If you have any questions about the MBA program, please feel free to ask.  I would be glad to answer any and all questions.  For example, I do know that deciding whether or not to pick up a specialization can be an on-going decision-making process, as I am seeing with my classmates and myself.

A couple months ago, I was eating out at a Chinese buffet with a handful of classmates.  A few of us were joking around that we would take the fortunes from our fortune cookies and make them our statuses on Facebook.  Anyhow, I opened up my cookie and received an intriguing fortune: “Failure is opportunity in disguise”.  This seemed to contradict some of the ‘wisdom’ that is force-fed to us through tradition, culture, and society. 

A few years ago, I read a book by Vince Lombardi, Jr., taking quotes from his father, legendary National Football League coach Vince Lombardi, Sr.  One of the coach’s famous lines was: “Winning isn’t everything.  It’s the only thing.”  While this is a highly motivational quote, I have to disagree with the quote in the context of this blog post.  Lombardi’s quote suggests that losing is not an option and making mistakes is only detrimental to one’s goals. 

Meanwhile, a few years ago, Converse ran an advertisement with National Basketball Association player Dwyane Wade, who is a star with the Miami Heat.  In the commercial, Wade falls down and gets knocked down in various situations.  Yet, everytime, he gets back up.  The saying with the commercial was: “Fall down seven times.  Stand up eight.”  In this sense, Wade did not let pain or overpowering stop him from playing basketball aggressively and passionately.  Perhaps Wade relates to this quote off the court as well, as the message certainly applies. 

Further back, the decent but poor fit in the Rocky saga “Rocky V” had a video montage of the five movies with music in the background.  The song playing was performed by Elton John, entitled “The Measure of a Man”.  The lyrics of the song include the following words: “You had to lose so you could win. / And rise above your troubles while you can. / Now you can love, now you can lose, / Now you can choose, / That’s the measure of a man.”  Definitely, the lyrics can apply to women as well as outside the boxing realm.  Sometimes, we have to mess up and make mistakes before we learn to do things the right way.  Yet, the losing enables us to eventually succeed at what we are working towards. 

In the MBA program, there may be times inside or outside the classroom where we fail.  We may be humbled by others or disappointed in ourselves.  Instead of sulking in shame and low morale, we should keep moving forward.  As a classmate told me one time, “Do not let your ‘chair’ weigh you down.”  That is, as we learn from mistakes, we need to let go of them.  We cannot let past mistakes hang around in the present.  From an accounting perspective, they are ’sunk costs’.  Let it go.  Or, as Paul McCartney said, “Let it be.”  And, as the cookie said, “Failure is opportunity in disguise.”

Links:

• The Lombardi Rules
• Dwyane Wade Converse commercial
• The Measure of a Man song lyrics
• Let It Be song lyrics

In the interview process for any job or academic program, we need to be prepared to answer numerous questions about our experiences, our careers, and our means of handling situations and problems.  Thus, we should always review our information and essentially ‘know ourselves’.  There are also lists of sample questions out there that we need to understand–not only how to answer the questions, but why the questions are being asked (what is/are the meaning(s) behind the questions).  Overall, our preparation reflects our readiness and competence for the job or program at hand.  

Yet, the interview process is a two-way street.  As we are being interviewed, we are also interviewing the company or school.  As the interviewer and the company or school are trying to see if we fit into the job or program, we are trying to see if we fit and the company or school fits us.  This means that we should be ready and willing to ask the interviewer questions when given the opportunity to ask questions (typically at the end of the interview).  I recommend preparing questions in a two-fold manner.  First, have some questions prepared beforehand, such as questions regarding the company or school (ex. career track/course schedule, benefits, something notable found on the web site).  Please note that sometimes interviewers will answer some of our questions during the course of the interview, meaning that we should not ask the already answered questions.  Second, be open to formulating questions during the interview.  Sometimes, the interviewer will say something attention-getting (ex. he/she loves his/her job, he/she loves a unique training program) or ask us a question that causes us to wonder about something (ex. company structure, procedural/logistical issues).  With that in mind, the number of questions that we can ask is limitless. 

In the end, the interview process is our time to communicate and shine.  This means being prepared, answering questions, asking questions, and ultimately being ourselves.  In ORGD 601 class with Dr. O’Neil, the term consultant Peter Block uses is “being authentic”.  Well, best of luck in all of your future interviews and remember to be authentic!

There is a job fair tomorrow on campus.  I am not sure about my classmates, but I am feeling a little nervous about it.  With expectations being higher as an MBA student than when I was an undergrad, and yet expectations being lower with the job market and economy being worse than it was when I was an undergrad, I guess I do feel a little extra pressure to come across well to the employers.

One valuable concept in today’s competitive work environment is having ‘transferrable skills’.  This means being able to make connections between school, various jobs, and various fields and carrying over skills from school, various jobs, and various fields to new jobs/fields.  Being able to show transferrable skills has helped me survive in my early career, and as I saw at the end of last semester, the final exam in Dr. Mota’s Ethics, Law, and Communications class for me was basically a day working at my last job before coming to BG.  With that in mind, my peers and I need to remember the value of having transferrable skills–both in the days ahead and in the duration of our careers.

Each MBA student has a reason or set of reasons for why he/she has entered his/her respective MBA program.  For some, the transition directly from undergraduate studies to graduate school seems logical and natural.  For others, the first years of the post-undergraduate career are unsatisfactory or unfulfilling, meaning that a career change is in order.  Yet, others see the MBA experience as a chance to advance further in their current career track.

While sick over the past weekend, I spent some time trying to put to guitar music a song I had written back in January 2008.  I am not a ‘musician’ per se, with minimal training and limited talent.  Anyhow, I had written this song called “Malcontent”.  At that time, I had continued to be thankful for having loving family and friends and decent work.  However, I had felt a general desire to take my life into its next phase.  Aside from my 8 semesters of undergrad spent in Cincinnati at Xavier, I had always lived in Bedford Heights, Ohio (a southeast suburb of Cleveland).  For me, life had reached a dead end; to some extent, I felt like I was being forced to live in the past.  I recalled how I had put taking the GMAT on hold for at least 6 months already (to the point that I had stopped studying for it) yet still believed that the MBA degree could be my ticket to anywhere I wanted to go.

For me, a complete career change was not in order, although I did wonder if there were better positions/fields in the long run, such as HR and OD, that would better fit my skills and personality. Regardless, the MBA decision for me went beyond my career and meant a better, more fulfilling life. Having found out about my acceptance into the BGSU program with just enough time to put in a full 2 weeks notice and finish getting stuff together for a day, I was able to hop into my car (just as I had written in this song) and move on to the next phase of my life in lovely Bowling Green, Ohio.

There have been ups and downs, successes and failures, developments and disappointments. I have found this MBA program to personally be a true learning experience—both inside and outside of the classroom. Overall, I am humble and thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the full-time BGSU MBA cohort of 2009 and look forward to completing the program in December.

-Richard F.