I am officially unemployed. It’s a weird feeling. My coworkers held a going away party for me, which I didn’t want. It was awkward, but I thanked everyone and said my goodbyes. Minus tears, thank you very much! I didn’t feel sad, only ready to move on to the next challenge.
I’m taking a week to relax. I went and got my ID card and tried out my commute. So I know where everything is and I think I’m ready. This week they’re holding Accounting Camp and have a few “meet and greets” scheduled. I’m still working on getting my immunization records, but all of my other paperwork is in. I’m trying now to mentally prepare myself for the next couple of weeks. Once orientation starts, I’m going to be running!
I arranged a mixer for the minority students to get to know each other before we start school. Many people left on “Random Walks”, pre-MBA trips all over the world, this weekend. Some other people are gearing up for Math Camp this week. The school offers a review session of math concepts that you will probably see in classes. They also offer an accounting session. These sessions are optional and pricey ($750), but would be a great help for Liberal Arts majors who’ve never really dealt with calculus, etc.
We got to meet a few more people and exchange stories about how we got here. It is very interesting to hear everybody’s story. The more people I meet, the more excited I get. All of the alumni we meet still talk with people they went to business school with. I really think that I am making friendships for life.
We got to fill the new people into some the subtle B-school politics we’d encountered so far and warn them about the more nefarious people we’d met. We got into an interesting discussion about the male/female aspects of business school. The observation has been made that a lot of the men starting business school are married, when few of the women are. It got pretty heated, and we haven’t resolved why we think this is. Although it is pretty common for people to hook up in business school
I have got a few more days at work and then on to blessed unemployment. It will be a really drastic change for me, but I’m looking forward to the adjustment. I’m taking a week of relaxation before orientation starts. Looking forward to the rest…
In trying to take every opportunity to meet alumni and get more insight into the finance industry, I attended a financial roundtable at Gleacher Center (the downtown campus) on Thursday night. It was packed with over 400 financial analysts in the Chicago area. Different capital managers gave their philosophies on choosing stocks and gave some insight into the nature of the market. It was interesting to hear where different people have ended up from where I am now.
The count down is on at work. Two more weeks and I’m unemployed! I’m of the small group of students who worked the entire summer. I’m glad that I decided to work down to the wire, because you could drive yourself crazy trying to do everything possible to prepare or totally slack off and miss a lot of opportunities over the summer. It has required me to maintain a routine.
I was lucky, in that I already lived in Chicago, so I didn’t have to move across country which made things a lot easier. After a lot of soul searching and talking to students I decided to stay where I am (close to downtown) instead of making the move to Hyde Park. I was worried about missing the late night interaction, but it seems a large contingent of our class is staying Downtown, and it’s only a fifteen minute commute.
Many people are leaving on Random Walks next weekend. Random Walks are the pre-class trips to places all over the world. They are organized by second years and first year students get a chance to meet some of their classmates and a couple of second years. I thought the cost was exhorbitant and I could do a trip on my own for a lot less, so I passed on the Random Walk opportunity.
I put together a “meet and greet” for the incoming minority students to get together. We keep seeing each other at these professional events when we’re in suits and on our best behavior. I thought we should take the opportunity to get to know the real deal before the pressure starts. I’ll give you the run down on how it goes next week.
Starting your first MBA resume is daunting, especially as you’re representing yourself one to two years from now.
The school provides us a template that companies are used to. We give it a try and then it is reviewed and reviewed. We’ll review resumes during a workshop in CORE (Orientation). However the Diversity Affairs Office puts together a resume book of the Minority students and we get started in the process a little earlier. Also, a lot of the minority students are planning on attending the National Black MBA Association Conference and Job Fair in September.
The Career Services office has seen thousands of resumes and they know better than I, what will catch an investment banking recruiter’s eye. So I take their suggestions gratefully. “Quantify your accomplishments, italicize this, and don’t underline that. You need to add a sport at the bottom. It show’s you’re competitive. You have to say you’re a member of the professional group on campus.”
It seems bizarre to me to claim membership in a group I have yet to meet, but there it is. After quite a few hours racking my brain and agonizing over each phrase, I am satisfied that it will sustain me through the first few events. The key seems to be the conversation starter. Give the recruiter something on your resume that they want to know more about. At this level, they know you’re intelligent, but do they want to work with you. It’s all about fit.
I’ve started reading the Wall Street Journal. I only comprehend half of it, but I am starting to know which questions to ask. So already I’m learning something. Now I have to work on my cover letter…
I applied to attend two company “summer camps” for diversity candidates. Basically, the idea is that the company gets the first opportunity to check out the minority talent at the top schools and you get to meet the recruiters before everybody else. It was a great experience because I do not have a finance background, so I need all the help I can get.
There were about 40 students from across the country, and many of us already knew each other from Consortium and Toigo events, MBA Jumpstart, and/or other company presentations. That’s the great thing about these events is that you meet so many other minority MBA students from other schools. I’ve already got people to call at Wharton, Stanford, Fuqua, Colombia, and Harvard. It’s very clear that you are going to keep seeing the same faces not only the next two years, but for your time on Wall Street and for the rest of your career. You don’t want to screw that up early on, so you try to talk to everybody and make some genuine friends.
Merrill Lynch’s Associates Day was designed to be impressive. Walking into this massive and beautifully appointed building on the water in Manhattan was humbling. They gave a quick intro to the company, and then broke us into groups based on our interest area: Investment Banking, Capital Markets, or Private Client. I wasn’t sure which area I was supposed to be in, so I went with Capital Markets, which proved to be very interesting. They talked about debt and equity markets and what sales and traders do. Every event ends with a cocktail and/or dinner hour, where you can mingle with employees and students. I’m in the market for good flat, comfortable shoes!
One Merrill Lynch employee stopped me to ask about my experience in Flint, where I did my undergrad. He’d grown up there. Who would think you’d meet someone from Flint in NYC? The lesson I learned was that everybody I met (some 25 plus people) had already seen my resume, and that I should be ready to talk about it at any time. This was stage one of a very long interview.
Credit Suisse First Boston gave a two-day MBA Explorer program, which touched on some of the different career opportunities and allowed us to ask questions of some senior people. They gave a great talk about diversity at the firm and the different support networks they’ve set up to support their employees. The recruiters we’d be seeing in the fall also gave us some tips on resumes and interviewing. (Don’t spell Suisse wrong!)
They had an in-depth case study of an investment banking problem and a panel about Fixed Income trading, where the panelist gave a great overview of markets in general. There was a panel about Alternative Capital careers, but I found the Equities panel the most interesting. I plan to pursue a summer internship (and career) in Research and CSFB offers several opportunities. The CSFB program was a great help especially for those of us that are new to finance, and there are many. They also did a great job of presenting Wall Street and not just CSFB. It gave a great impression, and many students expressed interest in working for them.
I also took the opportunity to attend the New York GSB Diversity Reception for prospective applicants. There were a variety of experiences and backgrounds. The Dean of the School, Ted Snyder, introduced the school and answered questions such as “Why Chicago?” Alumni came out to talk about their experiences, so I got to talk to them about preparation. It was eye-opening to see how far I’ve come from last year and a little bit of a confidence boost having people ask me questions, especially when I feel so clueless. It also made me feel more excited about starting school!