In Search of the Best MBA Internships in the Bay Area
It’s not just the entrepreneurship and technology boom of the past thirty years that has brought San Francisco into prominence as a major city for business. In fact, the city’s legacy as a center for banking and finance can be traced all the way back to the years of the gold rush. From it’s nickname as the “Wall Street of the West” to its role today as a hub for technology and social media companies, San Francisco has long been a city where young business professionals can thrive.
MBA programs in the metro offer opportunities for students to connect with local organizations through Bay Area internships and corporate partnerships. These internship opportunities, the majority of which are arranged through campus recruitment or university networking, frequently open the door for full-time employment and ongoing career training. Below, we’ve rounded up just a few of our favorites.
The Best Bay Area Internships for MBAs
Amazon consistently makes the lists of top employers, both for full-time positions and summer internships, for graduates from universities like the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, SJSU’s Lucas Graduate School of Business, and the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
This likely doesn’t come as a surprise. With an extensive reach into the retail, tech, and entertainment industries, Amazon has made headlines in the past years for its vigorous hiring of MBA students and graduates. In 2015, the company was the number one employer for graduating MBA students, and it doesn’t look like that trend will change any time soon.
Amazon has hired more Haas MBAs for employment and internships than any one company has in recent history (33 in 2017). There are also currently 165 Haas alumni already working at the company, who continue to play a large role in the recruitment and onboarding process for new hires.
One reason that might explain the staggering number of Haas MBAs joining Amazon is the company’s vigorous recruitment process, which begins early in fall and provides practice for case interviews. According to MBA alum Carolyn Chuong, now a Senior Product Manager at Amazon, the Amazon corporate culture and Berkeley’s academic philosophy are a good fit for each other.
“Haas and Amazon have cultures that value feedback,” she said.
San Francisco’s role today as a hub for technology may help explain why Cisco Systems, an American multinational technology company headquartered in San Jose, is one of the top internship destinations for MBA students at schools like Haas, SJSU, and the University of San Francisco School of Management.
For students both in and out of the tech fields, Cisco offers internship opportunities in fields like marketing, security, supply chain, operations, human resources, and more. Schools like the San Jose State University even offers special opportunities through their corporate partnership with Cisco, such as a unique MS Software Engineering, specialization in cybersecurity available only for employees.
Listed in 2017 as the most visited website in the world, Google seems to have no limits to how far the company might grow. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Google now employs more than 85,050 people around the globe. Talented MBAs who can break into the company can make, on average, nearly $6,000 per month as an intern, not to mention attractive benefits like free food, gym membership and transportation. Simply put, a stop at Google is one of the most attractive Bay Area internships out there.
Not surprisingly, Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Berkeley Haas have the most alumni currently with Google. San Jose State University and UC Davis grads are also prolific at the company, among other top schools like Cornell, Harvard, and MIT. Landing an internship at Google can be an incredibly challenging process. With high rates of alumni from California schools working at the company, students can leverage their university’s professional network to make connections and get their foot in the door.
Tesla, a multinational corporation specializing in renewable energy, offers a large number of internships and co-ops for MBA students. With its headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, and a commitment to taking on some of the world’s most important problems, it’s understandable why students at schools like USFCA, UC Davis, and SJSU seek out internship opportunities with the company.
“My experiences as a Tesla intern are some that I will take with me for the rest of my career,” one Tesla intern said on her experience. “I had the opportunity to tackle problems that were challenging, unique, and relevant—and within several weeks, I was trained to weigh in on decisions that would affect an entire production line.”
According to Tesla, interns and co-ops will be matched with teams and projects based on their background and career goals. Many Tesla interns have returned to the company in a full-time role after graduation.
The Fastest California MBA Programs
Earning an MBA in no simple task, and takes commitment on several levels. Of course there’s the financial commitment and, for those in part-time programs, there’s also a work commitment. There’s also a large time commitment involved—prospective MBAs must sink time into studying, attending class, immersion courses, case competitions, and the like. Continue reading…
How To Join The Supply Chain Management Job Revolution in San Francisco
Like blockchain, the phrase supply chain management has been retconned into an inexact wallpaper of business jargon. But it doesn’t change the fact that supply chain managers (SCMs) are in higher demand than ever.
The San Francisco One-Year MBA Programs You Need to Know
One-year MBA applicants already know which industry or area of concentration they want to pursue. They are MBA candidates who want to advance their current careers, rather than change them. Others chose the one-year route because it can be difficult to leave two years of work and salary. If you’re a prospective MBA in the San Francisco metro looking to make moves within your industry, we’ll show you what One-Year MBA options are out there for you.
Who Pursues One-Year MBA Programs?
According to U.S. News & World Report, accelerated MBA programs appeal to those who want to continue working in the same industry but want to move into a higher position; those who want to save time and money; and those who may want a faster return on investment for their MBA.
One-year MBAs condense what would be a semester’s worth of core business courses in a full-time program into only a few weeks. Most incoming students enter with a strong base of business knowledge. One-year programs typically do not feature a summer internship, which means that accelerated MBAs may not offer the same career opportunities that a full-time program does.
Popular One-Year MBA Programs
One-year programs have been popular in Europe for years, but have grown in popularity stateside over the past decade. Not all business schools offer a One-Year MBA, but a handful of top schools do, including:
- The Columbia Business School – Accelerated MBA Program
- The Kellogg School of Management – One-Year MBA Program
- The Johnson School (Cornell University) – Accelerated MBA
- The Goizueta Business School (Emory University) – Full-Time MBA, One-Year Experience
One-Year MBA Offerings in San Francisco
San Francisco is the cultural, commercial, financial, and educational epicenter of Northern California and Silicon Valley. Naturally, it is also home to some of the country’s premier business schools, like UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. However, those schools do not offer One-Year MBA programs.
