"Being a PA and TA were perfect complements to my MBA and Marketing Research curriculum and instrumental to my career. As a PA at Hiebing, I gained business experience and learned valuable skills in survey design and business writing, as well as how to critically think about business problems and solutions. In addition, I befriended a great mentor with whom I keep in touch. As a TA, I honed my marketing skills and thought of ways to creatively impart these skills to beginning marketers while improving my oral communication skills. It was so amazing to observe my students develop a marketing mindset; it made me realize how emotionally rewarding teaching could be. All in all, my PA and TA experiences were fun and among the biggest highlights of my MBA career."

                                                                                                                                                                             Jackie Aperi, Class of 2009

"I feel very fortunate to have obtained funding for three of my four semesters as an MBA student at the Wisconsin School of Business. My experiences varied greatly, from working with a local business and Nielsen data to create actionable sales stories, a teaching assistant for an MBA marketing class to using data to predict new product sales by retailers for a CPG company. I gained a lot personally and professionally from my assistantships including mentoring experience, communication skills and data analysis.

My first semester was unfunded and I worked 20 hours a week in addition to my academic obligations to pay for school and living expenses. I missed out on a lot of school related activities and networking because of the time commitment my job required. My job was unaware the demands the MBA program had on my time –and it was difficult to balance the outside work. The PA projects and TA experience required less time commitment and I gained a lot of valuable skills while networking with professionals and my colleagues. I was able to leverage my Nielsen work experience in both PA positions and share my knowledge with colleagues working on the project with me. I think one of the most important benefits of the PA projects is the knowledge transfer between multiple Nielsen students working together and the businesses."

                                                                                                                                                                           Giustina Parisi, Class of 2009

"If not for my experiences both in a cubicle at Spectrum Brands and in front of class as a TA for Marketing Management, I would not feel nearly as confident as I do in my preparations to leave the classroom and return to the work later this year. Spectrum introduced me to the world of Nitro and authentic scanner data; with the help of a classmate, I received hands on experience working to solve a live business problem. (In fact, I actually helped other interns learn Nitro during my internship at Wrigley last summer!) Then, this year as a TA for the introductory Marketing course for undergraduates, I am fortunate to receive invaluable experience in soft skills such as mentoring, presenting and teaching. Sure, I should know my marketing by now, but as I heard long ago, you might think you know something well... until you have to teach it!"

                                                                                                                                                                             Dennis Hull, Class of 2009