2016 MBAs To Watch: Adeel Hasan, U.C.-Irvine (Merage)

Adeel Hasan

 

U.C.-Irvine, The Paul Merage School of Business

Age: 30

Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan

Undergraduate School and Degree: Lahore University of Management Sciences, BSc Hons.

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? (Navitus Pvt Ltd. Pakistan, Consultant/Head of Marketing

Where did you intern during the summer of 2015? Amazon, Seattle WA

Where will you be working after graduation? Amazon, HR-LDP

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School

• President, Merage HR Association
• Career Champion (Mentor to first year MBA students)
• Career Advisor/Merage Career Center Assistant for MS Engineering Management & MS Biotech Management program students

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school?

• Growing Merage HR Association from two individuals to an active student club with multiple events in 2015-16.
• Representing Merage at the Google APAC MBA summit in 2015.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? As an intern: Working on Amazon’s employee engagement in the aftermath of the NYT article about Amazon’s corporate culture, and presenting recommendations to HR leadership.

As VP HR of AIESEC Mauritius (world’s largest student-run leadership organization): Achieving 600% growth in student membership in less than a year.

Who is your favorite professor? Professor Philip Bromiley for his real-world insights and genuine interest in helping students grow and learn.

Favorite MBA Courses? Negotiations, Business Dynamics

Why did you choose this business school? Apart from the rankings and industry relations, it was for the culture, as experienced by interactions with student ambassadors during my research. And of course, for the weather, and the recency-effect of President Obama’s speech at UCI’s 50^th anniversary in 2014.

What did you enjoy most about business school? It was the opportunity to fulfill my objectives of getting cross-functional learning, building a network, and tapping into the tech sector. Also, the opportunity to give back to the incoming class in my second year.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from business school? That clichés are true, especially this one: “What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.” Business school is a life-changing experience if you are willing to invest and commit to it. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time and thousands of dollars.

What was the most surprising thing about business school? Everyone at business school is friendly and helpful even after you accept the offer and pay the fees.

What was the hardest part of business school? The ‘trade-offs.’ That includes deciding how to divide time between academics, networking, internship/job applications, networking, club/school/external events, networking, personal/family commitments and networking.

What’s your best advice to an applicant to your school? Don’t bring four pairs of formal shoes like I did. Bring a positive and open attitude. Start making conversations with people at school even before you start. Everyone is friendly and every conversation adds value to your overall experience. Networking begins at home!

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I decided I want to start a consulting firm of my own.”

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…missing out on two years of high-speed capacity building that would not have been possible while working as a consultant.”

Which executive or entrepreneur do you most admire? Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos. For building a crazy company that takes care of its people, makes profits, and continues to take risks.

What are your long-term professional goals? Write a book and launch a people-consulting firm.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I don’t consider myself to be successful yet. When I am successful though, I would want to thank my mentor, former boss, and late CEO of Navitus Pakistan, for pushing me to travel to the U.S. for an MBA and loaning me money to pursue my dreams.

Fun fact about yourself: I’m the youngest of six brothers. I learnt everything about negotiations growing up in that home!

Favorite book: The Kite Runner

Favorite movie: The Usual Suspects and Rocky.

Favorite musical performer: The late Michael Jackson and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Favorite television show: House of Cards and Lie to me

Favorite vacation spot: Krabi (Thailand)

What made Adeel such an invaluable addition to the class of 2016?

“Smart yet eager to learn; accomplished yet humble; confident yet approachable. This is a description of Adeel Hasan. In the 9 years I’ve worked with MBA students, Adeel is a young man I will never forget. During his two years with us, he has proven to be a leader among his peers and a thought partner with many staff members. Adeel is the only International student I’m aware of to secure an internship, which then converted to a FT HR-LDP at Amazon, in Human Resources. This is not an easy career path for someone who comes from outside the U.S. He proved himself to be so valuable to Amazon that they have agreed to be flexible and accommodating to his geographic preference, which will be based on his wife’s location.

Our Career Center hired Adeel as a Graduate Assistant. He has been in this role for almost two years. He partnered with the career advisor who works with our MS students. There, he created substantial documents for these students, conducted focus groups and has done one-on-one advising. In this role, Adeel was able to put himself in the students’ situation to understand what kinds of support documents and resources they needed. He was also able to grasp and articulate the various career paths these young men and women would likely follow and with that in mind, created customized career documents for their use. Adeel was instrumental in getting a new mentorship program, Career Champions, launched.  Early on, Adeel saw a need to train some of his peer Career Champions and he created and presented a rich workshop on role definition, foundation, how to conduct effective meetings and a GROW model to follow. His style, his knowledge and his rare ability to really listen is unparalleled.”

Nan Stothard, Sr.

Associate Director PME, MBA Career Center

The Paul Merage School of Business

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