This process is insane! It is the first full week of classes. I’ve been to seven presentations so far. Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Bank of America… It all starts to run together and sound almost identical. I feel almost like I’m in autopilot. “I would love to work at (fill in the blank). I know that the recruiters must be tired of hearing the same inane questions constantly. The food selection is usually pretty good, though you’re only supposed to eat if you don’t plan on working at the company giving the presentation. Most people naively go for the drinks, and think it makes them look more “banker” to walk around with Scotch. It’s all very entertaining!
In between presentations I actually attend classes, though studying has been kept to an absolute minimum (out of necessity). I have no memory of boredom. I look into my planner constantly because I have no idea where I am supposed to be, but I know that I’m late. At any one time, I have three company presentations to choose from, two group meetings to attend, and lots of reading to catch up on. I got lucky and avoided any cold calls this week, because it would have been pitifully obvious how comprehensive my reading was.
I was the Student Ambassador at the CSFB Presentation last night. I was offered the opportunity to escort the CEO, Brady Dougan, out to his car. I spent the entirety of his talk trying to think of what I could say that wouldn’t make me look like the peon I am. Just when I started to break out in hives, he left, unescorted. I was too relieved to be disappointed. What was supposed to be a two hour time commitment ended four hours later with me carrying boxes of pamphlets from the Quad Club back to Hyde Park Center. Is this really helping me to get to know recruiters?
I pledged my $400 for club memberships. I’m now a member of the Investment Banking Group, the Investment management Group, the Management Consulting Group, the African American MBA Association, and the Chicago Women in Business. I figured I would cover all bases, and then I should be able to attend any and every event on campus for free. Who knows how I’ll feel next year…
We started this week off with Corporate presentations. It was very much like everyone said it would be. Company 1 started at lunch time. There was a huge line at the sign in table before we even got into the room. I tried to hang back a bit to observe what the second years were doing and to get a feel for the process. The first company was pretty laid back. They offered us a take-away lunch and gave a short speech from executives and second year students. Some of the first years were pretty bad and it reminded me a lot of the horror of Mocktails from last week. One person actually asked the recruiter, “So, what do you want us to do at these things?” It was mortifying.
On the other hand, it makes me look pretty good.The second company in the evening went with a cocktail party feel. It was designed to be splashy and impressive and I think many first-years fell for it. I took the opportunity to ask a lot of dumb questions and I think I got something out of it.
Classes are gearing up. I can see that the pain of the whole process is going to be group meetings. They aren’t inherently bad. But trying to coordinate the schedules of several people and then be effective in the hour you’ve finally arrived at through process of elimination is no small feat. An interesting part I didn’t anticipate is how many people would want you in a group. I’d heard stories of people looking up your background in the facebook and trying to leverage your knowledge for the team grade. I thought surely it couldn’t be that pathetic. I was wrong.
I am still having trouble remembering names and have just resigned myself to smiling and nodding. I’ll catch on eventually, I guess. I’m already getting good at discriminating. It’s not about what is interesting anymore. Everything is interesting. What can I fit in? It’s great to have so many options of things you actually want to do.
I had Marketing yesterday. It was entirely new to me and pretty cool. The Professor was very excited about his material which I believe I covered yesterday. Anyway, we formed groups during the break and have our homework for next week already underway. We’re learning…
I then head over to the bank to deposit the check I picked up yesterday, and to exchange a book at the bookstore. I bought a coursepack(AKA photocopies of articles bound) for $130. So I’m almost convinced I should start a coursepack company. Oh well, gotta graduate first. Then back to Hyde Park Center (HPC) for an email check and to work on this blog.
I swear I checked my email in the morning and by 2pm I had 33 mesaages. This is ridiculous. I wasn’t this important when I had a job! Anyway, there were messages for a couple more events to go to and a couple requests for electronic resumes. I got a message from the Student Ambassadors that I got CSFB, my first choice. Thank you! So I get to meet the recruiter before the presentation and finish up after it is over. That’s right it comes down to more face time. I shot out a message to introduce myself, etc. An hour later I started working on my blog. I then got caught up in a conversation with a couple of ladies from the staff. I personally think these are the most important people to know.
