Students come to study marketing as part of their MBA curriculum for many reasons, including the chance to participate in a very active student marketing club, the strengths in instruction and research of the Marketing Department, and the experienced assistance they receive from our career management professionals.

@SMITH:  What is it that attracted you to marketing?

Tekisha Harvey:  I've always enjoyed evaluating consumer demand and finding ways to address their wants. I think marketing is the key method by which businesses let consumers know that they are offering what consumers want. How businesses choose to convey this message is what is fascinating to me.

Matt Bardill:  Marketing interests me in a couple of ways. Marketing allows me to understand what consumers expect and demand from a particular market segment. I’m interested in how companies react to changing demands of the consumers. Most marketing requires you to have good analytical skills. I enjoy using data to find trends and patterns that help make decisions which are a big part of marketing.

@SMITH:  Why did you want to join the Graduate Marketing Association? What are your goals for the GMA?

T. H.:  I was attracted to the GMA's commitment to elevating the Smith name within the marketing community. They also serve as a support base to help career-switchers get entrenched in marketing. My goals as a first year member are to continue to support the mission of the GMA and to leverage my retail contacts to bring new companies to the Smith marketing community.

M. B.:  The GMA is an organization that supports students interested in marketing in many ways. The club is involved in a variety of events, from resume writing and job search guidance to organizing an annual marketing forum. The GMA also has input on the marketing concentration curriculum here at Smith. I think it is important that marketing students have a voice in what types of classes are offered. My goals for the GMA is to continue to grow its’ influence on the Smith community.

@SMITH:  How is your internship search going?  What resources are you using?

T. H.:  I've attended the Black MBA conference and attended corporate presentations sponsored by the Office of Career Managment. I've also applied online to various companies. It's important to take advantage of all available resources and be mindful of application dates.

M. B.:  The internship search is going well. I have attended several companies on campus info sessions and I’m beginning to narrow down my "companies I want to work for" list. The OCM has been a good source for information about companies and opportunities. The Smith Alumni Mentor program has also been helpful because it has allowed me to network with Smith alums that are currently in the areas that I’m interested in.

Students at Smith are quite active in the various MBA clubs and associations. Membership in clubs and associations is a real responsibility at Smith, and students take their leadership roles seriously. Many students find Smith's clubs and associations to be a great opportunity to develop their leadership skills and gain new experiences.

Participating in the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA) is a key avenue for many first-year MBAs to learn more about their chosen concentration and prepare for their summer internships. And, of course, it’s a fun group of people, too.

@SMITH spoke with GMA President Dan Phelps, a second-year MBA candidate, to get to know the club and its members a little better.

@SMITH:  How did you decide on attending business school?

D. P.:  It was the right decision based on the timing. Any later and my daughters would have made it more of a handful.

@SMITH:  How was your first year of business school? How about your first semester of your second year? What's different between the first and second years?

D. P.:  The first year was tough as it had been 14 years since I had last taken an exam. The second year is more interesting to me as I am able to concentrate my studies on those courses that I came to school to excel in.

@SMITH:  What made you choose to study marketing?

D. P.:  It’s just what I do, and I wanted to get better in this discipline, not change my focus.

@SMITH:  What influenced you to take on a leadership role with the GMA? How has your experience with the GMA enriched your time in business school?

D. P.:  Candidly, I was selected for the role.  But, I knew that I wanted it as well.  The GMA was the only thing I wanted to do, as it was where my interests lay.  Working through the issues of the GMA has definitely provided more exposure to the Smith administration, and it’s allowed me to have a hand in crafting a new direction for the club.

@SMITH:  How does the GMA work on behalf of Smith students studying marketing? What sort of events, etc., does the GMA sponsor?

D. P.:  A number of different workshops are sponsored and run by the club: resume, interviewing, case prep, elective, internship, and communications programs are all administered through the GMA throughout the year.

The search for a job starts immediately after students arrive for first-year orientation, in order to give us the best preparation possible.

