About Sadhvi: Sadhvi was born in Toronto, Canada but proudly spent most of her life in Cypress, Texas (so much so that she asks every Admissions tour group if anyone has heard of it). She attended the University of California, Berkeley for her undergrad, where she got a double major in Economics and Media Studies. She then spent four years working in digital marketing while working on her own content marketing freelance business. She came to Anderson to pivot into the Entertainment Tech industry. In her spare time, Sadhvi loves to run, cook, and engage with any content related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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When I was applying to MBA programs, several family and friends advised me to be specific about what I was hoping to get out of my MBA. With this advice in mind, I applied to Anderson with the goal of pivoting into the Media and Entertainment industry in a Strategy/Operations role. That goal was immediately turned upside down as soon as I got to campus. During Anderson’s summer quarter, a 6-week orientation period for the first-year full-time MBA students, I engaged in a ton of career exploration activities that helped me realize what I actually wanted out of my career. 

First, I attended the Parker Career Center’s 101 sessions, a series of panels aimed at informing first-year students what it is like to work in and recruit for certain industries and functions. There, I learned that my interests and passions were more suited towards a marketing role. Second, I did a series of career visioning exercises with my Parker Career Advisor (shoutout to Lin!) to help me figure out not just where in the Media and Entertainment industry I wanted to work but what recruiting path I was going to take to get there. Through these personalized sessions, I realized that I want to pursue a career in Entertainment Tech, but given my career background and other personal circumstances, I may need to gain work experience in the Tech industry first. 

Thus, for my first-year internship recruiting, I decided to parallel-path my internship recruiting in both the Tech and Media & Entertainment industries. At Anderson, this means joining double the clubs, doing double the recruiting events, almost double the networking, and more! While I set myself up for a busy recruiting season, I was certainly not alone, and also had the support of the incredible Anderson resources, such as Interview Prep Teams (IPT), Anderson Career Teams (ACT), the Parker Career Center, and more.

Anderson’s Parker Career Center recommends that each student have a “Target Market” (aka a Target industry/function) and a “Beachhead Market” (a backup industry/function) to maximize their chances of recruiting success. This means that most students end up recruiting in more than one industry, but the workload differs depending on which industries you choose. For me, choosing Tech and Entertainment meant I was navigating two industries with very unstructured recruiting timelines. This means that, starting in early September and ending as late as May, you network, apply, and interview until you get an internship you’re happy with. Everyone’s internship recruiting journey in these two industries looks different, but this is what mine looked like:

1. Fall Quarter (September – December):
   1. Networking with both Tech and Entertainment companies simultaneously
   2. Applying mostly to Tech internship roles (Entertainment roles aren’t released en masse until the Winter and Spring quarter) 
   3. Attending both the Tech Marketing and Entertainment ACT sessions
   4. Attending Tech Marketing IPT (Interview Prep Team) sessions
   5. 1-2 interviews in Tech (starting around November)
2. Winter Quarter (January – March)
   1. 3-5 interviews a week with mostly Tech companies (mostly in January) and a few Entertainment companies
   2. Continuing to network with and submit applications for Tech and Entertainment Companies
   3. Attending Entertainment Marketing IPT (Interview Prep Team) sessions
   4. Received offers for both Tech and Entertainment companies, mostly in February 
   5. Decided on an internship and accepted an offer! 

Overall, recruiting in two industries isn’t the easiest decision, but it is certainly rewarding. By doing double the prep, you quickly become seasoned at networking, applying, and interviewing for internships. Plus, you quickly realize that there are transferable skills from one industry’s recruiting to the other, and that makes the process a lot easier and a whole lot more rewarding. 

For those who are interested in recruiting in more than one industry for your MBA, here’s my advice: 

1. Choose One Similarity: My double-recruiting process was made easier because I was recruiting for marketing roles in both industries. Thus, I could reuse several aspects of my resumes, cover letter, and elevator pitch. When recruiting in two different industries, I recommend recruiting for similar roles so that your recruiting prep is more transferrable.
2. Keep Your Calendar Up-to-Date: With double the events and networking sessions to attend, you need to make sure you’re tracking your time commitments meticulously so that you don’t miss anything or double-book yourself. 
3. Take Time to Rest: During recruiting season, there are weeks where you may be attending multiple events per day on top of your courses. To avoid burning out, try to schedule at least one thing in your schedule every week that is just for you. The more refreshed you feel, the better you’ll come off to alumni and recruiters! 
4. Have a Ranking In Mind: With Tech and Entertainment specifically, you may get offers from both industries at the same time. Have an idea of which industry/companies you would prefer so that your decision-making process is easier once you have offers in hand.

Good luck and happy recruiting!

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• Student Blogger: Sadhvi Mathur ‘25
• Undergrad: University of California, Berkeley ‘19
• Pre-MBA: Senior Social Media Specialist, Shutterfly
• Leadership@Anderson: VP of Interviewing at Admissions Ambassador Corps, VP of LA Relations at AnderTech, VP of Career Development at Entertainment Management Association, Director of Admissions at Women’s Business Connection, Director of Marketing at Marketing Association