I stuck around for the Student Activities Fair in the evening. It was another glutton fest (Liquidity Preference Function) with a purpose. Every club wants to claim as many of the first years as possible for their club, before you recognize that you won’t be able to manage sixteen clubs and you’ve already paid the $60/each to join. It’s brilliant. They butter you up with hamburgers and beer and everything sounds good to you. I hung with the second years that have a much more jaded opinion of the options for Activities. Many of them joined quite a few clubs, only to realize their folly too late.
Let’s see. I have eleven company presentations to attend next week. I also have a case to prepare for LEAD, problems to prepare for Accounting, a case to prepare for Marketing, and some problems and a case to prepare fro Microeconomics. I am in desperate need of doing the laundry and the dishes. I also will be at the first social event for the African American MBA Association (AAMBAA) Saturday night and a Barbeque thrown by BCG on Sunday. Somehow I will get through this. I most definitely need to get started.
I was nervous to start classes. After hearing so many versions of what can go wrong and what can go right, I had no idea what to expect. I stepped tentatively into the classroom which spelled of wood and carpet, and chose a place next to a student from my cohort. (See this LEAD stuff does work!) We anxiously confirmed that none of us had done any pre-work and were relieved that we would not be punished alone. The Professor was awesome. He introduced himself and explained how he expected the course to work, but he had attitude. He went through the syllabus and calmly stated that if we’d like to change the order of topics covered, we should feel free to register for another class, as there are plenty of sections this term.
He quickly got to the point; introducing supply and demand with such vigor that you started thinking this stuff is pretty cool. I think this is the idea and Chicago professors do it to perfection. It’s pretty easy to sell something you’ve studied forever and love with a passion. He did some mild cold calling that only foreshadowed our next few weeks. One student replied that he didn’t know, and The Professor told him that he was on probation until next week. When the same students later made an insightful comment, he said that he was now off of probation. See professors have a sense of humor!
I followed the three hour class with a meeting about Student Ambassadors. These are students who meet the recruiters before their presentations and make sure the overhead projector is working and that everything is set up as planned. It’s a good opportunity for us to make some contacts, and it helps alleviate the workload on the Career Services office. They gave us some helpful info concerning the various venues where presentations would take place and then went into a half hour orientation on the brand new projection systems in the Hyde Park Center. We found out afterward that nearly none of the presentations would take place in this building, so I didn’t really see the point.
Next up: REFUND DAY! It’s been crazy living with no income, but I finally was saved when we were able to pick up our refund checks from what was left on our loan balance after tuition decimated it. I stood in line with students from the law school and the undergraduate college all intent on eating this evening! It as pretty painless, as I’d heeded Priscilla Parker and registered for the correct amount of classes. Though the process took a little longer than I thought, and I couldn’t join the line at the bank.
Instead I headed over to LEAD headquarters for Group Process. I knew ahead of time that this would be painful. As soon as I heard a video camera would be involved, I was up in arms. The theory here is that you’ll observe yourself in a group, through the magic of video and gain some clarity on others’ impression of you. They gave us a project that we had a certain amount of time to finish and then present on. We then watched the video of ourselves and made observations, and then got to relive the horror yet another time, when we were debriefed by the gurus (AKA: LEAD Facilitators). It was probably the most difficult LEAD project I’ve had.
I finished off the day with the Women’s Welcome Back Mixer for female students. It was pretty tame, as expected. They had little appetizer things and fruit, and we basically stood around and talked about school, etc. I didn’t really meet anyone I didn’t already know, but I think it was more a show of support as there were several administrative staff in attendance.
In the effort of stepping out of my comfort zone, I did attend TNDC later. It was more of a reunion for the second years and we got to meet more of them. It was held at a sports bar so I didn’t stay long.
