I wish to work in the entertainment industry post-MBA, specifically for a major Hollywood studio. Do you know of any studios that offer a summer internship program for business school students, and can you suggest the function (finance, marketing, etc) I should pursue in B-school that can lead to a position in executive management, as quickly as possible?

I work in investment banking, and I am bored with it. Originally, I had planned to return to IB post-MBA (for the *mullah*), but screw it, I want to do something interesting, and be in a position to meet (and marry) a celebrity. :) Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

From: EmBeeAyTwentyTen
To: badgerbuddy

I know nothing about that career path or about these schools, but I would think you would want to be at UCLA, USC, or Stanford if you have any interest in working in Hollywood. There probably isn't much recruiting on campus and you'd have to go knocking on the studio's doors to find a gig, which might not be too attractive for a couple years, but I really have no idea.

Just curious, do you currently do I-banking in NYC, California, or elsewhere?

I'm in NYC, and will be attending Kelley (Indiana) this fall. How difficult will it be for me to break into Hollywood with a degree from this b-school?

I checked. No Hollywood studios conducted on-campus recruiting at Kelley.

At Kelley you need to connect with Professors Tom Bowers and Tim Baldwin. They were in charge of the Sports and Entertainment Academy which is sadly no longer part of the program but as an alum who was in that Academy I can vouch for the strong ties they have to graduates and I'm sure they'd be a great resource for you. Good luck and go Hoosiers!

I worked in Hollywood for 5 years prior to BS, but mainly on the production side. I think your best bet if you want to work for a studio is to go to one of the LA schools or H/S. Most of the studio people that I knew went to USC/UCLA, (some at Pepperdine or LMU). It is all about connections. Going to school outside of LA makes it difficult, not impossible, to break in.

Hi All,

I am trying to figure out whether some companies recruiting at top schools promise part / full tuition reimbursement (on top of sign-on bonus).

I have heard that some consulting and corporate positions do. But I would love to know the names of specific companies.

Cheers

Microsoft gives out several 50%-100% tuition reimbursements at Texas each year.

Thanks.

More specifically, I am not looking for a current employer reimbursing. I am looking for information on new post-MBA employers, if they reimburse.

Cheers

I know some banks and MC companies will pay for 2nd year of people who intern and accept a job from them. Industry it will work differently for different companies and job functions.

Several alums I have talked to have their companies paying X dollars a year towards loans...So say they pay 10k a year, but you have 1,000 a month payments you pay the 2k difference but still its a good deal. Some industries where its hard to find folks with the right background (read that as very specific career paths) you can get sponsored by a company you dont work for, I know one person who got a company to pay for a full ride to a top 5 school...he was required to work for them post grad for several years or he would have to pay them back on a sliding scale (same way for employees). Since it was one of his top choices for his career anyways it worked out perfectly for him and he didnt have to worry about recruiting.

These people aren't in typical MBA career paths, few people head to the companies as MBAs and from what I have been told outside of the finance areas of the company prior relevant experience is very important. I know that tuition reimbursement to recruit and retain talent is becoming more and more common...if you have 10 years worth of loans and they are basically paying that its a lot better for them than paying you to go since it is an incentive for you to stick around long term.

If you know what you want to do and who you may want to work for research them specifically. Just because someone got a company to pay doesn't mean you will if you want a job in an industry where that's unheard of or they don't need to do that to get qualified folks.

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After making up my mind to pursue the MBA degree, the next logical decision was to where I should apply. I am constantly amazed at how the level of analysis for this important process varies so widely depending upon the individual. I had a process that I want to share, but as a disclaimer, I'll acknowledge that I am certainly no expert (an acknowledgment that should likely be made with every post). Consistent with the rest of this blog, I can only offer my observations and opinions.

"If you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there."
More specifically, how can you possibly know what institution will help you achieve a goal that you have yet to define? Your choice of school should have a direct correlation with what you hope to get out of the MBA degree itself. Therein lays one of the most common oversights in the process. Many applicants begin their B-school evaluation without consideration of exactly what goals they want to accomplish with an MBA degree, and how that school could help them.

Perhaps they rely solely on the countless rankings that are available (beginning with BW, of course). Or maybe they look at schools that friends have spoken highly of. Or they may take a price-centric approach, looking mainly at tuition. There are countless approaches available, none of which are right or wrong...as long as they always consider your desired endpoint.

"The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step." Okay, so all long-term philosophical considerations aside, how the heck does one even develop a list of schools from which to explore? Again, there have been countless successful approaches to this question.

After clearly defining my purpose and goals in pursing the MBA, I developed of a three word "value statement" for what I wanted from my ideal B-school. "Rigor, Relevance, Reputation". These three words would act as my guiding light for narrowing down the list of the hundreds of possible schools to which I could apply.

I recognize these qualities may seem somewhat difficult to quantify considering that each of the three must apply to the individual and their particular strengths. Part of the beauty of these principles is that their relevance lies in their ambiguity. What I mean is that they are broad terms that require interpretation on the part of the person using them. My definition of Rigor is different from that of my wife's. What I consider Relevant, my best friend would not. My interpretation of a great Reputation can and should differ from yours. Personalizing each aspect ensured alignment with my ultimate goals.

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision."
Now comes the fun part...its decision time. Using my value statements, I was able to generate a group of roughly 20 schools from which I had a verified, direct interest in. My next step was to narrow this list down to a handful of institutions to which I would apply. I began by creating a spreadsheet listing each school. I then identified and ranked a set of variables that were important considerations in my decision. These included Location, Job Market, Cost of Living, Rigor of Curriculum, Location Unemployment Rate, Class Size, Distance from Family, etc. I weighted each of these variables according to their importance to me and sorted them to create my top ten...