Career Preparation

Explore Different Functions & Industries

Still trying to figure out which function or industry to pursue? Talk to current coworkers and management at your organization. Find out what their day-to-day activities are like to determine if this would be of interest to you.

Browse the Function & Industry Overview Sheets listed below to give you a sense of the industry and function verticals. See which ones match your skills and interests. Often, students will pick both a function and an industry (i.e. product marketing in tech). This will help you start articulating your story on "why this industry? And how are you a good fit?"

In the summer, you will get full access to our internal career portal, “The Parker Portal,” including deep-dives by industry and function, instructional videos on how to craft your MBA resume and cover letters, and best practices for networking and interviewing.

Function & Industry Overview Sheets

See Where Your Predecessors Have Gone

See the recruiting, hiring and salary trends for the Class of 2022 Full-Time Roles and Class of 2023 Summer Internships in the Parker Employment Report.

View Class of 2022 Employment Report

Network Tracking Sheet

You will be meeting so many companies and contacts as your Anderson journey progresses. Use a tracking sheet as your own CRM tool. This is a basic one that you can also turn into a GoogleDoc, and it will also be a mandatory deliverable during the Parker Series.

Have a brainstorming session and populate your spreadsheet with all the people in your current network:

Current and former colleagues
Undergrad and high school classmates

Parents and relatives
Parents' and relatives' friends and friends' parents and relatives

Network Tracking Sheet

Informational Interviews

Conduct a Weekly Informational Interview

When you reach out to the people on your tracking sheet, just ask to meet for a 15-minute chat. Suggest coffee or a phone call at their convenience. This small ask is hard to say no to.

No need to reach out to current UCLA Anderson students and alums yet. You will have plenty of time once you start school and they will be much more receptive then.

When having the informational, the main goal is to establish rapport and figure out if you would want to pursue a similar career.

Use this Company Research worksheet below to help you with your research prior to your informational. Fill in the Class of 2025 Networking GoogleDoc (will be shared in July), so your classmates can find you and learn more about you.

Company Research

Questions to ask:

What is your background? How did you position yourself for this field?
What are the functions/responsibilities in your position? What is a typical day like in your job?
What is the typical role/function/responsibilities for a newly-minted MBA? What are your expectations for MBA candidates?
What do you like most about your job? And what keeps you at the company?
Is there anything you don't like about your job?
Can you talk about the typical career progression?
What are the important personal qualities or abilities for someone in your position?
How have the recent changes in the industry affected your company? (make sure to google first)
What is unique about how your company operates?
Do you know other people who I could also speak with?
Are there any publications/books/blogs/conferences/professional organizations you would suggest?

After the informational:

Follow-up with a thank you email within 24-48 hours referencing something specific you discussed.
Add notes about the meeting and next steps in your Tracking Sheet.
Keep in touch. Check back with them periodically (every few months) with any new and relevant information regarding your career search (interviews, offers, etc. ) or by sending an article that is pertinent to their industry/company/alma mater.

Follow Industry Trends

In addition to covering macro and specific industry trends in papers like the Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg BusinessWeek, start following blogs, periodicals and twitter feeds specific to your industry.

By dedicating 30 minutes a day to read up on recent deals and products, you will be amazed how quickly you can become knowledgeable on a new industry and identify new potential companies to target.

Set up Google alerts, read newspapers and publications. The deeper the knowledge you have about your target industry/company, the more confident you'll feel talking to recruiters in the field.

Follow Leading Industry Publications:

Technology

Finance

CPG Brand Management

Put Your Resume in Anderson Format

Take a few hours to reformat your resume using the UCLA Anderson resume template. Starting in mid-May you will have access to the eBook, resume videos and 2nd year & alumni resume examples. These will help transform your resume before you even get to campus.

UCLA Anderson Resume Template

Self-Assessment

Keep track of your current accomplishments. Your MBA resume should emphasize actions you took at your previous employers and the results from those actions. Gather your successes, and write them down succinctly (using data points) now so you don't have to backtrack in the fall.

Strengthen current relationships you have with clients and customers. Networking will be a major factor in finding your summer internship and post-MBA position.

Write down what you like and dislike about your current job, company and industry. This will help you stay focused while you're at school and away from the office environment.

Write down your strengths and weaknesses. Set up a game plan on how you want to utilize the next two years to turn weaknesses into strengths.

Optional: Learn to Code

This is for the techies and startup fiends, particularly the career switchers pursuing product management. A great way to indicate tech proficiency on your resume is to add a common programming language (Java, Python, Ruby, SQL) or Google Analytics to the Additional section of your resume. There are plenty of online resources to help you master these. We recommend Udemy to get you started.

Visit Udemy