Georgetown MBA Blog: Doug

So Close ...

It really is incredible how time flies by sometimes.  I just finished my third exam of the 4th (and final) mod with one more to go.  There is so much going on right now that it's hard to keep my head screwed on straight.  Without much time to write at the moment (shocker), here's a few things that are percolating at the moment:

* This afternoon my small group has been selected to present our findings from a group project for our Business Ethics class with Professor Soule to the Coca Cola Enterprises group responsible for their 2007 CRS Report.  We profiled the Water Stewardship findings and will be recommending some additional changes and reflections on their work and development process.

* I'm running to Costco this afternoon with my wife to gather some ammo for tomorrow's Fajitas and Ritas End of Year party sponsored by the Texas Club.  We're renting a margarita machine (fear the Margarita Lizard!) and will have an assortment of food for the hungry hoards to devour.

* I landed an internship - which I couldn't be more excited about - with an amazing firm in Houston, TX called Holliday Fenolglio Fowler LP.  They are a real estate capital markets group specializing in originating debt for large commercial office space transactions. 

* Along those same lines, my wife Courtney and I have lined up an apartment to rent in Houston for the summer near downtown and close to a lot of running and biking trails.  We also just found (thankfully!) someone to rent our apartment for the summer so we won't be eating an enormous rent payment during the summer. 

* Now its time to pack up shop and get ready for a busy summer and a (can't come too soon) 7 day vacation to Cabo San Lucas with Courtney.  This pasty body needs a tan. 

* And somewhere in between, I need to find some time to study for my Business & Government final tomorrow - which promises to be bruising to put it mildly.

Time to truck it over to the ICC and huddle with my group to prepare for the teleconference!      

March Madness

As the NCAA tournament kicks into high gear and brackets are busted nationwide, the season for MBA internships is picking up steam (or winding down -- depending on your situation).   Since the goal of any MBA education is to find an exciting new career or enhance your skills for a more lucrative, fulfilling job opportunity, the summer internship represents a big step in that process.   Throughout this year, I've contacted Georgetown and University of Texas alums in firms and positions that I wanted to learn more about.  While most of these conversations could be characterized as "informational interviews," it's been incredibly helpful in building relationships among people who've been in your shoes before. 

The process of searching for an internship has been a grueling road of attending informational presentations on campus, networking among alums and firms, and developing relationship in potential employers.  The internship search starts earlier and earlier each year as career fairs ramp up in September and October, as most students are still getting their bearings straight on which local restaurant has the best burger or which professors offer the most interesting courses.  Without a clear vision of what you want to do, its difficult to target an industry or functional area to pursue. 

I've heard stories from an array of people on how they secured their internship -- on-campus recruiting, connections through family and friends, or even striking up a conversation on an elevator ride that led to a great opportunity.  In short, you need to always be ready for lightning to strike.

While the majority of students (a little over 50%) find internships through on-campus recruiting, students like myself who are transitioning into a new career need to devote extra time to the process.  This can involve spending a lot of time with career management folks who definitely help in deciphering what skills you have developed in previous experience, how you can add value to firms where your experience doesn't necessarily match their typical recruit, and honing a consistent message of why you are the perfect person for this internship.

At the moment, I do not have an internship.  It has been a difficult time as the air of uncertainty hangs over the last month or so of the 4th module.  It would be one thing if I was alone in this process -- I think that would be much easier -- but with a wife to think about, I feel the weight of making a good decision for both of our futures.  It's also difficult when many of my friends and fellow students found internships earlier in the year and haven't had the weight of this selection hanging over them.  While I don't begrudge the other students their opportunities, its still hard not to feel like you've made a misstep along the way somewhere.  However, the other Georgetown students have been fantastic in extending contacts from organizations, helping me to prep for interviews, or generally being incredibly supportive of my efforts.   

Currently, I'm interviewing with consulting firms in Washington, D.C., and have a select few opportunities back in Texas which I will be interviewing for shortly.  While I would like to talk about the different firms that I've interviewed with, I don't want to injure my chances for a future internship by disclosing too many details about with whom I've spoken. 

I promise to share more details of what the interview process has been like at a later date.  I am confident that something will work out soon -- and on that day, I'll write a brief blog before I dive into a 12-oz. fillet mignon to celebrate. 

