OXFORD, Miss. – Fifteen University of Mississippi alumni
returned to campus Friday (Sept. 21) to give Master of
Business Administration students an opportunity to see what
their degrees can do for them in the real world.
“The MBA Career Development Forum allows participating
alumni to discuss their experience in transitioning from
business school to work, how to prepare for the
interviewing process and what the MBA student should
realistically look for in that first job after earning
their degree,” said John Holleman, director of corporate
relations and MBA services.
The MBA program at Ole Miss allows students to earn their
degree in 12 months by taking advantage of summer school
and two intersession classes. The short time frame
encourages many students to continue directly from
undergraduate into graduate school.
Of the 35-45 students who go through the MBA program each
year, 70 percent have come directly from an undergraduate
program and 50 percent received their bachelor’s degree
from Ole Miss, said Holleman.
The forum featured 15 alumni who graduated from the program
within the last 10 years. Along with formal presentations,
students were offered casual time to ask individual
questions.
Ashley Bouldin, marketing analyst with International
Paper’s Foodservice Business in Memphis, spoke to students
in the marketing section of the forum.
“Getting an MBA meant learning to think strategically and
getting a sense of how all the components of business work
together,” Bouldin said. “Studying other functions in depth
broadens your scope beyond your functional area and gives
you the ability to work more easily with, and possibly in,
other areas of business.”
Students welcomed the support and advice of the alumni.
Since graduate classes often prove to be more difficult
than those at the undergraduate level, encouragement is
gladly accepted.
“The hardest aspect of the MBA classes is the amount of
work that is expected to be done,” said MBA student Ragan
Hayward of Grenada. “It was a reality check coming from a
minimal amount of work in the undergraduate level to the
pressing work given in the MBA program.”
In its fourth year, the forum allows students to see how
recent MBA graduates are benefitting from their hard-earned
degrees.
“I believe that the program is a great way to see some
different perspectives on various jobs in the market,”
Hayward said. “It also provides a great networking
opportunity, as the main goal of getting an MBA is to
receive a promising job offer.”
For more information visit