How Preparing For Recruiting and Identifying My Career Goals Early On Prepared Me for Business School

After starting her career in the Oil & Gas Industry, Maria-Paula Munoz (McCombs, ‘20) moved to Austin, Texas to pursue an MBA at UT-Austin and transition to a career in the technology industry. As a Consortium Fellow, Munoz took advantage of the career preparation resources, such as Orientation Program, to help her pursue a career transition into the technology industry. In this interview, Muñoz shares how pre-MBA prep resources such as Orientation Program, the programming provided by the McCombs Career Center,  and her own commitment to identifying her career goals helped her prepare for business school, and her advice to prospective students who are eager to start off business school on the right foot.

MBASchooled: What did you do prior to business school, and why did you choose to come to business school?

After graduating as a civil engineer, I started my career at ExxonMobil in Houston working in capital project management. Two years later, I transitioned into a strategy analyst role on a business oriented project there and I loved it. That was the catalyst for me to begin pursuing roles on the business side, which led me to a Senior Analyst role at Newell Brands in their Transformation Office located in Hoboken, New Jersey. I learned so much during my time there working across functions and brands, but I always felt like I was playing catch up with my mostly ex-consultant coworkers. I was constantly looking up terms like “channel marketing” or “SG&A”, or learning how a P&L worked. I knew that I needed a stronger business foundation if I wanted to help drive decision-making at any firm and if I wanted to change industries into technology, which was the last push I needed to apply to business school.

MBASchooled: After you decided to attend business school, what was your timeline like leading up to business school? What did you do leading up to coming to school, and when did you arrive on campus?

I took the GMAT before I had fully committed to applying to b-school in the 2017-2018 cycle, taking advantage of the month of time off I’d planned between jobs in the spring of 2017. I would say my timeline really started in the summer and fall of 2017 when I attended a couple of MBA fairs in NYC. My school search was mostly based on tech recruiting strength, location, and small class size. I was able to narrow down schools based on these types of events and my own research, and I visited McCombs in November to do a full day of chats with current students and a tour. I ended up applying to four schools in Round 2 and found out in January that I had been invited to interview at McCombs.

I interviewed in February and was accepted in March. I worked until the end of June and took the month of July off to road trip down to Texas, visit family in Houston, and move to Austin. I arrived on campus for day one of Orientation in August, two days after I’d arrived in Austin – something I’d only recommend if you know the city you’re moving to well! I didn’t feel that I needed time to settle in because I’d spent a lot of time in Austin before b-school but in retrospect probably could have benefited from an extra week getting settled in before jumping right into school!

MBASchooled: The first semester of business school can be an exciting but challenging time. How did you navigate these challenges early on, and what resources, programs, etc at McCombs were helpful in your transition?

The Consortium was the biggest source of support for me in my transition to b-school and helped immensely in preparing me for recruitment and building my community here. At McCombs, all first-years have the same classes first semester, which we refer to as the Core. I definitely think my engineering background helped prepare me for the rigorous pace, but I would say it was my classmates, particularly my friends from Consortium, that I relied on to get me through it.

Whether it was studying, prepping for tests, or attending info sessions together, it was the support network I built that got me through the first semester. I also can’t say enough about the quality of tech companies that Career Services brought in that fall. From Google to Facebook to Apple, I certainly felt like I was getting exposure to all my target companies from very early on in my time at McCombs.

MBASchooled: During your first year, was your favorite experience at McCombs during your first year, and why?

My favorite experience was my MBA+ project with Google Hardware. MBA+ is a consulting program that McCombs students can apply for every semester. Over 40 companies submit projects that they’d like a student team for and students apply with a resume and cover letter. I was selected for the Google team during my first semester at McCombs and because of it, I was able to gain real-world experience with a tech company before I’d even finished my first year of business school.

We worked with the Energy Partnerships team and flew out to Mountain View to give our final presentation to the team’s leadership, which was amazing! Getting to see the Google campus, working with current employees, and getting an insider look at how the company worked was pivotal in helping set me up to recruit for a tech internship and set me up for success when I was invited to interview with Google that following winter.

MBASchooled:During your first year, what was the most challenging experience?

My second semester was extremely busy due to tech recruitment and the start of all of my extra-curricular activities. I took on three leadership roles which started in the spring so my biggest challenge was truly just time management. Fitting in meetings for classes and clubs was difficult enough but once I started getting invitations to schedule interviews, my spring really filled up. Luckily, my project management background helped keep me on task but I had to be extremely diligent about making sure I was using all my time wisely and leaving some time for myself and my relationships.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the bubble of the MBA that the things that really matter to you but are outside of school can slip through the cracks. One thing I prioritized was my husband. We were long-distance while I was in business school so while it was challenging to make sure we were seeing each other during the spring when I was so pressed for time, but I made it a priority because of how important he is to me. This meant I had to give up some social events and a few weekends with friends but it was totally worth it for our situation.

