The University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Carlson photo
P&Q: What makes the Carlson undergraduate experience unique?
Singh: As they say in the real estate world, “Location, location, location.” We’re very blessed to be in a wonderful place. It gives us so much to work with. There are 19 Fortune 500 companies which are next door, corporate headquarters that we can reach in 20 minutes. I know New York has a lot, but New York is a big city with millions of people.
Last year, we had 2,500 on-campus interviews for our students right here in our building. This gives them this connection to the companies and to the real world from day one. It’s also very easy for them to get involved with, so they don’t have to be extremely pushy to get it. The other thing it gives us is the diversification of the kind of companies we have access to. We are in the number three startup hub in the country after Silicon Valley.
Finally, when looking at first destination jobs, most schools I think will tell you a big selection of students go to a certain company. When I look at our numbers, I was surprised to see we send about the same number of students to accounting, to consulting, and to manufacturing. It’s about 13% or so to each. If one industry has a bad year, we are fairly recession-proof in that sense is what this tells me. If finance goes down in a big way like it did in 2008 and 2009, my colleagues at Wharton or NYU Stern would have a lot more sleepless nights than I would, right? Diverse types of companies and industries give our students a unique experience.
Undergraduate students at the Carlson School of Management. Carlson photo
P&Q: What makes Carlson students stand out in the workforce?
I don’t know what employers say, specifically, but what I think makes them stand out is their kind of no-nonsense work ethic. They’re Midwestern, kind of gritty, with no attitude. They work hard and they don’t feel entitled to anything so they have solid knowledge, but there’s no arrogance about them.
P&Q: Do you think there are any misconceptions about studying business at Carlson?
Singh: One of the biggest is that if you come to us you will have a very easy time getting a job in Minnesota, but that’s about it. But that is so not true. We have students who are getting jobs in Microsoft, in Amazon, and investment banks in New York. We do treks that take students there. The reason we place about 80% of students in the Midwest is because they do internships there then come back with really good jobs. If a student wants a job outside there are so many opportunities to help them get there. The misconception is it’s really hard to get out. What we’re doing is putting together a proposal in making sure that we make national placement a real part of our push in the next two to three years; getting students there and highlighting their achievements more and more via social media and other marketing.
P&Q: Who are some of Carlson’s top employers?
Singh: Some of our top employers include UnitedHealth Group, Target, Land O’Lakes, Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, and General Mills.
P&Q: What advice do you have for high school students who are interested in studying business in college?
Singh: What you want is so much more important than just looking at rankings. Look at rankings for sure. They’ve given you very good information, but don’t let that one point drive you. Then I say look at the community and ask yourself if you fit in. This is four years of your life where you’re going to spend that time. Meet the students there. See if you connect. Don’t just talk to people who are taking you on tours. Stop in the lunch halls and try to mingle around. The third thing I tell them is, if you can, don’t focus too much on starting salaries. I tell them if you’re coming out of school, the difference between 56 and 58 is going to be driven by location more than anything else. Look at your opportunities.
P&Q: What’s the best part of your job?
Singh: The best part, I think, is you can do these small things that can have a very huge impact on a large population. We are lucky because we are in this place so we get a lot of first gen students, small town Minnesota students who haven’t been outside the state. We have students who have only been as far as Chicago. Then they come here and we have 100% of our students do an international experience. It’s integrated into the curriculum. Given where we are it’s not just a selling point, but it’s really important to us as a value that students be exposed to the globe so that it changes their perspectives. The ability to see how we’re transforming lives is what makes this job great.
DON’T MISS: 2018 BEST & BRIGHTEST: EMERALD EGWIM, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA (CARLSON) or 2018 BEST & BRIGHTEST: ABIGAIL DOEKSEN, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA (CARLSON)
