Making the Most of Business School
Business school is a crucial time for growth and education. But how do you ensure that you’re making the most of your time and money?
Bernie Klinder, a serial entrepreneur, investor, and consultant, recently penned a Quora post offering a few tips for those who are about to embark on their business education.
Get Your Money’s Worth – Literally
MBA’s aren’t cheap. Klinder, for example, dished out roughly $1000 per class as a Bowling Green State MBA. Overall, his entire class spent over $1 million to graduate the program. For b-schools students, it’s important to remember just how much an MBA education is worth.
“Keep that in mind everyday when you sit down in class: Imagine forking over $1,000 in cash (or whatever your tuition breakdown is) when you arrive each day,” he writes. “Make sure you see the value in that class. If not, demand it.”
Lauren Gianino, a Harvard MBA, says it’s important that b-school students make use of their time wisely. She recommends defining individual priorities and goals regularly.
“It is easier to manage your time (and not let your schedule overwhelm you!) if you have created a list of priorities and reasons for being at business school before you start,” she writes in a post for Harvard’s MBA Voices. “For each decision or trade-off that you make, this list helps you correctly allocate your time.”
Know Your Classmates
On top of valuable knowledge you’ll gain in b-school, an MBA is also valuable for the network you’ll build.
Klinder says building a professional network is an important lesson to remember.
“Communities and networks are small,” he writes. “The best way to leverage your MBA is to grow your professional network. If you’re on a group project, do more than everyone else. Be more prepared. Be the team hero – but be humble.”
Kelly Gibbons, Founder and Managing Partner of Main & Rose, where she creates personal brand strategy for clients, says creating communities is one lesson you’ll never learn in b-school.
“Many MBA programs tend to encourage a ‘go it alone’ mindset that applies not only to competitors but to clients,” Gibbons writes in a Forbes article. “We’ve found that the old-school way of thinking of businesses as ‘webs’ (that is, entities that attract customers but don’t create interaction between their clients) isn’t always best. Instead, we think of our business as a hub — an organization that brings together clients around a shared lifestyle or ethos.”
Be Proactive
Making the most of your MBA education can often come down to your mindset towards learning.
Klinder says being proactive means, “sit in the front row, be engaged, ask questions. Don’t be afraid of asking the wrong question, everybody does sooner or later. If there is a guest speaker, really leverage their knowledge. Don’t wait until the lecture is over to ask a question in a side bar.”
Part of being proactive is stepping out of your comfort zone. And Gianino, of Harvard’s MBA Voices, says being forced out of your comfort zone is a common part of the b-school experience and, ultimately, something you will build upon through your education.
“Each day in class, you will take a position on a variety of choices presented in case studies,” Gianino writes. “HBS requires you to defend that position while being open to critically listening to opposing views. This is the best test of public speaking and debate skills, and it’s something that you will continue to refine each day.”
Sources: Quora, Harvard MBA Voices, Forbes
MBAs Are Being Trained In Cybersecurity
Business schools are now training students in cybersecurity.
With cyberattacks disrupting daily operations and costing companies millions, worldwide enterprise security spending is forecasted to total $96.3 billion in 2018, up 8% from 2017, according to Gartner.
“Overall, a large portion of security spending is driven by an organization’s reaction toward security breaches as more high profile cyberattacks and data breaches affect organizations worldwide,” Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner, says. “Cyberattacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya, and most recently the Equifax breach, have a direct effect on security spend, because these types of attacks last up to three years.”
Sarah Murray, a contributor at Financial Times, recently wrote about how MBA programs are ramping up their training on cyber security.
Achieving Effective Cyber Security
One way b-schools are prepping their students in cyber security is by teaching them technical skills. But experts say more needs to be done in order to effectively achieve cyber security.
“Technical skills . . . by themselves are not sufficient to achieve effective cyber security,” Alan Brill, senior managing director for cybersecurity and investigations at Kroll, tells Financial Times.
