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KU MBA students score first-class internships

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

[autoformat="off"]LAWRENCE — MBA students at the University of Kansas know textbooks can teach theory, but real-world experience remains critical to landing a management position at any company. In summer 2007, many first-year MBA students headed off to internships in consulting, finance, and marketing management across the U.S. to get a foot in the door at a potential future job.

Management Consulting

KU MBA student Ken Chang had heard his instructors praise the national consulting firm MarketSphere—so Chang was eager to join the company this summer as an intern. Chang's duties have already taken him to H&R Block to consult on asset management and handling of accounts payable.

"I have been given a project that is my own and I have the freedom to be creative," Chang said. "My experience had definitely surpassed by expectations."

Chang digs into past and present research each morning as he prepares for his own face-to-face interviews with managers to whom he'll later make recommendations.

The gateway to a high-flying consulting internship came via a business consulting class Chang took during his first year as a KU MBA student. His work on a market expansion project for MarketSphere made him an easy pick as intern this summer.

"MarketSphere was extremely impressed with our project team and our deliverables as well as my leadership role during the project," Chang said.

Corporate Finance

Career impact is the name of the game for KU MBA student Renee Augustine and her internship this summer at Bank of America.

As a summer associate, Augustine will get the chance to analyze investment venues for her clients as she develops networking relationships. She plans to leverage the many subsidiary businesses of Bank of America during her internship, including specific focus on the agriculture sector.

"I research the different industries that make up agricultural business, analyze trends in the market, assess competitors, and consider projections," Augustine said. "The financial analysis is anything from profiling prospects to analyzing financial statements to developing models to improve different statistical measures."

She hopes to gain exposure in marketing, sales research, and product cross-selling as she provides specialized investment options to her clients.

"The experience has truly given me exposure to every aspect of corporate finance, investing, foreign exchange, commodity trading, and the list could go on," Augustine said. "My expectations have definitely been surpassed."

Corporate Finance

Matthew Lunde jumped at the chance to join the finance team for Wal-Mart's corporate office. By taking his classes seriously and closely watching for opportunities, Lunde landed a choice spot in Wal-Mart's MBA leadership program for the summer 2007. He had worked at smaller companies in the past, and he enjoys the challenge of management and finance projects at a mega-corporation.

"The company does a really good job of making it a personal experience for each one of us," Lunde said. "We are all given a mentor outside our department, which is a great resource."

During the summer Lunde has met with top Wal-Mart executives, handled a number of day-to-day financial tasks, and put countless hours into his own leadership program project.

"You are going to be put in situations as an MBA were your employer...