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Kelley School of Business Indiana University Bloomington
Full-Time +Flex MBA Program

A couple plan and pursue career changes with MBA degrees

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Photo of Sadia Tanveer and Zach Weisman in Hawaii during their honeymoon in 2018When Sadia Tanveer and Zach Weisman discussed dreams for their future together, they realized they wanted to live in a well-rounded city; a place with good jobs, people their age, and things to do, and that career changes—and MBAs—provided the options they were seeking. That future, both geographically and upwardly mobile, is now in sight for the married couple—with two Kelley MBAs and two new careers in Chicago on the horizon.

“As a couple, this is one of the best decisions we have made,” Zach said. “Kelley gave us a medium to reach our goals. Everything that we had dreams for in the last five years, we have worked toward and helped each other along as a couple.”

“Consulting gave us the flexibility of going anywhere we desire.”

Zach and Sadia had successful careers in eastern Pennsylvania in business operations and software engineering. Still, they understood that higher education, an MBA, would enable them to maximize their potential as young working professionals and provide them with endless opportunities in the long run.

They sought education from a top business school at a cost that would not be a burden to them moving forward. Zach was set on a part-time program so he could continue working full-time, but that changed after an in-person discussion at a recruiting event made him and Sadia feel warmly welcomed by Kelley’s full-time program. The Kelley MBA also included the attractive combination of scholarships and Bloomington’s lower cost of living compared to other areas they considered.

“The return on our investment is much higher coming to Kelley,” Sadia said.

They came to Kelley set on careers in consulting because they knew it would give them the flexibility they desired. Their first year, they joined the Consulting Club and dove into the demanding Consulting Academy, which exposed them to a variety of consulting firms and executives and prepared them well for their summer internships.  (more…)

Where You Belong

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By Farrah Bhimani, MBA’22

When I was researching which full-time MBA programs to apply to, I started with the list of The Consortium member schools. Diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been strong values of mine, and I wanted to spend two years in a program that shared that value. This narrowed down my search to a few schools, and truthfully, I hadn’t considered Kelley at first. I had lived in Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Austin previously. I wasn’t sure in the beginning if Bloomington, Indiana would be the right fit for me. But in the spirit of doing extensive research before committing to a program, I spoke with Kelley students and alumni about their experiences. I discovered that everyone I spoke with at Kelley was kind, helpful, and hardworking. It was truly striking.

My journey then became one of introspection. Did I want to go to a larger school or a smaller school? What kind of leadership opportunities would I want to pursue? What would I want my major to be? Every school offered an abundance of data online, to an overwhelming degree. The problem wasn’t finding a good program; it was choosing the right program for me. In order to make that decision without any regrets, I had to look internally first. I needed to know what I wanted the next two years of my life to look like, and then choose the program that would support that vision.

Ultimately, I realized Kelley was the perfect match for me. I wanted camaraderie among my peers and a tight-knit community, and Bloomington became more appealing than any other city. I wanted some structure to learn business foundations rather than two years of choose-your-own-adventure, so CORE became the perfect fit. I wanted multiple leadership opportunities that matched my long-term interests – Consulting Club, Consulting Academy, Leadership Academy, and Hoosier Hosts offer a range of extracurricular ways for me to build skills I wouldn’t necessarily get in a classroom setting. I wanted a close Consortium Family, and my Kelley C-Fam has offered support in every step of my journey.

It’s counterintuitive to think asking yourself a million questions will offer more clarity. But introspection forces you to answer those questions and be decisive about your priorities. It helps you discover the distinction between an MBA Program that sounds great versus the one that will unequivocally help you reach your personal goals. Reflection gave me confidence in my decision, in knowing that Kelley is more than a great MBA program. Kelley has helped me thrive because it’s where I belong.

What Next?

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By Manish Jha, MBA’22

In my career, at various points, I always found myself asking the question, “What next?” My quest to answer this question has helped me make decisions outside my comfort zone and the decision to pursue MBA at Kelley was also an outcome of this question. I kept pondering over this question, even after I started business school and this helped me shape my MBA the way I wanted to, a true sandbox experience.

My MBA journey started in 2017 when I took the GMAT, but I sent in my applications only in 2019. Before that, the primordial question was, What Next – continue in my current organization and grow my career there, change jobs for better pay, or forego two years of earnings to invest in myself and pursue MBA? I was never the one to find myself confined in a comfort zone and so I decided to take the risk of letting go of a thriving career and go back to the drawing board to redefine myself and my career.

