My Day at a Glance
Hometown: Santiago, Chile
Education: BS Industrial Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.
Before Wharton: 6 yrs total in Corporate Finance in Manufacturing company (producer of steel castings for the mining industry).
After Wharton: An exciting job in Corporate Finance in the US, UK or Spain. Particularly interested in Technology or Energy industries.
The cohort system really helps give a smaller-school feel—with a lot of resources.
Wharton opens doors
Before coming to Wharton I spent six years working for a steel casting manufacturer based in Chile and ultimately became the head of the finance department. My career was growing quickly, but I wanted a better foundation in finance before I progressed further.
I wanted to see what Wharton could offer—and I haven’t been disappointed. This summer, I am going to work at Apple, which is incredibly cool for me, working in the worldwide finance department. I wouldn’t have access to companies like Apple if it weren’t for Wharton.
Keeping an eye on ethics
Ethics at Wharton is very important. I was elected ethics liaison for my cohort and next year, I’ll serve on the ethics committee. The relevancy of ethics in the business world is what attracted me to these roles. It’s very important to me to keep an eye on ethics all the time and make sure that every decision I make in the future is going to be the right one.
Trying to manage my family life with the hectic schedule at Wharton is a very important part of my learning process.
Balancing work and family life
I came to Wharton with a wife, four-year-old son, and two-year-old daughter. Trying to manage that relationship with the hectic schedule at Wharton is a very important part of my learning process. I try to prioritize. I have to decide what I want to get involved with and I reject so many things every day so that I can find the right balance.
At the same time, I wanted to get the most out of this experience and take advantage of the opportunities before me. I always look for ways to be efficient and learn as much as possible with my limited time. For me, after Wharton, going back to work, even if I go back to a demanding job, it won’t match the challenges I have here.
Misperceptions about Wharton
I'll be honest, I had some prejudice before coming here. I knew Wharton was good for analyticals, finance, and strategic thinking, and I knew I was going to be with really bright people. But I feared that people would be arrogant or not very collaborative — I was 100 percent wrong. The community at Wharton is enormously friendly, very open, and extremely collaborative.
We are a big school, but it doesn’t feel like a big school. The cohort system really helps give a smaller-school feel—with a lot of resources. Everyone is strong-minded and driven. There is competition, but most people are competing against themselves. People just want to do a good job in general.
A Wharton moment
I’ve been so impressed by the breadth of knowledge here. There are so many things about business that I never thought about. I now look back at my job and think, how could I have done that? How did I do things not knowing what I’ve learned here? It’s not one unique thing—it was several moments in every class where I’ve realized that I am constantly being pushed into new ways of thinking.
