated technical competency for the job, I was offered a summer associate role in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG). The managing director of the fintech team was from Stern, and I looked forward to working with him.

Macquarie Experience
Walking past the revolving doors for the first time, tales of endless summer work and play from predecessors set the foundation on which expectation was built. My peers comprised of former investment managers, bankers, models, and engineers, yet everyone started on a level playing field during the first week of training. Soon we would be caught up in the whirlwind of work, volunteering, baseball games, charity runs and summer outings to managing directors’ homes, all of which presented various aspects of life in the industry. Staffers (typically Vice Presidents in charge of assigning projects and managing work flow within a group) protected our time for such events that not only provided reprieve from work but also an opportunity to deepen relationships with colleagues outside the work environment. Playing soccer with colleagues before dipping into the pool on a hot summer day was a personal highlight. All in a day’s work.

The workspace was aptly called the bullpen, the arena where everyone sat, from analysts to managing directors. Observing first-hand how a managing director operates and manages clients daily was already a key learning point for me. My day-to-day responsibilities throughout the internship would evolve from due diligence and industry research to managing analysts, building financial models, and co-leading a cross-border buy-side deal. The buy-side transaction offered the deal experience I had so desired, as I was involved in a critical stage of the deal and worked directly with a managing director. Another project with the PTG team was a welcomed bonus and it provided additional exposure across groups.

Take-aways
Walking past the revolving doors for the last time, it was comforting to know my contributions were appreciated and recognized by my team. Our buy-side progressing to the final phase made all the hard work pay off. Make no mistake about it, investment banking is a demanding job, the people we work with and the contacts we can call on make all the difference. I am therefore very thankful for the support provided by the Stern banking community in my group, firm, cohort, and across Wall Street, that has helped define my recruiting process and summer experience. In the same way, I hope to pay it forward.

August 21, 2017

Summer Internship Series: Colgate-Palmolive

Francois Anderson is a rising MBA2 and interning at Colgate-Palmolive this summer. He is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is a member of the Graduate Marketing Association and Stern Speaks.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer, I was an intern at Colgate-Palmolive, a global household and consumer products company that is headquartered in New York City. The NYC location was one of my main attractions to the company. Having lived in NYC for the past 9 years, this city has become my home. Though I am open to idea of moving for job opportunities, I am not ready to leave NYC. Therefore, an internship in the city was important to me. Beyond the company’s location, it was also important for me to work at a global company since the world in which we live is becoming more and more globalized. I got to know Colgate-Palmolive through corporate presentations, company visits, and conversations with several employees at the company. I loved the company’s emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. Most important, throughout the entire recruiting process with the company, I was convinced that it was the right fit for me. Therefore, I relished the opportunity to work at Colgate-Palmolive for the summer.

This summer, I worked specifically in Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals North America (COP), a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive whose mission is to drive active brand recommendations to grow consumer sales and drive sales for prescription and over-the-counter products, as well as in-office products. In this exciting mission for COP, I learned how to develop strategic plans that will help to drive the fluoride category and increase penetration in dental offices. I also learned how to put in place tactical initiatives that will help drive sales and prescription.

My main summer project was to ideate, develop, and implement the 5Ps strategy for PreviDent varnish in the US. Working with various cross-functional teams, I was tasked with developing a more comprehensive pricing scheme for our offerings and creating strategies for product innovation cross-category promotions to drive sales, specifically within pediatric offices. I also worked on developing new communication to be more appealing and relevant to pediatric patients. Finally, I created strategies to expand our distribution within and beyond dental offices.