This did not come without its own set of challenges. For starters, I was going back to school after 8 years and so was not used to being in a classroom. Second, the MBA experience for my class was seriously blighted by COVID, especially as an international student as we were not sure if we would be able to start our MBA in person or not. Third, the time zone difference and challenges it brought in working with core teams, etc. When we started our Me, Inc. remotely and were making the best of our altered reality, albeit unwillingly, the US embassy in India announced their decision to issue student visas. The next 3 weeks were obtaining a visa, moving my entire household to two different cities, a crazy road trip, flying to the US, and appearing for an exam and a quiz literally the same day I arrived in America.  All this, coupled with a highly intense “Core” semester, sent me in a whirlwind and I freaked out, thinking what did I sign up for?

Fast forward one year, I have very much survived the program and in many ways, navigated successfully. At the end of my first year, I won two extra scholarships reducing my second-year loan burden by 25% and a Kelley coin for positive contributions to the Kelley community. I kept asking “What Next” and spent my summer at two places I never thought I would be: healthcare and internal strategy. None of this would have been possible without the biggest support structure I found at Kelley: the incredible Hoosiers – classmates who all have been such high achievers in their own aspects, always willing to extend a helping hand, and a really approachable program office, who on several occasions went out of their way to help me succeed

Do I still ask myself, “What next?” In my second year, I am working as an Admission Counselor, 1Kelley student leader, and as VP in the current MBA association as well as looking for a career that will again help me push my boundaries. Does it scare me, maybe? But I am excited to see where my constant quest to find answers to the primordial question leads, and I know I will always have the support of lifelong connections I have made at Kelley.

You are welcome here!

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Blake Richardson By Blake Richardson, MBA’22

Like many people setting out on my Kelley MBA journey, I had so many questions about my ‘place’ in the business world. I wasn’t coming from a job at Deloitte or as a mid-level manager at a Fortune 500 company. I had no prior business degrees, had never held a job that involved any meaningful business practices, and hadn’t enrolled in a math course since I’d graduated from high school. Would I be able to handle the coursework? Would employers take me seriously? How would I fit in with my classmates, and did the program really have the tools to help me exit the other side with the skills, confidence, and experience I needed to succeed?

When I arrived on campus last summer, I felt a sense of comfort having previously completed a master’s degree at IU’s wonderful Jacobs School of Music several years back. I knew my way around town and was able to visit some of my old haunts and reconnect with friends from my previous stint. Once I entered the halls of Kelley, I started to get to know my classmates and was immediately impressed by their poise and their wealth of knowledge. Honestly, it was intimidating given the newness for me of the business world, but I was so glad to be amongst a group of people that I could look to for guidance and support during what I knew would be a challenging two years. Having been a professional musician in my prior career, I’d dealt with the typical self-doubt most performers face and had learned well how to mask it and put on an air of confidence. However, what I realized along the way was that whatever uncertainty I was feeling at the time, many of my classmates were dealing with similar issues. Nevertheless, we all jumped head-first into our core curriculum and I started to understand that I’d made one of the best decisions of my life in coming here. Kelley felt like it was designed to help students like me who were looking to make drastic professional changes, and I realized that I was beginning to carve a clear path toward a successful career in business. (more…)

5 tips to prepare for MBA recruiting

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By Bri Taylor, MBA’22

Making the transition from employee to MBA student is a journey in and of itself. Now add the pressure of having to secure an internship by the end of your first year, while navigating core and maintaining some sort of social life, and one can become extremely overwhelmed.

When looking back at my recruiting journey, the tips I received from my second years, Kelley alumni, and the Graduate Career Services team were extremely helpful as I prepared for recruiting season and ultimately secured my product marketing internship offer from Microsoft. As future Kelleys are preparing themselves for their first year and the upcoming recruiting season, I thought I would share a few tips that were passed down to me.

Spend time reflecting on the types of problems you enjoy solving, what areas you’d like to grow in, and what your strengths are. While I was preparing for the Consortium Orientation Program and the Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference, I was paired with an alumnus and a second-year mentor who challenged me to think about the types of problems I like to solve and the key strengths I would bring to my internship. Identifying those problem types helped me pinpoint my growth opportunities, which came in handy as I narrowed down the list of roles and companies I would apply to and began developing my CAR statements (mentioned in tip #4). To circle back to the pre-MBA recruiting conferences I mentioned above – the Consortium Orientation Program is an annual conference hosted by the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and Forté MBA Women’s Leadership Conference is an annual conference hosted by the Forte Foundation. The purpose of these conferences is to provide incoming MBAs with career development advice and early exposure to corporations as they prepare to begin their business school journey. Other pre-MBA recruiting conferences and opportunities available to future Kelleys are Poets & Quants Pre-MBA Networking Festival, Jumpstart Advisory Group Career Forums, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow MBA Professional Development. (more…)

The journey you chose

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Linh Nhan, MBA’21 

“What was the most meaningful decision you have made?” If someone asks me this question, no matter now or 50 years later, I will still say that pursuing MBA at the age of 25 is one of the most life-changing decisions that I made.