Today in LEAD we discovered ourselves through personality typing. There were several reactions to this. One student stated under his breath that this was akin to horoscopes. I interpreted this as a bad thing. Other people were bowled over by the uncanny accuracy. So it takes all kinds. Anyway, we first went thorough all facets of the test and came up with our thoughts of what type we are, and then we reviewed the results of the actual test we’d taken over the summer.
Then we did a little exercise in comparison and found that a group of “feelers” comes up with a very different approach to a problem than would a group of “thinkers”. Then they separated us by temperament and showed us our composition in comparison to the U.S. population and the make up of our class. It was interesting to see that my type had about 1.5% representation in business schools, and that there were like 4 of us out of 55. I hope this is indicative of lack of interest and not ability or I am in trouble. So I got that going for me.
We finished off the day with Mocktail. No disrespect to Career Services, but this event was out of control. The point was to simulate a company presentation with recruiters and how you should act. So they set us up in small groups with a recruiter and an appetizer spread. I attended the Investment Banking session and it was very entertaining. I thought we’d be getting tips on polish, but as most things go, we had to review fundamentals for the minority who have no idea how to behave.
As we’d done several events this summer, we knew a little bit about how to conduct ourselves professionally. I introduced myself to the “recruiter” and politely turned to hear the introductions of the other people in my group. I was shocked when one woman in our group excused herself from the presentation to answer her cell phone. There were also the people who would come and grill the recruiter, “Are you sales and trading?” If they replied in the negative, the student would just walk away. No “Thank you, or closing. They just walked away.
There were students who simply stood around the food table. Then there were the people in the back of the room who just stood around and talked while the presentation was going on. It was a crazy thing, but it had the benefit of making me a little more confident.
LEAD was about as elementary as yesterday’s lessons. When diffusing emotional situations you should make an I-statement. They include an emotion, an example and a consequence. “I am bored when we talk about I-statements for more than an hour like we did today, and I am getting bored with LEAD.” See it’s easy.
We had Cohort elections today, which was a dubious process at best. Essentially we have to elect people we may or may not have met at the various event to “lead” us for the next two years. We have a representative from each cohort on the GBC board (AKA Student Council). Then there are President, Social Chair, Community Chair, Film Chair, and Class Agent. I am vaguely familiar with the duties of each. I went to see the speeches which I thought would be entertaining. I was not disappointed. One group decided to run an entirely negative campaign, there were candy bribes, and the obligatory popularity contest. Some people really wanted to improve themselves and help the cohort, but I felt that most people wanted something to pad the resume. A fact of life…
What fun to discuss diversity at the GSB. I was ready for this session, but I really had no idea how “out of the box” it would get. The premise was simple. They brought in a company to act out different scenarios. Most of the discussion centered around women’s issues. But there were some notable comments. One student expressed his opinion that when immigrants move to this country they should cast of every vestige of their “former life” and adopt the American way. The facilitator threw out the question of whether the same gesture made by a white man and a black man is perceived differently. Many people looked uncomfortable when a black student, who shall remain unnamed, commented that we call this “Angry Black Man Syndrome”. Applying the same situation to women, came out as “Bi^ch”.
What interested me were the stereotypes and generalizations that were expressed while opposing another one. One man thought it was wrong to tell a woman she couldn’t go with the others to play golf, but didn’t see an issue with telling a Japanese man that he would have to Americanize himself to work in New York. Though many of us tried to create an honest dialogue, it was apparent that we were on different pages. The issue of reverse discrimination did come up, but was somewhat glossed over. The presentation was designed to start us thinking about the issue, but not touch anything controversial that might introduce a rift in our carefully thought out groups. You were supposed to pick up the situations presented and extrapolate them to other situations.
I don’t really see that happening. But, hey, I’m cynical. I felt that everyone was receptive to a point. (Those that weren’t chose not to attend the mandatory session.) You can increase awareness, but changing people’s beliefs in a three hour session? Even Chicago can’t work those kinds of miracles.