Housekeeping

Spring Break is here.  It's feels so good to be able to utter that phrase.  A lot of hard work and long nights culminated in a brief reprieve from the grind of the MBA world. 

This past week concluded our Business Planning Integrative.  For the last six weeks, we have been scrutinizing and fine-tuning our plans for a prospective business.  The class kicked off with each small group (every student participates in a small group of 4-6 students that are responsible for a myriad of group projects in all our classes) presenting their idea for a new business plan to their Cohort.  After the presentations, small groups joined forces with another small group to form a team responsible for producing one joint business plan.   Our group decided to pursue an idea for my wife's future restaurant - an upscale, high-end dessert and wine bar.  It was an intense experience of financial forecasting, market research, meeting with entrepreneurial coaches, and honing our executive summary. 

The week concluded with a presentation of our business plan to venture capitalists who judged the respective projects and declared a winner from each Cohort.  Unfortunately, our business plan was not selected as the winner - some close friends won with their plan to open an after-school arts and cultural enrichment program for elementary and middle school children.   Although I still feel that our plan is a viable business opportunity for the future, most venture capitalists are looking for larger-scale projects that will generate incredible cash flow.  Unfortunately, Encore (the name of our restaurant) is a service industry business that generally returns a paltry 3 - 5% ROE (return on investment) which doesn't mesh very well with most venture capitalists idea of a great investment.  Who knows ... down the road I could definitely see my wife and I using this business plan to drum up investment from friends & family as well as angel investors. 

The week prior to the Business Planning Integrative, we finished final exams for Mod 3.   In my estimation, this was by far the most difficult Mod of the year.  Finance II and MarkStrat (Applied Marketing Management) were two tough classes that required an incredible investment of time and energy.  Fortunately, the hard work paid off as I got an A- in MarkStrat ... the other grades haven't been reported yet and most students are in a holding pattern to see how things have turned out. 

MarkStrat in particular was a demanding course.  I was a little wary of the course since I'm not particularly enthralled by Marketing, yet I'd heard from previous students that this was an incredible class that would challenge students.  In fact, a few years back the New York Times profiled the best business school professors in the U.S., and Professor Ken Homa made the list at #4 or so.  MarkStrat - Professor Homa's signature class - was referred to as "Homa-cide" for the incredible amount of time and energy that the class required. 

Professor Homa - a former senior executive at Black & Decker and consultant for McKinsey, designed MarkStrat to incorporate detailed analysis for all facets of marketing.  Part of the course really was to convince students that Marketing is more than advertising and promotional pushes that companies use to generate increased awareness of their products or services.  It's difficult to really encapsulate the intense focus that Professor Homa drove students to analyze any facet of business.   The course relied heavily on performance in the MarkStrat game software (50% of our grade, actually) and it took on average about 4-5 hours of analysis and decision making for each round of the game - with two rounds per week. 

Needless to say, his class is the primary reason for my elation at the prospect of one week without school, classes, group meetings, and other obligations.  And with that folks, my couch is calling.  Adieu. 

Admissions 101

I've had a few inquiries from prospectives students for the Class of 2010 on the best way to craft their admission applications, so I thought I would share a few pieces of advice on some ways to optimize your chances of admittance to Georgetown MBA (I can't miss any chance to throw in some B-school lingo - optimize, marinate, synergize, strategery, et al).

1.  Write a compelling story.   

From the perspective of the admissions team, they see thousands of applicants for business school and are inundated with resumes and accomplishments from prospective students.  No matter how mundane or irrelevant your previous work experience may have been (English majors listen up), craft a story as to how gaining an MBA is the missing link to what you want to do in the future.  Make it clear how this will benefit what you want to do and have a clear vision in mind as to where you want to go/what you want to achieve.  However ... I realize that not everyone has a crystal clear picture of exactly where they want to be in 10 years (yours truly included), and in that case, piece together what you are most interested in and make your best case. 

And this should go without saying from the earlier point of how many essays the admissions office reads - but make your personal statements interesting.  For example, in my essay I led off with the story of when I was in the Peace Corps and shared a meal (and many vodka drinks) and long conversations in a yurt in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan with some village elders.  During the conversation we talked about geopolitics and the influence of the Soviet Union as the old men smoked and groused about the Kyrgyz economy, and that one conversation in particular spurred my interest in working in a global business environment.   It doesn't have to be Pulitzer Prize material but spinning an interesting yarn couldn't hurt.

