JEREMYCWILSON.COM

Deadline: Organizer for Emanuel Pleitez for LA

The deadline to work with my friend Emanuel Pleitez for his campaign for Mayor is On Monday. Please remind any students, recent grads or socially-minded professionals you know to consider it.

The application deadline is Monday, September 3, so if you are interested, please be sure to submit your resume to michael@pleitezforla.com and register: HERE

Fellows would join an amazing team already on the ground of alumni from schools all over the country, including Stanford, Harvard, UT Austin, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Michigan, USC, Seattle, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach, Princeton, Yale, UPenn, West Chester, Cornell among others.

Let me know if you decide to apply or want to be connected to the campaign.
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See recent press on the campaign below

LA Times
Fox News
La Opinion (Spanish)

Job Opportunity: Building Excellent Schools Seeks Chief of School Network

As you know, I often use my site to spread news about great organizations. Organizations that not only do well but that also do good. Ones that are doing what they can to make a dent in the world. And ones that value some of the same things I do.

A good friend of mine s recently passed the word about a job opportunity from a friend of mine and thought some of you might be interested. While I don’t typically use my site to post job opportunities or promotional reasons, I do like to use it to help non-profits, especially ones that I have some connection to. In this case, that organization is Building Excellent Schools.

See below for a description. See below that for more on the job role.  And drop me a line if you are interested in connecting with the school.

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Building Excellent Schools (BES) is a trailblazing nonprofit that raises the quality of urban charter schools by supporting entrepreneurial individuals to design, found, lead, and sustain schools in underserved communities.

A Few Good Developers

Hi everyone, just spreading the word for a couple of JD-MBA friends of mine about an opportunity they have at their firm. They are looking for both front-end web developers and web application developers who might be interested in working with them. It sounds like they are flexible as to whether you start full time, part time, remote, on-site, contract/freelance or employee. But the only thing they aren’t flexible on is that you have to be good.

See below for the job descriptions.

Front-End Web Developer
Digital Intent is looking for a full-time front-end web developer. We are a digital product strategy and development team in the West Loop of Chicago working with funded startup teams to build web and mobile applications.

Our developer should have solid skills in HTML5/CSS3/JS-mainly jQuery, and WordPress as a plus.  We are a cross functional team so your interest in design and UI/UX are also welcomed.

Salary is competitive. We are flexible as to whether you start full time, part time, remote, on-site, contract/freelance or employee. Please submit your resume, portfolio and code samples (github account is ideal) to kate [at] digintent.com

Web Application Developer
Digital Intent is looking for a full-time web application developer. We are a digital product strategy and development team in the West Loop of Chicago working with funded startup teams to build web and mobile applications.

Our developer should have solid skills in Ruby/PHP/Python and HTML5/CSS3/JS and be familiar with MVC frameworks, version control, and deploying to Linux environments, with core competencies in engineering and application development.  Our developers employ multiple languages on any given project and should be comfortable with each. We are a cross-functional team so your interest in mobile app development is also welcome.  You will work on a team of junior and senior developers that will provide you the opportunity to both learn and manage.

Salary and title commensurate with experience.  Please submit your resume, portfolio and code samples (github account is ideal) to kate [at] digintent.com

How To Spend Second Year

One question on everyone’s mind these days is what are you going to do when you graduate? Have you decided on your summer offer yet? What geography are you going to live in? No matter how hard many of us try to avoid the question, at some point soon many of us are going to have to answer. Especially now. As job postings are starting to expire on the Career Website. And as interviews are just a few weeks away. In the end, this makes many of us wonder how the second year experience will actually end up playing out. Will it be fun? Or will it be a lot more work than expected?

Overall, everyone hears that second year is supposed to be a lot of fun. No more core classes. No more morning classes. Not overwhelmed with extracurricular activities. And hopefully job security at the beginning of the year.

For most, the summer was a bit of a wake up call. That no matter what job we had – even if was our dream job – work was still work. And no matter how bad school might seem in the moment, it’s still usually a lot more enjoyable than work. The bankers and consultants definitely understand the concept after the number of hours they worked this summer. That eventually, the “two year vacation” will come to an end so they have to make the most of it in the second year. Likewise, career changers are also nervous about embarking on a new career and seeing what will be in store for them.

For everyone, in school, we spend two years looking at the world through eyes of the CEO and through the lense of the investor. But after the second year is over, then many of us are back to the trenches. To do the due diligence. Run the analysis. Edit the documents. Create the slides. And travel back and forth between clients.

In that sense, the Kellogg environment, and the Evanston bubble, is pretty nice. We get to be more academic and get to have more fun for a two year period. But soon enough, we’ll have to change again. We’ll have to perform again. We have to get reviews again. As a result, many people are thinking a lot about how they want to spend their second year. How much they want to recruit for the job of their dreams. When to give in and accept an offer. How hard to work in class. And how to take advantage of everything they didn’t get to do before school.