I took advantage of the lunch break to check out the new building. We’d been admiring from afar, but we’d finally get to see the inside. It is awesome! The Winter Garden is really fantastic and allows lots of students to congregate in one place. It is bright and everything is done in wood and painted in muted shades of white and yellow. You enter and feel calm. It is very welcoming and I could see myself staying in this building for a whole day and not going nuts. We were assigned packets with our keycard (for after hours access), maps, and our locker assignments. I checked out my locker, which as promised will hold a suit. However I should have stated that I wanted the locker to hold a suit and books at the same time. That requirement may be a bit more trouble.
Today, LEAD changed from “Hey Ya” to “The Way You Move“. (Don’t hate on the Outkast references!) It was incredibly obvious and slow to me, but we learned about many ways to communicate using complicated acronyms. PROCESS listening and IMPACT feedback might actually help some of the people who need a formalized step-by-step process to have a normal conversation. I was amused by the people who took everything literally and were trying to figure out how they would remember to use all seven components of PROCESS listening in each conversation. They sounded like androids.
We finished off the day with some “strongly encouraged bonding” at Cohort dinners. Each group was sent to a different restaurant in downtown Chicago. It was interesting to be able to talk to people now that we’d gotten to know each other a little better, and it was a nice introduction to downtown for those staying in Regents (an apartment building in Hyde Park) who may never venture that far north. Some of us went to a bar afterward and hung out for a little while.
We attended a Semi Formal at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago last night. It was very elegant, and really the first opportunity we’d had to get together without any school sanctioned activities planned. It did have it’s difficulties as we struggle to remember the 500 plus names of our classmates, we were suddenly barraged with another 200-300 more people in the form of “partners”, an all-inclusive term for spouses, significant others, etc. It was also interesting to see people in dressy clothes. We clean up pretty well.
I had to wear a long dress as I’d scratched my leg up at LOE. They had the exhibits open, so you could check out the whales and dolphins, and then there was dancing and a buffet. It was fun. There was much discussion about our classes and bidding, as we just learned which of our choices we’d actually got.
I actually slept in my own bed last night for the first time in a week. I have four bags of luggage sitting at the front door screaming, “Do the laundry!” I can’t believe that it’s been all of two weeks and I’m already so busy. This week, we’ve got a couple more LEAD events, as well as a Diversity seminar. I also have to get books and complete assignments for the first day of class. It’s only going to get more interesting!
There was much confusion surrounding attending this year’s National Black MBA Association Conference. As the conference falls during CORE, which is mandatory, many of us felt that we couldn’t go. I had never heard of the conference, and so I asked a lot of questions about what happened there, what the benefits are, etc. When I heard that the banks and consulting companies would be there, I was determined to go. The key is face time and I need all the help I can get.
I got several compliments on my resume, and the reception from recruiters based on the Chicago name was enthusiastic. My strategy was to paper the entire convention center. I was able to talk with all of the banks, and a couple of consulting companies. I also talked with consumer goods companies about corporate finance and operations management. I thought it was a great step to learning about business careers and what exactly I want to do.
The Career Fair was huge, but very organized and efficient. The Chicago GSB had a table where students congregated between jaunts to grill recruiters. So we also got to talk to some prospective students as well as alumni. After the fair on Thursday, most companies held receptions in the adjoining hotel. This is great in theory, but since they are all held at the exact same time, it is difficult to go to every one. We’d planned a polite but efficient 20 minutes each for the six we wanted to attend. We quickly realized that the recruiter’s goal is to keep you in the room and talking to their representatives, rather than the competition. We were only able to make it to three receptions, and by this time we were pretty exhausted. Many people went out after, but I was asleep at 11 so that I could hit it again the next morning.
