April 17, 2008
The end of the first year!
It is amazing to see how time passes fast and how many things happened in this first year. My group just finished MAP, we did our final presentation to the client today. It went really well and it is very fulfilling to see that a company will use our recommendations. Our group worked well and I am glad I made two new friends. We are hanging out outside school context, which is great. This is one of advantages of MAP, you can make good friends. After interacting for full 7 weeks either you make friends or you kill one another. That is a joke ;-).
GBR went very well too. It was my third GBR and the second I was a guide. It is a great sensation to help new admits to solve their doubts. Many Brazilians will come to Ross, we will have a great team next year adding first and second years. I also had a chance to guide a Croatian and dealt with some Mexicans as well. It is amazing to see all the richness of culture involved at GBR.
I just started doing my master project for my dual degree program and I am excited about it. My friend and I will work together and we have a great Advisor, Tom Gladwin, one of the greatest professors at Ross and SNRE. We are going to analyze how distributed renewable energy projects can be scaled up from the perspective of financiers. We are going to run a survey at least in Brazil, India and China. It will be a lot of work, however it seems interesting and we aim to publish an extended article. I am looking forward to starting work on it. Summer is about to start, but I will use part of it to initiate my master project, once I am in Brazil. I will also go to the beach to rest and enjoy a vacation time so needed to recharge batteries for the summer job that starts in June.
Posted by rsoares at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2008
GBR
We are approaching the end of MAP. My client final presentation will be on April 18th, one week in advance of our final schedule. But it is good, so we can have more time to dedicate to the final paper which is due April 24th. The two most important MAP deliverables are the presentation and the written paper.
It has been very enjoyable to work in my group. We did a first mid term presentation to the client and it was very successful. I am glad that our client is seeing the value of our work, so we are being able to add value to a great company.
With the end of MAP, my second year as a dual degree student and my first year as a MBA student also ends. I will have one month of vacation before starting to work for McKinsey during summer. I will work in Sao Paulo Brazil, where I am from. This will be great, so I can be with my family and friends. Moreover, the economic scenario in Brazil is very favorable.
This week GBR starts!!! This is a great event for admitted students and I do encourage you to come if possible. I came when I was in the process and it was the best thing I did. GBR is a great event through which admits can get to know Ross, the community and the school. I volunteered to be a guide and I am taking care of one admit, she is also from Brazil. This is very great and we are going to do our own Brazilian event reception for the Brazilian students. This kind of events generally occurs throughout different nationalities. Many students are arriving tomorrow and the events last from Thursday until Saturday, but if you can stay for the whole week you will have more opportunities to hang out with students. I am looking forward to meeting you here, Go Blue!!!
Posted by rsoares at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2008
First 5 weeks of MAP
Thanks to all of you who wrote me. I am feeling a lot better; I am a 110%, with a lot of energy to spend at MAP.
MAP definitely started with full force!!! My group is terrific, the client is very committed, and we have good advisors; this is a great combination for a fulfilling project. We are doing a great immersion on our client business; we have been traveling for the past 4 weeks and a half, to get to know all its operations and complexities. It is very good, but also a lot of work, some days we worked for 14 to 15 hours. Although we are working a lot during the week, we did so to have our weekends free. This is a good way to go.
We are having a real consulting experience. Ross indeed is very good and put in practice all you read about team work.
It is fundamental to have a good group; we spend all the time together, so it is good to establish team dynamics.
We hope this week we will be able to have some fun during the week. We are planning to visit a winery on Wednesday.
I had a goal to better understand American Business and I am accomplishing it. This is a 100% American company and I am traveling to really small American cities. Very cool! I strongly recommend to international students who want to have a flavor of the American Business Way to do a domestic MAP.
Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF) is aware of MAP demands, so they kind of expect us to miss classes during this period. I miss its classes. Therefore, I end my MAP traveling this week and so I will be able to return to WVF classes. This Friday we are going to have our advisory meeting but unfortunately I will miss a great part of it because I will arrive in Ann Arbor at the end of the day.
Posted by rsoares at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2008
Winter B and MAP
As I mentioned before, winter A ended. Spring break was great, I went back home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There was warm, nice whether, and it is always good to meet family and friends. I am glad that the recruiting season ended well. I received several offers from the consulting companies, this is an excellent sign that Michigan indeed prepares us very well. I had a nice problem, to decide to which firm to go. I tell you, the decision was not easy. But I decided to go to McKinsey. Therefore I will work 3 out of the 4 summer vacation months. I prefer to do 12 week internship than 10, so I can better get a feeling and understanding of the company and opportunities.
Last week was the first week of MAP, our Multidisciplinary Action Project. I am trilled to work for InterfaceFabric, one of the sustainable icon companies. MAP, at least mine, looks like a real consulting project. This is very exciting. I am in a four person work team. We are all motivated and have excellent backgrounds. The client is very committed and willing to do this project. He prepared a lot of meetings, traveling and agenda for all of us. Today I am leaving to Maine and the following two weeks I will go to North Carolina. We are returning for the weekends. We are all looking forward to delivering a good analysis.
