Alumni Advice

• Sometimes you need to compromise and switch either function or industry as a transitional move, rather than both simultaneously.
• There is no best career path. It depends on where you’re going. Alumni base their advice on their own experience. Whether you choose to follow it depends on whether you see yourself as having the same type of career. If you want to take a “traditional MBA” position before doing something in social enterprise, be clear about what you want out of the experience and what your exit will be. It’s easy to be sucked into a place when you’re working too hard to think about where you’re going in the longer term.
• Focus on the skills you bring to the table rather than the 'industry experience.' I found that switching in the summer internship was easier than switching in the full-time job search, so I would try to get a position in another industry during the summer.
• If you are trying to move from the private to the not-for-profit sector, don't just assume that because you've been successful in your field that it is automatically transferable to what non-profits do. I can't tell you how many informational interviews I've had with people in marketing at American Express (for example) who wanted 'more meaningful' employment and had unrealistic expectations about their value for a non-profit. Focus on the skills you've mastered, not on how much money you've made or the marquee name of where you worked, because that doesn't matter to a hiring manager. Do some volunteer work that shows commitment and develops skills.
• If switching from nonprofit, exude confidence and competence.
• Follow your heart and the money will sort itself out / Don't follow the herd even when it is tempting.
• Use volunteer or board experience to gain exposure.
• Issues of sustainability, social justice and environmental stewardship are among the primary challenges of our time and also present some of the most dynamic and promising business opportunities available. Read 'Natural Capitalism' by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins!
• Your skill sets are incredibly important. Don't NOT take a course since it seems unimportant to you now since it might be very important later. I, for example, did not take Turnarounds or Start-Ups since it never occurred to me that I would be doing anything like that in my career. Yet, in the last 9 years I have started two new Not-for-Profits and am rebuilding one more.
• Don't overlook the public sector as a possibility for finding interesting and challenging employment--it all depends on the leadership.
• Technical expertise and knowledge of your field is incredibly important, e.g. social VC in education – knowing about the education field and the issues with schools etc. You can’t just be a financial person. Take the time to research your issues and demonstrate your commitment to the field through your community activities you participate in. It will help earn respect from people who have spent their lives in that field trying to affect change.
• Private-sector experience is valued in the nonprofit field--use your past experience to your advantage or, if you are willing, do get private sector experience. This is not at all to say that you can't be successful in the social enterprise field w/out for-profit experience; it is just to say that if you have the opportunity and inclination, it won't hurt, if you do it for a few years while keeping connected to the nonprofit/social enterprise field somehow (board, volunteer, research, consulting, etc).
• Right after business school is a good time to try something new. However, I personally think I am finding that I miss my 'former career' in international development. Things don't always turn out to what you expect.
• Get the job you want coming out of business school. Don't wait and assume you can always change.
• Do the switching early in the career. It gets very hard later in the career.
• Having had P&L and consumer marketing experience are invaluable to me by enabling me to think rigorously about what I do now.
• Learn to spin your experience. Social enterprise experience demonstrates passion / commitment, which is important, but not as important as the more unique skills that you learn that others might not have access to. Those skills can cut across boundaries, and you need to be able to communicate that.
• Focus on transferable skills. Interest and passion matter a lot to potential employers. Self-confidence is 1/2 the battle, especially for career changers.
• Translate your skills. If you're looking to move from the for-profit to non-profit sector, be sure to respect the folks already working there -- even if they aren't MBAs.
• Difficult to switch industries; needs to be more development for those who have the interest but don't have concrete skills.
• Get good skills and experience in a functional area.
• It is really difficult to do. You may be happy in the same sector after your MBA because the opportunities are so different…the MBA has allowed me to take on managerial and planning roles.
• Tough to do in a down market. Go to all the Sessions put on by the Career Center, the summer you graduate / Switching careers is very hard in this economy - I did it, but be prepared for tough going.
• It is tough to make the switch--you need to be convincing and be able to explain your motivation for switching clearly (especially if switching from non-profit sector to for-profit sector).
• Use the summer internship to experiment with a different industry.
• Network and research; Use alumni networks; Talk to as many people as possible.

