Shortly after arriving at Vanderbilt, Mabel Gomes had an epiphany. “After I updated my LinkedIn profile in the first week of class,” she explains, “amazing companies reached out to me, such as Nestlé Purina, Johnson & Johnson and Quizlet. Being part of this school is powerful. Once I put the Owen brand on my resumé, many doors opened to me.”

In her native country, Mabel held an excellent management position in the Brazilian federal government. But she knew that “it would be difficult to grow in the government without joining a political party, and I felt it was time to go back to the private sector.” She was attracted to Vanderbilt’s brand, leadership development program and the concentrations in HOP and brand management.

But the brand wasn’t the only way that Vanderbilt opened doors for Mabel. As an international student adjusting to both an MBA program and a new country, she found that the support of her classmates and professors was invaluable.

“Since the process of applying for internships started just a few weeks after classes began, it was an enormous challenge to keep up with all the courses, assignments, community life and the job search,” Mabel says. “I had support not just from professors, TAs, and the Career Management Center but also from my classmates who were eager to meet and review course material as well as share information about companies recruiting on campus. Even in career fairs where we were competing for the same jobs, we helped each other prepare for interviews. I don’t believe that happens at all business schools.”

By the end of her first year, one big door had already opened for Mabel. She landed an internship in the HR Development Program with Microsoft in Seattle. (actually just 3 months after class started I got an internship offer from J&J for Brand Management and few weeks after that I got Microsoft’s offer.).