2.  Revise, rewrite, redo, rejoice. 

Clean up your resume.  Get at least 3 people to look through it, check for errors, and rework it.  The same applies for your essays - and for goodness sakes, please re-check all of your work so that the phrase "I am uniquely interested in the global integrative program at the Wharton School of Business" does not appear in your essays.  Como se dice - ding? 

3.  Add a personal touch. 

I didn't feel like I was a clear, open and shut admit to Georgetown MBA so I went the a little further to ensure the admissions team knew how interested I was.  I wrote my interviewer a personalized thank you card and the former Admissions Director later remembered my name at an admissions event several months later.  She said my note had been hanging on her door as a reminder. 

Writing a personalized note can add a very nice touch or a follow-up phone call to say how much you enjoyed hearing their insights into the program is a great move.  Just picking up the phone (or emailing) and talking to students at Georgetown MBA is a great avenue to prove your sincere interest in the program. 

The Class of 2009 is one of the larger classes Georgetown MBA has admitted in a while and with the uncertainty of the economy, you can expect that the number of applicants will certainly increase this year.  Your competition will be tougher and Georgetown MBA is moving up in the rankings (along with opening a $100 M new building soon) so go the extra mile.

Well folks, that's about all I've got.  I hope that didn't seem preachy or arrogant because that is not my intention at all and I only hope for the best in future classes of Georgetown MBA.  Its been a fantastic experience for me and I only hope to convey how happy I have been with my decision.

Best of luck to everyone and Via Con Dios, amigos. 

Doug

Ps.  If you live in the Washington DC metro area, a great event to attend is the Non-profit internship fund this Saturday at the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, VA.  The Net Impact Club is putting it on to raise money for students who take unpaid or low-paying internships this summer in non-profit or development industries.  There will be food, a band, and a ton of items raffled off (including a home-cooked Texan meal by the Texas club - Senior Stephen Simpson & myself along with Seniorita Anne Wilson).  Please think about attending if you live nearby - tickets are $25 at the door (its a good cause and a good time). 

Class of 2010

Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted into the Class of 2010 at Georgetown MBA.  From what I understand, the deadline for the second round is this coming Friday.  I vividly remember how nerve-wracking the application process was last year. 

If anyone has questions regarding the academic program, strengths to highlight on your application, or how tall Roy Hibbard is, please feel free to email me at wdg9@georgetown.edu. 

Good luck chaps,

Doug

How many cab drivers are in Washington, DC?

Before this semester began, I vowed to keep up with a steady pace of blogging regularly.  To this end, I have failed miserably.  This week we finished the 4th week of our 6-week mod, although it feels like I just bought my textbooks a few days ago.  The pace of this mod has been blistering to say the least and I've found myself working overtime to get caught up. 

Hence, I find the time to blog on a Saturday at 5pm after hitting the books for the majority of the day. 

At the moment, most first-year MBA students are neck deep in the midst of searching for a summer internship.  The past two weeks saw a flurry of interviewing in the Car Barn, while a parade of banks from New York churned through the career services office.  I must profess that I am very glad that I never saw fit to pursue a career in investment banking.  The poor soles lining up to interview with Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, and so on were subjected to a litany of financial, social, and metaphysical analysis (just kidding ... sort of).  From the sketchy reports I heard, questions from interviewers were interesting to say the least.  Aside from being able to tap-dance your way through cash flow statements, balance sheets, and a discounted cash flow analysis, interviewees were expected to respond nimbly to some rather unusual questions. 

Not to be outdone, Consulting interviews have been equally grueling as of late.  Three to four rounds of interviews and intensive case interviews are the norm for students seeking to earn sought-after summer associate positions at Deloitte, Booz Allen, BCG, etc.  While this can seem extreme at first, I understand the rationale since most firms are not only looking for bright candidates but someone that is a good fit, culture and personality-wise, for the firm.  As MBA students we hear that a lot actually, that being a good fit for a firm can be the most important factor in their hiring decision.  As President of the Consulting Club, I've been trying to organize some more formal case interview prep workshops in addition to the informal groups of students that are practicing together already.  Although, all the preparation in the world sometimes still leaves you stumped when you hear questions like these (actual questions that people got I might add):

- How many red Hummers are there in Miami?
- How many women lawyers are there in Austria?
- How many ping pong balls would it take to fill up the Superdome in New Orleans, LA?

