People at Ross -Giuliana, Tauber, MBA Class of 2019-

Class of 2019 のShoです。

インタビューシリーズ第二弾です。

今回インタビューしたGiulianaはTauberで、共にミネソタ州の病院でTeam Project(Tauber生のインターン)した子です。Giulianaは、ペルー出身であり、大手コンサル、通信業界を経てRossへ、そして卒業後はシカゴの食品メーカーへ就職します。

彼女の性格は、明るくハキハキした感じです。コンサル時代、彼女は上司に仕事術を徹底的に叩き込まれていた事があり、プロジェクト管理やプレゼン資料など見てて参考になる所が多く、色々と学ばせてもらいました。

また、プライベートでも、美味いバーベキュー料理なども学びました。

(補足：Giulianaに記事の事前レビューをお願いしたところ、「私のバーベキュースキルについては述べてくれないの?」と言われたので、この一文も追記しました。)

そんなしっかり者に見えるGiulianaですが、朝に滅法弱いという弱点があり、ちょっとでも朝はゆっくりできるよう、高校生時代は制服を来て寝ていた、なんていうお茶目な一面も持ち合わせてます。

彼女を選んだのは、主に以下の点について話してもらおうと思ったからです。

・Tauberについて

・Tech ClubでTreks&EventsのVPについて

・アメリカ就職について

では、本題に入りましょう。

1.Profile of the classmate

Name      : Giuliana

Hometown          : Lima, Peru

Undergrad           : Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Informatics Engineering

Work experience : Consultant at Deloitte (4yrs),

Senior Process Executive at Telefonica (Telecom company - 1yr)

After Ross           : Kraft Heinz (Chicago), Senior Operations Manager

2.Main questions I asked

-Why did you choose Ross?

-How was your recruiting process like? How did Tauber help you with that?

-Can you share your experience on your VP role in the tech club?

3.Interview

(Note: Giuliana(G), Sho(S))

S: So the first question is pretty basic. Why Ross?

G: Should I answer formally? I mean what I answered in the admissions interview? (Laughs) Well, when I started preparing to apply, I never considered Ross. I met a guy when I took the GMAT and he said to me, "Oh you look like a Michigan person!". So I got interested and looked into it. I talked to a lot of people and they were nice, really nice. Also, I felt that I was able to learn the things I'm interested in. Continuous improvement, project management, Operations in general, etc, so Tauber was definitely one of the key factors in choosing Ross. Oh, and the scholarship I got was good.

S: Well, I want to ask about the people part.

G: Ohh yeah, many people say that "the people were nice" as a reason. I know it's a typical answer.

S: Yeah, but each people have their own story so I want to hear about it.

G: Ok, well I went to one of the Peruvian admits reunion. At that time I was already accepted in round 1. The people were really nice. Like one of the guy there named Raul said "If you want to visit Ross, I have a guest room you can stay in. Just let me know". That did not happen in other schools. And I did go to GBR later that year, and I did stay at his place and met all the Peruvians studying at Ross.

S: Just from curiosity, what other schools were you accepted?

G: I got accepted to three other schools in the US, but I didn't feel a strong connection to them.

S: Can you tell me what continuous improvement is?

G: You know, looking into a process and figuring out a way to improve how things works. Things always changes, there are new trends, so there’s a lot of work there. Lean is also a big part of it. I enjoyed Mayo, especially the internal consulting department because it focused on that. But I didn't apply since they said they don't sponsor internationals.

(補足：僕たちがインターンした病院はMayo Clinicという所になります。"They don't sponsor"というのは、グリーンカード等の就労許可を持ってない外国人は採用しない、という意味です。)

S: Next question, did Ross meet your expectations?

G: Yes it did. Well, I guess I didn't have that many expectations but overall yes. It sure had certain level of niceness. Academically, it was harder than I thought. Especially for us Taubers since we had five classes in FallA.

(補足：通常、Waiveしなければ最初の学期であるFall Aでは、4科目あります。Tauber生は1つ科目が加わり、計5科目あります。）

S: Yeah, Fall A was really tough. I seriously thought about dropping Tauber for the first several weeks.

