Contributor: Shivani Tripathi (Foster, ‘22)
Last summer, Osman Bah (Simon, ‘21) spent his summer as an MBA Intern at Microsoft, where in addition to learning about their various cloud offerings, he got the opportunity to apply his first-year MBA experience to strategic business planning and execution. In this interview, Osman shares his experience as a Partner Development Manager intern at Microsoft, and his advice to the upcoming MBA interns.
Shivani: Tell us about your pre-MBA background and why you chose Simon MBA?
Prior to Simon, I worked for three years as a research analyst at Edge by Ascential in Boston, Massachusetts. My role involved producing data, analytics & insights to inform fortune 500 consumer products companies eCommerce-driven retail strategies. This experience provided me with solid research, strategy, leadership, and communication skills by producing several reports on the retail industry, working on advisory projects, and presenting to multinational retailers and brands. During this time, I found my passion for hi-tech by observing how technologies like cloud technology, big data, AI, AR/VR, among others were transforming retail, and knew I wanted to be a part of the companies’ enabling such digital transformations.
To make this pivot, I figured after doing some research and talking to some of my mentors that pursuing an MBA will be the best route to make this transition. Specifically, I believe an MBA will provide me with more holistic skills like business acumen, management strategy and analytical models and frameworks to be successful in hi-tech. I chose Simon because it offered me the best combination of what I was looking for in a business school including, an inclusive community, analytics-based curriculum, and great ROI.
Shivani: What motivated you to join Microsoft as a Partner Development Manager Intern?
While I knew I wanted to join Microsoft because of its commitment to innovation, inclusivity and enabling digital transformation, however, I stumbled upon the partner development manager role. As I learned more about the role, I was drawn to the breadth of skill sets that I could gain from developing business relationships with Microsoft partners to mobilizing and influencing different stakeholders to strategic business planning and execution. It really was a great opportunity to utilize my previous background and business school education to create an impact in an exciting and growing area within Microsoft.
Shivani: How did the first-year MBA experience help you during the internship?
I leveraged some of the models and frameworks from my classes to support my project analysis and deliver a strong recommendation plan. I also felt prepared to present to senior leaders based on the management communication training and experiential learning opportunities in my first year. Moreover, strategic skills learned around the understanding objective, context, problem statement and competitors, among others contributed to how I scope and approach my summer project. Finally, tapping into my new analytical toolkits and resources, including classmates and professors contributed immensely to my success.
Shivani: How did you prepare for the internship recruitment process?
Knowing that I wanted to pivot into Tech, I invested a lot of time early on into learning about the industry and what it takes to land an offer at one of the big tech firms. Specifically, I set Google alerts for tech news, read industry reports, and networked with friends and alumni at these firms. I also took advantage of all the career resources that Simon has to offer, including one-on-one appointments with career advisors and 2nd years who interned in tech plus creating a good resume and improving my interview skills. I also attended Poets & Quants, a pre-MBA conference, where I got to visit Microsoft’s NYC office and learned from their full-time employees. In addition, positioning myself for the National Black MBA conference proved very useful.
Shivani: Walk us through your day at Microsoft as an MBA intern?
My typical day started with a 30-minutes call with my assigned mentor who was also on east coast time. I used these meetings to soak in institutional and product knowledge as well as solicit feedback on my progress and seek recommendations for colleagues that I could network with. The rest of my day could be split into three buckets. First, working on my projects, which included researching and speaking with various stakeholders. Second, self-learning, which included attending strategic meetings, studying Microsoft’s various cloud products, and going through various relevant reports. Third, networking, which included participating in internship-wide events, diversity and equity events and getting to know other interns and full-time employees.
Shivani: What were some key challenges in interning virtually?
Like other virtual interns, a key challenge for me was not having the opportunity to have spontaneous interactions with my colleagues and fellow interns. I also felt like I missed out on a more enriched experience of getting to know my fellow interns and the city of Seattle. However, my internship team did a great job in making me feel welcome and a part of the team. In addition, Microsoft organized great virtual events and created spaces for us to engage with senior executives and other interns, which was helpful.
Shivani: What’s your advice to the 2021 MBA summer interns?
If you are pivoting into a new industry, invest time in learning enough about the industry to have your own perspectives about the competitive landscape, challenges, and new trends, among others. I did this through conversations with people in the industry, podcasts, blogs, conferences, and websites.
Perform a skill gap analysis to help you identify and fill in any hard and/or soft skills gap you may have. For me, this meant learning PowerBI and brushing up on other analytical tools. It also meant practising how to use strategic frameworks and how to adapt them from theory into practice. Do not forget your friends and professors and other school resources can be valuable.
Finally, be authentic, curious and enjoy the process.