Basically, the recruiter is trying to get a better indication of how you think and formalize your argument.  Its essential to talk aloud and explain what kind of frameworks and assumptions you would implement to come to an answer (however absurd). 

I had a first round interview this past for an inhouse consulting job with a top international firm.  It consisted of a phone interview with a 45-minute case interview question.  Normally, case interviews in person allow candidates approximately 1 - 2 minutes to prepare their analysis and findings before questioning the recruiter and seeking out additional information.  Since my interview was on the phone, I didn't get the opportunity to have 1 - 2 minutes of dead silence to prepare which probably reflected the meandering analysis that I gave.  It was a good experience however, and I feel more confident going forward. 

All the interviewing aside, classwork in Mod 3 has been challenging as well.  I just finished working up an outline for my Operations Management class on a group project for our operational analysis of the DMV in Washington DC (let's just say there were a few areas they could improve upon).  Then, I churched up my Business Planning group's idea for our new business venture.  The idea is based on my wife's idea for her future business: a fine dessert restaurant and wine bar.   After that I worked on the case that we will be reviewing for Finance II on Monday.  The case detailed the recapitalization plans for a company in the late 1980's ... which as I was reading, I thought was a horrid to add truckloads of debt to a profitable company with stable cash flows.  And by the time I finished reading, the company clearly had made the right choice.  So maybe I'm not management material just yet.   

The Super Bowl is tomorrow and my friend (and Co-President of the Consulting Club) Dave Fedlam and his wife Allison are hosting some Georgetown MBA friends at their apartment to watch the game on a projection screen.   Since my brain is fried and it is most definitely time to exit the Car Barn, its the perfect time for a prediction: Pats 34 - Giants 17.  And I don't even like Boston. 

End of Mod 2 Wrap-Up

The end of my inaugural semester in business school ended rather nicely. The week of jam-packed finals and final projects/papers went pretty smoothly. However just prior to the beginning of finals week, most clubs in Georgetown held elections for the new class of officers.

I am happy to report that my good friend Dave Fedlam and I were elected as Co-Presidents of the Graduate Student Consulting Group. This will be a big responsibility going forward with over 100+ members of a rapidly expanding group at MSB.  I am excited about the opportunity to represent such a fantastic group of students in an exciting industry.  Please check out our website if you get the chance.  We are hoping to expand internship and full-time offers for students with new consulting firms as well as initiating a Consulting Case Competition for next fall/spring to coincide with the opening of our $100 million new building for the McDonough School of Business.

Additionally, and on a lighter note, I was also elected as the next Co-President/Czar/Dictator of the Texas Club. Alas, we haven’t formally decided on our title yet, though we are accepting suggestions! Along with the eminent Ms. Anne Elizabeth Rockwell Wilson and (as previously mentioned) Mr. Steven H. Simpson, we will be representing a group founded last year by Brett Birkeland and Sam Newman to embody all that is good about the great state of Texas: bar-b-q, margaritas, the Texas Longhorns (though we are open to all willing Aggies, Mustang, Red-Raiders, etc), and a healthy approach to the good life.  We are planning a Fajitas & Ritas affair soon as well as a Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament. Although, word on the street is that Professor Lee Pinkowitz is a mighty fine poker player and we are seeking to arrange his participation before any formal announcement occurs.

Yet somehow, amidst all of the chaos and time management difficulties, I was pleasantly surprised with the grades that I received this semester. All in all, this has been a fantastic semester and I’m looking forward to getting started in 2008.

The Winter Sabbatical

To be quite honest, one of my favorite attributes of attending business school is the Winter Break. It is frankly so long that we should really refer to it as the Winter Sabbatical. I feel fantastic. I immensely enjoyed my time off and hence, therein lies the reason for my dereliction in keeping up with the blog.

During the break I flew home to Texas and visited my family for a bit. It’s always a little jarring to step off an airplane in Houston and immediately shed my winter coat and jeans for a t-shirt and shorts. My holiday fireworks really began after I returned to Washington, however. We hosted my Mom, my brother Derek, and his girlfriend (now fiancé!!) Kelly in DC for about 4 days before Christmas. Derek had decided to propose to Kelly while they were in Washington so the onus fell on me to help support Derek in generating some ideas of where to propose, where he would take her to dinner afterwards, and getting all our ducks in a row to ensure this was a memorable experience.