In sum, they wonder how to spend their second year. How would you spend your second year in business school?

MBA Internship Final Presentations

Thousands of MBAs finished their first year of business school in this past spring and went off into the workforce to start their summer internships. Some of them went into consulting. Others into banking and finance. And another group went to marketing, operations, general  management and a variety of other positions. But no matter which industry people went into, most of them do have one thing in common. At the end of the summer, you have to make a final presentation to some level of managers regarding the work you did for the summer.

If anecdotal evidence isn’t good enough for you, then I’d suggest taking a look at Facebook immediately. See what all your MBA friends are saying about work.  I did just that this morning and saw a pretty wide variety of messages.

In one case I saw a message that said “Today I have to present my final presentation. Wish me luck.” In another example, a status message said “Working late hours to finish my presentation to my client.”  Even this morning, one of my classmates and friends working at Pepsi for the summer left a message on her wall “final presentation today!! wish me luck!”  Even at 9:49am she had 7 “likes” (including me) and 13 “comments”.  A number of comments say “Good luck.” Others say “knock em dead.” And one even says, “You will amaze them with your brilliance, I am sure :).”

So why so many responses to such a simple message? That’s a good question. It’s because most MBAs, especially those at top schools undergo the exact same experience. They have to present what they worked on at the end of the summer. And those final two weeks can be pretty difficult, depending on the employer, industry, and manager you are working with because in a lot of cases not only are the expectations high but the pressure people put on themselves is also high.

During that time, students often work harder to tie up loose ends. Put in more time to fine tune all the details. And spend more time prepping to deliver a compelling presentation to senior management. All with one goal in mind – to get an offer.

In addition to getting an offer, many students also hope to refine their presentation skills, prove they can add value to an employer (even in two months), and even just make a good impression. After all, you never know if you’ll run into some of your summer co-workers again.

Either way, no matter what the reason is, if you just finished your first year of business school and find yourself with an MBA summer job, there’s a pretty big chance you’ll be doing exactly the same thing.

In sum, for those that just finished their presentations in the last week; congratulations.  For those finishing up this week; best of luck wrapping up.   And for those entering school now waiting until summer 2012 for their summer internship experience; get ready. Your time will come next sumer.

Where Are Classmates Going After Kellogg?

For better or for worse, I’ve noticed that a lot of people have been wondering what their classmates will be doing for the summer. While some classmates jump at the chance to tell the entire world about their offers, others are a bit more tactful in their approach, and another group isn’t quite sure yet. But no matter which of these groups a students fits in, it’s likely that he or she has a sense of what industry they might end up in and further what geography they’ll be at for the summer.

To estimate where people might end up geographically, I thought I might try to do a few back end calculations to see where people have historically gone. I did that by calculating the percentage of students who have left Kellogg to go to various places around the US and internationally. And I did that not only for 2010 but also for the past 10 years to see if things have changed over time. Below is the 2010 graph and below that is the 10 year graph.

* Data from 2010 Kellogg report on Class of 2000 through Class of 2010

From the graph above, you can see the most people head to the big geographies in the US – Chicago, New York, and the Bay. It’s not surprise that more people stay in Chicago than anywhere else given close ties to local CPG firms and given the fact that Kellogg is conveniently located here in Chicago.

Likewise, it’s not surprise that New York and the Bay are in the top as well, given those geographies generally send a lot of people to business school. Further, it’s also no surprise that the Bay comes in below New York, not only because New York is significantly larger in size (ie more students) than the Bay but also because Chicago doesn’t have the same reputation for innovation that the Bay, Boston, or even New York has.

* Data from 2010 comes directly from the Kellogg website (Data from website)

Strangely the data from 2010 and from the past decade are nearly identical. The only exception is the international data, where the percentage of students that went “Abroad” and went to “Asia” were a little higher last year than usual. Perhaps it’s because the recession took away jobs locally in the smaller U.S. cities, so graduates decided to work internationally instead. (Click here to see MSNBC article that shows that MBAs are flocking to jobs in Asia). It might also be a result of the fact that the 1Y program at Kellogg is growing, so more students are opting to abroad now than before.

The idea that 2010 and the historical data are similar has some interesting implications, given that top business schools brings in new people with new interests and new career ideas every year. The first question that comes to mind is “Is business school just a factory?” Do the same people go to the same employers every year, not matter what you came in thinking you wanted to do? Which leads into the second question? Is geography-changing (or better yet career-changing) a lot harder than applicants think? And do people have less options than they hoped for, even at the top business schools?

But maybe I’ve got it all wrong, and it’s actually just the opposite. That people really want to go to these places and business schools provide the venues for them to do so because of access to so many alumni, networks, and employers. This idea makes a lot of sense too.

Either way, despite all the noise I hear in business school about changing yourself and changing the world, the statistics should make you wonder if things really do change, or if things really just stay the same year to year … and decade to decade?

