Meet the Babson Olin MBA Class of 2018

Michael Perlis

Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I love to laugh, golf, and talk about data viz!

Hometown: Framingham, MA

Fun Fact About Yourself: My baby announcement was a Tableau dashboard with baby names and a picture of our ultrasound.

Undergraduate School and Major: The George Washington University School of Business (Finance)

 

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Business Experience Lead – Deloitte Analytics InsightStudio

Manager – Deloitte Consulting Project Controllers

Sr. Consultant – Deloitte Consulting Project Controllers

Project Controller – Deloitte Consulting Project Controllers

Analyst – Deloitte Consulting Project Controllers

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of my greatest accomplishments in my career was facilitating a five-hour training, in Spanish, to my colleagues on a new financial model I designed, developed, and implemented. I can speak enough Spanish to get by, but going into the project I had never used Spanish in a business context. My vocabulary was limited and I had to push myself to learn quickly in order to properly communicate with the team. I led a team of five which comprised of developers in India, Mexico, and the US.  Working with a global team to develop a solution that saved the finance organization 10 days in their reporting cycle was extremely rewarding.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? The GMAT is a tough, there is no sugar-coating it. What helped me the most was being organized and making a schedule to study. We are all busy with our work and day-to-day life and it is tough to find time to study. I made sure to give myself several months to prepare so that I didn’t cram everything in two weeks before the test. It’s a simple, and probably obvious piece of advice, but it was extremely helpful in preparing for the exam.

When writing my essays, I found that it was best to limit the number of people who review it because everyone has their own opinions on the direction you should follow. I found it very helpful to designate certain people for different types of reviews. I had one person focus on structure and flow, another on grammar, and the last on content. This ensured the feedback I received was specific to what I needed and not just another opinion.

For your admissions interview I only have one piece of advice: BE YOURSELF!

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? When I was researching MBA programs. I was looking for a school that had a diverse international community, creative and collaborative atmosphere, and a place where I felt that I would be challenged.  When I first visited Babson, I knew this was the place I was looking for and I was right.

75% of our class is international and I’ve been able to hear perspectives from all over the world.  Our first Signature Learning Experience (SLE) is focused on creating a new venture with five other classmates.  We have been creating and collaborating since day one, which is a true testament to Entrepreneurial Thought and Action.  Our Entrepreneurship class challenged us to make a profit with only $5 of “seed” money while focusing on making our product or service socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable.

The other part I liked about Babson was the different resource centers geared towards entrepreneurship and creativity.  They have the Design Zone which can be used for design thinking workshops or creative brainstorming sessions with your teams. They also have the Blank Center for Entrepreneurship which offers a Venture Accelerator program, and the Lewis Institute for Social Innovation. All of these are great resources to have at your disposal and a place where I believed I’d be able to learn from.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? At this point in my career, I would love to work as a product manager for a start-up that is innovating in the augmented and virtual reality space.  I have a passion for data visualization and analytics and think it would be a great opportunity to help people visualize reality with the digital world. I want to work at a company that has a great culture and creative thinkers that share my passion for data visualization.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I would like my classmates to remember me as somebody who they shared several laughs with, somebody they can rely on, and someone who was always willing to help.