Corporate Presentations

This week, I attended two corporate presentations at SOM. These are an integral part of the internship and career process. Companies come to campus and make their pitch to persuade students to apply to their programs, and likewise students dress in suits and try to ask intelligent questions to start building a bridge to a place they might like to work.

First up, on Tuesday, was Mars Inc. Lunch was provided -- pizza, salads, cookies and, of course, many Mars candies, of which I chose Twix. (Please watch the commercial above ... it's about 10 years old, and one of my all-time favorites.) Three people from the company, including a recent SOM grad, talked about the company and highlighted some of the aspects that might make it appealing: It's privately held, so they answer to their customers, not Wall Street. It's the 6th largest private company in the U.S. and boasts many of the most popular and recognizable brands in the world (including M&Ms, Skittles and Snickers, but also Whiskas and Pedigree pet foods, and Uncle Ben's Rice). It's a lean company (meaning it's not weighted down by lots of layers of management) with an open physical office layout (no private offices ... everybody sits together in an open room), and they encourage their employees to be free and creative. After they give the pitch, people ask questions, and some people hang around after to shake hands and say hello. (I prefer not to do that, but to each his own.)

On Wednesday (today), I went to the presentation for Thomson Reuters. Although that's a totally different company from Mars, it was a similar gig: food consisted of nice sandwiches, chips and baked goodies, a few people including a recent SOM grad gave a PowerPoint presentation and pitched their internship opportunities and post-MBA rotational program, etc. As different as the two companies are, each has appealing aspects, but it's all going to boil down to What I Want To Do, which is still an issue.

Back to the really important point, which is hilarious commercials from 1998, here was my other favorite. I don't know why I remember these commercials ... they just made me laugh a lot.