BYU Interview

Aaron got the phone call from the ditsy Marriott receptionist last Friday. She took no responsibility for messing up the first appointment (didn't apologize), which made Aaron a little frustrated. At this point, he decided not to go out to Utah for the appointment. What kind of MBA program is it that hires someone so unprofessional as its first point of contact with their candidates? The Carlson receptionist was a professional, not a freshman on work-study. He then set up his appointment for yesterday at 1pm. They discussed the time zone difference, and had it all set.

Well, yesterday rolled around, and Aaron didn't get a phone call. At 1:15pm he called the receptionist. She said he must have had a time zone issue, because the appointment was for 3pm, not 1pm. WOW. Especially considering the time difference is only one hour, not two.

At 3pm, Professor Christensen called. He apologized to Aaron for the confusion, and Aaron graciously told him that he must have been having time zone issues, at which point the professor told him that it was clearly his receptionist's fault, from her emails, and that he'd need to deal with her so that this type of confusion didn't keep happening. Aaron was relieved, and started to have a little hope for the program again.

It didn't last long.

Professor Christensen is about two years older than Aaron. He is a marketing professor. He has no business experience. His questions for Aaron were poorly constructed, and Aaron felt his communication skills were lacking. He challenged Aaron's motivations for getting an MBA, which is a good thing. He told Aaron that some professionals who enter the program are only there for the piece of paper, and don't participate, and that others come in and challenge what is being taught, and they aren't really there to learn. Aaron expressed to him that he will certainly participate, and that he will challenge marketing theory when he has had experiences that conflict, as he has read enough text books that teach theories that aren't sound in application, but that he would like to learn finance and operations, and that he will be there to learn in those courses. I give him credit for honesty, there.

Professor Christensen also asked Aaron about where he'd like to do his internship. He wanted Aaron to name companies. He said they start interviewing in their third week in the program. Internships are for 3 months over the summer, and are not typically in Utah, and he wondered how Aaron was planning on doing that with his family. Good question! This was all news to Aaron, and he told him that he'd have to consult with me, but that if it was right for us, that's what we'd do. It looks like they rely on the students to come up with their own internship opportunities, which is very different from Carlson.

All in all, we found that this program does not offer the opportunities Aaron wants. He felt that the people there are very much less experienced than Carlson, and that the networking Aaron was hoping for isn't there. I'm not saying we are 100% against it, but unless we receive some clear revelation that we are supposed to make that move, we're not very much on board right now. I'd call it plan C.

Aaron described to me the feelings he had coming out of the Carlson interview; elation, fear, nervousness, disappointment (as he didn't think there was a way to pay for it), and an intense desire to do it! With the Marriott interview, he came away wondering whether there was anything in the program for him, other than the finance and operations courses.

Well, now we wait. We should hear about both in February. In the meantime, Aaron will continue looking for a new job. He hasn't heard anything back from Finale yet. I wish they'd call!