Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class Of 2026

Student in the Forum. Credit: Jerry Naunheim

P&Q: What types of support does your career center and alumni provide to MBA students? How have these services and relationship made your graduates more competitive in the marketplace?

Bouffides: “Career support is something that is integral to our students’ experience from before they even step on campus. Our career center facilitates MBA First Steps, a new coaching framework offering personalized one-on-one coaching to help students navigate their career search and the MBA recruitment process in a clearly defined way.

Beginning in March 2024, our team began outreach to incoming students encouraging them to schedule career coaching appointments. In addition to one-on-one coaching through the MBA First Steps framework, our team organized 20 pre-program career preparation sessions last summer. A highlight was the new 6-part Consulting and Business Strategy Series that introduced the consulting industry, featured an alumni panel, and included case preparation and practice sessions. This series also allowed students to connect with consulting-focused peers and 2nd year MBA students before arriving on campus.

Once on campus, we facilitated a variety of experiences including a Virtual Alumni Mock Interview event, an Alumni Networking Social with St. Louis MBA alumni, and an In-Person MBA Summit connecting students with 19 organizations and 30 representatives, 70% of whom were alumni. WashU Olin is looking forward to expanding these events to include our first Virtual MBA Networking Summit this spring.

Additionally, WashU Olin has career-focused Treks including a recent one to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, giving students the opportunity for company site visits and to connect with the robust alumni network there.”

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