jino's blog - Blog - Asian MBA (AMBA)2024-03-28T16:33:35Zhttp://www.asianmba.org/blog/feed/tag/jino%27s+blogHere's how it all began...http://www.asianmba.org/blog/here-s-how-it-all-began2014-09-30T18:54:47.000Z2014-09-30T18:54:47.000ZJino Ahnhttp://www.asianmba.org/members/JinoAhn<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1">One of the most common questions that I receive is, “How did you conceive the idea of starting something like this?”  So I thought I’d share a little about how this all began.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">About seven years ago, I heard about the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) and National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) conferences.  Since I was a diversity practitioner at the time, I decided to go check it out.  First, I went to the NSHMBA conference in Houston.  I didn’t know what to expect, but when I got there, I was so inspired and challenged by what I saw. The event was massive.  There were around 8,000 attendees that year and all of the downtown hotels were filled with the conference attendees.  Besides the large number of attendees, there were so many Hispanic business leaders and also huge number of American companies recruiting Hispanic MBA students.  </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">I was challenged by seeing so many Asian students there.  In fact, out of 8,000 attendees, 4,000 of them were Asian students.  That meant half of the total attendees were Asians at a HISPANIC event!  I spent a lot of time asking them why they were there, and they all said, “Well… we have to go somewhere and we (Asians) don’t have events like this.” Being aware that they are so many Asians at most of the MBA schools, I had to ask myself, “How come we don’t have one?”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">After coming back from the conference, I discussed with many people why we don’t have a such a event when there is such a huge need.  No one seemed to have a good idea why this was so.  Seeing so many Asian students at Hispanic and Black MBA conferences - and I could sense that many of them didn’t feel completely comfortable being at the event that wasn’t designed for them - I had to do something, and quickly.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Using my experience and contacts from organizing the Asian Diversity Career Expo for many years,  I spent a year designing, planning, and executing our 1</span><span class="s1"><sup>st</sup></span> <span class="s1">Annual Asian MBA Leadership Conference & Career Expo in New York City in 2009.  It was an instant success!  When I made the announcement to the companies that I would be organizing this conference, instead of asking what this event was about, their response was, “What took you so long?” or “It’s about time!”  Over 90 companies and 3,000 attendees came to the first year’s conference.  Ever since, the conference has grown to be the largest Asian professional event in the U.S.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Up until now, our website has been a traditional and static website.  I’ve decided to completely re-launch the website as a professional online community because:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>The target audience is highly tech-savvy and have a huge need for networking</li>
<li>Employers and recruiters have been asking me how I can help them engage the Asian MBA community throughout the year since their talent needs are year-round</li>
<li>Having a robust interactive online community will enable me to start many more new projects to help MBA students and alumni with internships, full time jobs, and localized networking</li>
</ul>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The vision is to build the largest global online/offline community for MBAs to connect talent with companies and help everyone to get connected as much as possible, since we all know how important that is.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">There you have it.  This is how it all began.  </span></p>
</div>I apologize for being lazy...http://www.asianmba.org/blog/i-apologize-for-being-lazy2014-09-08T20:57:23.000Z2014-09-08T20:57:23.000ZJino Ahnhttp://www.asianmba.org/members/JinoAhn<div><p>Although I was committed to provide you with as much relevant and useful information as possible to you all, but I haven't done that for the past few months.  From here on, since many ends are now tied, I should be able to concentrate on doing that.  At the same time, I need help from all of you to be active as well.  When we start our dialogue and exchange ideas, we can all benefit from it.</p>
<p>For now, everyone's focus is on our upcoming 6th annual Asian MBA Leadership Conference & Career Expo in October in NYC.  I am going to make sure I update the information on the website.  Not only the name of the companies that signs up from now until the event day, but I am also going to post as much details as possible on the job titles they will be coming to recruit for along with the job location, H!B sponsorship, and any other helpful information. </p>
<p>I would like to encourage you to participate at the Forum discussion on 2014 Conference.  Ask me any questions you might have or talk about anything you'd like.</p>