• Be creative! Don't wait for posted opportunities, but look for possibilities at the intersection of your interests and skills. Expect an internship environment very different from B-school, with regard to co-worker backgrounds, education, and lifestyle. Identifying the key features of the organization and figuring out how to navigate its idiosyncrasies can be critical parts of the internship experience. Definitely worthwhile!
• Persistence pays off. Flexibility is a requirement. The recruiting process is not as structured as others like banks and consulting firms so self-initiation is necessary.
• Make sure you have a clear project with clear deliverables and that you will have authority to more or less accomplish the project as you see fit (this is especially true in government). Make sure you understand the culture of the organization before you start since many are more entrepreneurial and unstructured than for profit firms.
• Don't stress about not having an internship until late spring, because that is really the timeline for nonprofit, and it is hard to get around. Look at the list of previous summer fellowships, and talk to students/alumni who worked at the organizations which sound interesting to you. Because these organizations have experienced CBS interns before, they know what you can offer, and are probably more likely to give you a job and to keep you busy with valuable projects. It is easy to fall into just applying to jobs on COIN or from job posting sites/Linkedin, but networking, though it seems to require more work, ends up being easier, because there is often no competition for your job.
• From my experience it seems easier to get an internship in either a field or a function that you have experience in. It seems quite difficult to change both fields and functions. It is also important that you show a commitment to the organization's mission.
• If you have never been in the nonprofit world, an internship is the most beneficial way to experience this industry. Although my experience was a little bit different in that I worked on venture capital investments as well.
• Be persistent and expand your search outside of on-campus recruiting. Also, talk to professors and Tamer Institute, and your peers - they're amazing resources!!
• Go on as many informationals as possible. Reach out to old volunteer contacts.
• The bureaucracy can be frustrating and stifling at times. I sometimes got the feeling that the organization (outside of my immediate team and the finance division) encouraged conformity over challenging the status quo.
• 'Informational Interviews' - try making a few calls to organizations that interest you, and ask for their career advice, or just for an explanation of the work that they do. A recommended script: I am a student at CBS, I have background in XYZ and I am extremely interested in your organization. Is there any chance that you would be able to spend a few minutes meeting with me describing....'
• Be persistent, while also realizing that the way that the hiring process works is probably an example of the way that the actual internship will work as well. My employer was proactive about finding projects that would appeal to me, and made sure to follow up with me. My boss managed me as an intern in the same proactive way. If an organization seems totally flaky when you are interviewing, it will probably be flaky when you are interning.

Most frequently mentioned:

• Networking (Alumni/Other students/Professors/Other contacts/Clubs/Tamer Institute staff)
• COIN job posting
• CMC/on-campus recruiting
• Professors
• Cold call/letters/emails
• Net Impact website job listing
• LinkedIn

See past summer fellow descriptions by year (back to 1999).

1. Pay attention to social intelligence.
2. Try to get involved in other parts of the organization to expand your knowledge beyond just your small scope, your individual project.
3. Needs change in the company from the time you create the internship, to the time you are actually working there, especially at startups. Therefore, you need to have a can-do attitude. If you are frustrated, look for want to offer/add in your assignment.
4. There are ways to bring/get training brought in to your Social Enterprise Internship. I.e. bringing in speakers to the company.
5. Take advantage of your location/internship/position and build your network. You can network with people in your area, organization, location, etc.
6. Be flexible; emerging companies may have outside influences which can change your project (government regulations). Take charge of your internship, and if there are changes, make sure you are still getting to do what you would like to do. Help redirect your internship.
7. When presenting, don’t just point out the changes you are suggesting in your report. Don’t focus/emphasize only the “errors” or “problems” in the company that need fixing. Add in what the organization does well, be humble. This will help prevent you coming off as an “arrogant” MBA student with advice. Keep in mind:
   - You are only there for a short period of time.
   - Value the current organization’s insight on their field and their challenges.
   - It is a small field; therefore you do not want to burn bridges over a disagreement, or misunderstanding.
8. Both you and your supervisor should have a mutual understanding of what your output is. At startups, the culture is very conducive to “everyone does everything”. Therefore, not all employees are aware of your structured internship and you may get pulled in another direction.
9. Learn all you can about the company outside of your defined project and get involved. Ask to sit in on meetings, etc.
10. Set expectations up front; involvement outside your project is important to fully understand the organization.

