The start of the second year:

Coming back to state college is a lot easier in the second year. You know the expectations, you already have a friend base, and there is a lot less stress. What never gets easy is the fact you are coming back from an awesome summer internship to being a poor student again. Thank goodness the cost of living in State College is cheap; otherwise I don’t know how I could do it.

The responsibility of a second year is also different. Being on the MBA Association board makes things a little bit busier, but everyone in the second year feels the change. There is almost an unspoken oath that you will look out for the first year class, and help them get integrated into the school and town. It is crazy to think that just a year ago we were the same bright eyed group. Now we all feel like seasoned veterans. We supported the MBA administration a lot with orientation and the early career development activities. It’s so important, even if you are holding offers from your summer job, to get started in the career search right away. You need to be sharp right out of the gate as companies start recruiting early on. We already had two career fairs, multiple on campus info sessions and two corporate-sponsored tailgates just even before hitting October.

It’s a frantic pace but it is a lot easier the second time around. Cheers to being less than a year away from Graduation.

-Mike Bassani, Penn State Smeal MBA ’14

On 12 October 2012, seven members of the Smeal MBA Military & Veterans Association attended the MBA Veterans Conference in Chicago, Illinois.  We had the opportunity to meet recruiters, link up with friends in other MBA programs across the country, and hear from some successful businessmen who came from a military background.  Some of us had the opportunity to attend the event in 2011 and noticed an improvement in hiring and focus – but regardless of these benefits, it was refreshing enough to be able to speak with companies who knew they wanted to hire MBAs with military backgrounds – and who knew why they wanted to.

Ron Joseph, Penn State Smeal MBA ’13
Photo provided by MBA Veterans Conference

Three members flew individually to the event from State College (and were able to combine the visit with other priorities) and four drove.  The trip is nine hours long across half of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois – but the thought of Chicago style pizza an loaded hotdogs is enough to sustain someone for such a long drive.  I was on the drive and Jeff, Stephen, Deramus and I all took turns at the wheel.  Important note – some good content like the Adam Carolla podcast is a great way to keep veteran MBA students attentive and happy on such a long trip.  Some of us also had the opportunity to finish papers or get in some studying along the way.

It’s also important to note that the drivers beat the flyers to the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza with time to spare due to flight delays.  The drivers didn’t miss the opportunity to laugh and point – a sense of humor about your friends’ misery is a sign of a true veteran.  As many know, I’m serious about food – especially street food – and from our last MBA Veterans Conference I knew what I had to eat.  Our first meal was at Lou Malnati’s Pizza – and Deramus and Jeff got their first exposure to a legend.  Luckily we got there before the crowd, and the pizza was as unbelievable as the first time.

The next morning started early with check-in and breakfast.  It was choose-your-own seating, so of course we all spread out and got to meet MBA veterans from across the US.  The first speaker panel – as it had been the year before – was of HR managers.  They discussed their hiring practices and important tips for veterans.

Following that, the CEO of Procter & Gamble, Bob McDonald, spoke to us first about his transition from his time in the Army to P&G, but also his progression through the company and the priorities of his organization.  It was interesting to hear him talk – first because he’s a great, off-the-cuff speaker – but also because it wasn’t hard to imagine him in a comparable leadership role in the military.  The understanding of his space, the command presence, the ability to tell a good story and a focus on success were all there in spades.  He gave some good advice to all of us about how to use our strengths and how to develop ourselves over time to become better leaders.

Stephen Scattergood, Penn State Smeal MBA ’13
Photo provided by MBA Veterans Conference

After that we got to break out into some groups – there were panels from organizations that have Leadership Development Programs (GE, J&J) to Financial Services & Investment banking (Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Fidelity) to Marketing & General Management, and Management Consultancy (Accenture & Deloitte).  These were all headed by company representatives who had military backgrounds and had MBAs.  Some had been to the early, pioneer MBA Veterans Conferences and got their jobs there.  As always, there were ample opportunities to ask questions either in front of the whole group or offline.  The PSU MBA veterans all seemed to have different interests regarding functions and companies, so we were spread to the four winds, as they say.

After that, Harry Wingo – Google’s lead for veteran recruitment – spoke to us about his work at Google and how he got there.  Harry was actually a JD student as opposed to MBA and followed a different route after leaving the Navy.  He described Google’s many affinity groups – and how they led to a veteran’s affinity group for Googlers (VetNet).  He also provided us with a way to ensure that as veterans our applications receive attention when applying to jobs at Google.

Following these speeches and lunch, the time came to visit all the different company’s booths.  Compared to 2011, the recruiters this year from the 33 different companies seemed to have many more 1st-year internship opportunities to talk about, and were also ready to talk full-time employment with 2nd-years.  Last year I was unsure about my path, and these recruiters were prepared to introduce their company and explain why it might be a good fit for an MBA Veteran.  Most of the time I found myself talking to recruiters who also had military backgrounds.  The tone was very relaxed and upbeat – surprisingly lighter and more collegial than other such fairs I’ve attended.  I was pretty pleased with the prospects and I got the same impression from my classmates.  We then used our drink vouchers to finish up the professional part of the day, made our plans, and got ready to head out for dinner.

The only thing more impressive than a Chicago deep dish pizza is the Chicago Dog, and we were near the legendary Portillo’s Hot Dogs.  Portillo’s also serves a fantastic chocolate cake shake – where a piece of chocolate cake is immersed into a chocolate milkshake and consumed all together.    Tom, Jeff, Kyle, and I headed out to a couple bars before ending the evening.  The next morning we visited Lou Mitchell’s Diner for a real Chicago breakfast before getting back on the road for the long, rainy drive home.

The entire experience of the MBA Veterans’ Conference was beneficial.  As MBA students and job seekers, we got to network with our peers and understand not only what our differentiating characteristics are, but also what our competition looks like.  Many in our group from Penn State are talking to recruiters based on processes started at the MBA Veterans’ Conference – proof that attending the conference has been so far fruitful and worthwhile.

-Brady Moore, Penn State Smeal MBA ’13