Joseph Chaves, MBA ‘17

Joe started his career at Target, so it’s not surprising he used a bullseye to map out a career journey before coming to Michigan Ross. The center marked the safest path, returning to General Mills. In the next circle, he put tech marketing, which blended the familiar (marketing) with a new industry. Farther out was a job in corporate strategy with a marketing bend — the farthest from his comfort zone.

Joe’s internship enabled him to explore one of his potential paths. “I interned at Google as a product marketing manager working on go-to-market strategy for Google Pixel. It was a great opportunity to see what tech marketing is like.”

He gained more experience in his Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) working for a Peruvian tile manufacturer. “I performed a risk-benefit analysis, built a customer profile, and got my first taste of client-facing work.”

MAP was a 10 out of 10 experience.

One of the highlights for Joe was launching an initiative that would benefit future students. “I belonged to Marketing Lab, and we worked with Nielsen to gain access to their Answers on Demand platform and point-of-sale data — what marketers use on a daily basis. It was a student-led project, and the school trusted us and let us run with it.”

The tight-knit community was another advantage. “What differentiates Michigan is the community. I loved how people interacted outside of class. There is a lot of collaboration and camaraderie that manifests in the classroom. Part of it is geography — we were all within eight blocks. In a big city, everyone is spread out and the dynamic is different.”

That sense of community continued after graduation. “I still meet with friends for coffee to see how they're doing. I look forward to relying on the network for mentorship and being a mentor, and I'm highly confident those resources will be there when I need them.”