Most frequently mentioned:

• Pangea Advisors (SEC)
• Class/Professor
• Student Clubs
• Small Business Consulting Program
• Networking, alumni, cold-calling
• Through Ashoka
• Personal community activity

• Come to Columbia, and take full advantage of postponing core courses to second year in order to do SE electives early. This way you will meet people in the year above you. And don't focus too much on academics during the first year - remember to enjoy other people's company, and NYC.
• Get balance of social enterprise classes and functional expertise classes.
• Check the classes and meet with the faculty / Get advice on professors before registering.
• Research courses outside the b-school / Take advantage of SIPA courses.
• Don't forego traditional MBA classes. These will prove useful in any environment / Get a well-rounded business education rather than focus on social enterprise courses per se. A strong foundation in finance and management is valuable in social enterprise pursuits.
• Try to figure out what types of 'non-social enterprise' classes could still be applicable and useful in a social enterprise setting.
• Take the academics very seriously. You’re presented with so much information and you have some incredible professors that are at the forefront of their field. You don’t want to do homework just to get by. You really want to excel academically, which will help you tremendously.
• If you can figure out where your true interests and passions are career-wise, it makes it easy to choose what courses, events, and projects you should get involved with. It all starts with your genuine interests.
• Don’t wait for career inspiration to hit you, you have to go and seek it out. Seek out people who have gone through the same things as you’re going through. It’s how I’ve found the hidden sources of support and like-mindedness. It was a huge source of strength for me and made business school worthwhile on an emotional and intellectual level. The onus is on you as a participant – that if you don’t like it, change it by figuring out who your community is and whether there are other people who believe that things need to change. Then figure out how to mobilize that support and make it happen.
• Do lots of networking / Find others with like interests / Speak to graduates who work in areas you’re interested in.
• Get involved with the social enterprise club and other related clubs, because otherwise you feel like a real minority amid the finance majority.
• Be involved in planning panels & events – a great networking opportunity.
• Look to the program and club to provide you with a thought provoking community.
• Use the city to get real-world experience / NYC has highest number and density of nonprofits in the country.
• Remember that the point of coming to business school for social enterprise is to get an MBA. One of Columbia's strongest points is that you won't be with lots of others sharing your interests. That makes it harder, but is ultimately immensely useful.
• Be focused on your goals as it's easy to get caught up in the Wall Street recruiting machine (that's what happened to me, in fact) / You need a sense of commitment to what you want to do.
• Go for it! CBS has a unique combination of growing interest among students & faculty and access to great organizations by virtue of the NY location. Dual degree opportunities with many schools are also a plus for those with specific interests, like international development, public health, education, and urban planning.
• Good learning opportunities / A lot of resources, but you may have to go and find them. A highlight are the projects with social ventures.
• I think CBS has a great program – pro bono consulting is a great opportunity. You have to make it work for you.
• It's a great school, and NYC offers plenty of opportunity to put social enterprise lessons to work.
• Think about the field--it's not just a job, it can be a very rewarding, challenging intellectual field as well.
• My involvement in social enterprise at Columbia was one of the highlights of my MBA experience. The students are very involved and passionate about SE and the SE professors are open and helpful. I highly recommend it.
• Expensive school but well worth it due to strong networking opportunities in NYC and incredible alumni network and reputation!
• Columbia Business School is a great place to learn about social enterprise issues. The stimulation from colleagues, professors and New York City provides a fascinating environment to discover more about the social enterprise field and your own interests.
• The program has improved vastly over the past couple years, with far greater faculty and student commitment and resources. Columbia is an exciting place to be involved in SE.
• Consider how the cost of financing your education impacts the type of nonprofit job you seek when you graduate. Look into the CBS Loan Assistance Program.
• Stay positive, look for common ground on which to build coalitions rather than points of disagreement about which to fight. Channel your anger/frustration over the failings of our current economic/political system into productive outlets. Don't be afraid to get political.
• Social enterprise covers a broad range. For people specifically interested in international development, I would recommend business school if they were interested in microfinance or SME development.
• The program works very hard to be a good program and CBS is stronger than most so if you want to do SE, Columbia is a better place to be than most places
• Be sure the courses offered will really be applicable to nonprofit world. SEEK SCHOLARSHIPS. Judge carefully the value of what you will learn vs the cost/debt burden you will have upon graduation.
• Have a unique and specific vision and communicate that in your essay and interview. It's how I got in.
• Do it - it is a great program in a city full of alumni and resources to utilize to your advantage.
• Think about what you want to get out of the experience.
• What opened up new worlds for me at Columbia was learning about social enterprise…. learning about impact investing, ESG, philanthropy, and all these other areas. These areas mixed nonprofit with business into a new hybrid that you could use. So it really expanded my knowledge base.

Columbia Coach Raji Kalra ’04, Tory Tevis '17, Conor Leary '18 and other students and alumni discuss the various career paths in social enterprise available to MBA graduates. To view, you must log into COIN.