After getting her internship offer rescinded due to COVID-19, Austin Carroll (Fuqua, ‘21) was determined to take matters into her own hands. Carroll not only found another summer internship, but took online coding classes, built a mobile app, and worked on writing a book, all while supporting her fellow classmates looking for internships. The trick? Focusing on following her curiosity. In this interview, Carroll shared her story of finding and losing her internship, finding another internship, and how she’s made the most of her MBA experience at Fuqua. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Today.
Show Notes
- 1:40 – Austin’s background and why she chose to come to business school
- 3:20: – Austin’s recruiting and career exploration process in her first year at Fuqua
- 5:45 – Austin’s experience doing 12 interviews in one day!
- 7:30 – Austin finds out her internship offer was rescinded
- 8:20 – The challenge of defining yourself by your MBA Internship
- 10:40 – Moving forward after getting an offer rescinded, and how Austin responded
- 11:20 – How Austin found a new internship
- 16:15 – Showing vulnerability in the internship search
- 18:15 – The story of when Al got his internship offer rescinded
- 20:12 – Exploring other opportunities to build skills and experiences related to tech
- 22:42 – Austin’s story about how she dug in and learned some tech skills
- 24:48 – The opportunities that come when you focus on curiosity as opposed to recruitment outcomes
- 26:00 – Activities that Austin pursued over the last few months
- 28:49 – Austin’s approach to navigating her second year in business school
- 30:30 – “I don’t ever want to be in a position again in my career where I’m just waiting around”
- 31:30 – The importance of “Owning Your Career”
- 34:40 – Setting quarterly priorities, and using them to guide your quarter
Austin’s Podcast: Fastpass to the Past