Friday had a different feel. There were a few new faces as many people decided to take only one day to attend the conference, and the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed as the everybody, including the recruiters, were tired. We learned that most of the higher level people (AKA, the people you want to talk to) leave about noon on Friday. In other words, you should be done with resumes and on to collecting freebies by 1pm. My classmates left the convention center with huge red bags emblazoned with the Coca Cola label filled with pens, shaving gel, chips, key chains, and (hopefully) company information. Trying to pack all of that stuff for the plane home was no small feat.
All in all, I am immensely glad that I attended the conference. I was able to see people I’d contacted over the summer and they remembered me. It made it so much easier to walk up to a booth and talk to someone you’d talked to before. I was so encouraged to see how Chicago students compared to students at other schools. I will admit to a biased opinion, but we came across as professional and polished, and just had our stuff together. We represented well!
Friday night we had a Chicago GSB reception and really got the inside scoop from the second years. It was encouraging to know that they are just as crazy as we are, and that they are normal people with social skills, so the stereotype has officially been proven wrong. Then we attended a party with several other schools which was not that great. Though I met a couple of people from Wharton, it wasn’t that easy to talk to them with the loud music and bump and grind.
Just a pit stop! I got back from LOE in Wisconsin at 11:00am. I’ve got three hours to get packed and start out for the airport to the conference in Houston. I’m sore all over from high ropes and mentally exhausted from “Breaking Boundaries”. I will be sleeping on the plane, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m grateful that I’d already done my bid for classes last week, as it was one thing less to worry about. I’ve searched the house for jewelry, and I can’t find it, so I will be boarding the plane without it. We will just have to go shopping this evening. On to Midway…
The next morning we didn’t have a session until the afternoon and many people took advantage of this time to sleep off the hangover. We were encouraged to “Connect” through sports, mini golf, etc. In the afternoon we had “breaking Boundaries” which was similar to low ROPES, but less physical. We were tasked with completing several exercises and then talking about the process.
Our squad started with “Gridlock”, which entailed us moving everybody standing in a straight line and then reversing our order. It was a little complicated and we had a hard time figuring out how to move everybody correctly. Next was the Egg Drop exercise where they gave us straws and tape and we had to make something that would protect an egg at a drop of eight feet. We had to come up with a device and a marketing pitch about it. Our group decided to break into a marketing group and a production group. We had a hard time in narrowing down what we wanted to do. Some people started doing their own thing to the detriment of the team, and to the device. Some members removed themselves from the process and had no stake in the device, while others had an understanding of what the device was supposed to look like, which others didn’t agree with. We eventually got together and finished up, but that exercise was the most difficult.
Next was “Toxic Waste” where we had to move tennis balls in a can from one location to another. The container had five ropes which had to be operated independently and simultaneously to succeed. We attempted to do it blindfolded for extra points. Everyone got frustrated and we quickly abandoned the idea. It was difficult to set one direction and get everybody to follow it. Our debriefing for this exercise was harsh, but necessary. We didn’t work as a team, everybody was trying to lead, and we gave up too soon. Most people agreed with the feedback.
What was funny, was that people were so sensitive to the feedback that it carried to the next exercise and we became super-process oriented. We immediately appointed a leader and we would all clap whenever anybody did anything. It was completely reactionary and probably not very genuine. I was surprised at how focused people were on points. It was all important to gauge our group against the other groups and earn a lot of points. I was entertained.
We finished off with the Egg Drop, where all the squads had to pitch their device and then drop it. You got points if your egg didn’t break and if you had the best pitch. It was startling how similar the pitches were, and every one of our groups broke their egg.
Next was dinner, followed by a bonfire, karaoke, and dancing. They played horrible music selections from the early eighties, which a lot of people thought were great. At one point there a guy on the floor doing the Running Man and the Centipede in the same routine. People circled around him and clapped. Then came the Macarena. It was a traumatic experience that I am currently working out in therapy.
