June 2017

June 2017 

Featured Scholarship Recipient – Heba Elhalbawi, MSA

Being a student in the Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program at CSULB is a great honor. It has efficiently prepared me to participate in the Accounting profession. I graduated from Cerritos College with an Associates of Arts degree in Business Administration with the highest honors. Then, I graduated from California State University Fullerton with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, with a GPA of 3.8. My goal is to graduate with the highest honors at CSULB, and obtain my CPA license.

Before I applied for the Russ and Charlotte Lesser Family Accountancy Scholarship, I had spent all of my money on fall semester tuition and books and I would have to pay over $3,000 to register for the upcoming Spring semester. Earning a scholarship was an essential and urgent need for my financial conditions at that time. I am eternally grateful to my mentor, Dr. Sudha Krishnan, who was very informative about the scholarship opportunities CSULB offers. The Russ and Charlotte Lesser Family Accountancy Scholarship helped me financially to pay off my tuition and buy books. It also gave me the peace of mind that motivated me to compete and achieve first place at the LA Chapter, Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) case competition and feel proud to be a CSULB student. On May 5, CSULB honored me as the recipient of the Russ and Charlotte Lesser Family Accountancy Scholarship at the CBA Honors banquet where my family and friends blessed me with their love and pride. 
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Featured Alumni – Lucy Guillen, MBA/MFA

Lucy Guillen graduated from CSULB with a joint MBA/MFA degree. She is now a Senior Consultant, Advisor, and Educator in the field of behavioral economics. She spent the last two years with the Gallup Corporation in Singapore, managing their Asia small-to-medium enterprise division. She now directs consulting operations for a boutique consultancy in West LA, and is the founder of Merryweather Consulting Group, which helps individuals with no business experience start a business from scratch. Lucy came to CSULB as a mature student and credits it with changing her life. She came back to school to learn how to start a non-profit business and ended up falling in love with management consulting. Through working closely with the career center practically from matriculation, she landed an incredible MBA internship opportunity in Chicago. These opportunities led to a full-time career, which includes leading consulting projects in over 20 countries as a consultant, and improving the lives of tens of thousands of people through her role as an employee wellbeing specialist. She cherishes the time she spent at CSULB and only wishes she lived closer! Lucy was honored at this year’s Graduation Banquet; she received the Outstanding Alumni award on behalf of the Graduate Programs Director, Dr. Ingrid Martin and the Graduate Business Office.

Where are they Now?

Bryan Kim, MS Supply Chain Management Cohort 1

Prior to applying to CSULB's MSSCM Graduate Program, I was working as a Freight Forwarder and felt motivated to expand my knowledge outside of transportation. Due to the program being reasonably priced and its proximity to the LA/LB ports, I opted to apply specifically to CSULB.  After the fall 2016 semester, I decided to submit applications for inventory planning positions, which I would not have known about if it were not for the courses taken in the program.  I was fortunate to find an open position at Sony Pictures Entertainment and do not believe I would have been afforded this opportunity without having been enrolled in the program.  Working at Sony has provided me the opportunity to gain insights into a different aspect in the supply chain, which I hope to build upon in my professional development.

I have truly enjoyed my experience in the MSSCM program and feel I'm walking away with a wealth of knowledge as we approach our capstone course.  There is massive amounts of opportunities for supply chain practitioners and I feel this trend will only continue.  For students and individuals interested in the field, the MSSCM program at CSULB has the potential to open many doors and help students advance their careers.   A special thank you to all the directors, professors, and faculty involved in putting together a great program that I'm sure will only continue getting better.

Norm Herron, Evening MBA

Norm earned his MBA from CSULB with an emphasis in Information Systems in 1998.  After working in the aviation, legal, and management consulting industries, he started his own firm, Pacific Technologies, in 2015. Through his education and experience, he combines proven strategies and practical real-world expertise to create customized solutions. Pacific Technologies provides technology consulting and support for clients in the legal, medical, manufacturing, and professional services. He provides business owners with solid advice on the smart application of hardware and software. He believes the needs of a business must drive technology decisions so companies become more efficient and competitive. 

GBA Hosts “Career Changers” Spotlight Event

As part of the Spotlight on Success Series, the Graduate Business Association (GBA) hosted a guest-speaking event discussing career changes in April. The event featured experts in the career-switching field representing big-name companies: Pam Anke (formerly Boeing) and David Noel (Banc of California).

 As the speakers walked the graduate business students in attendance along their professional path, they each provided knowledge and helpful tips that they acquired thus far in their careers. When the speakers finished their presentations, students asked insightful questions regarding career switching, engaging a thorough and lively discussion among those in attendance. Following the event, a productive networking session broke out between speakers and student attendees.

“These Spotlight events have, over time, grown into something we’re incredibly proud of,” said GBA President Troy Mullen. “Our speakers are thrilled to help the students, and our students are thrilled to make these lasting connections. There is an unmistakable excitement in the air following a productive event, and Pam and David absolutely created that air.”

