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#114 Stephen Huber, USC Marshall MBA ’18 on Getting Off the Waitlist, Preparing Significant Others, and Breaking Into a New Industry

Stephen Huber, USC Marshall MBA '18

“The students that landed the top-tier, most desired internships in tech were the ones who were networking in the first semester with alumni immediately… You’re only here for 2 years. If you don’t take advantage of the fact that you’re student, when else will you be able to? People are more open to sharing if you’re a student.“

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Stephen Huber discusses his MBA experience at USC Marshall, from what he did to get off the waitlist, to preparing his wife for an intense first year, to leading the High Tech and Interactive Gaming Associations, to landing internships and jobs in tech and the hard-to-break into entertainment industry.

After listening to this talk, you’ll have a good idea of what it takes to make the most of your MBA experience, especially as a career switcher.

Stephen is also open to answering your questions about the the USC Marshall experience on our Ambassadors Forum.

Questions

  • What Stephen did to get off the waitlist  (9:31)
  • Preparing significant others for the Full-time MBA experience (14:06)
  • How to prepare for your first semester (21:13)
  • Recruiting and Internships at USC (22:06)
  • How USC Marshall has transformed Stephen (32:35)
  • The importance of professional clubs at USC (38:07)
  • What most applicants don’t know about USC (46:10)
  • Stephen’s advice on what applicants should look for in an MBA program (49:20)

About Our Guest

Stephen Huber got his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the UC Berkeley and worked as a Nuclear Engineer for General Dynamics before starting business school. Stephen recently completed his first year at USC Marshall’s Full-time MBA program and will graduate in Summer 2018.

Kyle Forrest’s (UCLA Anderson ’14) Advice on How to Prepare Significant Others for Full-time MBA Programs

This isn’t a “UCLA Anderson” point of view, but this is the advice I was given by various alumni when I was going through the application process.
1) Have a conversation before business school starts on what your expectations are of life as a student. As a student, are you seeking to be actively involved in life on campus (leadership in clubs, student government, etc.) in addition to recruiting and academics? Are you going to try to attend every social event, or only 50%? Both people should be mentally prepared for the change in schedule, as being in school is very different from working. Then, continue to discuss throughout the first semester and beyond in case your expectations change.
2) Decide how “involved” your sig-o will be in the non-academic portion of business school. Sig-o’s are typically invited to all sorts of events, and the more that they are able to attend, the better equipped they’ll be to understand who your friends are, what your daily/weekly schedule looks like, and feel like part of the program. Some sig-o’s are so embedded in the culture that people constantly ask “what section are you in?” only to find out the person is a sig-o and not a classmate. However, not every sig-o wants to attend business school events, and that’s ok too. Just level set on what you’d like them to attend and why.
3) As a student, make sure to set dedicated quality time in your calendar on a weekly basis to focus on your family/relationship. It can be very easy to feel overwhelmed with class, recruiting, social activities, etc., but by carving out and prioritizing time for your family proactively, it will help prevent any business school-related relationship challenges from coming up.

Show Notes

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4 thoughts on “#114 Stephen Huber, USC Marshall MBA ’18 on Getting Off the Waitlist, Preparing Significant Others, and Breaking Into a New Industry”

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