What would compel me to be at school at 7:30am this morning? Meeting my mentor, who was matched with me through the Graduate Women in Business's mentorship program.

As someone early in my career, I place so much value in mentorship. There is an incredible amount of learning that can be gained from hearing about another person's experiences - their successes, failures, decisions made, and lessons learned. Learning the theories and principles of our fields is essential. However, understanding how those theories are exercised in real business situations is critical to our education.

From the start of the Wisconsin MBA program, there have been so many opportunities for mentorship. If you are interested in picking the brain of someone in your field - or beyond - you have plenty of resources available to you.

There are some more organized methods of connecting with a mentor. All students have access to the Wisconsin School of Business alumni directory. Additionally, all first-year marketing research students are paired up with two mentors from the field. And as I mentioned above clubs like Graduate Women in Business have their own mentorship programs.

Then there are opportunities that require a little more initiative and direction on your part. For instance, events like the MR Summit or guest lectures are perfect opportunities to connect with people in the field and to start a mentoring relationship.

And it is truly amazing how honest and invested these mentors are in us students. From personal experience, I can say that each of my mentors has been so kind and genuinely interested in my progress in school and in my career aspirations. They are also incredibly giving in sharing their experiences, advice and resources.

One of the things I recognized (and was impressed with) from my initial interactions with the Wisconsin School of Business was the strength and closeness of its community. That was something that definitely influenced my decision to come to Wisconsin and something that I have respected and appreciated since I have been here.

Have a great Halloween everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

-Sunaina

There are some situations that are just uncomfortable to get through...going to the dentist, 90% of first dates, and the dreaded midterm exam. The latter happened this week for all us first-year MBAs in both our accounting and finance classes.

The accounting midterm was challenging for anyone new to the field. But if you attended classes, completed the assigned problems, and reviewed your text and notes you left the exam feeling good.

Finance is a whole other beast here at Wisconsin. The class is taught by Prof Kenneth Kavajecz. Don't let his kind expression fool you ;) All kidding aside, he is an incredibly dedicated professor and caring person. HOWEVER, you have to remind yourself that sometimes when you are in his Financial Management class. The class is intensely paced with exams that are literally impossible to get through.

And that's where the whole humility thing comes in. One of the hardest lessons to learn in business school is that you can't do everything well. You are sometimes going to come short as far as your expectations on how things should get done. At the end of the day, it's all about prioritizing your time, putting 110% into all you do and then respecting the result.

So back to the midterm....it was pretty brutal. Prof K aims for an average of 50% - scores range between the teens to the 80s (out of 100). But everyone leaves feeling relieved...some even leave with a sense of accomplishment ;) And after the exam everyone goes out and has a drink. Second years joke about the scores they got last year, and we're all just thankful it's over.

And that's how school is here at Wisconsin. You work hard, put your all into your exams, projects, interviews, and then at the end of the day relax with good friends, swap stories from the past week, and get ready for the next one.

More to come...
- Sunaina

So interview season has begun for us Nielsenites. The first week of October up until the middle of November is our most hectic period in terms of interviews. During some weeks you will have one interview but for others it can be as high as 3 or 4.

Typically companies will host an information session the night before they are scheduled to conduct interviews. During these sessions, representatives from the company will give a brief presentation on the company, why it is a great place to work and what an internship would look like there. Then the next day we (students) interview. Interviews involve some mix of questions regarding you as a person, your work experience, behavioral questions (tell me about a time when...), and sometimes a marketing-research-related case question. Some companies extend offers the next day, others wait for a few weeks. Some hold second round interviews and others make their decisions based on the first.

There is a lot to be said for preparing for interviews. Have your "tell me about yourself" story down. Think of situations in which you have displayed leadership and teamwork. The biggest take away I got from the interview process, however, is that everyone in the program is incredibly engaging, smart, and capable of being a phenomenal market researcher. The real decision seems to come down to company-student fit. Interviewers seem to be most interested in: Does this person really want to work for my company? Will they be a good fit personality-wise with my organization?

So buy the suit and practice the smile, but it all comes down to being genuine about your experiences and your interests. And hope it all works out in the end! ;)

Have a great weekend everyone. More to come soon.

Responsibilities
Supports Supervisor in variety of responsibilities that include:
• Leading multi-disciplinary research and analysis projects for Amway and Alticor business units
• Departmental and enterprise management providing recommendations for strategic business decisions
• Leading cross-functional team
• Providing integrated knowledge of consumers and the market environment and impact on recommendations on growth profitability and corporate/brand reputation

Continue reading "Market Research Advisor, ALTICOR INC." »

Responsibilities:
• Manage a team of analysts within the Health or Beauty category
• Lead multi-market research programs for Amway and Alticor business units
• Consult with senior management and provide recommendations to facilitate strategic planning and decision making

Continue reading "Supervisor-Market Research-Health, ALTICOR INC." »

Responsibilities
• Manage a team of analysts within the Health or Beauty category
• Lead multi-market research programs for Amway and Alticor business units
• Consult with senior management and provide recommendations to facilitate strategic planning and decision making

Continue reading "Supervisor-Market Research-Beauty, ALTICOR INC." »

Company:
Our client is a $24 billion dollar consumer products company which is innovating new products and has invested heavily in cutting-edge new product development and R&D. They have a brand new state-of-the-art R&D facility just 90 miles outside of Washington, DC.

Reporting Structure:
Reports to the Director of Market Research and will manage a staff of three to four analysts.

Continue reading "Senior Manager, Business Forecasting & Analysis (Richmond, VA)" »

Every other October, the A.C. Nielsen Center holds an Alumni & Friends Marketing Research Summit. The event brings together Alumni, External Advisory Board Members, UW Faculty/Staff, current students and other Friends of the Center. Events included dinner at the Great Dane and lectures by leaders in the field on topics like emotional marketing, measurement and metrics, culture and insights and new media.

For us students, it was a great opportunity to gain exposure to developments in marketing research and to connect with alumni and marketing researchers from companies all over the country.