\Rather, Brill says, achieving effective cybersecurity requires managing online behavior of employees in addition to installing firewalls. At the b-school level, it’s more than just teaching technical skills. Instead, it is more about understanding the threats and how to prevent and respond to them at a financial, legal, and reputational level, Brill says.
“Each MBA programme should have at least some content on cyber security,” Brill tells Financial Times.
How B-Schools Are Teaching Cybersecurity
A number of b-schools are now offering specializations in cybersecurity.
At the University of Albany’s business school, the full-time MBA cybersecurity specialization covers both risk management and security incident analyzation.
Coventry University made strides by becoming the first to offer a course in cyber security in the UK. Through workshops and online content, the curriculum includes topics such as strategic thinking and analysis, network security, crisis communications and international cyber and digital law.
At London Metropolitan University, the cybersecurity MBA includes professionals who manage cyber security departments or processes.
“They want to blend management knowledge with the specialist area they’re in,” Hazel Messenger, MBA course leader at London Metropolitan, tells Financial Times. “They’re wanting to sit at a board meeting and to understand what the guy from marketing and finance is saying.”
According to the school’s website, the cybersecurity course covers the “fundamentals of leadership and risk management within cyber security organizations.” The school hopes that through the course, students will learn “how to anticipate, deter, detect and resist cyber-attacks on digital assets and activities.” The course covers everything from identity theft, scams, fraud, and attacks on computer systems.
For Brill, he says, cyber security education needs to expand beyond just something that computer scientists deal with.
“Organizations that consider cyber security to be a technology problem — something that can be offloaded to the ‘techies’ — are almost guaranteed to have incidents,” Brill tells Financial Times.
Sources: Financial Times, Gartner, London Metropolitan University
How To Convey Diversity Effectively In An MBA Application
Modern b-schools strive to be inclusive and accepting institutions. Today, admissions officers seek more than just high GPAs and test scores. They seek diversity.
Ilana Kowarski, a reporter at US News, recently wrote about how MBA applicants can highlight diversity in their applications.
The Value of Diversity
A number of admissions officers cite diversity as the main proponent behind providing a well-rounded learning environment.
“At business schools, we know that diversity is extremely important in the classroom to provide a real-world experience,” Jay Bryant, director of graduate recruitment and admissions with the Rady School of Management at the University of California—San Diego, tells US News.
Whitney Kestner, director of admissions with the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, says teaching techniques, like the case study, are most effective when they can draw from a diverse student body.
“When these people come together and discuss these cases, just incredible learning opportunities abound,” Kestner tells US News.
In addition to lively class discussions, diversity has become a reality in the global world, according to Accepted – an admissions blog.
“The more diverse perspectives found in the classroom, throughout the dorms, in the dining halls, and mixed into study groups, the richer the discussions will be and the more creative the teams will become. Plus, learning and growing in this multicultural environment will prepare students for working in our increasingly multicultural and global world.”
Showing Diversity In Your Application
Highlighting your diverse background is crucial in an MBA application, but experts say there are right ways to do it and wrong ways.
Rather than simply stating your background as a minority, experts say applicants should put their background into the context of how they overcame adversity.
“It’s important to put their diversity in context of what makes them unique and makes them a better candidate and not just mention it as… checking a box,” Shaun Carver, assistant dean of graduate programs with the Rady School of Management at UCSD, tells US News.
Generally, the admissions essay, short-answer question response, or the optional essay are key areas to mention your diverse background. Framing your story around a couple of these key questions, according to Accepted, will be beneficial in conveying a strong story.
“Your answer for the diversity question should focus on how your experiences have built your empathy for others, your resilience, your character, and your ideas. WHO are you? WHAT have you done? HOW do you think? These elements will serve as the framework for your essay.”
Lyneir Richardson, executive director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey, says another area to mention diversity issues is in the admissions interview.
“Therefore, you should express that you have a viewpoint and perspective that – if admitted – you will share with your classmates (and that you’re open to learning from others),” Richardson tells US News. “Make it clear, because of some element of your background, that you are confident and will be able to understand, survive and adjust to the environment and pace of the school.”
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