We’ve all heard the saying before. That a team working together can accomplish a lot more than the sum of its individual capabilities. Well that’s definitely true here at Kellogg for orientation, where everything we’ve done so far has been in teams. One example is our section’s involvement in Kellogg’s section competition, where we compete all week against all the other sections in a series of events. Another example is the section showcase, where we’re working together to create a ten minute skit to put on in front of the school. So far, I’ve found the team activities fun as they’ve not only provided a unique venue for collaboration but also for getting to know my classmates and having interesting discussions to foster close ties before school begins.
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Do you remember the last time you had a first day at school? To be fair, you probably shouldn’t. Most people have their last first day as freshmen at their undergraduate universities. But for those going to graduate school, you get one last hurrah. One more chance to soak up the excitement of starting all over again. And if you go to business school, you get that experience much later in life, which can be pretty interesting. Well just yesterday, I joined 600 of my classmates in our first day of orientation at Kellogg.
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There are a lot of theories out there about how to get off to a good start, whether starting at a new job, joining a new organization, or beginning in a new graduate school program. A lot of these theories focus on finding the right information to succeed. Others talk about being part of the right network and knowing the right people. And another set of theories talk more subjectively about understanding and navigating the culture effectively. Well whatever the right approach is, it is going to be important tomorrow. Because tomorrow marks the first day of orientation at Kellogg for the class of 2012.
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Just about everyone agrees that the relationships you build are one of the most important parts of business school. Whether you build those relationships in the classroom or in outside activities, it’s often the case that many of your classmates will eventually become close friends and sometimes your colleagues. One of the best ways to do that at Kellogg is on the pre-orientation KWEST trip, where in my case I went on Mystery Trip (click here for my previous post on Mystery Trip). And just this past Saturday after weeks of waiting in suspense, 24 classmates and I finally reached our Mystery Destination.
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After nine months of intense studying as a 1L, I thought I’d be finished worrying about final exams for a while. But boy was I wrong. As it turns out, the JD-MBAs at Northwestern take classes over the summer, both at the law school and business school. Most of the group takes classes full-time, so they are able to spread the workload throughout the summer. And a smaller portion of the group, including me, work and take classes, so spend more time studying and catching up at the end. But no matter which route you choose, in mid August, all JD-MBAs have a pretty tough schedule. Even though we all saw it coming a few months ago, most of us never understood how tough it would actually be until now, where we not only have to get ready to start classes at Kellogg, move, and go through recruiting, but we also have to take final exams for our summer classes.
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As incoming 1Ls, most students didn’t know much about the world of law firms. They didn’t know which type of law they were interested in, weren’t sure which firms they’d ultimately like to work at, and couldn’t tell you what specific geography they’d end up targeting. Law schools know that, so during 1L year they do a good job at bringing firms to campus, sending out mass emails about career options, providing students with networking events, and giving us lots of resources to learn things on our own. Well, after doing that for the past few months as 1Ls, the students here are finally putting that work into action. And just last week, interviews finally began, marking the beginning of OCI at Northwestern Law.
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Writing a cover letter can be a daunting task. In law school, cover letters often take a back seat to other parts of an application given the perception that firms are more interested in your academic performance than anything else. So students often don’t invest the time to put their best work forward which can be detrimental to a job search. In business school, a good cover letter can often make the difference between a job interview and a “ding” email. So students spend a lot of time crafting their stories, sometimes at the expense of writing cover letters effectively. My view is that in this economy, cover letters for any job can be critical, and that time and strategy can both play an important role in the final product.
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One of the most important things about going to business school is getting to know your classmates. That not only means meetings as many people as possible but it also means getting to know them well. That means being with them in an atmosphere for extended periods, sharing meaningful experiences together, and where not just talking about professional experiences, but instead getting to know what they are interested in personally. Most top business schools do a good job at facilitating those relationships. And at Kellogg, the first way we do that is on our pre-orientation trip with students, called KWEST.
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Despite many of the public interest goals applicants write about in personal statements, most students at top law schools usually end up spending a few years at a big law firm. One reason is because law firm salaries are high and help students to pay down their loans. Another reason is that students gain a measurable skill set that employers value, both in the legal and business worlds. So for months, students read cases, outline, take exams, and aim for the best grades possible before eventually going through the recruiting process and interviewing at law firms all around the country. Well, that time has finally come for Northwestern’s class of 2012. And next week officially marks the beginning of law school OCI.
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Being the top executive today in any organization is a demanding job. In times past, most organizations were based on the hierarchical business model. At the helm of the ship were the managers with the most tenure that made all the decisions, and at the bottom were employees who sat behind and did what they were asked to do. But today’s leaders have a more nuanced task. Today, organizations are flatter than ever before, job titles are broader, and the lines of authority have become blurred, especially in professional services firms. Similarly, the ability to scale technology and capacity to work with a diverse team is critical. So the question is, what skills do you need to maneuver all those factors and lead your organization to success in the future.
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We’ve all heard the saying before. That a team working together can accomplish a lot more than the sum of its individual capabilities. Well that’s definitely true here at Kellogg for orientation, where everything we’ve done so far has been in teams. One example is our section’s involvement in Kellogg’s section competition, where we compete all week against all the other sections in a series of events. Another example is the section showcase, where we’re working together to create a ten minute skit to put on in front of the school. So far, I’ve found the team activities fun as they’ve not only provided a unique venue for collaboration but also for getting to know my classmates and having interesting discussions to foster close ties before school begins.