Perhaps I should continue my analysis by calculating the numbers of jobs the same way I did geographies. I suspect it’d turn out to be exactly the same as this one.  What do you suspect?

Education Pioneers. Hear Bernanke’s call to close the opportunity gap!

Hey Everyone, hope all of you are doing well.  As you know, I’m in the process of thinking about recruiting for next summer, so I’m trying to put up as many posts as I can about the MBA recruiting process. However, I figured I’d devote this entry to something a bit different.  Instead of simply talking about my own experience, I thought I’d use my site to spread the news about a fantastic organization that’s growing exponentially. It’s also an organization that’s recruiting candidates here at Kellogg.

That organization is Education Pioneers. Education Pioneers has been growing exponentially over the past few years, and it sounds like they do a lot of recruiting from many of the people who might be following along on my site. A broad group of readers that value diversity. Those who give back to their communities. Those not only seeking to do well in business but also in the social sector. And last but not least, those with a relentless focus on the education space.

I know a couple of people who have gone through the summer program and they can’t say enough about how good the program is.  As such, I figured I’d pass along the word to those readers here on my site. Below is an email I received directly from the Education Pioneers recruiting team. Also below is a video that came along with the email I received.

Best of luck with your recruiting seasons.

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

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EMAIL

Your last chance to apply for Education Pioneers 2011 Graduate School Fellowship is approaching quickly! Apply by February 1. Education Pioneers can help launch you into a transformational career that addresses the civil rights issue of our time: a high-quality education for every child.

Watch this video clip to hear Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke discuss why he thinks the income disparity gap is based on education.

Are you ready to lead? Apply today!

Best regards,
EP Recruitment Team

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Job Opportunity: Spark Seeks Managing Director in Chicago

Dear Friends, I got this in an email about a job opportunity from a friend of mine and thought some of you might be interested. While I don’t typically use my site to post job opportunities or for promotional reasons, I do like to use it to help non profits and other social ventures, especially ones that I have some connection to. In this case, that organization is Spark, a noprofit dedicated to educational reform.

Spark is an organization that helps 7th & 8th graders find apprenticeships in their dream job which helps them think about their career and relationship to education.  A good friend of mine sent me a note about the organization and recently passed the word that Spark is seeing a new Managing Director in Chicago. Specifically, the organization is seeking an entrepreneurial leader to help launch the Chicago office in 2011

Take a look at the rest of the post if you are interested and feel free to pass along the attached job description to others you think may be interested. See below for a few notes on the organization and role. And click here to see the full job description.

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Background:
Spark is an award winning, growing youth apprenticeship program. Spark works to reduce the high-school dropout rate with a unique apprenticeship program, focused on at-risk middle-school students. In partnership with district and charter schools, Spark creates one-on-one apprenticeships in real workplaces, where youth explore careers and develop the skills and motivation to succeed academically. Funded by a number of major foundations, including the Packard Foundation, Cowell Foundation, as well as leading companies like Genentech and Gap, Spark is demonstrating a powerful new approach to addressing the high-school dropout crisis, one that draws in new resources by turning workplaces into learning places.

Responsibilities:
Provide leadership to ensure overall success in Chicago:
• Build, manage and develop an exceptional local team to accomplish three core goals: (1) successfully manage relationships with Spark’s schools partners, including training and ongoing support, (2) build a sustainable Chicago fundraising base, and (3) cultivate a network of corporate/organizational partners for apprenticeship placements. The Chicago team will grow to 3-6 full-time staff by end of 2011.
• Develop and leverage a Chicago Executive Board and a Chicago Advisory Board to support fundraising initiatives, guide strategic planning, enhance local networks of supporters, and contribute to overall external communications and publicity for Spark in Chicago. By the time of this hire, we expect to have 2-4 Chicago Executive Board members and 6-8 Chicago Advisory Board members already confirmed and active in Chicago.

Lead Chicago Fundraising & Financial Management
• Create and lead a local fundraising strategy for Chicago, in collaboration with Spark’s Development Director and Development team in San Francisco, ensuring that Chicago programs meet a 2011 fundraising goal of approximately $250,000, drawing from foundations, corporate sponsors, and individual donors.
• Effectively utilize and manage the local site budget to implement the program and sustain the Chicago office.

Oversee Successful Programming & School Partnerships
• Work closely with Spark’s national team to support implementation and growth of Spark’s Chicago apprenticeship program, focusing on training school partners and supporting their implementation of the program.
• Leverage and build alliances in the private, government, and non-profit sector to establish a network of individuals in diverse fields to draw upon in Apprenticeship matching.
• Work in partnership with initial school partners to develop and grow Spark’s programs, beginning with 2 locations in Fall 2011 and expanding in 2012. Develop a strong system of communication with school partners to support their successful management of program operations.
• Cultivate new middle school, after school, and summer program providers to meet established program growth goals.
• Facilitate the compilation of evaluation data, including students’ academic performance data.