For Eric Mokover, life has come full circle.
After two decades of working at UCLA Anderson School of
Management ““ first as the director of MBA program admissions
and then as associate dean of the program ““ last summer,
Mokover was named the school’s first associate dean of career
initiatives.
Among other duties, Mokover oversees the Parker Career
Management Center at Anderson, as well as the school’s
corporate outreach program.
Though he graduated with an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School
over 20 years ago, Mokover said times have changed, and the career
development process of an Anderson graduate today is vastly
different than that of a business school graduate two decades
ago.
As someone who had no previous experience in career services,
the first quarter on the job was a learning experience for
Mokover.
“He’s the first one to admit he’s the new kid
on the block,” said Jon Kaplan, associate director of the
career center.
Though Mokover is new to the career center, the 20 years of
personal relationships he has developed with alumni and others at
the business school are an invaluable resource, Kaplan said.
Within the first two hours after his appointment to the new
position was made public, Mokover received over 750 e-mails from
well-wishers. Now, he is creating an extensive network of alumni
who can help students make connections in the industries of their
choice.
He says one of the best parts of his new job is rekindling old
friendships.
“The most fun part of the job is to reconnect with people
I haven’t seen for a while … people I knew 10 years
ago,” he said. “I talk to them for five minutes, and
it’s like we were back like it was 10 years ago.”
Connections with alumni are vital because finding a job depends
on knowing the right people ““ being qualified isn’t
always enough, especially at a time when the economy is moving at a
sluggish pace, Kaplan said.
He added that alumni are an obvious resource, and one that
“hasn’t been tapped enough” in the past. Mokover
said alumni want to give back to UCLA Anderson School but often
haven’t in the past, because they did not know how to
help.
“We haven’t asked enough of them, (but) they want to
do something,” he said.
Mokover’s extensive experience with the MBA program also
complements his new position.
“I really understand from the bottom up what the MBA is
about ““ I know it cold,” he said. “I know what
their challenges are, how many balls they have to have up in the
air at the same time.”
Mokover said one of his goals is to help students focus time on
their careers in addition to the classroom.
This year’s orientation had career-focused sessions
lasting one and a half days instead of 45 minutes, Mokover
said.
Students completed in-depth self-assessments prior to the
orientation, helping them learn about their own career interests.
First-year students were placed in groups of 10 to 15 students as
part of an Anderson Career Team ““ also new this year.
The career teams meet on a biweekly basis, and team members set
goals each meeting that must be completed by the next.
Mokover said 86 percent of the business school’s
first-year students are still working with their teams.
Getting focused early is important because companies will visit
the campus to recruit in a few weeks, Kaplan said.
After working with the MBA program for so many years, Mokover
said accepting his new position was a time-consuming decision, as
he had gotten to a “place where I was very
comfortable.”
But the decision to change careers seems to be the right
one.
“I’m more invigorated and happy than I’ve been
for a while. I’m not as comfortable every day as I was
before,” he said.