MBA Careers
MBA Career Management Vision and Mission
The Eller MBA Career & Professional Development Team vision is to develop and guide students to find their passion and contribute to the global society.
Our mission is to educate and empower students to apply their career & professional development skills to achieve their professional aspirations through:
- Career coaching and advising
- Corporate and alumni connections
- Exploratory and experiential learning opportunities
Prospective Students
Eller MBA PD Team works with you as your partner striving for the same goal: your success. Learn about the services we offer:
Students have the opportunity to actively engage with the Professional Development Team in order to seek coaching and advice that ranges from: general career guidance, support with resumes and cover letters to preparing for an interview. Through formal and informal meetings, coffee chats and a variety of workshops, the Professional Development Team is here to work with students to become successful.
Students have the opportunity to meet and connect with a variety of corporate and alumni connections. The Professional Development Team organizes a variety of events, such as networking mixers and information sessions, where students can make professional connections, learn about internship and job opportunities, and broaden their network.
The Eller MBA Professional Development Team works with students to gain hands on experiences through mock interviews, career treks (site visits) and a variety of workshops. These opportunities allow students to see things from the employer's perspective and gain a broader understanding of how to set themselves up for future success.
Career Search
Deciding on your post-MBA career is a critical and integral aspect of your Eller MBA experience. Through the coaching and advising from the MBA Professional Development Team on a personalized, one-on-one basis, you will be able to make these critical decisions.
Starting at enrollment and during orientation, you will identify target organizations, industries and functional areas through the execution of your individualized career search strategy. The strategy prepares you to position yourself for opportunities that are a good fit for you and leverage your interests, skills and past experiences.
Recruiting Cycles
Understanding the recruiting cycle of employers is a vital part of the career search. Most employers will begin posting opportunities and visiting campuses as soon as classes begin in the Fall. On-campus career fairs, as well as the national career fairs, take place in September and October each year. These events are the primary sources for employers to find their internship and full-time candidates.
Therefore, you will want to make sure your resume and cover letter are always up-to-date, as well as scheduling time with the MBA Professional Development Team to prepare for the career fairs.
First-year MBA Cycle: when you begin your first year of the MBA program in the Fall, your main career focus is to obtain the mandatory internship for the following summer.
Second-year MBA Cycle: during your second year of the MBA program, your main career focus is to obtain a full-time position.
Engaging with the Professional Development Team early, and often, will benefit you in both searches!
Resources
As a Full-Time MBA student, you will have access to some great job searching resources.
Handshake is the University of Arizona career management tool offering students and alumni access to jobs, internships and a range of other services including campus interviewing and resume referrals. Through Handshake, you can schedule advising appointments, apply to postings and RSVP to events.
GradLeaders is the market leader in b-school and diversity conference recruitment technology, connecting leading employers year-round with students and alumni from the world's top-ranked graduate business schools and professional associations. GradLeaders works with partner universities and corporations, who exclusively post their full-time job and internship positions on GradLeaders.
MBA-Exchange is the world-leading marketplace for MBAs, where through the partnership with Eller MBA, students have premium access that includes more than 100,000 MBA jobs, more than 1,400 employers and more than 500 MBA development programs. MBA-Exchange increases candidate visibility to employers through online events that allow students to engage in real-time with hiring managers and promoting candidate profiles to local and international employers.
In addition to these, the Career Management Team also encourages students to utilize LinkedIn to enhance their professional network and find opportunities.
International Students
Securing employment in the United States can be a challenge for an international student due to recent immigration laws and quotas. Therefore, we encourage international students— students who possess a student visa and no authorization to work in the United States—to understand the current laws and regulations with regards to how you would be able to work in the United States, and to do extensive searches with regards to companies (both inside and outside of the U.S.) that have the ability to sponsor the necessary work visa. There are common terms you should understand as an international student.
Work Authorization refers to an individual’s legal right to work in the United States. U.S. citizens, born or naturalized, are always authorized to work in the United States. Whereas foreign citizens may be authorized if they have an immigration status that allows them to work. (source: USCIS.gov)
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is a type of authorization that allows F-1 students to accept a paid or unpaid work experience or internship in a student’s major field of study. CPT is limited to practical training opportunities that fulfill a curricular academic objective. To be considered for CPT, the opportunity must not only be related to the student’s major field of study but is also a required or an integral part of an established curriculum. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prohibits the authorization of CPT issued for the primary purpose of facilitating employment. CPT cannot be utilized for a work experience or internship that is solely beneficial for career development.
Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a form of temporary employment authorization for eligible F-1 students. This authorization is recommended by International Student Services (ISS) and awarded by USCIS. It allows you to work anywhere in the United States, as long as the employment is directly related to your program of study. OPT in not employer-specific. OPT can be utilized before you complete your program (pre-completion OPT) and/or after you complete your program (post-completion OPT). In total, you may be eligible for 12 months of standard OPT for each higher degree level you complete. If you do pre-completion OPT, then the time you utilize will be subtracted from the time available to you for post-completion OPT (subtracted at half the rate for part-time pre-completion OPT). For example, a student who utilizes two months of full-time pre-completion OPT and two months of part-time pre-completion OPT will have nine months remaining for post-completion OPT.
For additional information, refer to the University of Arizona's International Student Services webpage.
Recruiters and Employers
While the Eller MBA PD Team's vision is to develop and guide students to find their passion and contribute to the global society, we cannot do it alone. Having great corporate partners helps our students make those contributions to the global society.
Engage with MBA Students
There is a multitude of opportunities available to connect with our MBA students. From information sessions to mock interviews to site visits, you can be as engaged with the students as you would like.
Posting internship or full-time opportunities
If you have positions that you are looking to fill for internships or full-time opportunities, reach out to the Eller Professional Development Team, and we can help you post and market those positions on our university job board, Handshake.
Resume books of candidates for employment opportunities
If you have opportunities and are looking for candidates, contact the Eller MBA Career Management Team to request resume books of our current students
Hiring Eller MBAs
Have a Job, internship, and other employment opportunities for Eller MBAs? Connect with the MBA Career Management Team to have your opportunity posted and advertised to MBA students.
You can be as active as you would like in engaging with Eller MBA students.
Information Sessions vary by structure and nature. The most common type of information session comes in the form of a company presentation with an opportunity for a question-and-answer discussion.
Career Trek/Site Visits are great opportunities for the employers to open their doors and showcase who they are at their core to the Eller MBA students. The structure of a site visit (career trek) varies from company to company. Some common components include a tour of the facility, interactions with employees at various levels, presentations and discussions. The Eller MBA Career Management Team will work with you on creating a mutually beneficial experience.
Mock Interviews are a great way to meet students and help them improve their skills. Mock interviews can be conducted in a variety of ways: live on-campus, by telephone or Zoom. Eller MBA students always appreciate the time employers take to help hone their interviewing skills and make a professional connection.
Networking Events/Career Fairs are hosted by Eller MBA Career Management once per semester. It is a great opportunity to engage with the students, develop an on-campus brand presence and develop a rapport with the Eller MBA Program.