I applied lessons from my MBA coursework to successfully execute my summer project. Classes that helped me prepare for my summer internship included Marketing, Strategy, Brand Strategy, and Marketing Planning and Strategy. Though this class list is not exhaustive, these classes helped me develop the critical and analytical skills and the overall confidence needed to be successful in my summer internship. They helped me frame issues and tasks within the context of the larger goals of the department and company, which helped to maintain a certain level of focus when developing strategies. Beyond coursework, GMA’s Mock Madness prepared me well, not only for the interview process, but also for the summer internship. Mock Madness is a week-long intensive interview prep series where students drill each other on interview questions and offer open and honest feedback on areas of improvement. The knowledge and skills I developed in Mock Madness enabled me to quickly understand what was required of me to be successful within the internship.

As I reflect upon the summer, I am happy to say that my internship experience was a successful one. My experience exceeded my expectations and I am happy to have interned at Colgate-Palmolive. I was also adequately prepared for the internship, thanks to my Stern coursework and GMA.

August 7, 2017

Summer Internship Series: Mastercard

Mark Lomedico is a rising MBA2 and interning at Mastercard this summer. He is specializing in Management, Management of Technology & Operations, and Finance and is a member of the Military Veterans Club, Stern Women in Business, and the Management Consulting Association.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I first met Dean Peter Henry at the Stern Military Veterans Summit for prospective students in the Fall of 2015. On a Saturday in October, the Dean spent his personal time answering our questions and describing Stern’s unique qualities. I vividly remember him discussing the notion that doing well and doing good were not mutually exclusive and that Stern empowers its students to create value in business and society after graduation. It was with those words in mind that I was able to develop a recruiting philosophy to help guide my journey during the Fall of 2016.

Sometime in November, I took stock of my recruiting strategy. I was interested in the consulting and technology industries and had my eye on a few rotational management programs. While I never felt unsure of my chosen recruiting tracks, I wanted to evaluate my options and decide what companies to focus on most. Remembering Dean Henry’s words helped me take stock of what I held to be important and consequently I concluded the following: I wanted to work at a company where I could do interesting work and have the opportunity to make a difference in society. After that revelation, Mastercard quickly became my top choice.

Given that 85% of all consumer transactions involve cash or check, Mastercard stands to experience incredible growth given its focus on digital payments and its vision of a world beyond cash. I saw the company as a place where I could learn about payments, be innovative, and work in a dynamic industry. Furthermore, Mastercard has a large focus on global financial inclusion. Initiatives such as 2Kuze, prepaid debit cards for refugees, and the many identity inclusion programs significantly improve many peoples’ lives around the world. Having served in the U.S. Army, I wondered whether my career after business school would have a higher purpose and serve a cause greater than myself. Mastercard’s executive leadership emphasizes and champions these financial inclusion programs and I am proud to intern for a company that focuses on generating revenue and improving the societies in which it operates.

Currently I am interning in an account management division that services customers (i.e., banks) that issue Mastercard cards. My project is to examine ways to make account management more efficient and improve the overall customer experience. This has afforded me the opportunity to learn much about Mastercard’s core products, its main revenue drivers, and customer needs. Far from busywork, my project was created out of an observed need for strategic analysis to be put towards a real problem. Empowered with executive buy-in, I know my efforts are valued and matter.

Outside of the office, I have been fortunate to contribute to Mastercard’s success on the soccer field. We face off against companies in the surrounding Westchester area and through soccer I have been able to meet many new Mastercard employees and learn about what they do.

As we approach the end of the summer, I have my sights set on Mastercard’s full-time rotational management program for MBA graduates. Created by the CFO, the Management Associates Program exposes participants to different business units during three six-month rotations. As Mastercard has many global offices, one rotation is at an international office such as Dubai, London, or Singapore, to name a few locations. Mastercard is full of intelligent people and exciting opportunities to create business value and to assist financially excluded segments of society. I am grateful for Stern’s relationship with Mastercard and the opportunity I was afforded to intern at the firm. I look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead of me and am thankful that Dean Henry’s perspective on the possibilities after graduation guided my recruiting efforts.

