Consortium students share summer internship plans

First year MBA students won’t be lounging by the pool or sightseeing this summer. They’re gearing up for hard-won internships that, for many, could turn into full-time job offers, or signal that they want to pursue a different career track. Five Consortium students are sharing their business school experiences on the Consortium’s blog and in the latest installment, Olin’s Alejandro Bolívar-Cervoni reveals where he’s headed this summer.

Do you know what you’ll be doing this summer?

Alejandro starts this summer as a brand management internship last November at SC Johnson & Son (a Consortium corporate partner). He was compelled by the company’s assurance that he’d get the opportunity to be involved in meaningful analytical, creative, and strategic projects.

How have your career aspirations changed since you first applied to business school?

By taking time to evaluate different industries and career functions, Alejandro has been able to refine his aspirations significantly. “I began business school in an exploration mindset,” he said. “Now I am pursuing a specialization mindset by taking marketing data analytics and market research classes.”

There is a lot of literature out there on the question of whether b-school prepares students for the right things. What do you wish was different about business school?

Alejandro wishes business schools could find a way to help students look around the corner at career tracks that don’t yet exist. “I wish there was a course available that would anticipate the economic and social changes that will propel those career tracks,” he said. “And how I can prepare for those impending changes.”

Thanks to the Consortium’s Kurt Greenbaum for letting us excerpt his blog post with us. Link to the Consortium blog here.

Related blog post: Meet Alejandro Bolívar-Cervoni (video)