Mentoring from School of Business Alumnus Lands MBA Students an Internship

Mentoring from School of Business Alumnus Lands MBA Students an Internship

Boyd & Laishram

University of San Diego School of Business graduate students, Indira Laishram and Nicholas Boyd, recently completed the summer internship of a lifetime at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD). BD is the renowned leader in patient and healthcare worker safety and technologies implemented by medical research and clinical laboratories. Owing thanks to School of Business MBA alumnus, Magnus Felke, both Laishram and Boyd secured internships in marketing and management at BD last summer.

Felke is the Senior Marketing Director at BD. For the last seven years, he has been participating as a mentor in the USD MBA mentorship program. This mentorship program matches USD graduate business alumni with current full-time MBA students based on similar areas of professional interest. In doing so, it provides students with industry insights and networking opportunities and, in the case of Laishram and Boyd, an internship.

“I believe real-world experience in the workplace is a great way to complement classroom learning,” says Felke. “Therefore, I have always tried to provide the students that I am mentoring with an internship. It is a true win-win since every student has been able to contribute to projects in a meaningful way and the students always bring in a fresh perspective to the workplace.”

After a USD Graduate Business Career Services trek to BD, Laishram was thrilled when MBA mentors from the mentorship program helped her connect with BD employees early in the year. These relationships ultimately guided her internship search and led her to where she truly wanted to work and learn this past summer. Laishram has a PhD in tumor immunology, so the opportunity to work in the marketing department for a medical company was a perfect alignment for her.

Internships are opportunities for students to become familiar with the professional working environment and apply what they have learned from classes to the real world. Boyd and Laishram were able to take ideas and knowledge from the classroom and use them to brainstorm ideas and help solve problems in their internship role.

“My course, Marketing for Global Managers, laid the foundation for the concepts and Strategic Marketing prepared me better for my role,” says Laishram. “The other courses in supply chain management and management consulting gave insights into other functions of the company that interface directly with the marketing team.”

Over the course of his internship, Boyd found himself performing new tasks, learning, and applying concepts he had learned throughout his coursework here at USD.

“I performed the responsibilities of a product manager for the launch of one of our products in an international market,” says Boyd. “It was fascinating to see how this process works, from announcement to delivery, and communicating with our teams abroad has been educational as well.”

The incredible internship experience that both Boyd and Laishram experienced at BD wouldn’t have happened as easily without the help from their mentor, Felke.

“I really enjoy the engagement with USD, the incredible students and faculty. It is not only giving back but I have been able to learn and experience something new every year,” says Felke. “Many mentorships have evolved into friendships and I am still regularly in touch with many of my past mentees. It has been a very enriching experience and I love seeing how the students develop and find their footing in the professional world.”

Contact:

Renata Ramirez
renataramirez@sandiego.edu
(619) 260-4658