August 4, 2017August 4, 2017

Summer Internship Series: QuintilesIMS

Daniel Villaveces is a rising MBA2 and interning at QuintilesIMS this summer. He is specializing in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and is a member of the Stern Healthcare Association, Stern Student Government, and the Management Consulting Association

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

People who’ve done their MBA often say it was a transformative experience for them and that they wish they could do it all over again. After having completed one year of school, and 70% of my summer internship, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with them. I have learned more about myself in the last year or so than I have in any other year of my life. A large part of these lessons has come from applying to and doing my internship in consulting.

It all started with my dissatisfaction in my prior career in medicine. After I gathered the courage to switch careers, despite having a great opportunity in my old career, I was somewhat lost. I had devoted over 10 years of my life to learning and practicing medicine, and this was the first time I had even considered doing something else. After reaching out to my network, talking to others who had left medicine before me and reading way too many articles titled “7 things you should do before you switch careers,” I decided I wanted to be a management consultant. This path allowed me to have an impactful career while being exposed to and learning about different aspects of business, something that I felt a career in industry could not give me.

Better men than me have written about the process of getting an internship in consulting at Stern, so I will save you the details. I will only say that it is a long and arduous process that starts early in your first semester and ends well after first semester is long gone. (Pro tip: don’t come to school with the plan of figuring out what you want to do, start doing research about potential post-graduation careers, and how to get there, before you get to school). It is also a process that required me to be genuine and deliberate about my career choice, so it forced me to think long and hard about what matters most to me in life – and it is through that self-reflection that I ultimately learned the most valuable lessons.

Even though the process was demanding (or perhaps because of it), it was extremely rewarding to see my efforts pay off when I was offered a position at QuintilesIMS doing healthcare consulting. The 7 weeks I have spent there have taught me many lessons. The first one is, as they say when you’re running a race, to trust your training. I have often amazed myself at how much I’ve learned in two semesters of business school, especially considering I had no prior business experience. The second is that you should see your internship as another huge learning experience. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know,” to ask questions and to meet as many people as you can. Ultimately, your internship is where you get to try out a career for 10 weeks, so you better make sure you put it to the test. After all the self-reflection you did prior to the MBA, you owe it to yourself.

I’d like to close by saying that there is obviously more to my MBA experience than I could fit into a blog post about my internship. If you want to know more about any of it (e.g. what is it like to be an international student? What are the best places to go running in the city? How to survive on 50c/day in NYC? What are the 7 things you should do before you switch careers?), please don’t hesitate to contact me this fall at mbaga@stern.nyu.edu. Until next time!

July 19, 2017

Summer Internship Series: Accenture Consulting

TJ Herrle is a rising MBA2 and interning at Accenture Consulting this summer. He is specializing in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management and is a member of the Management Consulting Association, and Stern Student Government

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

When I began considering an MBA, I didn’t know what management consulting even was. I came from a non-traditional professional background, with a few years of government work experience and several years working internationally at startups. But with the help of an entire ecosystem of people and resources at Stern, I’m excited to say that I’m halfway through a very successful summer internship at Accenture Consulting.

This brings me to the two big questions I want to tackle. First, back to my pre-MBA days: What even is management consulting? And secondly, how did I make that pivot to end up at Accenture this summer?

The way I see it, management consulting is all about helping clients uncover and address their most critical business needs. It always starts with a problem. Maybe a client is losing market share to a new competitor in the industry. Perhaps a firm is looking to replace an older technology system with a better product. Whatever the case may be, clients hire management consultants to help them think through the problem, structure an approach, and develop a solution to achieve meaningful, quantifiable results.

Now to bring the high-level into some day-to-day takeaways for incoming MBA students considering entering this industry. For starters, you have to love working with people. From client-side meetings to late-night project team work sessions, consulting is an incredibly interactive field. If you thrive in that type of fast-paced, collaborative environment like I do, consulting might be a great fit. Next, you should be comfortable digesting large amounts of information and developing organized, synthesized output, usually in the form of a spreadsheet or a slide. You have to prioritize the information, and learn to make decisions without having all of the data you may want. Lastly, from a practical standpoint, you have to be OK with what can at times be a demanding schedule. It’s not uncommon to be on-the-road every week during any given project, or to have to put in extra hours when a deadline is approaching. That said, those demands can be incredibly rewarding in terms of both personal and professional development.

