OwenBloggers: Sharran Srivatsaa

Public Speaking, learn to love it!

One of my best friends, Ai, went from being a hardcore engineer to a speaker-evangelist-cool-dude. While discussing recruiting for his team, he described to me how important it was to find someone who had the passion for technology (his line of work) and that the speaking/confidence would come, because the speaking and presenting starts to become the manifestation of that passion.

I could not agree with Ai more. I went from being an engineer to a tennis professional. I had to re-wire my brain, and find ways to communicate with my students, often groups of them. I learned the hard way, but I love tennis and love to see the light bulb go off for people, and that always helped me on the tennis court.

I was recently reading a Forbes article by Rich Karlgaard on "How to Give Great Speeches," and he points to some great speeches on YouTube:

Burt Rutan, "Houson, we have a problem!"

Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Ronald Reagan, "A time for choosing," 1964

Ronald Reagan, "Tear Down this Wall," 1987

JFK Inaugural Address

 

Technorati Tags: sharran,srivatsaa,ai,anand iyer,kaarlgard,forbes,jfk,reagan,public speaking

Chat with a Prospective Student

A prospective student from India and I had been exchanging emails on potential times when we can connect to talk on the phone. It was a little challenging to synchronize schedules so we decided that we would talk over Google Chat as and when possible. We got a chance to catch up and chat today.

She threw some tough questions my way... and those were similar to the questions that I had when I was looking at MBA programs. Here is one of the questions that she asked me... and a summary of my answer:

How are career opportunities at Owen different from those at other schools?

This is a tough question and I can only give my perspective... I am very fortunate. I believe that I got the "best" internship and the "best" full-time job for me. I would have probably gotten the same job if I had ended up at one of the Ivys. US News ranks it as one of the Top 3 most desirable companies to work as an MBA, so I am very grateful.

Now this is what I told her... In my experience, the students who I have seen who have been successful in their job search are the ones that have a story. A story that show where they are coming from, why they are here, and how all of it ties into where they want to go with their post-MBA lives. Recruiters have told me that it is challenging to tell one candidate apart from the other, and having a story that can uniquely identify you and show your fit with the company and the career path makes you a very attractive candidate.

For finance careers on Wall Street, it seems like schools that are away from the Street are at somewhat of a disadvantage. This goes for any school outside the NYC area. I have heard this from many interns this summer and I think we have a challenge just like other schools. But I feel like there are two things that set up apart:

1. Owen has an amazing finance faculty. We have experts in almost every branch of finance and I feel that is one of Owen's biggest Assets. Hans Stoll created the put-call parity. Bob Whaley wrote the textbook on Derivatives. Craig Lewis is a rockstar in valuations. Nick Bollen's research in Hedge Funds has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. Dewey Daane was a Fed Bank Chairman and the last appointment of JFK. Bill Henderson is an authority in taxation. Associate Dean Bill Christie's research changed the way trading happens today on the exchanges. We have new professors who have just joined us who I have yet to take a class with, but they were recruited specifically because of their research and teaching excellence. I recently took a law school class that has a direct impact on my finance learning and I am happy about the opportunity that I had to do that over at the Vandy Law School.

2. We bring NY to you. Rather we take you to New York during Wall Street week. Owen collaborates with its alumni and corporate contacts on Wall Street to setup an entire week for students to visit different companies in the financial world in New York. The Owen alumni around the world play an integral part in supporting the school and in the recruiting. I spoke with about 30 alums before I even had my first interview... and these people take time out of their days to support Owen students. Dean Jim Bradford and Peter Veruki (Director of Corporate Relations) are constantly developing our relationships with companies around the world, and I know this first hand as I serve as Owen's Corporate Ambassador.

Owen also has regular visits from experts who run seminars on valuation, financial modeling, etc. every semester which give students a chance to learn about how exactly things are done on the street and a way to build their skills before they actually get there. The Finance club does a whole program with sector leaders specializing in each of the different areas of finance. These sector leaders help with resume reviews, cover letters, mock interviews etc. The school really goes out of its way to give students career resources and tools. I appreciate that and definitely took advantage of it during my career exploration.

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Whatever. If something sucks, it sucks.

Today one of my colleagues ripped on me, in the presence of numerous other folks, and plainly stated that he/she was ticked off at my lack of support for one of the administrative entities of the school on a particular matter. First, I am glad that this was said... 1. I serve in some official, elected capacities and it is my responsibility to hold up my end of the bargain 2. It takes courage to say "what the heck," especially in public and at the right time... and most importantly 3. It is the right thing to do... if not it would get brushed under the rug and there would be all that harboring-negative-feelings-crap, which I hate.

