MBA Site Steers Students into Internships
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MBAProjectSearch has helped to place around 100 MBA students into internships with companies since its launch in August 2012, giving them a taste of the real world. For company founder Dan Mullaney, the idea for this site was simple, stemming from two distinct-but-connected events.
Those events include Mullaney's struggles as a business owner and his subsequent decision to further his education that came as a result of those struggles.
"A capstone project is part of the MBA program at Georgetown, and as a part of that project, we were put into groups of four or five and given a consulting job for a multinational corporation," said Mullaney, CEO of MBAProjectSearch. "Thinking back to the struggles I had as a small business owner before going to Georgetown, I thought that MBAs could provide a lot of value to those startups, whether on a freelance or internship basis."
The site, which is free to use, acts as an online meeting place for MBA students and businesses who wish to use their services. Both parties post what they are looking for on the site and can arrange an internship, freelance assignment or even full-time job through the website.
"It has gotten some great feedback," Mullaney said.
Mullaney says the service has gotten such positive reviews because it fills the needs of both sides in the agreement.
"A majority of MBA students are open to internships because they are looking to make a career change," said Mullaney. "There wasn’t anything in the marketplace to allow them to build upon their story. I thought not only could startups get the benefit of working with an MBA student, but the students themselves could also take the benefit of being able to get experience."
Additionally, Mullaney says that he has noticed MBA students are more receptive to working with smaller companies, which is also helping to drive the success of the site.
"From what I have seen, it is really only anecdotal at this point, there are a lot of MBAs that are looking to be involved in their own startup or in the startup community in general," Mullaney said. "I've seen many MBA students say they want to have the opportunity to do things on their own in a flexible fashion and we are able to accommodate that trend."
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