CareerTip: Conducting a Job Search While Working Full-Time

Career Services knows how challenging it can be to balance a job search while already employed. However, this skill is an absolute must in today’s professional world. With the job search morphed into a long-term dance with a major emphasis on fit, it could take up to six months or longer to find your next gig (depending on the situation, of course).

If you are in the boat of wanting to explore options while employed full time, we have some tips to ensure your success:

1. Clarify your direction and identify a job you REALLY want. If you get sucked into browsing job boards and applying for job ads willy-nilly, you will likely end up in a role that is unsatisfying. Now is the time to do some soul-searching and to spend some time identifying your purpose.
2. Brand yourself. Make sure your resume highlights relevant skills and accomplishments you want to perform in your next job.
3. Utilize LinkedIn – stealthily. You can’t update your profile too much as it may signal to your boss or co-workers that you’re on the move, but you CAN let recruiters know you are open to opportunities. Learn how to do it!
LinkedIn reps have said that this feature will not be visible to recruiters within your current company, so they have you covered there.
4. Create a target employer list
5. Identify hiring managers who work at those companies in the departments you are interested in, and reach out to them on LinkedIn. Here’s a tip: if you are NOT connected to them, rather than paying to send an InMail, find out if you are both in a common group, and message them through the group. If you’re not in a common group, look and see what groups they are in (you can view this on their profile) and add one of those groups that you are actually interested in. Then, once in the group, go to the group’s LinkedIn page and click on the number of members. This then allows you to search for that person’s name and once you hover over their name – an envelope appears! Voila – you can now cold message them through LinkedIn without paying a cent.

Long Beach Port Awards two MSSCM Students with $5000 Scholarships!

Photo (Left to right):  Director of CITT Dr. Tom O’Brien, MSSCM Cohort 2 student Emily Pahon, MSSCM Cohort 2 student Miles Winston & MSSCM Director Dr. Sherry Su. 

On Thursday May 11, two of our MSSCM students were each awarded $5,000 scholarships by the Port of Long Beach at the Port’s fourth annual Celebrating Education event that took place at Cabrillo High School in West Long Beach.  Dr. Tom O’Brien, Director of the Center for International Trade and Transportation and Dr. Sherry Su, Director of the MS in Supply Chain Management program at California State University, Long Beach were in attendance to honor both scholarship recipients.  Miles Winston and Emily Pahon are current students in the Working Professional track of Cohort 2, MSSCM program.

Incubator Update

Incubator meetings will resume July 11, 2017 with the focus on developing a business plan (Beach Entrepreneurship Bootcamp). The CBA is presenting the first Beach Entrepreneur Bootcamp. A six-week program starting July 11, focusing on start-ups, business plans, marketing, financial management and legal structures. This Bootcamp is completely FREE, upon completion of the program, a certificate of training in entrepreneurship will be awarded to participants. 

Please contact cba-incubator@csulb.edu to join us as a guest speaker for the CBA Incubator starting this Fall semester. We are always looking for alumni who are willing to share their expertise in starting a business, being a mentor for a student innovation team and judging business plan pitches. 

 

Molina Speaker Series Continues 6/29 with Reaching Your Market

In the third of a five-part series, the CBA, Molina Healthcare, the DLBA and the EDP present a crucial discussion about connecting your product to consumers.Thank you to our previous event speakers who have made the first two events a tremendous success!

4/13 Developing Your Team

Dana Sumpter, Assistant Professor, CSULB
Gaurav Bhattacharya, CEO, Glipped
Jay Dysart, CEO, JLOOP

5/18 Obtaining Funding

Daniel Fernandez, Director, Opportunity Fund
Douglas Pennington, Founder, Arch Angels of Orange County
Kim Gros, Founder, SteelCraft
Kevin Keehl, CEO, Focus Apparel

See the dates below and mark your calendars for the final dates! We'll send out a reminder as each date approaches so make sure you're on our email list and that you follow us on social media at @CBAIncubator on Facebook and Twitter. 

2017 Molina Speaker Series

• June 29 - Reaching Your Market
• September 14 - Pitch to Investors
• October 26 - Launching Your Venture

How to Get Involved? Recruit CSULB Business Graduate Talent!

With hundreds of graduate business students at CSULB, recruiting here is a great source for local, quality talent. Whether you’re looking to hire for internships or full time, students in our MS Accounting, MS Supply Chain Management and MBA programs would be a great fit! If you are interested in hiring talent from CSULB, please connect with Bert Rivera, 562-985-4722.  Employer and Job Developer Specialist, with Graduate Business Career Services. Bert utilizes a tailored approach based on your hiring needs to target students and connect them with your open opportunities. Feel free to share this with any colleagues or other business departments who may be looking for diverse, multi-faceted, business-minded talent!