Mid-Terms!

Although last week was technically a three day week, it definitely did not feel like it. Here’s a recap of the first mid-term week of the semester. Next week is also setting itself up to be a busy week as well.

Monday – Monday was just what I needed! A day off in honor of a few pretty cool presidents turned out to be an intensive study day. Instead of relaxing, I got up early and started studying for the finance midterm on Wednesday. Later that day, I met up with my operations team on campus in order to go over Wednesday’s deliverable, which is an analysis of the Holiday Inn’s operations and our recommendations for improvement. This is the first deliverable in a three part series that will culminate at the end of the semester. After our meeting, a group member and I stayed on campus to study for finance.

Tuesday – First class of the week. Today in supply chain we finished our discussion on transportation and started a discussion on inventory management. After, I met briefly with my operations team to give a summary to a team member who could not make our meeting on Monday. Once the meeting was over, I rushed home so I could study for finance yet again.

Wednesday – Wednesday marked the dreaded finance mid-term, which did not end up being as dreaded as I had anticipated. In fact, the exam was downright fair. After finance, I have operations, and the case we discussed I had to pay super attention to because it was about a cranberry co-op. I hope this case discussion has better prepared me for my Corporate Residency.

Once class was over, I rushed over to Whole Foods in order to pick up some refreshments for the WMBA panel event. Although only a small crowd was able to come, the discussion was fantastic and the panelists really fed off of each other’s energy. Everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves, so I’d mark this event as a success. Immediately after the event, a friend and I scurried over to Barakis for the statistics mid-term review. After the professor cleared up a few things for me, I felt pretty comfortable with the material. I went home and studied more for the midterm, finally falling asleep at 1:00am.

Thursday – Thursday presented the normal strategy stats back to back schedule. In strategy we discussed a case about HTC and mobile phones in general – then, the stats mid-term. Although I felt I prepared for the exam, I did not prepare for the speed of it. I need to learn how to pace myself during exams, but I really like to double check my work before I move on. Anyway, I was unable to finish 2 of the exam questions. After class, my learning team agreed to meet at 9:00am on Friday to go over the finance case write up due on Monday.

That night, I had a much needed dinner at Penguin Pizza with a couple of friends. This is one of my favorite places in the area because of its wide assortment of craft beers.

Friday – On Friday, I woke up early, so I could get to campus and review the finance case before my team discussed it in our meeting. When the rest of my team arrived (one bearing the gift of Dunkin Donuts munchkins, YUM!), we grabbed an empty classroom for the case discussion. Once we felt that we had a grasp on the material and our recommendations, we split up the work to be completed over the weekend. Another team member and I were to write the case analysis (we are only required to write two pages), while the others created the exhibits.

After discussing the finance case, I met with a prospective student for lunch to tell him more about the Northeastern program. When he asked me to show him something that makes Northeastern unique, besides everything else I brought up, I took him to the Cy Young statue which marks the venue where the first World Series was played.

Then I had to rush off to go shopping with my mother and sister. My mother was looking for a dress to wear to my wedding (in August!), and wanted our opinions before buying anything. Although we were unable to find her a dress, we got to spend some time with each other.

By the time I got home from shopping, I had only a few hours to eat dinner and get ready for a show my friend’s band was playing in Boston. The band is fantastic, and they had an amazing performance. They honestly get better every time I see them. Since I spent most of my day running around, it was good to be able to see a few friends and spend some time with Jim.

Saturday – Saturday was another early morning, as I had rehearsal from 10 to 4. After rehearsal, I started writing my portion of the case write up; however, the analysis kept leading my team member and I in different directions. I finally finished my part of the analysis at 12:00am, after which I fell asleep on my couch watching a re-run of SNL. Another successful Saturday night.

Sunday – Yet another early morning with rehearsal scheduled between 8am and 12pm. Although I was supposed to go to the color guard competition today, I had too much homework and studying to do. Furthermore, Jim and a friend were finally putting a banister on the stairs. I tried to stay focused amid the sounds of drills, saws, and the power outages caused by such saws. I’m sure it will look amazing in the end!

*The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its staff, faculty or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Amy Foley.*

Career Fair!

Last Tuesday was the Career Fair, and because I know that this is what you ultimately are interested in reading about, I decided that I’ll give a detailed description of this day instead of the entire week.

Here is what my interview schedule looked like that day:

8:30-9:00: Asset Management Firm Fixed Income Position

9:15-9:45: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Business Analyst

9:45-10:15: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Business Analyst

10:30-10:45: Raytheon

11:00-11:30: Asset Management Firm Fixed Income Position

11:30 – 12:30 Bright Horizons

1:20-1:40: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Product Management

2:30-3:00: L. Knife and Son

(I also had an interview with Ocean Spray on Friday of that week, but more about that later.)

I got up early the day of the Career Fair, so I could grab a coffee and breakfast before my first interview. I stopped by Starbucks to pick up my necessary items. Then off to register and get my name tag.

First impression, the Career Center has this down to a t. I don’t know how they scheduled the interviews, but they did an amazing job!

I was not on my game for the first interview. It was a great opportunity, but probably not the best fit for me. The thing that surprised me most about the interview rooms was that there were other interviewing spaces for other people separated by curtains. With so many interviews in such a short amount of time, this was definitely the most efficient way to run this event.

I then went into my back to back interviews for the Business Analyst position at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. After both of these interviews, I was starting to drag a bit, but I had to keep my energy up for Raytheon.

From there, I had two more interviews – another interview for the asset management company and Bright Horizons - both of which went pretty well. Now time for lunch! I was starving by 12:30, and I needed something to keep my energy up. After my vegetarian sushi (don’t mock it until you try it!), I was ready for more!

