Keeping Up

One aspect of business school that I really think is crucial to success is being literate on current events in the business world. As a Young MBA candidate or applicant, it is never too soon to start this. Let me share with you a few anecdotes and tips.

Owen always sends us updates on the faculty’s research, and a ticker at the bottom of our web page features a particular professor. A quick polling of my friends tells me that not many people read this, but they’re actually really helpful in giving you conversation topics when meeting new people. On a recent flight to Dallas, I was seated next to the manager of a hedge fund. He had gotten his MBA at Chicago a few years back and eagerly put away the in-flight magazine when he heard I was getting an MBA too. I’m studying health care marketing and don’t know too much about hedge funds, but I had recently read a report by Owen Professor Nick Bollen about inflation in hedge fund reporting. My seat mate was really impressed that I had read this and was very happy to debate returns reporting for the rest of the flight. You can check out more stories like this here.

This should be obvious, but also be sure that you go through a general news source (Fox News, CNN, etc.) and the Wall Street Journal every day. You should also consider getting an online subscription to WSJ.com if you don’t have one already. It’s extremely helpful to read the first page, and whatever sections you’re focusing in, even if you don’t have time to go cover-to-cover.

I also recommend subscribing to BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, or some other magazine to make those sessions on the elliptical go by faster! Seriously, you can’t just read your economics book all the time … and often these sources give you more controversial feature pieces that can really fuel interview questions.

Even if you don’t subscribe to these magazines, I realize that there are specific lists, mostly specific to your functional area, that you should know. For example, going into brand management, I know the top 100 brands as ranked by Interbrand and BusinessWeek. As a health care concentrator, I also know the top 10 hospitals in the US and the best practices associated with them. HR professionals know the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For. Finance people always know the best stocks and the top of the Fortune 500. You get what I mean. Make sure you’re not missing out on the basics just because you’re staying current.

Lastly, GoogleAlerts are awesome. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and the directions are very easy to follow. Whether it’s a b-school you want to keep tabs on or a specific company or industry, Google can make sure that you are getting all of the different media sources on this topic. I use Outlook, and I send all of my Google Alerts to a specific folder so I can keep them separate and catch up when I can. I’m sure you can do this with other email clients as well.

I have a few more posts up my sleeve before Spring Break ends, so I apologize for being MIA for a few weeks, and I promise to catch up again soon! Let me know if you have any tips to share as well