<p>Thanks you,</p>
<p>Jino</p>
</div>Just attended MBA CSEA (career services & employer alliance) conferencehttp://www.asianmba.org/blog/just-attended-mba-csea-career-services-employer-alliance-conferen2014-06-30T13:49:19.000Z2014-06-30T13:49:19.000ZJino Ahnhttp://www.asianmba.org/members/JinoAhn<div><p>I just attended and spoke at the annual conference which is the largest gathering of MBA career services professionals and MBA recruiters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It was a great conference and I learned a lot and I wanted to share with you my take away.  </p>
<p>- Many schools are trying to help out Asian, especially international students, but they are very much frustrated with lack of options</p>
<p>- Compared to their academic credentials and qualifications, they severely lack "soft skills" which are critical to securing best jobs possible.  Schools feel that not enough is done to improve their soft skills and looking for better ways to help them improve.</p>
<p>- There are many other ways to secure offers in addition to speaking with HR (recruiters) at the companies.  Networking with those who work for the target companies is identified as the most important effort.  </p>
<p>- I spoke at the session titled, "how to maximize the benefit of attending diversity conferences".  At the session, the most important topic that came up was that.. students don't prepare enough before attending the conference, including conducting research, prioritizing the target companies, registering early to allow companies to search the resume database, and sharpening their interview skills.</p>
<p>Since Asian student population represent at a significant portion of their student body, those attending the conference had a significant interests in matters relating to Asian students.  A lot of discussions are taking place and better ways of helping them are being actively sought.  I hope all us can work together to help out Asian students in a meaningful and effective way. Please feel free to reach out to me or post something if you have any suggestions or start a dialogue.</p>
<p>Jino</p>
<p></p>
</div>My very first Blog Entry!http://www.asianmba.org/blog/my-very-first-blog-entry2013-09-06T14:32:15.000Z2013-09-06T14:32:15.000ZJino Ahnhttp://www.asianmba.org/members/JinoAhn<div><p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>My name is Jino Ahn and I am looking forward to getting to know you all and trying to help as many of you as I can through this blog.  I must confess that I’ve never blogged in my life, so I am a little nervous (actually a lot) about committing myself to writing here regularly.  However, I do believe I can help many of you to find jobs and develop your careers using my past experiences and connections at American companies as well as multinational corporations.</p>
<p>To briefly introduce myself, 27 years ago, right after I graduated from college, I founded and ran a company called, Asian Diversity, whose mission is to help and empower Asian students and working professionals.   I was motivated to splash into unfamiliar water, largely due to what I personally experienced during my senior year in college.  I was clueless as to what I was supposed to be doing in terms of finding the right job. Particularly, I didn’t see how my Asian background played into the process of finding a job and starting my career.  I desperately looked for help, but there wasn’t any.  Then, it came to me.  I thought to myself, “There must be so many others like me, who must go through what I am experiencing right now and there are bound to be more in the future.”  So, I thought it would be worthwhile to start a social venture to help. </p>
<p>Throughout my entire career, I have used many different tools to accomplish what I set out to do, including being a headhunter, organizing the Asian Diversity Career Expo (the first of its kind), starting an Asian professional website (AsianLife.com) which included an online magazine and job board, and organizing the <b>Asian MBA Leadership Conference & Career Expo</b>.  I also founded and ran the National Association of Asian MBAs for two years. Now, my latest venture is this AsianMBA.org website, which I hope will be the place where Asian job seekers and employers around the world will find and engage with one another and provide the most effective place for everyone to broaden their network online as well as offline.</p>
<p>Over the years, I have built my reputation on being a “doer” rather than a “talker.”  I am committed now more than ever to deliver tangible benefits to all community members of this site.  In addition to giving career advice and sharing my knowledge with you, I will focus on providing information on <a href="http://jobs.asianmba.org/home/index.cfm?site_id=15252" target="_blank">JOBS</a> since that is the most missing and valued.   </p>
<p>I encourage all of you to become active members of this online community.  Invite your friends, ask questions, and make connections with others.  I will do my part and speak with as many employers as possible to deliver job openings in the U.S. and Asia, while writing here as often as possible. Now I ask you to do yours and <a href="http://www.asianmba.org/forum" target="_blank">get involved</a>.</p>
<p>Many thanks,</p>
<p>Jino Ahn</p>
</div>