The phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” may be particularly relevant to the most recent crop of MBAs.
When it comes to explaining their success, recent business school graduates attribute more of their achievement to their connections and networks compared with graduates from earlier classes, according to a February report from the Graduate Management Admission Council.
Fostering a networking while in school — especially one that includes alumni — can be invaluable, some say.
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“There is a difference between the corporate world and what you would find at school,” says J. Michael Hardin, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama and a member of the board for GMAC. Networking can help students learn how their classroom work translates to the real world, he says.
Prospective and current business school students can usually find alumni through LinkedIn or a school’s career services office. Once they make that connection, business school experts suggest they ask alumni four questions that can help soon-to-be MBAs get through school and excel in a career.
1. What classes did you find the most helpful? Hardin suggests prospective students ask this question to learn more about the academic side of a business school program.
While most MBA students are laser-focused on finding a job, staying on task with their marketing, accounting and finance classes is also a priority.
Chatting with business school graduates can help students figure out which courses will set them up for success, says Libby Magliolo, who received her MBA in 2013 from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
“Alums have a great perspective on favorite professors who they had a great experience with, but they also can point you in the right direction as far as what course work best translates to future job opportunities,” says Magliolo, who works for the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Learn [about MBA programs where most students get jobs.]
2. How did you balance your time? MBA students often have a packed schedule with a full course load, club activities and recruiting events, says Magliolo.
“Getting a little bit of perspective on that is really helpful, and I think students are a little overwhelmed their first semester when they’re seeing everything that’s competing for their time,” she says.
Even if your days are long, it’s sometimes important to put your books down and mingle with classmates, says Rick Garcia, chairman of the Marshall Alumni Association at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, which he says caters to undergraduate and graduate school alumni.
“Really take advantage of the social opportunities to network with people and your classmates as opposed just to going back to work or going home to study,” he says.
3. What were some of the challenges of the program? It’s common for graduate students to face some hurdles while working on their degree. Prospective students should ask how alumni benefited from an MBA program and if they faced any hardships, says Khadijah Abdullah, who received her MBA in 2011 from Virginia Commonwealth University and now works for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“MBA Alumni completed the program successfully, thus, you would want to learn about their unique experiences and challenges and how they overcame it for you to apply it during your MBA experience. It builds your aspirations, helps assess your takeaways from the experience, and pushes you in the right direction,” she wrote in an email.
Find out [where America’s top CEOs went to school.]
4. How much are you in touch with your alumni network? This question can help current or prospective students learn if there’s a strong alumni network in place that can help with things like career placement, says Magliolo.
They can also ask, says Hardin from University of Alabama, “Do you still stay in contact with people you had on your team? Has that team experience served you well in networking?”
Like most MBA programs, there’s a lot of teamwork included in the curriculum for students at University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business. A student’s teammates will one day be alumni, and these alumni can be just as helpful with professional connections as they once were with preparing PowerPoint slides for class projects.
“A lot of career opportunities open up by just word-of-mouth,” he says. “Staying in contact with your team members and having members from across the nation that are working in various industries gives you the ability to know what’s going on and helps you in your career.”
Business school alumni usually aren’t shy about sharing their experiences with aspiring MBAs, experts say. And schools are especially happy when alumni are able to answer these and other questions for those who want to know
“We think our alumni are our best representatives of what we have to offer,” Hardin says.
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4 Questions to Ask Business School Alumni That Lead to Success at School originally appeared on usnews.com