Perhaps, my MBA journey began back in 2018 when I first jotted the very first plan of preparing for my higher education. When I told my friends and family about my decision, there were a lot of questions that got me thinking about whether this will be the right choice. Sometimes, the fear of making mistakes clouds our minds and inhibits us from breaking out of our comfort zone. The fear that making the wrong choice would take us backward from our career and the peer pressure doesn’t allow us to do the difference. At the time, I kept asking myself self-doubt questions like “Would it be the right time for me, given the financial investment and career pause that I must make at 25?”, “What if I couldn’t find a job afterward?”. If there’s something I learned from my career as a supply chain specialist, it is “put it on the paper first”. I remembered it was so much clearer when I started to write my thoughts down. Besides all the pros and cons I made, right at that moment, I realized that my gut had always told me what to do and the answer had always been there. Yes, I will do it no matter what happens.

Looking back a year earlier, I am proud that I have made the right decision. I have learned and grown so much in both professional and personal aspects. I was able to take a huge leap in my networking skills and take on several roles to sharpen my leadership. However, friendship has been the most valuable gift during my MBA journey so far. In the last year, I got a chance to know many bright-minded and kind fellows. They are not just classmates but also are the 2nd years, and the alumni, who really embrace Kelley’s community and provide insurmountable supports. They are my core groupmates, who offered to do the work when one of us was busy recruiting or networking. They are the 2nd years, who spared their busy schedules and did mock interviews with us. They are also the alumni, who actively walked with me during my recruiting journey and didn’t hesitate to do mock interviews with me at 8 pm after their long day at work. Without all of those supports, I wouldn’t be where I am today, preparing for the summer internship at my favorite consulting firm. Kelley might not be the only MBA program to choose from; however, I believe that the community at Kelley is unique and irreplaceable.

To future Kelleys, I’m looking forward to seeing you on campus. Have I also told you that IU is considered one of the most beautiful college campuses in the U.S?  This is the journey you chose, so make it yours! Recruiting is important but your social life also matters. Don’t forget to spend some weekends hanging out with your classmates and explore B-town. Lastly, don’t hesitate to ask! You never know if you never ask. I wouldn’t have made it without the support and guidance I received from this community. Take care and I’ll see you all very soon!

Looking back at my first year as a Kelley MBA

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By Daniel Kim, MBA’22

As I finish the first year of my MBA journey, I am overcome with mixed feelings. Feelings of relief, joy, sadness, excitement, fear, and as much as I hate to admit it, some regret.

I thought about last August when I was just beginning the program and meeting my core teammates for the first time, and before I know it, it is summer break! (it really is not a break though)

As a big introvert, I felt like a kid who just transferred to a new school. I had a lot of uncertainties, questions, anxieties, and adjustments I had to deal with in the next few months. (more…)

Becoming MBA Leaders

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Sam Yoder, MBA’22

Student Body President * | Forté Fellow*

When I was deciding to go back to school, a few knowledge gaps ultimately clinched the decision: I knew I needed better financial understanding as well as data analysis skills. Three-fourths of the way through my first year, Kelley is more than delivering on both of those things. However, what I didn’t know I would be getting was a crash course in leadership.

About a month ago, my classmates elected me and a group of eight other students to our MBA Association’s leadership team, putting me at the head as Student Body President.  I’m about 10 days into my term, and I cannot begin to tell you everything I’ve already learned. I’m making mistakes most days but I’m also figuring out how to lead with the support of my team. I can feel myself growing and learning to take on the challenges set before me. (more…)

The Kelley Community: Stability Amongst Uncertainty

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by Joe Metts, MBA Candidate Class of 2022

The decision to pursue graduate education is one of the most life-altering choices you can make. Doing so in the midst of a global pandemic makes it even more daunting. When prospective students evaluate programs, they often do so while considering rankings, career outcomes, and program reputation, all of which are valuable metrics to assess. During these uncertain times, one criterion emerged as my deciding factor in choosing Kelley, community – and it’s something I believe every prospective should consider.

What do I mean by community? It encompasses the friends and colleagues you will make as a member of the program, the faculty and staff that make Kelley a world-class school to pursue a graduate business education and life in Bloomington – a college town unlike any other.

Friends and colleagues: Every MBA program touts their holistic decision-making process and they use “diversity” as a buzzword to generate interest among prospective students. In my MBA application journey, I found those topics to be sincere at the Kelley School of Business. In this program, you will find individuals from all walks of life, which includes race, ethnicity, gender, sex, socioeconomic status, work experience, academic performance, etc. There is truly no typical “Kelley” student profile, and it makes the program an exceptional place to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. The friendships and relationships I’ve made in a short time have made this one of the most enjoyable times of my life and I’ve had the privilege of meeting hundreds of incredible people and future business leaders as a member of the Kelley MBA program. (more…)

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