Students from the Rady School traveled to the Bay Area January 29 to 30 to tour top companies, network with Bay Area alumni and help brand the Rady School outside of San Diego during the annual Bay Area Trek program.
Over the last few years, the Bay Area Trek program has expanded exponentially. This year, 70 students from Rady’s Full Time MBA and FlexMBA programs attended, nearly double the number of attendees from last year. Additionally, there has been a major increase in the number of companies who invited Rady students to visit, primarily because of an improvement in the national rankings of the Rady School and because Rady alumni hold important positions in many of these companies.
Students who attended the trek were able to choose a track based on their interests, or choose to cross-track in multiple areas of interest. The tracks include Banking, Consumer Products, Technology and Biotech/Healthcare. Students then signed up to visit the companies that interested them most.
Before the trip, students researched the companies and prepared to meet executives and alumni. Once in the Bay Area, they were able to meet with Rady alumni who are interested in hiring from their alma mater. This year, the companies that students visited included Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Kaiser Permanente, Pandora, Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Bloomberg Institute.
For students, visiting these big-name companies was a major highlight. Without the Trek, students would not have the opportunity to meet with executives face-to-face. The experience they gained interacting in a corporate environment translates to important networking skills in the business world.
The Trek also gives Rady students a huge advantage when they begin searching for a job. The level of competition in the job market, particularly in the Bay Area, is very high, but because these students were able to meet face-to-face with executives at top companies, they were able to convey the personalities behind their resumes.
“All things being equal, when companies are looking to hire someone they are much more likely to go with someone who they have interacted with and who has a good personality,” said Terra Saltzman-Baker, Rady’s Director of Graduate Career Connections.
The Bay Area Trek also included an alumni reception in San Mateo on January 29. Over 90 guests attended, including Bay Area alumni, Rady students and UC San Diego Alumni club leaders. The reception gave alumni and students alike an opportunity to network with peers and other members of the Rady community.
To follow one Rady MBA student’s firsthand experience on this year’s trek, read:
My Adventures on Rady’s Annual Bay Area Trek
The Bay Area Trek is a highly anticipated annual event and part of Rady’s top ranked MBA program. Want to learn more about Rady’s MBA experience? Download our eBook featuring student and alumni insights on why they chose Rady, where Rady alumni work, the top benefit for Rady students and more.
Aleena Karamally is a student writer for the Rady School and a freshman at UC San Diego. She is a Human Development major and a member of the UC San Diego Equestrian Team.