Incoming Students

Incoming MBA students will begin receiving access to 12twenty starting July 1. To ensure you’re ready to dive in, be sure to complete the CDO Career Prep course in Canvas. This course is designed to give you a strong foundation before you begin exploring job postings, scheduling coaching appointments, or accessing employer events through 12twenty. Once you’ve completed the course, you’ll be added to the platform on a rolling basis throughout the summer.

We are excited that you will be joining the program! We typically do not work with students on a 1:1 basis until you officially begin the program in the fall. In the spring, we are continuing our work with recent graduates, preparing rising first years for their second year, and prepping for the incoming classes in the fall (you!) over the summer. We have built in the timing of our engagement with you based on years of experience working with the student cycles and recruiting timelines. We are fully committed to your success, and we have things in place to help you in the meantime – trust the process!

If you are part of The Consortium or attending the Forte summer conferences, we will be sending messaging to you in the spring to prepare you for those engagements. For more information on those programs, reach out to the Recruiting and Admissions Office.

We will open up opportunities to do an intake process with an advisor starting in July. Prior to that, those students who have committed to Rice Business will have access to virtual Ask Me Anything sessions hosted by CDO career advisors.

Prior to Launch (orientation), you will be required to complete an online course to build foundational career knowledge. The online course will answer many of your questions and should give you a strong foundation to approach the career management process as you start the program in the fall.

During Launch, the CDO will host dedicated sessions to work with you as a group. After Launch, you can begin scheduling with an advisor to go over your individual goals and help you get started with a career development plan.

Yes, it is required for full time MBA students, and those PMBAs that are internship-seeking. For others, it is highly recommended, but not required. This course is delivered through Canvas and will help build foundational career development knowledge. Through the course, you will understand how the CDO can support you, understand how to manage the job search process, and get your resume in the Rice Business format (also required to access the job board).

Pre-MBA events — boot camps, seminars, networking events, mini internships — as the name implies, occur in the summer before you start the program. Students who meet the targeted criteria are introduced to MBA career paths and can engage with employers. Some pre-MBA opportunities are designed for particular audiences, while others are open to all and aim to educate future MBA students to potential career paths. It is common practice for major consulting and banking firms, and a select number of large organizations. Some opportunities will be listed on this page, but it is not comprehensive. Do research for your target companies/industries to ascertain if opportunities will be occurring that year. If you are selected for a pre-MBA opportunity, we can work with you as you prepare. You can reach out to the team if this is the case at cdo@rice.edu.

In theory, yes – PMBA students can pursue an internship. However, there are many considerations before you decide if an internship is right for you. The PMBA program is designed for a fully employed working professional – the internship is not built into the program. Therefore, it may be that certain core courses, such as finance, that would be beneficial to your target industry would not be offered prior to the interview process. Courses that are key to the completion of the degree may also be held during the internship period – it will be up to you to navigate the conflicts, either asking employers to shorten your internship (hard to do for structured internship programs) or taking unexcused absences from your class which may impact your final grade.

Also, you must consider the time it will take to pursue recruiting efforts while juggling personal and professional commitments. Most recruiters expect a high level of engagement and networking, in addition to learning technical and case interview techniques. Information sessions are dictated by the recruiter and often occur during business hours. Furthermore, if you are offered an internship and accept it, you will have to leave your full time role to complete the 11-12 week summer internship. Return offers are not guaranteed. You may need to recruit for full time opportunities in the fall and spring semesters.

Upon completion, if you are given a return offer, the start dates are not until after graduation (as they are hiring a fully minted MBA), so there may be many months of potential unemployment that you will need to navigate after the internship. For many roles, an internship is not required to make a career switch, with the exception being Investment Banking, where an internship is the main access point. If that is the case, please reach out to an advisor at the start of the program to discuss your game plan as internship recruitment processes begin quite early in the fall.

An advisor can help you develop a strategy if you are interested in searching for a new role in your first year. This is often the case in times of job loss or wanting to seek outside opportunities from your current employer. However, keep in mind that if you are pursuing an MBA level role – one where the recruiter is seeking the MBA as a requirement – they are not likely to consider a first year student. Recruiters that work with our office follow the academic cycle and typically only consider second year students for MBA level positions. Also, if you receive an offer in the fall of your second year, typical start dates will not occur until completion of your degree in May. You can use this information to plan the exit of your current role accordingly.

On occasion, we have some roles posted in OWL Careers where recruiters will consider someone in the process of completing their degree. To gain access to apply for these positions, you must complete the CDO course in full and upload your Rice MBA formatted resume.

