Ashley Parham remembers the first time she heard of a deferred Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. She was attending a webinar as part of the Fort矇 Rising Stars program at 窪蹋勛圖厙s Weatherhead School of Management. On the webinar, representatives from some of the top universities in the country explained the different programs and the benefits that they offered to students.
Through the webinar, Parham, a fourth-year accounting major, made a connection with the director at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who she's now been in touch with for the last two years.
Weatherhead became an undergrad partner school with the Fort矇 Foundation in 2019. As a partner school, female-identifying undergraduate students have free access to the Fort矇 Rising Stars program, which focuses on launching women into fulfilling careers through access to business education, professional development and a community of successful women.
Parham is expected to graduate with her bachelors degree this spring and has a summer internship lined up at Ernst & Young in Cleveland. In the fall, she will return to Weatherhead to complete her Master of Accountancy degree. She plans to begin applying for deferred MBA programs next year with the goal of receiving a year or two of full-time work experience before returning to school for her MBA degree.
That webinar gave me a solid foundation to know what programs are out there and which ones are a good fit for me, she said.
Fort矇 has more than 100,000 members and over 50 influential companies across the globe as partners.
To be able to offer this program at no cost to students, is truly a fantastic opportunity, said Laura Bentley, staff advisor to the program on campus. The opportunities that participants have to engage with top employers is priceless.
Among the resources the program offers are networking opportunities with well-known universities and employers, webinars focused on professional development skills, national conferences and a mentoring program.
As a first-year student, Parham attended Fort矇s National Campus to Business Leadership Conference in Chicago, where she took part in different learning sessionsone on technical skills and another on personal brandand she went to a networking session where she met with representatives from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and the University of Virginia.
Through the mentoring program, second-year accounting student, Sai Mamidi, was able to connect with a woman who graduated from New York University and has worked through the Big Four accounting firms as a consultant. She also was connected with a graduate school admission officer from Columbia University.
Fort矇 has given me a lot of hope for the future, said Mamidi. What was really encouraging was to be connected with a group of women from a bunch of different schools. Its nice to always have that foot in the door and that support system.
Students can also receive a Fort矇 Career Ready Certificate by completing various modules and reading articles that touch upon career readiness, such as interview and resume skills.
It was really flexible toward my schedule to complete the certificate, said Mamidi. Its something you do on your own time.
It's a very low time commitment and its what you make of it, Bentley added, as much of the program is self guided and students can choose which webinars and opportunities that theyd like to be a part of. 窪蹋勛圖厙 students continue to excel academically and professionally and this program is a unique way for students to continue to fine tune and showcase their skills.
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Reach out to Laura Bentley with any questions or to join the program.