As part of the professional MBA program—offered in evening, hybrid, and fully-online formats—Mamadou took the opportunity to do an in-company internship at his firm, Texas Instruments (TI).
TI is a global semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, and sells processing chips. For 20 hours a week alongside his MBA and working full-time at TI, Mamadou interned in an advanced role as a systems engineer. When the full-time position became available, he was instantly promoted into it.
As an engineer, Mamadou wanted to pursue an MBA to build his management skills and business knowledge alongside his job.
“At the end of the day, we make processing chips, but we want to be able to sell them. That’s why I started thinking about doing an MBA.”
Why the UT Dallas MBA?
Mamadou joined TI as an engineer after completing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at UT Dallas. He gained experience handling technical issues, but he decided to return to his alma mater for a part-time MBA to broaden his skillset.
He chose the Professional MBA (PMBA) Evening program, a 53 semester-credit-hour program consisting of 32 hours of core courses and 21 hours of electives, which you can complete in either 24 or 36 months.
“My motivations for doing the PMBA were the flexibility of the program and the ability to maintain my day-to-day job that I love. That was the key for me,” Mamadou comments.
PMBA students take core modules covering the business fundamentals including Financial Accounting, Statistics and Data Analysis, Marketing Management, Managing IT and the Analytics of Age, International Business Management, and Strategic Management.
Students then select seven classes out of 15 concentrations in either Accounting, Finance, Information Technology Management, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, or Systems Engineering & Management.
Mamadou chose the Negotiation and Dispute Resolution course as one of his electives. This course allowed him to apply his newly-acquired skills in the workplace.
“My role involves negotiating clients’ specifications with our internal design team who are responsible for designing the chips,” he explains.
“I give them a set cost target, specifications, and they come back to me whether it’s possible and which features they can accomplish.”
How can an MBA internship accelerate your engineering career?
Out of the 40 students in the current Professional MBA class, 60% receive tuition support from their employer.
While completing an internship, working a full-time job, and studying in an MBA program at the same time was a challenge, for Mamadou it was worth the effort.
“It was a nice way to take advantage of my current role and explore a different role within my company while leveraging the skills I was learning at UT Dallas,” he says.
“It helped me get my feet wet and heightened my interest in the role and by the time the role was made available, I had nine months of experience."
“Now, I’m reaping the rewards since I’ve been given the promotion from learning those skills.”
For Mamadou, the in-company internship didn’t only accelerate his career; it also brought financial benefits.
MBA students from UT Dallas earn base salaries of $102,000 on average after graduation and top companies recruiting UT Dallas MBAs include JP Morgan, Cisco, and Capital One.
