How MCE Is and Isn’t Like FME, and Why It Matters
The following post was written by Jacob Vick ’15 who serves as a Peer Career Ambassador in CCD. In this role Jacob is available to speak with Babson undergrads on a variety of career related topics and can be reached at pcaccd@babson.edu.
Jacob’s Post:
As first years begin to dive into their FME businesses for a winter or spring launch, many sophomores have wrapped up their final MCE projects. So what is it that first years should take away from FME that will help them for MCE, and how is it that these lessons apply in the real world beyond Babson?
This Is Your Team, Figure It Out
Unfortunately, companies have yet to start a program where you can simply select your closest friends and you together are hired to go on and conquer the business world. Instead, you may just have to learn to depend on that guy down the hall who never wanted to be in this industry in the first place, or the woman across from you who’s late for more meetings than there are days in the week. In both FME and MCE, your teams are not up to you and you are almost destined to get a group member you would have never selected. But this isn’t all bad. Well, it’s kind of bad, but it is also an opportunity to learn the invaluable skill of working with those whom you never wanted to work with but need to work with.
Here’s The Deadline . . . Go!
There is an awful lot of hand-holding, for good reason, in FME as each step along the process is staged out, evaluated, and advised upon; but not so for MCE. Almost every team was waiting for their professors to spend a class going through the guidelines, give their tips and advice, or just mention the project at all, but this was rarely the case. Like the real world, our team had a deadline and some guidelines. How we got to this deadline, how we divided up the work, was entirely up to us. Just don’t be late.
Hey, I’ll Just Do It All
It’s a thought that crosses almost everyone’s mind when they are faced with team members who just won’t perform or whom they simply don’t trust. However, employers don’t create teams for projects that can be done by a single person. They’re smarter than that. Unfortunately, MCE goes a little backwards from FME in creating a framework that is feasible for a truly dedicated Babson student to accomplish on his or her own. But don’t miss this chance to work on trust, it is an element that group work cannot exist without and the sooner a student can learn how to manage this trust in and with their group, the better.
You may just get lucky and never have to face the challenge of working in a difficult and conflict ridden group, but if you are put in that situation, don’t miss the opportunity to develop these skills here at Babson before your career depends on it.