January 23, 2006 Vol. 77, no. 2S

INTERVIEW TIPS: Marc Oman recommends these steps in preparing for an interview: 1. Understand what the company does. 2. Find out the clients’ names. 3. Familiarize yourself with industry lingo. 4. Look for recent news affecting the company. “It makes you look so smart and you stand out right away,” Oman says, “if you can talk to interviewers about the latest piece in The Economist covering their industry’s outlook, for example.” (Photo provided by Marc Oman)

Real World Engineering: IEOR grad travels from Etcheverry to the French Embassy

Sometimes it’s as simple as a finely polished resume. And keeping in touch with a graduate student instructor (GSI). And knowing that graduate school isn’t the right choice yet.

All these things helped Marc Oman (B.S.’03 IEOR) successfully navigate the uncertain course between senior year and the real world. Today, three years and two jobs later, he’s trade attaché for the French Embassy in San Francisco, where he helps French biotech companies compete in the U.S. market. But he didn’t start out with a vision of working there.

“Success takes time and perseverance,” he says. Oman is one of many alumni panelists who will share their career stories at Real World Engineering, a student career forum that takes place on February 2 at 4:15 p.m. in Bechtel Engineering Center.

In school, success came handily for Oman, who was the 2003 IEOR department citation winner. Yet, “I didn’t see myself staying in school,” he explains. “It’s a good choice for people with a passion for a particular field. But for people who are not quite sure, a good way to find new challenges is by changing environments. I knew I would learn more that way.”

Oman began his job search like most people. He talked to friends, attended career fairs and on-campus info sessions, and visited the career center. “I got my resume critiqued three times in one week,” he says, “and that was decisive in landing an interview.”

The interview was with ZS Associates, a global management consulting firm. His first GSI worked there and was, of course, familiar with Oman’s work. (And, think about this, the same GSI then became his first boss.) After securing the job, Oman helped biotech companies optimize their use of sales and marketing resources. He worked with a small team of consultants, built mathematical models to support the group’s recommendations and helped present the results to clients. After a couple years, he was ready for a change and took the embassy job.

Give yourself time to adjust to life in the workplace, he urges. One of the best things you can do to be successful with your manager is try, even if you don’t see how to solve the problem at hand. Oman says managers much prefer a good but failed attempt to no attempt at all.

In the future, this trade attaché says he wants to pursue an MBA or a master’s in public policy with an eye toward bringing modern management techniques to bear on societal problems. With time and perseverance, he’ll probably get there.

Real World Engineering will be held on Thursday, February 2, at 4:15 p.m. in Bechtel.

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