Now for my second big question: How did I make the pivot and end up at Accenture? It was a mix of leveraging the many great people and resources at Stern, and putting in a lot of hard work. From a resources standpoint at Stern I think of three big buckets. One is the Office of Career Development (OCD). They provide a series of skills workshops through the IGNITE program, and they host companies on-campus for corporate presentations where you learn about a firm and network with consultants. An OCD-sponsored Accenture corporate presentation is where I first connected with the firm. The second bucket is the student-led Management Consulting Association (MCA). MCA partners with consulting firms to host additional networking opportunities and workshops, with events such as lunch-and-learns and a weekly casing boot camp. The third bucket is yourself and your peers. Stern provides a clear starting point for how to pursue management consulting, but you must combine them with your own efforts to position yourself for success. For me, that meant spending many-a-Saturday afternoons practicing consulting cases with friends, as well as working independently on specific skills I needed to improve. If you haven’t yet heard about the collaborative community at Stern, let me make sure it’s on your radar. I can’t say enough positive things about the availability, helpfulness, and support offered by my classmates along my own recruitment journey, and I imagine many others share that same sentiment.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I was wondering what management consulting even was, and now I’m halfway through my summer internship in that exact field. My time at Accenture has taught me a lot and I’m thrilled that I am exploring this path. If you’re considering making a change to enter management consulting, from where I sit, Stern is a great place for you to make it happen.

July 3, 2017

Summer Internship Series: Discovering Healthcare Brand Management

Erin Guthrie is a rising MBA2 and interning at Johnson & Johnson this summer. She is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is a member of the Graduate Marketing Association and the Stern Healthcare Association.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I always thought I wanted to work in pharmaceutical marketing. I wrote my admissions essay to NYU Stern about securing an internship at a major healthcare company. I was laser focused on one goal, and then fall recruiting began.

Prior to Stern, I was an account manager at an international public relations firm, handling pharmaceutical and medical device accounts. I loved everything about my job, especially when I had the opportunity to work across other agencies to develop a well-rounded marketing campaign for our clients. I discovered my passion for uncovering insights and the fun of building marketing strategies to bring products to life. I knew healthcare marketing was for me and so I pursued an MBA with the intention of going into pharmaceutical brand management.

When fall recruiting began, I was exposed to the wide range of career opportunities NYU Stern unlocks for you. Beyond traditional healthcare opportunities, I sat in corporate presentations for fragrance companies, food and beverage, luxury and consumer packaged goods. In particular, I met with the CPG teams at large healthcare companies and saw how they bring over-the-counter products to market with creativity and reach far beyond the possibilities available in pharma.

My healthcare background, aligned with my love of marketing and creative thinking led me to lean into CPG recruiting. I applied and interviewed with a number of consumer healthcare companies and eventually secured an internship with Johnson & Johnson, as part of the brand management team for LISTERINE.

LISTERINE Summer Associates at the Facebook offices for a capabilities tour.

At J&J, I have expanded my marketing capabilities beyond what I thought was possible. I have been tasked with real business problems and will be expected to deliver strategic solutions that will be implemented across the brand. In such a competitive landscape, you’re constantly pushed to think outside the box and explore new ways of doing things.

Additionally, Johnson & Johnson, like most CPG companies, has a structured internship program that incorporates training, mentorship and social events that work together to make your summer an enriching experience. The culture at J&J reminds me a lot of why I chose Stern: it is fiercely competitive and strives the be the best in the industry, but within the walls of the company, there is an overwhelming sense of support and collaboration to help everyone excel together.

I never thought my MBA experience would take me to building a digital strategy for mouthwash, but I am glad it did.