I expect none of you experience health problems during your MBA course, but sometime it happens. Last week I had a severe abdominal pain and went to the ER of the School Hospital. I have to tell you, they are very good and it is comforting to know that we have such a good health care system so nearby. Now I feel better and I have to follow up with some specific doctors. I hope you don’t, but if you need you will be in good hands.
As soon as I have more news from MAP I tell you!
Posted by rsoares at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2008
Winter A ended
Winter A is over. Tomorrow I will do the last final and then I will fly to Brazil for Spring Break. Indeed, when school tells us Winter A has a great part of its time dedicated to recruiting it is 110% true, especially if you decide to do consulting. The consulting process for US positions finish earlier, however for international positions it is still going on. I do recommend taking fewer classes during Winter A so you can dedicate to recruiting if it is the case and also you can dedicate time to your core classes.
Some of my colleagues who are doing off campus recruiting are a bit nervous because they think they are behind in the process. But is not true, timing is different. Most off campus companies start to recruit in March, so they still have a road to go.
Wolverine Venture Fund is going great. I have so much fun with this group; students have a similar profile, which makes things smoother, although we come from very different backgrounds, this is an interesting characteristic. I noticed sense of humor is fundamental in this field.
I am looking forward to initiating Winter B, when MAP starts. I am going to work with Interface Fabrics, one of the icons in the sustainability field. My team is traveling to Interface different locations in Michigan Grand Rapids, Maine and North Carolina. We will spend entire March traveling. It seems an interesting project and I can see Interface lead team is very interested in our contribution. When the project starts I will let you know how the dynamics are. Now I am really looking forward to resting during Spring break, at this time of the year we can use some leisure time to recharge our batteries.
Posted by rsoares at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2008
Fall B and Winter A
Fall B was over and it was a good term. It was important because it was when I started preparing for recruiting. In this process the Consulting Club was very helpful. I do recommend joining the Consulting Club if you want to persue a consulting job. The club helped us in several areas: case prep., fit interview and firm specific points. We had several meetings every Sunday for 7 Sundays in a role and each student had a mentor to help and guide us throughout the process. In addition, we organized groups of 6 students to practice case interviews. After that MBA 2 were very supportive in also doing case interviews with us. It is in deed a competitive process because we are all good students, however what stroke me is that we are very supportive. I was surprised to see how my colleagues helped one another in this process. We shared information about the companies and case and fit interviews. The process by itself is a little stressing and demanding and Michigan students make it smother throughout the process. This is a great experience and feeling.
Career process started with full strength during Winter A, especially IB (Investment bank) and consulting. School recommends we do at most three class if not only the two core and I highly recommend doing so if you are recruiting for one out of these two positions. I am doing the two core classes and Wolverine Venture Fund. It is more than enough. If you decide to interview for international consulting positions most of your interviews will be in Chicago. So account for traveling, firms pay for it. If you apply for US positions, most of the interviews are on campus. I am doing both process and still doing interviews.
As I am a dual degree student last year I did an Erb/sustainable internship and it was a self direct search. The process is different especially considering timing; most of the self direct search start late in the game after IB and consulting process. So if things do not work out in either of the two positions, there are several other options either on campus or off campus.
I think Global Warming is hitting us strongly. This winter in Michigan is a lot warmer than last year; moreover we experienced some crazy difference in temperatures from 40F to 4F in two days. We had a lot of snow, which is beautiful and allows us to go slicing and have lots of fun.
Wolverine Venture Fund is going well and we will have some more Bootcamp sessions, which I am looking forward to. We are going to strengthen our background in the field. Our team is very cool. I am very glad to participate in this community. I am also happy that my blog helped some prospects students interested in entrepreneurship. It is a pleasure to help you.
Posted by rsoares at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2007
Thanksgiving!
I love Thanksgiving! I am not American so I do not fully understand all the cultural traditions of it (I did not grow with it every year), but I think I can get a good sense of it. People change moods, get nicer and friendlier I can fell the importance of the date and the gathering. Not to mention the food that is amazing. This is my third Thanksgiving and the more I experience it the more I like.
This was the first time I truly experienced a Black Friday. I did not know that this is the day to go shopping; stores sell goods with a lot of discount. My friends and I went to an outlet an hour from Ann Arbor. The detail is that we arrived there half past midnight and there was a lot of traffic and happy people shopping. Although it was already cold we had so much fun that when we realized it was 5:00am. After the outlet we decided to go to the mall, and I ended up arriving home at 9:30am. That was cool. I bought some cool and cheap stuff, but hanging out with my friends was the most interesting part of it. I just loved to sleep the entire Saturday. I decided not to travel because I have been traveling a lot and I want to take some time to chill out and enjoy Ann Arbor and my friends.
