...and it's been a long 9 weeks so far. Actually, I should say taht it was a long first 8 weeks followed by a relatively easy 9th one. For the first time this summer, I've been able to spend all week here in NYC working on a thought leadership presentation about the increased M&A activity in the Communications space over the past couple of years. This topic is something that I'd been noticing, but I never realized how many issues and concerns these mergers have created for customers of merging companies, so it's been insightful to look into this area. Plus, this work was coordinated by the partner in charge of my practice area's East region and, since he has a direct say as to whether I get a job offer, I want to make sure I impress him. I finished the first draft of my deliverable yesterday and I'm still waiting for feedback, so I have no clue of how I did on it. Hopefully, the partner will hit me back soon to let me know if I need to make wholesale changes because I've only got another day (or less) left of staffing on this initiative and I'd like to see it to completion.
One hot topic in discussions with rising 2nd year MBAs is the elusive job offer from summer internships. Until last week, I didn't know that interviewers for full-time positions would ask candidates about whether or not they got a full-time offer. Now, I'm starting to understand why some of my friends are freaking out over the subject. Apparently, if you don't get an offer and get asked why, you have to have a damn good reason for it or else companies will write you off immediately. I have friends who either didn't get the offer or see no chance at getting one, which has been shocking but it goes to show that being a student at a top school doesn't necessarily mean that these companies will bow at your feet. Also, I've got several friends who are not feeling their internships, but are working their butts off to get an offer just to avoid the problem of having to address the issue in job interviews. This internship game is no joke.
Until recently, I wasn't really sweating my offer status because I figured that I'd get one if it was meant to be, but now I'm buggin' out about it. I've found myself looking back at all of the "slip-ups" I've had this summer and I'm wondering if any of them were severe enough to cause Accenture to give me the "gas face". I don't know if any of them were super-extreme, but, in the consulting industry where everyone is very conservative, I might have let a little bit of the "real Marquis" come out from behind my professional mask. I've got my fingers crossed in hopes that the good work I've put in will win out in the end, but, after hearing some stories from my classmates, I'm hecka worried and will stay that way until I get a "yes" or "no". Unfortunately, I've been told that we won't find out our fate until 4-6 weeks after our last day of work, so I've got a long time to sit around and wonder about this.
At the suggestion of my man Shawn, I'll likely start the networking process with companies soon just to get a head start and, fortunately, the companies are making it pretty easy. There have been several information/recruiting sessions here in NYC held by investment banks and financial services companies and I've heard that more will be coming in the next week or two. I even got an email from the McKinsey Atlanta recruiter inviting me to meet with one of their ATL-based consultants (they mistakenly thought i was down there this summer), but I'm hoping to get her to facilitate a meeting with folks from either their NYC or DC office since those are the areas where I'll be before going back to Cali. This full-time job process is starting up waaaaaay earlier than I anticipated.
One last thing...gotta put in some shout-outs:
- a "Good luck" shout out goes to Sean C., a really experienced guy who is about to apply to the GSB in round 1. I had a long chat with him yesterday about my experiences so far and he seems really excited about the prospect of getting his application in.
- another "Good luck" shout out goes to my girl Aaliyah a.k.a. "Shaffie-Loc" as she makes her big move from ATL up to Cambridge where she'll be starting at HBS next week. She had the choice between there and the GSB and, although I wish she'd have chosen to come out west, I know that she's going to do big things up there in the frozen north. Shaffie-Loc, if you're reading this, make sure you represent that good ol' "ATL SHAWTY!!!!" in this second stint up there.
- a "Welcome back to the States" shout goes to my girl "Yoda" who just made it back to the US safely after going out to the Middle East to visit her family. She's a brave young woman to have gone out there with all that wildness going on right now.
- a "Good luck" shout out goes to all of my fellow summer MBA interns who are finishing up their internships and are waiting on that offer. I hope it works out for all of you...we're all working hard, so I'm sure that everything will work out for the best, no matter what happens.
Posted by marquis930 at August 12, 2005 04:03 PM