Starting a career in business can be intimidating for many undergraduate students. That’s one reason behind the Mentor Program run through the Ahlers Center for International Business at the University of San Diego School of Business. The program enhances career preparation skill sets by connecting undergraduate students with MBA alumni at companies such as WD-40, Qualcomm, UTC Aerospace Systems, Leidos, Hologic and more.
Recently, Conor Robertson, a 2017 BA in Biochemistry was paired with Melissa Rosness a 2008 MBA graduate. About his experience, Robertson said: “The program staff did an amazing job of pairing us with people who had taken similar paths. Melissa helped me think about graduate school and my career. I was able to bounce ideas off her, which was really helpful especially as I neared graduation.”
Not only does the Mentor Program pair undergraduate students with MBA alumni, but it also offers workshops as well as company visits for a deep-dive opportunity. For example, Qualcomm hosted a workshop that connected students with professionals from Monsanto, Visa, Guess and elsewhere. And as part of Emmalyn Spruce’s Mentor Program participation, she got to visit Hologic for a closer look at what it’s like to be an in-house counsel through her match with Ryan Simon, a 2016 MBA.
“The best part of the mentor program for her was not just exploring these future career options but also building her network: connecting with Simon gave her the courage to contact the in-house counsel at her internship,” Robertson said.
For MBA students, the Ahlers Center for International Business is a gateway to dozens of global education opportunities. Recently, MBA students traveled to Mumbai, India during winter break to learn more about social innovation. The trip took MBA students to a cross-section of companies from different industries, to show how they worked and innovated given their strict resources. Other opportunities offered by the center including consulting projects, international speaker series, secondary language training and more.