MBASchooled: During your first semester, what did you decide to recruit for and why? (as a follow up, was this what you intended it to be coming into school, and if it was different, what prompted a change?)

I came into business school laser-focused on tech recruitment. I had done tons of research into the industry and knew that I wanted to work in big tech. OP, the summer conference for Consortium, was really helpful in solidifying that for me since I got to network with some of my target companies before even starting at McCombs. I was interested in tech because of how quickly it was pervading every other industry and because of the focus on innovation. Having worked in oil and gas, I know what it’s like to be in an industry that is slow to adapt to change and has not embraced diversity and inclusion in the same way that younger tech firms have. I wanted to work in an environment where I felt like I could really bring my whole self to work instead of feeling like I was operating in a boys club. I also wanted to be challenged. I became an engineer because I love to problem-solve and I felt that tech would provide me with lots of complex problems to solve in a fast-paced, constantly changing environment.

MBASchooled: What’s something about business school that surprised you, or that was unexpected?

It’s so easy to be distracted by the sheer number of things you can do. During recruitment, you might see a bright shiny company that’s not even close to your intended industry that’s coming to campus and, all of a sudden, you find yourself at their info session. In terms of clubs and organizations, there might be 10 that you want to be a part of. For school, there’s always that extra hour of studying or reading you can fit in. And then throw in all the social events, and your time is absolutely shot. I knew b-school was going to be a busy time but I don’t think I quite expected it to be this packed!

The best advice I can give is to come in as prepared as you can be and to really know your ‘why’. Don’t buy into the idea that you can spend a year exploring careers when you come to campus. Coming in with a solid 1-3 options for your career and sticking to them can be really helpful when it comes to choosing how to spend your time. Remembering why you chose to come to b-school can help when companies from a completely different industry than you’re targeting come knocking or when you’re having to decide between three different activities on the same day.

MBASchooled: Knowing what you know now, what else would you have done prior to business school to prepare for the first semester?

I would have compiled as many STAR stories as I could for interview prep. Especially before leaving my job, it would have been so helpful to write out as many accomplishments and experiences as I could. You don’t realize until you’re preparing for interviews how much you forget about your past projects and assignments. Especially in tech, recruitment doesn’t really start until the early spring semester so that’s a whole 6 months that you’ve been out of your last job. It’s easy to forget the tasks that made up your day-to-day so I’d definitely recommend that you start logging all those accomplishments and side-projects while they’re fresh!

MBASchooled: What advice do you have for how prospective MBA students should prepare for going to business school?

Know your why and have 1-2 skills you really want to hone while you’re in school. If you’re very experienced technically in a particular field, maybe you can focus on people management by taking on a leadership role. If you have been a generalist, maybe you can get really deep on a particular subject you’re interested in. The two years go by so fast but it’s a really great time to find those skills you really want to grow and strengthen them in such a safe environment. I had no people management experience so I threw myself into leadership roles and I’m so glad I did. Being able to work with many different types of people and managing different personality types and work styles is so incredibly important, I can’t recommend those leadership opportunities enough!  I also took advantage of programs at McCombs like Texas Venture Labs that gave me the opportunity to work for startups since all my prior experience was with huge companies. Really think about the person you want to be at the end of these two years and work backwards to figure out what experiences in b-school will get you there.

MBASchooled: What was the academic experience like? What helped you manage the classroom experience?

My academic experience was not majorly affected by the switch to virtual learning. Since it was my last semester at McCombs, I had a slightly lighter workload and all my courses were mostly discussion based. All of my professors made good use of the “Raise Hand” function and we were able to continue having productive conversations, just as we would have in the classroom. Using the chat to voice my opinion and participating in those discussions helped me feel more connected to my classmates and made the whole experience a little more “normal” compared to just watching a professor lecture for an hour and a half with no other interaction.

MBASchooled: What tips or best practices do you have to help incoming MBA students prepare for a virtual MBA Experience?

There is a lot of socializing that happens in the small day-to-day interactions during the first few weeks, whether it’s bumping into someone in line at Orientation or sitting by someone you don’t know yet on the first day of class. It’s those little interactions that you’re going to miss out on so do your best to take part in virtual get-togethers and happy hours so you have more opportunities to get to know people in your program! Remember that most people don’t know anyone else either and you can bond with literally anyone else in the class on how weird of a situation this is – use that to your benefit when you try to start conversation with someone! If a big group intimidates you, find the organizations that you’re interested in and join those virtual gatherings instead. Generally, clubs’ virtual happy hours were much smaller and allowed for more meaningful conversation.

MBASchooled: How did you find ways to stay engaged, either with student clubs or organizations or socially?

I participated in a few larger virtual events that were really fun, like Trivia Night and Consortium Storytelling, but what I found most helpful was staying connected with a small group of close friends via text and Facetime. I had a group of close friends who I made a point to Facetime with weekly and it helped so much to help us feel closer and a little bit more normal. Making use of Facetime and Zoom as well as purposely reaching out to people to make sure I was keeping in touch with friends was really important to help me feel connected to the McCombs community.