G: Non Tauber people say that Fall A was tough but we had it tougher, haha. But again, Fall A was tough. Especially for me, I want to do my best so I spent time so much time studying and doing homework that I didn't have time to go to events that much. In Peru, many people go to school in XX(Country) but people there tend to have fun. You see their pictures every weekend. But for me not much partying. No time. After Fall A, Fall B was way more fun, but then we had recruiting. I really focused on this since I wanted to finish fast and enjoy rest of the school life, which I was able to do.

S:Can you tell me more about your recruiting process? Since you were in the tech club but didn't land there.

G: Yeah, my initial focus was tech because of my previous experience. You know, I studied a tech-related field and I worked in tech. I thought staying in this field would set me up for a nice career progression and land a managerial position.

S: Mmm, that makes sense. By the way, what is your role or title at Kraft Heinz?

G: I’ll be a senior manager. A very nice title for my resume, especially if I end up going back to Peru. Everything you experience here is very valued in there.

S: What's the specific role? What will you be doing specifically?

G: My actual role is Senior Operations Manager for Manufacturing Commercialization. I will be in charge of projects for implementing new products, new systems, you name it… It's kind of like a PMO (Project Management Office) department. I'll be focused on the operations side.

S: Why did you apply to Kraft Heinz?

G: I was looking for an ops role and the role at Kraft Heinz had some continuous improvement and planning involved. I wasn't focusing on industry that much so I was okay with not working in the tech field. When I came to Ross, I first thought about CPG but they usually don't sponsor so I had given up hope. Life is funny that way. Also Chicago was attractive for us because Daniel can look for jobs more easily since it's a big city. I like more remote places like Ann Arbor, but Chicago is okay. People are nice enough, and it’s easier for Daniel and I to stay together.

(補足：彼女は同級生のDanielと婚約していて、彼はまだ就活中です）

S: Did Tauber help in terms of recruiting?

G: Not that much, but this is probably because I’m international. I do know that the Tauber brand is good. There are companies out there that focus on recruiting Taubers. Target, for example, was exclusively recruiting Taubers for their Arrows program.

S: Oh really? I knew some companies that focus on recruiting Taubers but not Target.

G: Yeah, but they don't recruit internationals. However, I think the Ops concentration is appealing to several companies. After all, we had an additional admission process and it is more workload when compared to other MBA students. You have a specialization, it bumps up your resume.

S: So I know you took a role in Tech club... I think it was Treks & Events...?

G: Yeah, most of the work was planning treks so it was more of a Trek role. For me, I didn't think about whole career change when I came to Ross. I liked the industry I was in before. I was more focused on pursuing higher position, more of a vertical growth. So tech club looked interesting and I joined. At that time Amazon was my top choice.

S: So what made you take the role?

G: Well I wanted to have a VP role. One of the motivations was recruiting as it would look good on my resume. I also like organizing events so it made sense. I wanted to have fun and connect with recruiters so that I could differentiate myself from everyone else on those treks.

S: You said that Amazon was your top choice. Why did that change?

G: I got to learn about the culture and it was a bit more intense than I thought. You know, I'm more mild. Also, people recruiting at Amazon, the non-Tauber people, also said that it was an intense process. But I did apply to experience the culture.

S: Which role did you apply for?

G: Pathways. For pathways, you basically work at a fulfilment center. I had a chance to visit but couldn't see myself working there.

S: Back to the role in the Tech club, how was it?

G: A lot of organization but worth it. I got the chance to build strong connection with companies. When I went to the treks, I stood out because I was the facilitator and the recruiters knew who I was from our previous conversations and calls while organizing it.

S:What kind of advice do you give to applicants.

G: Not only consider rankings when you look for an MBA program, talk to people, visit the place. See if you feel the fit. You will be for two years at that school and you will want to be happy, and make friends and future connections. Here’s my shameless plug: Ross is very good at connecting you with alumni. I had to say that (laughs). Oh, and brace yourselves: Full time recruiting is tough, especially for Taubers. Not because of the additional course load, but because we don’t experience the “actual” recruiting in the first year.

S: Any last words?

G: MBA experience will be great no matter where you end up going. Don’t be down if you can’t go to your dream school. Interview rejections are not end of the world.