I spent the summer of my MBA Program at Chicago Booth working at Bain & Company in the Dallas office. The projects, the people, and the incredible city of Dallas made it one of the most enriching experiences of my life.
I have lived my life like a kid in a candy store, looking for the next memorable experience and Dallas was my version of Candylicious, the world’s biggest candy store. After an incredible experience living in Chicago for my first year at Booth, I was geared and pumped up to explore…
Dallas, Texas!
I wanted to work in Texas this summer due to the following reasons:
- One Bain Texas: Bain operates as a home office model, which means the majority of your cases are near your office location. The three Texas offices (Dallas, Houston, and Austin) work closely together, which allowed me the opportunity to build relationships across the three offices, learn more about the culture and ethos in each location, and travel to different cities within Texas for casework.
- Work-life balance: One of the most common themes that Bainies from the Texas offices emphasized was the sustainable professional experience. As someone looking to build a long-term career at Bain, this insight was extremely valuable to me. My conversation with the staffing team and my supervisors allowed me to manage sustainability and take out time for myself throughout the summer. We planned efficiently, established checkpoints to track progress on my workstreams, and built an open environment that allowed me to discuss roadblocks.
- Industry exposure: Texas is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state in the US, which provides an opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients and industries. I had the opportunity to work in an industry that interested me, building the relevant functional and inter-personal skills throughout the summer.
Truly amazing people!
My summer internship class had MBA students from over 10 schools with different cultural backgrounds who provided an energetic and electrifying atmosphere. During the 10 weeks of my internship, they became my go-to people. I felt comfortable reaching out to them for absolutely anything. Even though we were all on different projects, our internship class met on most weekends and planned fun events together.
Folks who were from Dallas or familiar with the city proactively shared everything about the local area with me. They took me out to so many amazing eateries (try out tex-mex), speakeasies, and other fun places like bowling and Top Golf. The most interesting thing I learned about was feral hog hunting and the fact that you need a license to hunt them.
Additionally, I developed the most incredible relationships within the office, including mentorship on a wide variety of topics: private equity, tech, supply chain management post-COVID, and performance improvement.
Chef’s kiss for the food scene in Texas!
The food scene in Texas and Dallas in particular is phenomenal. I absolutely fell in love with Tacos (Torchy’s Tacos, Veracruz Tacos), Texan BBQ (Terry Blacks Barbecue, Pecan Lodge), and Japanese food (Uchi, Nobu). Being a foodie, I definitely had a well-fed and satisfied belly throughout the summer 🙂 and have no complaints or regrets about it!
Other personal adventures!
The summer heat in Texas was intense. So, I took a break from it and visited my family in San Francisco for the 4th of July. During my visit, we took a day trip to Napa Valley, explored Fisherman’s Wharf, visited China Town, and toured the Palace of Fine Arts. I’ve lived in India all my life and this was my first Independence Day celebration in the US. So, of course we found a picnic spot to hang out and watch the fireworks. I also caught up with my Booth classmates who were spending their summer internship experience in San Francisco which gave me a glimpse of the wide reach and approachability of Boothies in different cities.
Sadly, the end of summer came quicker than I wanted. Although, I am thankful for the opportunity to spend my summer with the most amazing, fun, and brightest group of people I could have ever imagined. It was a superb journey with tremendous professional and personal growth, and I am incredibly grateful to have had this time to learn from some of the finest minds in the industry. I look forward to leveraging my learning from my summer experience during my second year at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and growing my functional and softer skills via various resources offered at Booth to get ready for my post-MBA role in consulting.
