Making The Most Of Your MBA Conferences

Hey guys! Lot’s to cover with this month’s blog! We finally moved into our house here in St. Louis and it’s great to be home. We really enjoyed our time in Colorado (and everywhere else we lived over the past 10 years) and made some great friends. It was hard to leave, but it will be great to be able to see our family more than a couple of times a year. We still have a lot of work to do in getting our house just how we want it in terms of organizing our things and finishing some projects, but it’s starting to feel like home.

I didn’t have too much time to get settled before I was on the road again. I decided to sign up for the MBA Veterans conference in Atlanta. It was a great opportunity to meet people from a variety of industries and see what other opportunities were out there for MBA graduates, veterans in particular. I also had a chance to reconnect with multiple Army friends I’d made over the years. That was an added bonus. I learned a great deal about a lot of companies that I might not have considered before. I even had an interview with a company and may be pursuing a job with them. 

With that, I thought I would give some tips about MBA conferences to share what I learned and hopefully help people make the most of their trips. 

Firstly, decide early and be prepared. I waited until the last minute before deciding to attend this one. While it was still worthwhile, it certainly made my preparation more time constrained than it had to be. You should obviously have an updated resume, but you should also research the various companies that will be in attendance and start to get an idea for which specific position you would be interested in. This will really help them to try to see where you could fit within their company and focus your conversations. You could also have a couple different resumes targeting different roles/companies. This would be a lot of work, but might help you stick out amongst all the other people there. 

Secondly, be prepared for interviews! Most companies are planning on interviewing qualified candidates on-site. These interviews can help you jump the line and cut through a lot of the application process. This also means that you will have to be prepared for basic interview questions, questions specific to that role/industry, and also questions regarding your preferences in terms of salary, schedule, etc. 

Lastly, go early and often. I wouldn’t say you necessarily have to attend multiple times per year, but don’t think that you can’t attend because you won’t be graduating for another year. Many companies are seeking first-year MBA candidates for internship opportunities in addition to full-time positions. Depending on your situation, that might be the ideal way to learn more about a company and get a fast track to a full-time position.

I also have to give a shout-out to LP Ailes from Graduate Career Services for showing up and providing support to all the IU candidates at the conference (and there were a lot of us!). From interview prep to just a place to sit and recharge for a minute, it was great to have him there.

The last thing I would add is to keep an open mind when you are looking at all the companies in attendance. Often, a lesser-known company from an industry you haven’t even heard of will have some amazing opportunities if you just go and talk to them. Plus, some companies even send their CEOs and other executive members. How often do you get to talk to the CEO of the company you’re interested in? 

Hopefully this helps and if you’re attending a conference, good luck!