Then I got to thinking... should I be all PC and support the administrative entities of the school (maybe it be faculty, staff, deans, admissions, career management, library etc.) at all times, no matter what I thought? I think I am blessed with enough common sense to not bash the school... but if I am having a discussion with three friends in the hallway and we talk about how one of the recent projects done by one of the schools administrative entities sucks, well... if I think it sucks, I will say that it sucks. That's the friend and Owen student in me talking. Now what is unacceptable given my role on campus as a member of the student government is that I don't do anything about it... that is wrong. And I try very hard to make sure that never happens. But that is a discussion for another time.

The Owen Student Government is a body has elected officers... elected by the students. The interest and development of the student body is my primary responsibility and I feel very strongly about it. I see it as my right as well as obligation to call a spade a spade... if something sucks, it sucks. Well, I probably shouldn't say that it "sucks," (i.e. I should probably substitute it with another word) but I am going to call it as I see it... and its going to offend a few people in the bargain, but I am sorry that I cannot deal with mediocrity, especially when excellence is clearly within reach.

So how does this quasi-rant help potential students: The Owen culture is not one of accepting what is given to us. We try to challenge it. I try to challenge it. We should challenge it. Change is challenging in an educational institution, and at the very least it takes a whole academic year for a new initiative to get rolled out just because that's the way everything works. But that should not change the way we look at problems and potential solutions. This is a school that embraces change... and is constantly looking for ways to make this place better. That is one of the fundamental reasons why I love Owen. Please...call a spade a spade when you come to visit. Tell us what you like about Owen and also share your ideas that will help us make this a better place to live and learn. For that matter, send us an email right now... to owenbloggers at gmail dot com and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. If something sucks, we want to know.

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All positive eh?

So I recently got some feedback that everything we write has a positive spin on it. Things like, "classes are hard, but I am learning a lot" or "my team sucks, but its good for me to work with different people" etc. Although there is a level of truth to this and this is why we come to school (to take the tough stuff and develop personally and professionally), I will write completely about negative feelings in this post.

I have never been more swamped. This past module has continuously felt like I have been spinning my wheels and not really getting anywhere. I have a fully booked calendar with classes, organizations, career counseling and group meetings. I would say I have the least amount personal time this semester  and it always feels like I am rushed and that I am scrambling. Thank heavens the job search is done. Last year I made it my business to take one day off. I took one day a week for myself, where I did not schedule any meetings and use the time to get caught up on my life... may it be putting my notes in order, sleeping in, making personal calls and answering personal emails, laundry, read, catch up on my TiVo etc. This semester I have not been able to do that for myself and I have been working at the same rate and that is burning me out quickly. I was able to stay in good mental and physical shape all last year because I was able to have this personal time, but I am unable to do that this year and that is really burning me out much more quickly. So what? Heck, its not fun.

And I know we are better off that the Northeast and the Midwest when it comes to the weather, but I after living in the tropics over the last 5 years and most of my childhood, I think my body has gotten more Clark Kent-ish, i.e. deriving a lot of strength and inspiration from the sun. These days Nashville has been bloody cold, and it is absolutely depressing. As I walk out of the building dressed in more layers than a Samoan living in the north pole, the first words out of my mouth are definitely not, "Yay Hurray!" Yuck.

I am ready for winter break.

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Social Impact at Owen

We have many great initiatives at Owen. We are doing some very exciting things to contribute to a greener world. We have a whole new system of low-flush restrooms. The entire building has energy efficient lighting. Isaac and I created the Green Room last year... a printing resource room that has energy efficient printers, recycled paper, full-duplex printing, no cover pages, and handy paper recycling bins. We use recyclable cups at our social events and we got some very cool social event glasses that students are using instead of using the plastic cups. Recycle bins all over the place. Recruiters and companies cannot spam our mailboxes with recruiting flyers. Baby steps.

What I am particularly excited about is the new set of positions we have created as part of the Owen Student Government. We have a first and second year position on the student government executive board that focuses entirely on Social Impact. Daniel and Jeff and doing a wonderful job building a strategy to integrate the students, clubs and organizations, recruiters, and alumni... all using the power and responsibility of Social Impact. These guys just shared the strategy and timeline they have built with me and I am so impressed. The goals for integrating Social Impact into the student government was to have a central clearinghouse and repository for social impact activities related to Owen, to make a formal commitment to recognizing and supporting the impact that we can have on our community, and most importantly to allow the students to be stewards of the community.

Jeff and Daniel, thank you for doing such an amazing job. I am proud of our team and I am excited to see the new initiatives that you are going to roll out over the next six months.

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Would you rather...

Today I parked kinda illegally for about an hour on the Vandy campus. I figured that it was 8am on a Saturday morning and if someone really wanted to tow me or give me a ticket, I would gladly take it. Then I got to thinking... would I really want to be towed? Better yet, what would happen if my car wouldnt start.

If the expected costs for the towing and repairing the starting problem for the car were the same, would you rather have your car towed or have your car not start?

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