Demand Exceeds Supply

"Our program trains us to look strategically at why we're implementing technology for the business—what's the benefit, the risk, the ROI—and all of our MBA classes help us prepare there. Our technical background helps us understand the technology they're implementing."

Jonathan Fiegle
MSIS '07

Vidhya felt the orientation sessions were invaluable. She said, "It was so amazing. There's so much I learned from that experience—it just hits you how everything flows. Everything I learned in the orientation just sticks."

Vidhya was about to start an extended internship at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), that would run from the summer through the end of the year. She stated, "I had no idea I would be doing so much in one year." In addition to her classroom experiences, Vidhya felt her case competition experiences and the capstone project helped solidify her learning and overall business knowledge.

She said, "The capstone project is like a real client engagement project—it's exactly what we'd be doing in a consulting job. It gave us a good idea of what it's like in the real world."

Endless Opportunities Ahead

All were very enthusiastic about their future, having secured either full-time employment or internships doing various types of consulting work. They were surprised at how soon they had networking opportunities with potential employers. Mark stated, "Recruiting starts before the first day of class. I was in orientation—classes hadn't even started and we were already going out to dinners (with employers)."

Bradley found several benefits to meeting potential employers early on. "I was definitely on the fence between consulting and corporate," he stated. "I spoke with several companies even before classes started. And at the start of our program, we had industry leaders, senior managers and other representatives conducting mock interviews." He felt the experience saved him time and interviews deciding and preparing for his career path. "I went into recruitment feeling much more prepared."

Bradley felt being at Kelley provided a huge advantage and stated, "We have one of the best career services offices in the country. My friend at another university said 30 percent of her class already had a job (by May 2007)." He added, "We are already at between 96-100% (job acceptance rate)."

Mark added, "It's a pretty big ego booster when you have companies fighting over you."

Bradley said, "We heard some companies were upset that they didn't get any of us—because we already had jobs."

With the knowledge, experience and highly in-demand "technical and business" skill-set these students can offer employers, they all felt assured of a bright future with endless opportunities.