Schools in the Bay Area that offer Accelerated MBA programs are:
- San Francisco State University College of Business
- Lucas Graduate School of Business – San Jose State University
Let’s take a closer look at these school’s One-Year MBA offerings.
San Francisco State University College of Business
San Francisco State’s full-time MBA degree is known as the Fast-Track MBA. The program features both afternoon and evening classes and can be completed in 12 months.
In order to graduate, students must fulfill a Professional Development Workshop series, eight foundation courses and ten advanced requirement courses. In the first semester of the program, students complete 15 units of core coursework, along with four workshops. After completing these requirements, students select 15 units of electives from nine possible areas of specialization, such as Accounting, Operations Research, Electronic Commerce, Finance, Information Systems, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Sustainable Business.
The program ends with a case study in Strategic Management, which evaluates strategy formulation, implementation, techniques and decision-making in the context of the economic, social, political and competitive global environment.
Tuition costs for the San Francisco State Fast-Track MBA program amount to $3,540 plus $270 per unit for part-time California residents and $5,546 plus $270 per unit for full time residents. For out of state and international students, part-time tuition is $3,540 plus $666 per unit while full-time tuition is $5,546 plus $666 per unit.
Lucas Graduate School of Business
Lucas Graduate School of Business at San Jose State offers an Early Career MBA Accelerated Track, designed for individuals who are willing to follow a very intense academic pace and wish to complete their MBA degree in 12 months. The fast-paced program is made up of 2-3 courses per session with 6-8 weeks of courses per class. The program is offered once a year starting in fall, and spans 12 months.
The Early Career MBA curriculum consists of 42 semester credit units containing 11 core courses and four electives. The core courses are often prerequisites to electives, such as Business Communications, Managing in the Global Economy, Developing and Managing People, Accounting Principles, Marketing Management, Law and Ethic, Managerial Decision Analysis, and Silicon Valley Experience.
Following core coursework, students must take a minimum of four classes (12 units) of elective coursework in the disciplines of: Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Development, Global Business Development, Entrepreneurship and Venture Development, Information Systems, and Operations Management. Students may also participate in an international semester in the summer term.
Tuition costs for the Accelerated MBA program is $25,072 for in-state residents and $41,704 for out-of-state residents.
Finding An Affordable San Francisco MBA
Students pursuing an MBA have a lot to look forward to upon graduation: More job opportunities, an extensive network and the skills to navigate the changing marketplace. Unfortunately, many MBA students also leave school weighed down by debt, and unable to freely start their careers. Particularly for students living in cities like San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to live, finding an affordable program is a top priority. That’s why we’ve laid out the most affordable San Francisco MBA programs.
Top 5 San Francisco Marketing MBA Programs
Elmer Wheeler of the Tested Selling Institute famously advised would-be product-pushers to “sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Wheeler’s adage simply explains how marketing often has less do with leveraging a product’s marketplace position than it does about the subtle art of seduction. And what better way to become Don Juan or Juanita of the boardroom than to get yourself a Marketing MBA.
Although local draconian housing laws combined with an influx of indifferent techies have largely driven out the counter-cultural element that defined San Francisco, the Bay Area is still a hotspot for folks who “think different.” The natural splendor of the region, surrounded by glorious Pacific Coast beach, hiking trails at Point Reyes, and the dry flat Central Valley directly west, is also hard to top.
We took the liberty of surveying the top 5 San Francisco Marketing MBA programs for you:
UC Davis Graduate School of Management
UC Davis offers an MBA concentration in marketing that prepares graduates for careers in Brand Management and Direct Marketing; Product Development; Public Relations and Advertising; Market Research and Marketing Consulting. The concentration emphasizes the development of new products, “conducting market research, planning advertising and promotion programs, creating marketing strategies, providing superior customer service, understanding e-commerce, developing profitable pricing strategies and brand management.”
University of San Francisco School of Management
USF’s Marketing MBA teaches students how to “build competitive advantage in the global marketplace” and run a “successful customer-driven organization” through a comprehensive understanding of market segmentation, competitive analysis, pricing strategies, public relations, advertising and distribution channels. USF graduates have gone on to upper management positions in the fields of Market Research, Sales, Advertising, Brand Management, General Management and Management Consulting.
San Francisco State University College of Business
SFSU’s MBA Emphasis in Marketing teaches students how to harness a “blend of creativity and analysis” in order to give their target market the “right combination of product, price, place and promotion.” SFSU gives students an opportunity to explore a wide variety of marketing applications: advertising, branding, channel management, customer relationship management, data analytics, marketing research, pricing, public relations and sales. SFSU marketing graduates have gone on to work for Apple, Clif Bar, Clorox, HP, Kaiser Permanente and Samsung, among others.
San Jose State University’s Lucas Graduate School of Business
SJSU’s Marketing Concentration was designed to “spark student innovation and provide multi-disciplinary opportunities through an academically challenging curriculum“ that focuses on “the business functions concerned with market definition and objectives, product or service development, customer segmentation and product positioning.” SJSU Marketing graduates go on to careers as market and survey researchers; product managers; product marketers; marketing analysts; sales representatives; retail managers; direct marketers; channel and distribution managers; marketing communications and web marketers.
Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business
SCU’s Leavey School of Business offers a Marketing degree that emphasizes “the latest in web and mobile marketing [and] quantitative methods for gathering precise, useful data” so your brand can “connect with customers and build brand recognition.” SCU offers student internships at large area companies like Google and Facebook, as well as a number of study abroad opportunities. SCU Marketing graduates go on to positions within the high-tech, financial services, retail, real estate consulting and nonprofit fields. Examples include: retail advertising, sales, new product development, market research, Internet marketing and supply chain management.
