Managing Post-Graduation Expectations

The French call it sevrage. It sounds like it could have something in common with to sever. If you think of severing as the act of cutting off, or separating something, then the two terms are definitely distant phonetic and semantic relatives. Sevrage is, among other things, the deep state of confusion, pain and suffering caused by stopping an addicting behavior. You are no longer high. The adrenaline, the excitement, the energy, everything is gone and you crash. That is when sevrage takes over and conquers slowly and painfully every cell in your body until you become numb. And then there is silence… Your body slowly regains control, but you feel lost. The new you is afraid to look back, but is more afraid to look ahead. The world surrounding the new you is unknown and you forgot what it meant to perform even simple tasks. Every day is a new challenge that you tackle with the outward belief that tomorrow will be easier. Inside you might doubt everything you are, stand for, and know, but your only chance is to adapt.

This sounds extreme, doesn’t it? What am I talking about? Is it about me, about you, about…what? As extreme as it sounds, I strongly believe that as we get closer to graduation, we – soon-to-be MBA graduates – will experience some form of sevrage. Being in a challenging and stimulating environment is addictive and causes a high. For two years, we are surrounded by like-minded people who want to make a difference, implement change, and reinvent the world. Just as JD candidates see torts everywhere around them, MBA candidates see new and better ideas everywhere. Without trying to sound elitist, the second one decides to get an MBA he/she separates him/herself from the rest of the working world. He/she joins the very small percentage of people that have a graduate degree. Then for two years while in school, all – or most – ideas he/she has are encouraged, accepted, and implemented. Whether that is in a group presentation, business plan competition, or an actual business venture, the point is that nobody uses the word “impossible.” That is until we graduate.

We, soon-to-be graduates, do not really talk about reintegration into the work force. We are too busy chasing that perfect, post-MBA job to think about anything else. But how do you get off the high of creativity, efficiency, and quick idea turnaround? It’s like being on Wall Street. The constant flow of energy and sense of accomplishment is followed by market close. And what do you do when the lights turn off?

This is what we will all face in our first job after graduation. And we will go into withdrawal because in reality change is not easy to accomplish, not all ideas will be welcomed or implemented, and occasionally people will not even care that we have an MBA.

Does this sound too pessimistic? I’m sure it does to some. What about realistic? More likely. All I am saying is that we will all experience this in one form or another, unless we find a company that fits our expectations and new-found business attitudes. Or we stay mindful of this reality and prepare as best we can to readjust to the working world.

Post-mortem of a Group Project

One of the classes that I was looking forward to this session was Marketing Strategies. Second-year students, now alumni, were raving about this class when I started my program last year. The professor has spent most of his career working with P&G and Nestle, so I was excited to see how the corporate world does marketing. The class itself was very good, although taught in a different manner than what I am used to. But I knew that going into it and I was ready for a challenge.

The real challenge though, and one that I did not expect, came from my group. Because the class had a larger number of students than the usual, we had to form groups of seven. I did not think much of it at first, I mean what’s an extra person or two, right?

My teammates and I are all very strong individuals: some analytical, some creative, some very good presenters. Those were all reasons why we all got together in the first place. As a team though, we were dysfunctional. We discussed rules and expectations in our first meeting, but the reality of our schedules and the different priorities and interests led to an average performance in the class. That combined with some unexpected roadblocks made for a very frustrating experience in a class where perfection is the standard.

Some of my team members and I discussed our performance in our last class. It was very frustrating that we put in a lot of work and yet the result was not what we expected. My take on it is that although I like the concept of team work in business school, I do not think it is as effective as it is intended to be. Why? For one, the constraints of school make team work different from real life. Because in real life you would have a team leader, each person has certain responsibilities, and the team’s focus is just on that particular project. And most times, the stakes are higher than just an evaluation or a grade. Sometimes, their financial rewards or future with the company is at stake. In business school, each person has different priorities. Some care about grades, some just take that class because they have to, some take too many classes and are spent, some work and take classes, and some just do not care. And no one can make anyone care more than they are willing to. And how do you motivate someone who does not care? Maybe by dangling the prospect of a lower grade in class, resulting from an unfavorable evaluation at the end of class? It is not going to work, because the grade does not rely solely on peer evaluation. What about choosing a team leader, just like in real life? Most teams are against that because they are not invested in the projects. Projects are annoying, one more thing on the to-do list, and they do not have the time for that. More often than not, team work means you meet once at the beginning of the project, divide the work, one person compiles the information for the paper, another person puts together the slides for the presentation, and then everybody comes together for a run through of the presentation.

So in our case, we did just that. And when that failed, we all took the hit and vowed to learn from it. The point is to not repeat the same mistake twice. And to learn to be comfortable with ambiguity, trust your team members, think on your feet and come up with a solution when all else fails, and continue to find ways to motivate our team members.

M...BAM!

Until recently, we used to see the word "MBAM" whenever we registered for classes. That meant MBA Malibu, or the full-time program at the Malibu campus. Now, MBAM stands for something else: it is MBA Media, the newest project taken on by a very talented group of full-time students. They are the Graziadio student voice, which, as they say, just got louder! I liked what I saw so far, so I asked them to allow me to make public their plan, as stated in the press release from a week ago. Welcome, MBAM!

MBA MEDIA (MBAM) ONLINE NEWS SITE LAUNCH: SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

“The Graziadio Student Voice Is About To Get A Little Louder”

Malibu, California—September 21, 2009— this morning saw the official launch of MBA Media (MBAM), the newly created student news site for the full-time graduate business program at Pepperdine. MBAM offers GSBM students a 360-degree view of campus activities, news, and business. With MBAM, Pepperdine students now have an interactive source they can use to fully leverage their graduate business school experience both in and out of the classroom.

During the summer of 2009, a group of full-time GSBM students came together to bring the Graziadio student community the first official online news publication created by business students for business students. After drafting and pitching a proposal to the Graziadio administration, MBAM was given the go-ahead to begin preparations for their launch in the fall.

The mission of MBAM is to “effectively and transparently communicate relevant news and information to a community of MBAs and informed business leaders by leveraging a wide variety of multimedia tools.”

MBAM offers content through a wide variety of multimedia tools including videos, articles, and community discussion boards. Students can also post and discuss their own relevant business related articles. The site also offers exclusive interviews with Graziadio’s prestigious faculty, as well as interviews with business leaders from all concentrations including finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and organizational management. MBAM also offers internship and job-related information such as 2^nd year commentaries on their internship experiences and a growing list of internship opportunities throughout the year.

MBAM is 100% student-driven, and is looking for current GSBM students who would be interested in filling available positions in the areas of advertising, marketing, post-production, and staff writing. If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to get involved with MBAM, please email Frankie Warren (Frankie.warren@pepperdine.edu)

So, the only thing left for Graziadio students to do now is to login, logon and start enjoying the site! To start your MBAM experience, please visit www.mbam.tv.

For more information regarding this press release, please contact JC Garrett (jc.garrett@pepperdine.edu)