After lunch I had an interview with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for a Product Management position that sounded very interesting. Then I had an interview with L. Knife and Son, which is a beer distributor. It was great to end the day with an interview for something that I am passionate about.

By the next day, I had an offer from Raytheon and an offer from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, but I still had an interview scheduled at Ocean Spray. That Friday, I drove down to my parent’s house to spend some time with them before I left for Ocean Spray. I was already pretty torn between Harvard Pilgrim and Raytheon, then I had an amazing interview at Ocean Spray. A few hours after the interview, Ocean Spray called me to offer me the finance Corporate Residency position.

I spent that weekend deciding between the positions, and after talking to my friends and family, I decided that the benefits of the Ocean Spray position outweighed the long commute. So, I accepted Ocean Spray. This decision was by no means easy, but I believe I chose the position that is best for me.

I can’t wait to start my Corporate Residency, and I am so excited to work for such an amazing company!

*The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its staff, faculty or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Amy Foley.*

Crazy Week!

This was a crazy week with 3 deliverables due which ended in interview preparations for the Career Fair. Let me tell you about it!

Monday – Monday began with Finance where we discussed bond valuation. After class, I met with my Strategy team in order to go over the case write up that is due later this week.

Then I went home to finish up my case write up due for Supply Chain, and I realized I really hated what I had written, so I started over. I’m glad I did because I was more satisfied with the final product. It may have been more work, but I feel more comfortable handing in my second attempt at this case write up.

Tuesday – Today we have Supply Chain and we discussed the case write up which was about allegations that a supplier used child labor for a major furniture company. After class I met with the professor who recently hired me as a research assistant. She explained expectations and gave me some work to start on.

Then I met with my team for Strategy again, and we came up with an exhaustive list of ideas for our case about a motorcycle company. We outlined what we wanted to write and split up the responsibility between the three of us.

After that meeting, I went to a networking event with one of my friends from the MBA program. The event, hosted by the Advancing Women in Business, Science, and Technology, consisted of dinner and speed networking with career mentors who were women in the areas of science and technology who are now in business. I was humbled by the stories from career mentors and the women who attended the event. Many had doctorate degrees and post-doctoral experience in the fields of science and technology. My friend and I were able to ask questions and later speak to the one career mentor who was in finance.

Finally, I went home and I finalized my operations case write up due the next day. I also wrote my part for the strategy case write up. After this long day, I was ready for bed!

Wednesday –Today we had both Finance and Operations. In Finance we discussed stock valuation, while in Operations we discussed the case that was due. After classes my friend and I met with an executive from a local company who we had an Executive Luncheon with in the fall. We grabbed a coffee and discussed our upcoming Corporate Residency opportunities and our current classes, which he referred to as the “blood and guts” of business.

After that, I met with my strategy team to put together our case write up due the next day. We spent a long time making the paper sound like it came from a unified voice, but it was definitely time well spent!

I went home after the meeting and added the exhibits to the file and finished my statistics homework also due tomorrow. However, after being in front of a computer screen for all that time, one of my team members told me that I spelt her last name wrong! It was definitely time for me to go to bed!

 Thursday – When I got to campus today and took my computer out of my bag, I realized that I had once again broken it. This time I cracked the screen. I seriously have no luck with technology, and I think my computer has spent more time with the people who repair it than with me! Anyway, I had a long day of classes with strategy then statistics.

In strategy we discussed the case that was due, and then the professor from the other section came in to discuss the data which were collected for our IDP project due at the end of the semester. I looked up the files, and there is some serious data. It looks like all teams will be working incredibly hard on this project.

In stats, we had our third homework due. After, we discussed the normal distribution and z-scores. Then, I went out to lunch with a few friends from the program.

Friday – With the Career Fair less than a week away, we discussed all of the details in Career Management. After class me and another one of the bloggers from this year, met with the blogger from the second year to talk about blogging while on Corporate Residency. Because some of the companies we can have residencies with have proprietary information, we needed to understand the protocol in such situations.

Finally, I met with a member of the Career Center to go over my schedule for the Career Fair. Apparently, I have too many interviews booked, but I have trouble saying no to all the fantastic opportunities that have been offered. I finally had to say no to one of them, although it was difficult to choose.

After meeting with the Career Center, I went looking for a new pair of shoes for the Career Fair. Let me tell you, I am extremely picky when it comes to shoes, so this search took much longer than it should have. This is exactly why I usually go shopping alone – I tend to wear other people’s patience thin.

Finally, I went home to get a head start on some homework for next week. With the Career Fair and interview preparations this week, I knew that this had to be done early. Once Jim got home, we bottled the beer that we made a few weeks ago. 

First, we had to siphon the beer from the fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket.

Then, we used a capping device to seal each bottle.

The bottling process carbonates the beer. It should be ready to drink in about two weeks!

Saturday – I woke up early today, so I could get some more homework done before I had color guard rehearsal.  Today was our first show, and we had a bit of a rough rehearsal, so we were all a little nervous before their performance. Besides a few glitches due to first show nerves I’m sure, they had a fantastic performance! I’m so excited for our next show because we did not have some of our effects completed nor our uniforms. In fact, our color guard organization had 4 amazing performances from our novice guard, B guard, A guard, and world guard!

Sunday – Again, today I woke up early to get some homework done before rehearsal.

Rehearsal went by extremely quickly today, as we were mostly playing around with an effect that we are having quite a bit of trouble with. Also, we had to end early for the students to try on their uniforms! Then on to watch a depressing Super Bowl game between the Pats and the Giants. 

*The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Northeastern University, its staff, faculty or affiliates and are solely the opinion of Amy Foley.*