Much of our preparation comes in the form of professional development—learning how to market ourselves attractively to employers. @SMITH discussed career management with Peter Brown, MBA ’93, Director of the OCM.

@SMITH:  You’re an alumnus of the Smith School. What did you do in the private sector before joining the OCM? How has career management and recruiting changed since you were a student?

Peter Brown:  I completed my MBA from the University of Maryland in May of 1993, after which I went into the telecommunications industry as a Product Marketing Analyst for MCI, Inc. Over the next 12 years, I moved into management of Product Development & Management teams for several companies, including Sprint International, British Telecommunications, and AT&T. In the years since I was an MBA student, the most notable change I see in career management is in the amount of research and preparation required to be successful. For example, for students this means in-depth web research on target companies where they'd like to work. Showing up at a job interview with anything less than thorough knowledge of the company can be a real strike against the candidate. For career office professionals, this means gaining complete understanding for exactly what an employer is looking for in terms of functional area and skill set. The better the mutual understanding of what's being sought by employers and what a school believes it can deliver in its students, the more successful that relationship will be.

The biggest change in recruiting since my graduation from business school is the ability for employers to leverage on-line capabilities to promote job opportunities to attract and hire top talent efficiently and across geographies. This 'virtual' job posting and recruiting environment is a 'win-win' for both employers and students in that there are more job opportunities advertised as well as more applicants from which to choose to fill a given position.

@SMITH: The OCM was an important part of our orientation week, and then during the subsequent several weeks. How did OCM plan this year’s orientation events?

P. B.:  The OCM looked closely at the successes from previous orientation sessions, realizing from feedback surveys that certain sessions were more valuable than others. We also worked closely with many other departments in the orientation planning process to assure that there was meaningful depth and breadth of learning opportunities for students.

@SMITH:  Smith Students do very well during their search for a meaningful summer internship and, then, for a good job after graduation. How does the OCM fit into this process? What’s the OCM’s philosophy?

P. B.:  The OCM provides customized, individual career coaching for each student that enters the Smith MBA program. Each student works closely with a specific career coach to help identify career objectives, target companies, resume and cover letter development, and interviewing skills. In addition, the OCM has a team of Employer Development Managers that reaches out to companies to encourage them to recruit the top talent that we have at Smith. The OCM's philosophy on supporting students can be summed up to say "your success is our success". What the OCM means by this is that when students get jobs at top companies, this has the effect of pleasing recruiters and employers, which increases the stature and reputation of the Smith School.

@SMITH: Is there a key piece of strategy you give to first-year MBAs who are learning how to more professionally and completely present themselves to employers?

P. B.: The key piece of strategy for first-year MBAs in presenting well to employers is all about preparation. First, research thoroughly the employers in which you are interested to assure that their corporate culture and opportunities are good fits with your values and background. Second, make full use of your individual career coach so that your resume, cover letter, and interviewing techniques are of outstanding quality. And third, prepare for networking by leveraging the OCM's extensive database of alumni and recruiting contacts to get the best possible people and advisement involved in your search. By assuring that they are prepared in all facets of the job search, students will be much more likely to present themselves completely and professionally to employers.

In College Park, you could…

Root for as many Terrapins as you like: football, men's basketball, women's basketball (who won it all last season)!  Fear the Turtle!

Take a long look at the stars at the world-class University of Maryland Observatory and learn about Earth and Mars similarities and differences from Andrew Johnson of the National Air and Space Museum.

In Baltimore, you could…

Sit on the 50-yard line at M&T Bank Stadium and cheer for (or, depending on your allegiances, against) the AFC North first-place Baltimore Ravens.

In Annapolis, you could…

Stroll the halls of power in Maryland, and take a tour of the State House, the oldest such building in continuous use.

In Washington, you could…

Blog with the best of them at Tryst, a popular D.C. "third place".

Explore the rich cultures of North America's original people at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian during American Indian Heritage Month.