Student Profile: A Rich Community

Karlis Povisils '10
Pre-SOM: New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
Summer Internship: Horizon Wind Energy

What impressed me before I came to SOM — and what has continued to impress me — is the caliber of people here. I work in a lot of different teams at SOM, and every one of those interactions has been positive. One of the advantages to having a small class size is that the admissions office can be especially selective about who they accept. The result is a group of very talented people.

I come from a nonprofit background, and at a lot of other business schools I would have had to be deprogrammed of the idea that my public sector experience could be relevant in the business world. But here it is embraced. And that is important, because the sector lines are increasingly blurry in the real world.

That mindset carries over to the way the faculty teach. They present problems as you are going to find them in the real world: Here’s the problem — how are you going to solve it? Of course, there is always going to be some bend toward problems that involve HR in the Employee class, but they don’t draw those disciplinary distinctions as sharply as you might find elsewhere. In the raw cases that Yale has developed, instead of a tidy 15-page business case, you’re presented with a website where you really can go down the rabbit hole and follow links wherever you want. Part of what you need to understand about any problem is what information is relevant and what is not relevant. You don’t get that experience in the prepackaged cases.

I am going from public sector economic development into private sector energy development. I accepted a summer internship with Horizon Wind Energy in business development and strategy. The key to getting this internship was the Energy Club. The club organized a job trek to Houston, and Horizon Wind Energy was one of the businesses we met with. That was helpful when I applied — I had already made a connection and had a contact there.

Yale SOM allows you to set the bar higher and know you will succeed: you are learning the skills to operate at a high level, and you have access to accomplished people who can help you now and after you graduate. SOM alumni are really busy people, but it is amazing how quickly you get an email or a phone call back. They are willing to set aside the time, and that reflects the strong spirit of community you find throughout the school.

Interviewed on April 15, 2009.