The Forté Foundation reached out to me about promoting their upcoming events for women interested in pursuing an MBA, and I happily said, “Yes!” Forté supports women throughout the MBA experience much like I strive to support International students with MBA in the USA™. I spoke on a Marketing panel at the 2008 Forté event in NYC. This year I was invited back to NYC to represent Kenan-Flagler alumnae. I hope to see some MBA in the USA™ readers there!

Forté Forum: The MBA Value Proposition

September 14 – October 1, 2009

7 cities across the US

6:00 – 9:00 pm

Thinking about an MBA? The Forté Foundation invites women to attend a Forté Forum event to learn, network, and discover what an MBA can do for future career success.  Forums are held in cities throughout the U.S.  Meet with admissions representatives from over 35 top business schools across the country, and talk to GMAT test-preparation companies.  Learn from the experiences of MBA alumnae and current employees at prestigious companies.  Admission is $10. For a schedule of dates and locations, and to register, visit www.fortefoundation.org/forum.

image:0olong

by: Grayson Leverenz

It’s family beach week again! Last year while Brandon and I were down in SC with my family, I shared Francesca Di Meglio’s Reading List for the Poolside MBA. I thought I’d continue the tradition this year with my own summer reading recommendations. My list is not typical of most MBA “must read” lists, but I consider these books priceless.

1. What Color Is Your Parachute? 2010: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard Bolles. This book helps you analyze your passions and motivators to identify what you want to do in life. An early edition led me to purse an MBA with the goal of one day becoming an intercultural consultant. I am one now!

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. MBAs have a reputation for being arrogant know-it-alls, an assumption I’d like to fight. The 7 Habits teaches practical skills to succeed with professionalism, poise and good humor.

3. The Fine Art of Small Talk: How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills — and Leave a Positive Impression! by Debra Fine. Networking is one of the most important parts of succeeding in business, and it’s difficult to do if you have a hard time carrying on conversations with strangers. Debra Fine beautifully and easily illustrates how to engage in small talk to begin forming meaningful relationships.

4. Managing Across Cultures: The 7 Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset by Charlene M. Solomon & Michael S. Schell. This book articulates how to operate in the new "flat" world that global business represents. It explains the concept of culture and the impact of culture on business success. Every student that will work on or lead global teams should read this one, and that’s just about everyone these days.

5. MBA Interviews: How to Shine in Every Interview Situation by Grayson Leverenz. This downloadable e-book prepares you for interviewing excellence from admission to internship to full time placement. It provides a clear framework for answering all types of interview questions, for asking your own questions, and for following up after the interview. There are also detailed examples of each type of question. It’s so cool to have my own book to plug!

Free time (image: nicole st. john)

by: Grayson Leverenz

From the moment you walk into the first class, an MBA consumes your life. Classes, group projects, clubs, networking, recruiting and social activities relentlessly vie for your time. Here are 3 online businesses that will save a little of your precious time:

1. Amazon.com

Not only can you skip a trip to the campus bookstore by buying your textbooks online, you can skip a trip to the grocery store because you can buy food and nonperishable items on Amazon.com, too.

Most Americans prefer to buy in bulk, hence our love affair with big box stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Costco. Amazon.com makes it easy to buy things like paper towels and cleaning supplies in bulk without leaving your house. There’s free shipping if you spend over $25, and everything is delivered right to your door. When you have a rare free moment, you don’t have to spend it shopping. Instead, you can watch movies…

2. Netflix.com

One of my favorite business innovations, Netflix.com allows you to choose movies and television shows online, and delivers them to your door up to 8 at a time. You can also watch a lot of titles instantly as a member using their on-demand feature. It saves a trip to the video store, and provides countless hours of entertainment. Not that you have countless hours. I’m sure you’re thinking, “I really should be reading…”

3. Audible.com

I discovered Audible.com during my MBA program, and have been a faithful subscriber ever since. This business enables you to download digital audiobooks to your preferred player; I use an iPod nano. Brandon and I pay $16 for a monthly subscription that includes one free download per month.

It saves time because you don’t have to go to the library or bookstore, and you can multi-task while you read. I listen while I’m driving, cleaning up and exercising. The last business book I listened to was Malcolm Gladwell’s new one, “Outliers: The Story of Success.” There are tons of juicy conversation points in Outliers that would be a great conversation starter at networking events. I also recently listened to a first novel by Kathryn Stockett called “The Help.” In it she tells the stories of three main characters (2 African-American and 1 Caucasian) living in Mississippi during the beginning of the American Civil Rights Movement. Stockett crafted the story beautifully, and offers an interesting perspective into US culture that I think International students would really enjoy.

I hope those suggestions help you find a few more moments of time in your busy schedules. What other businesses or services have you found to save time during your MBA program?

Our North Carolina townhouse found on CraigsList.com

by: Grayson Leverenz

Figuring out where you want to live is a daunting task, even in your own country. Adding a foreign locale makes it even tougher. With a few of the ideas below, you can find your ideal apartment in the USA.

1. Ask Student Services. The MBA Student Services office exists to help people with tasks like figuring out where to live. Ask them where most MBA students live, and which place they recommend. Also ask them why most people live there (i.e. what’s the attraction?). Then, bounce the ideas off of students you interacted with during the admissions process and get their recommendations.

2. Investigate ApartmentSearch.com. After checking out four online apartment search tools, ApartmentSearch.com emerged as my favorite. It appeals to the nerd in me because it provides an overview of the state where you’re moving. It also places options on a map, and doesn’t require you provide an email address just to search.

3. Check CraigsList.com. CraigsList offers the best options outside of major apartment complexes. If you’re interested in renting a house or townhouse, using CraigsList works very well. You need a good idea of where you want to live because there are so many listings, but the design is pretty user friendly. During my MBA program, Brandon and I rented a townhouse we found on CraigsList.

4. Survey local classified ads. Online classifieds may loop around to an online apartment search tool; that’s what just happened to me when I searched Chapel Hill classifieds. However, I’m sure some online newspapers still print actual ads placed by individual owners. If not, ask student services to mail you a Sunday edition of the local paper; they always have the largest classified section.

5. Hit the pavement. If you are very particular about where you live, you might want to explore by foot once you’re in the US. We call that “hitting the pavement” because you walk from place to place until you find what you’re looking for. This strategy works especially well in small towns that post signs for available rentals.

On Friday, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at the Forte MBA Women’s Conference in NYC.

Women currently make up about 30% of top tier MBA programs. The Forte Foundation mission goes beyond increasing the number of women in MBA programs to “substantially increas[ing] the number of women business leaders.” They accomplish this by helping women explore, fund and excel in MBA programs as well as network throughout all career levels.

Interacting with women from all over the world that were embarking on their MBA journey was so rewarding. I shared my experiences from school as well as my post-MBA career. I listened to their concerns, and answered their questions.

It was definitely a fabulous day all around!

Check out the Forte Foundation website here.