Business school is not like any schooling you’ve ever encountered. While that sentence is probably a disappointment for some and a relief for most, it is the honest truth and should not be underestimated. Sure, there are classes, such as Managerial Economics, that will have significant overlap with parts of your undergraduate studies, especially if you’ve had business courses previously. The first day of class might feel like the same old story. However, it isn’t in the classroom that the magic of business school takes place. The secret, in my opinion, is in developing and utilizing superior time management skills.
You will often hear from seasoned business school students that “networking” is the key to success in life. After all, we came to business school because we are concerned with our career in one way or another, whether it be changing course or continuing to advance on the path we have previously embarked. Networking is the single most effective step in finding an internship and eventually a job.
However, the question arises, “How does a business school student effectively network?” I have found that reaching a balance between coursework and being as involved as possible on campus is the secret to networking. It isn’t choosing between social events or staying home to do homework, it is accepting both and figuring out a way to get it all done. It is time management.
Professors are one of the most underutilized resources our program has to offer. In my experience over the past year, I have never found Graziadio professors to be unapproachable or indifferent to my journey towards a fulfilling career. They have always exceeded my expectations in helping me with whatever I was grappling with at the time. Professors are often well connected and approached about potential hires. Good grades, class participation and being prepared are all ways to get noticed so that you are in their consideration set when the time comes. Faculty, administration and career services will ultimately recommend those they can trust.
Getting involved outside of the classroom is equally important. As the current president of Net Impact, I have had access to amazing people. I am connected to a network of over 10,000 business people in a leadership capacity. I have developed relationships for the club with major companies across various industries. I have also worked with my fellow members on nearly a daily basis. These members have earned my trust and will definitely be the first ones I consider when opportunities arise in the future.
My advice is to take on as much as you can handle without losing your sanity. Time management is instrumental in excelling across the board at Pepperdine by being able to take on a greater amount. Here are some of the tools I use to ensure that I maximize my productivity at any given point.
Calendar:
Google Calendar is a great tool for comparing schedules and planning group meetings. Since all your events are stored on the cloud at Google, you are able to access your data from anywhere and share information about when you are available and when you are busy. For example, check out my school calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=frankie.warren%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles As you can see, Google Calendar only shares when I am available and when I am busy, however if we get to be closer friends I could enable your account to see all the details of this calendar. Furthermore, it is able to be synced to both iPhone and Blackberry and supports CALDAV, which integrates with calendar applications such as Apple's iCal. I recommend scheduling time dedicated to the library and sticking to it; taking the first step is often times the hardest.
Task Management:
There are different task managers out there to organize your “To Do” lists. This decision is mainly a personal preference. Some to consider are Google Tasks (which has integration with Gmail and Google Calendar), www.rememberthemilk.com, the iPhone applications Tasks and OmniFocus.
Being involved at Pepperdine comes with a lot of added responsibility. This is not only responsibility for your own success, but for the success of others in the form of group work or planning successful club events. I found with this added responsibility I was constantly worried I was forgetting to do something. Effective task management helps relieve this stress so I’m not as worried about taking on new projects.
I personally believe OmniFocus is the best of the task managers. For each task I have to complete I assign it a due date, an estimated duration, a project and a context. So for example, one of my tasks was “Write a blog post for the EL Blog.” I assigned it a due date of Friday, July 31st, an estimated duration of an hour, the project “EL Mentorship” and the context “Computer.” When I sit down to do work, I pull up the given context. If I was making a phone calls, I could pull up the context “phone” and see all the outstanding calls I have added to my task manager. In this case I was at my computer, so I pulled up the context “Computer” and prioritized what I had to get done based on information such as the due date and duration. It is a highly effective method, if not a little confusing. Please send me an e-mail if you want more information.
Note Taking:
There are several note-taking methods that are effective, but it is highly variable based on whether or not your professor lets you use a computer (I’d say the chance is about 50-50). For paper-based notes I would suggest the Cornell method (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Notes) and for online note taking I would suggest a service called Evernote (http://www.evernote.com).
Evernote allows you to take notes via the browser, a desktop application or even via your phone. You can organize separate notebooks, tag your notes with keywords for searching later, or take a snapshot of the business cards you collect at a mixer (Evernote can search the text found within a picture!).
The Big Picture:
All that being said, it is important that you enjoy your time in Malibu. This is a time of your life that you will not forget. Take a moment to realize how tremendously lucky we all are that we can study business with a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean and associate ourselves with other motivated, interesting people. Take the time to get to know each other outside of the group or student club setting. Don’t be afraid to take risks and do make sure to take advantage of the resources available to you. With this mindset, we can all continue to add value to the Graziadio MBA.
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