This week is being particularly busy mostly because of the recruiting process. If you want to go to consulting, be prepared to do case interview. In fact I am seeing a lot of value in doing this preparation, as you do develop more your business skills. It is timing consuming but it is worthwhile. The other good point is to see how the school and the consulting club help you prepare for it.
The end of the semester is approaching and it is getting busy. Today we had the first MAP info session and I am curious to see the projects list. I am looking forward to starting it.
Posted by rsoares at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2007
Almost half way
Yes the Mid terms arrived! Usually this is one of the busiest weeks in the term. But we do survive well and to celebrate the end of it this Thursday we are going to have the B-school rock concert. It seems to be very good and I am positive we will have a lot of fun. I want to see a colleague of mine who sings pretty well--she does rock and other colleagues who have played in band. After the concert we are going to get together in a bar to keep celebrating.
Changing subjects, let me talk a bit of the Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF). It is indeed an excellent opportunity, which I recommend for people who have interest in either VC or finance. The group is very good. We divide the students in group of 7 to 8 students. Usually 2 or 3 of them are MBA 2s who are the leaders. My team is brand new, the CleanTeam and we focus on Clean Tech ventures (renewable energy, solar, wind, water, green materials and so forth).
I had no previous experience on VC or finance. But the students have very complementary backgrounds which enhance the discussions. On top of it we have three Bootcamp sessions that cover a lot of VC and finance, so everyone can learn the skills that are missing. We are going to start doing real due diligence and I am looking forward to starting to work on a start-up project.
On top of it, I have to say WVF students rock. I just love to get together with them, such a bright, energetic, fun and motivated group of people! It is very fulfilling to belong to this group, and I am very proud. Our professor and fund manager, Tom Kinnear, has a lot of experience which he is sharing with all of us. He is an excellent coach. I am sure I will learn a lot about VC, due diligence, valuations, but more than that I will learn a lot from working with my colleagues, I am sure I will also learn about people. WVF is a differentiator of Ross.
The following week will be short due to Thanks Giving, time to rest, travel, and have fun!
Posted by rsoares at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2007
Fall A
Fall A for me was especially good! As I am an Erb student last year I did half of the MBA core while I was doing my credits at SNRE (School of Natural Resources). This is one of the advantages of being Erb, you have more flexibility in your schedule.
The advantage of doing part of the core last year was that I was able to take two electives in Fall A. One was “How to solve social problems through enterprise solutions” and the other is a full semester class, so I am continuing to do it during Fall B, it is “New Venture Creation”. Both were very interesting, for the former we had interesting discussions around the theme. The Professor gave us plenty of interesting resources, data and cases that offered us meet to enhance our analysis. On top of that, it was a very diverse class with students from the Public policy, social work and engineering courses; they have different views of the issues, which contribute to expand and delve into our discussions. The latter class is very fulfilling. I was able to form a team and develop a business plan toward a business idea I have. It is very good to have such a qualified team and the perspectives of the professor of a business that I might launch in the future.
The two core classes I did, Strategy and Microeconomics were very good and extremely well organized. Although Strategy demanded a lot effort and time and the “cold call” approach isn’t that relaxing, I learnt a lot and I see the applicability of it throughout my further career. The analytical skills I got were priceless.
After all this effort the break came in good timing and I went to Brazil, my home country, for a week. I had a chance to relax and meet my family and friends. I feel now recharged for Fall B.
Posted by rsoares at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
Introduction from Renata
Hi there!
My name is Renata A Soares and I am from Brazil. I did two undergrad courses: one in business and another in philosophy. I developed my career in the marketing field. I started working for big companies such as DuPont and Philips in their marketing departments. As I was working in these companies I also began working with consulting firms and realized I wanted to do the same tasks they were doing. So I moved to a marketing consulting firm. I liked it a lot, developed primary research and led big accounts such as MasterCard and Microsoft. After 2.5 years I wanted to further analyze companies, so I joined a sustainability consulting firm. I fell in love with the field and decided to specialize. I did an extensive and deep research and concluded Michigan was the best school.
I applied to the Erb program and here I am enjoying all the Erb and Ross communities’ interactions and benefits. Erb is a 3 year program and I am currently doing my second year. I started at the School of Natural Resources (SNRE) and now I am at Ross. I started in the Erb program focusing on how to provide big corporations a sustainability strategy, but the more I get in contact with the social entrepreneurship field, the more I like it. Recently, I was accepted as the Team Clean $3.5MM Wolverine Venture Club fellow and will learn how VCs invest in clean tech. The opportunities are huge at Ross, the difficult part is to decide which ones we want to focus on.
Please feel free to shoot me your questions!
Posted by kkellerz at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)