The closed lists for consulting interviews were posted tonight. People were bugged out! Some people got confirmation of their self-perceived importance. Many others felt betrayed after courting the firms for the past few months, only to be passed over. There were the surprises of people who hadn’t attended any of the firms events that were close listed, and of course there were a few who got everything they wanted. I got on the closed list for the three firms I was pursuing heavily, and I bid on 4 others.
Now I’m trying to relax and prepare. I’ve done a good job so far of resisting the social pressure of freaking out. Banking interviews start Monday, and the atmosphere is tense. Students are walking around speaking in complicated lingo. “I know there gonna ask me to do a DCF.” “I’ve been working on my models, but I’ve got to keep up with the market.” They are completely oblivious to the outside world. It’s investment banking, period!
I’m worried about what happens when a lot of people don’t get a job by Friday. I anticipate that the atmosphere on campus will be very different in a couple of weeks. The “hierarchy” on campus is about to turn on its axis. People have attributed certain qualities to their classmates/competitors. These hypotheses will either be reinforced or totally shattered. Some people that we’ve expected to get the best job, will blow it, and somebody that you were sleeping on, is gonna come from nowhere and get mad offers.
I just hope that we don’t split apart into “employed” and “unemployed”.
There was an awesome celebration on campus for Martin Luther King’s birthday. Kweisi Mfume gave the keynote address and was very entertaining. This was the culminating event, as they held a cultural open mic, and a gospel celebration. There were also several discussions about the state of race relations and progress.