The scenario that unfolded clearly explains the difference between my brother and I. At the time when I proposed to Courtney, I spoke with virtually every friend, relative, and random person on the street about how I should pop the question. I checked out 20 different locations in Washington, waffled on the type of ring to buy for a few months, and intensely planned all the minute details – including booking a trip home to Houston to celebrate and arranging with Courtney’s boss for her to have the night off of work.

On the other hand, Derek was able to buy the ring, speak with Kelly’s father, and take care of all the salient details within about two weeks. Additionally, I had approximately 5 different locations lined up to show him as to where he should propose … which he politely declined since he had already made up his mind about where to hit a knee – the Jefferson Memorial (sight unseen – so the moment wouldn’t seem rehearsed). What can I say? The man had a plan … and it worked!

The very next day after the proposal, we found out that Courtney’s sister Tristan is pregnant and expecting another child in addition to their wonderful daughter, Madelene.

After a great Christmas, my Dad and his girlfriend (now fiancé!!) came to Washington for a quick 3 day visit. After a fantastic dinner at Komi (a wonderful restaurant in DC by the way) my Dad informed my wife and I that he would be getting married within a month. That’s correct … my small family (under 10 family members) was experiencing a veritable population explosion with 3 new members.

With my batteries fully charged, I focused on heading out to California with around 25 other first and second year students for Cal-Trek sponsored by Georgetown MBA. I promise to include other details of this adventure in a future blog.

As I sit now, we are one week back into Mod 3 and life has resumed its hectic pace of juggling new responsibilities, focusing on tough classes, and heading into the home stretch of the internship search. 

Playing Catch Up

It's been roughly 20 days since I last posted on the blog and I feel quite derelict in my duties to my loyal readers (Mom, Dad, my wife Courtney). 

Unfortunately, in the midst of Thanksgiving and prepping for finals, I've been virtually swamped with work at Georgetown and are currently juggling:

- a major Accounting project
- another project worth 25% of my grade in my Quantitative Methods class
- elections for the Consulting Club
- review sessions for Finals next week
- speeches for Management Communication
- multiple deadlines for Internship Applications, finishing cover letters, etc.

And I could go on and on.  It's been a hectic few weeks but I plan to recap the latter part of this mod - which has been fantastic - once Finals have passed.

Loading up on the coffee,

Doug

The Dog Days of Winter ...

... have arrived.  It is officially cold now in our nation's capital and although weather.com says the temp is 45 degrees at the moment, I guarantee it feels a good 15 degrees colder if you stand on a balcony in your bare feet.  I've been living here for roughly 2 and a half years now and the winter season for this Southern boy never really gets any easier.  My wife loves it of course, as she gets to make her favorite pie (pumpkin) and drink hot chocolate as much as she wants, as well as wear the myriad number of sweaters that she owns. 

I, however, lament the passing of summer and even fall.   I love warm weather.  I like to sweat.  It's not that I dislike the cold that much but I much prefer a warmer climate  Don't worry, my family thinks I'm strange too.  Its just the little things now about winter that irk me.  I can't ride my bike to school anymore unless I layer up with coats and gloves and hats and frankly, I just can't fit anything else in my backpack at this point since it's about to bust wide open with textbooks and spiral notebooks. 

I do apologize for the rant, but unfortunately, I've been saddled with yet another lovely side effect of my least favorite season - I'm sick.  After working on some Finance for the past two hours, there are Kleenex's littered about my desk like wounded soldiers from a battle royal.  Bottles of Nyquil and boxes of Dayquil are strewn about (yes, Mom - I bought some Dayquil and have been medicating) and the soup in the cupboard won't be there for much longer.  So I apologize for the brevity of the blog this week but the couch is calling and we haven't had our alone time in a while. 

As an addendum to a previous post, I mentioned the value of the free coffee at Georgetown MBA .  After slogging through a Time Value of Money quiz this week (thanks to good ole Prof. Pinkowitz), I can now boast that I figured out the actual dollar amount of this contribution from McDonough:

- Given weekly spending of roughly $10 on coffee (4 Starbucks/Saxby's cups per week at $1.93 a pop and an additional cup here and there)
- 36 weeks a year in classes (approximately)
- 2 years of education
- Discounted at a rate of 12% (historical return of the stock market)

By the end of two years, I would have saved a little over $800.  Now I just need to throw some money in the stock market to get this ball rolling.