Jobs less elusive with Anderson School of Management’s curriculum changes this year

Students at the UCLA Anderson School of Management are reportedly finding the job hunt a little bit easier after several curriculum changes were implemented this school year.

Under the changes, students have been able to choose whether to take a finance or a marketing course in their first semester. In the past, students were required to take marketing first ““ a disadvantage to students who were looking to work in the finance sector, said Andrew Ainslie, senior associate dean of the Master of Business Administration program.

The new system allows students to get a head start for job and internship interviews that usually take place midway through the first semester, Ainslie said.

“(The choice between classes) allows people to optimize their first quarter depending on what career they want to pursue,” he said.

Since last fall, students have also had the option to participate in a study track or complete a certificate, which involves taking several classes in a related field that will be reflected on the student’s diploma.

Each year, Anderson compiles data on jobs that students secure. Statistics on how many students have received internships or jobs this year are not yet available because not all students have finalized their plans.

Preliminary data, however, shows that more students are landing high-profile jobs than in past years, Ainslie said.

Management student Sarah Letourneau said she wished she could have taken finance before marketing during her first year.

“In order to do well on an interview for finance, you definitely need to have taken at least a little bit of the class (on it),” she said. “I would have liked to be able to take it before marketing.”

While some students said the new system was helpful during interviews, other students said the ability to choose between the two classes has had no effect on their job prospects.

For Stuti Goswamy, who plans on working in business consulting, the curriculum change has not made it easier to find a job because both finance and marketing are emphasized in her intended career.

Goswamy said she would have preferred to take a crash course in both fields together her first semester to prepare her for multiple aspects of job interviews.

“I would have maybe liked for it to be 50-50 between marketing and finance because both of them were important for my interviews,” Goswamy said.

Students now also have the option to participate in specialized programs tailored to a future career. For example, students can choose to do a “track” ““ which requires five classes ““ in either finance, consulting or marketing, or to do a “certificate” in one of nine fields.

Certificates require four courses and can be taken in topics such as real estate, entrepreneurship and entertainment, Ainslie said.

But some students have said these programs can also be used as mere resume boosters.

“If you were an employer, and all things were equal between two applicants, having a track or certificate might help (one get the job),” said management student James Jeong.

At the moment, students are not required to do a track or certificate, but they will become necessary for students in the future.

For the current class of full-time management students, 30 percent of the second-year students said they were interested in completing a track, and 60 percent of first-year students showed interest, Ainslie said.