This week, I had the chance to interview Katie Augustus (Kellogg, ’15) for the MBASchooled podcast. Katie is a 2nd year MBA student at Northwestern (Kellogg) and was born and raised in the Bay Area. On the podcast, Katie shares some awesome insights on:
- How she ended up at Kellogg
- How to choose a business school
- Her recruiting experience looking for innovative technology firms
- Advice for navigating MBA School
Podcast Link: Direct Download
iTunes: Direct Link
Please check out some of the quotes below – Katie shares some awesome advice that all MBA students should listen to.
Show Notes
1:25 – Katie shares her background and previous work experience
5:00 – Katie shares why she chose Kellogg
6:30 – Katie gives a great tip on how to evaluate a business school on your campus visit
9:53 – Katie talks about working on a startup, and the value she got from the experience
13:11 – Katie talks about KWEST, and why she enjoyed it
15:41 – Katie talks about her recruiting process as a 1st Year MBA student
22:00 – Katie talks about finding Salesforce.com
23:41 – Katie talks about the interview process at Salesforce.com
28:00 – Katie gives insight into her most challenging interview during the process
35:33 – Katie talks about what Product Marketing is and why it is important
39:06 – Katie shares what she worked on as a Product Marketing Intern at Salesforce.com
43:08 – What Katie enjoyed most about her internship experience
45:25 – Katie gives her lessons learned
Katie’s Quotes
On her interview at Salesforce.com: “What was amazing to me was that the interview in retrospect revealed the qualities my team was looking for. Furthermore, all the things I looked for in a company came out through the interview.”
On life working at a startup: “I was 23 years old and they asked me to be the Director of Marketing. What?!”
On life working at a startup (Part 2): “Previously, when I had a problem or disagreed, I stormed the CEO’s desk and said, “hey, this is my problem.” Everywhere else, that is going to be wildly insubordinate..”
On why she can’t work in management consulting: “I only own one suit so there’s no way I could work in a consulting firm.”
On How to pick a business school: “When you pick a business school, you need to pick a place where the community and culture resonates with who you want to be and the type of person you want to work with and work for.”
Advice on how to pick a business school: When you visit, sit somewhere public, and watch people. Be in that common space and see how people interact. Is it tense, do they like each other? What is it about the environment that defines that community? I had really great experiences at all the business schools but when I got to Kellogg I sat in the common area and I loved what I saw. There was such an enthusiasm about the place and the people.”
Advice on for future MBA students
Do what makes you happy: “There’s so much pressure to do what you think you’re supposed to do and you should really do what you want. It’s worth so much to take the time to be introspective to understand what kind of work makes you happy. When you really enjoy what you’re doing, you’re going to be better at it.”
Learning new things versus balancing your strengths: “I struggled a lot coming into Kellogg if I should stay with marketing. I debated learning finance, but I’m never ever in a million years going to be proficient in finance. I am a people person and understanding what makes people tick, so I’m going to do that.” No matter how hard I fight it, that’s what I’m gonna do. Being true to yourself is so important. There’s a lot to be said to push yourself to try new things and pursue new avenues but you should do it with a lot of honesty.”
Follow your own path: “Business school is a crazy swirl of a zillion brilliant people in one place who have all sorts of strengths weaknesses and interests and often times there are more people that want to do one thing than another, and it’s really easy to think especially if you don’t have a strong command on what you want to do that you are supposed to do it because everyone else is doing it or because it’s the most prestigious sounding. I think it’s really cool to be confident in yourself to say, you know what I want to try something new because I’ve done this and I think this could be interesting, or, to just admit that you’re really passionate about something and that’s what you do.”