College Experiences That Helped A Senior Manager, FP&A At The Bouqs Company Succeed
Alice felt behind peers in college due to switching majors to economics and not having the best grades, so "what ended up doing was getting an internship pretty early on," which proved invaluable, and also suggests that everyone should pursue internships "as early as possible during your college career," regardless of GPA, as practical experience is crucial for securing a job after graduation. Additionally, Alice participated in a condensed business program during college which ended up setting the stage for them to want to pursue business school later on.
Internships, Early Career Experience, Academic Performance, Career Planning, Time Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Alice Choi
Senior Manager, FP&A
The Bouqs Company
Occidental College
UCLA Anderson MBA
Economics
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Finance
Honors Student, Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Internships are crucial, regardless of GPA. Many students with high GPAs struggle to find jobs without internship experience.
2. Gaining internship experience as early as the end of sophomore year can provide a significant advantage.
3. Even a small time commitment, such as 5-6 hours per week, to an internship during college can greatly impact career prospects.
Transcript
What did you do in college to set you up for success in your career?
When I was in college, I felt behind many of my friends. I was going into biochemistry, which was unrelated to finance, so I was years behind based on that.
When I switched to economics, my grades weren't the best. I felt like I needed to do something to make up for that.
I ended up getting an internship pretty early on during my college years, around the end of sophomore year. I did a summer internship and a one-month program that covered condensed business school concepts.
That program actually led me to want to pursue business school after graduating and gaining some work experience. I didn't even realize that internships were something you should do regardless of your grades.
I know friends with straight A's and great GPAs who couldn't land a job after graduating because they lacked internship experience. So, I say this as someone who thought I needed it because of my grades, but really, everyone should have internships as early as possible in college.
If you can also do an internship while taking classes, that’s what I did. These weren't 20-hour weekly internships. I committed about five or six hours a week.
It made a huge difference in my career, helping me get my first job and allowing me to say I had over two years of experience after graduating.