You can pursue an internship as part of the online program. However, recruiters follow the typical fall-start, 2-year MBA cycle. The online program has quadmester start dates, so you may be starting off of the traditional recruiting cycle. You will need to be proactive to sync up and prepare as much of MBA recruitment is lock-step. Many events may be in person, based on company preference. Also, you may be graduating off cycle. You will need to be proactive to sync up and prepare. You must communicate to employers what your graduation date is as start dates often are post-graduation.

The internship is not built into the online program experience. Therefore, it may be that certain core courses, such as finance, that would be beneficial to your target industry would not be offered prior to the interview process. Courses that are key to the completion of the degree may also be held during the internship period – it will be up to you to navigate the conflicts, either asking employers to shorten your internship (hard to do for structured internship programs) or taking unexcused absences from your class which may impact your final grade.

Also, you must consider the time it will take to pursue recruiting efforts while juggling personal and professional commitments. Most recruiters expect a high level of engagement and networking, in addition to learning technical and case interview techniques. Information sessions are dictated by the recruiter and often occur during business hours. Furthermore, if you are offered an internship and accept it, you will have to leave your full time role to complete the 11-12 week summer internship. Return offers are not guaranteed. You may need to recruit for full time opportunities in the fall and spring semesters.

Upon completion, if you are given a return offer, the start dates are not until after graduation (as they are hiring a fully minted MBA), so there may be many months of potential unemployment that you will need to navigate after the internship. For many roles, an internship is not required to make a career switch with the exception being Investment Banking where an internship is the main access point. If you want to pursue Investment Banking, consider the full time program. If that is the case, please reach out to an advisor at the start of the program to discuss your game plan as internship recruitment processes begin quite early in the fall.

No, Hybrid MBA students cannot do an internship. Certain core courses will be held during the traditional internship period. If you want to pursue an internship experience, consider the full time program.

Often the admissions office will look at other metrics and experiences when considering a student’s eligibility for entry to Rice Business. Depending on the industry you intend on pursuing post MBA however, a GMAT can be a critical part of your candidacy. The more competitive a role/industry is, the more likely a GMAT of 680 and above can increase your profile. This is common practice for consulting, investment banking, and leadership development rotational programs.

Engaging with the Career Development Office once you start in the fall is where the real work happens, but you should start evaluating your career journey and prepping your job search materials such as resume, LinkedIn profile, and etc. Start researching what industries and roles that are common for MBAs. Look at publications like https://poetsandquants.com/ to educate yourself on relevant recruiting topics and trends. If you have identified potential areas of interest, start researching what skills and requirements make you a competitive candidate. Also, attending the pre-MBA series and completing the CDO Career Course will provide a great head start. You can see pre-MBA events in your admissions portal and see other opportunities listed here: https://cdo.business.rice.edu/channels/prospective-students/

There are organizations that organize annual conferences to support their memberships’ needs. They often have regional and local chapters as well that host development opportunities, workshops, and scholarships. At the annual conferences, there are opportunities to connect with recruiters from national organizations at the career fair. These career fairs are also valuable to students to connect with large corporations in tech, pharma, and other large organizations with leadership development programs. Membership varies by organization. Many MBA students attend the annual conference for the career fair to gain access to recruiters. These organizations include, but are not limited to:

• http://www.asianmba.org/
• https://mbaveterans.com/
• https://nbmbaa.org/
• https://www.prospanica.org/
• https://reachingoutmba.org/

We allow our recruiters to drive the recruitment process. They dictate to us what candidates and qualifications they are seeking. Recruiters have specific needs regarding where students are in their program cycle and requirements. All jobs are posted and viewable by the target audience on our job board portal, OWLCareers, in alignment with their needs. Our Corporate and Employer Relations team educate our partner employers about the different programs and share opportunities with students via our platform and job board, OWL Careers.

The CDO works with all students across programs. You have access to career coaching, workshops, and other special career education events. The advising team does develop tailored educational content and brings in experts and guest speakers. Students are welcome to attend, and these are advertised in OWL Careers under Events.

We have our annual report public and posted here: https://cdo.business.rice.edu/outcomes/

For further information, you can always contact our office at CDO@rice.edu

Students can book one appointment each week for 30 to 45 minutes. This gives you and your peers equal access to our team. Students can self book via OWL Careers (http://mba-rice.12twenty.com/). You will gain access to this portal once you start the program in the fall. If you need to meet with your advisor again in the same week, just email an advisor directly to coordinate. If you cannot find a time that works for you, email us and we will do our best to accommodate your request.