It started with a bus ride. We had to be on the bus at 6am on Monday. It was rough, but they’d threatened us enough with hefty consequences. (You will be on the bus on time!) We were given 2 T-shirts and a bus pass. When we were safely ensconced on the bus, we were given “breakfast” consisting of a granola bar, orange juice, and an apple. I thought it was a nice touch in cementing our captive status with a prison meal. We watched Office Space on the way up and talked with our neighbors. Welcome to LEAD Outdoor Experience.
The whirlwind started upon arriving at the resort in Wisconsin. We were herded to rooms to drop our bags and put on our strategically color-coded shirts. At the opening meeting, you walked in to see a sea of color spots. Orange on the left, green to the right. Find a seat next to someone with your color on. I felt like an M&M. We watched a short excerpt from Braveheart and then a Braveheart impersonator came out to hype us with battle cries. We quickly determined that our cohort would be our clan, gang…whatever you want to call it. You will be spending a lot of time with these people.
Following the large communal meeting, we broke out into smaller groups of cohorts and sister cohorts. We share the same facilitators and got to interact together. The 8 facilitators introduced themselves and gave some interesting tidbits about themselves such as what magazine cover they’d like to be on. After this we grabbed lunches and boarded yet another bus to head to the ROPES course. There we were broken up into squads of 6-8 people and paired with our sister cohort squad. We then went through low ROPES exercises.
We played a couple of games to get our attention. Half of the group was blindfolded and the other half had to lead them somewhere without talking. Then we switched and had to lead them by talking without being able to touch them, It just underscored the importance of verbal and non verbal communication. We had to cross a “spider web” of bungee cords with each person going through a different holes. We had to swing each member from one of a “desert” to the other with a rope. Every thing required planning a strategy and working as a team. It was a great way to look at team dynamics, and each exercise was followed by a debriefing. Our LEAD facilitator, Bryan, did all of the exercises with us and we got to know each other quickly.
Then it was on to the high ROPES exercises, which were more independent and challenging in a different way. There were a few options including climbing a 50-ft rock wall, taking the “Leap of faith” off of a ledge and the Ropes, which was a sort of obstacle course 40-ft in the air. They had two levels and the purpose was to figure out what would challenge you. Some people did every thing. Most people picked the one (or two) they wanted to tackle and went after it. I observed for probably an hour and a half. I really had to think about how I would fell if I didn’t try it. So I went and stood in line.
Climbing up a 40-ft pole was the worst part. By the time I’d make it up, I was so proud of myself, I didn’t notice the height. I had to walk across the swings which looked a lot easier than it was, because they would move and it was hard to move to the next swing because your weight would force it to swing back and forth. I finally got through and was able to “zip” down a line to the ground, where I promptly ran into a tree. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever done and I’m glad I did. I found that I tend to start things with a lot of determination and initiative, but it is when I am almost at the finish line that I say I can’t do it. It happened twice while I was up there, and people on the ground were cheering and encouraging you. So I did some introspection based on this experience. We returned to the resort exhausted and beat up (3 bruises, and a 7-inch scratch), with a slightly different mindset. Then the fun began.
We had dinner, where the object was to sit with someone new every time and then LEAD o RAMA with carnival games and contests. Most of us ended up talking in the lobby near the free beer anyway. It was the first chance to just relax and talk to people. I met some people I’d been seeing, but had never talked to and noticed some people I’d never seen before. It was a great but tiring first day. Many people ended up in one of the bars until the wee hours of the morning. The seemingly endless stream of names made you feel like you would never remember all of these people. But you know at least 8 more people than you did that morning, so that was cool.
We had a session this morning with minorities that work in the fields we are interested in. They went over “days in the life” of their respective careers and gave us tips on interviewing and how we should start narrowing down our career choices. We also had a great session with second year students who gave some insight into some of the things we should keep in mind as we get started. They surprised me by stating that their regrets centered around not doing enough social events, and they encouraged us to really take advantage of the chance to meet so many cool people. Getting a job is important, but don’t let it dominate your experience. You’ve only got two years…
The Career Services Office gave a much needed session for attending the Career Fairs at the NBMBAA and NSHMBA Conferences. I found out the school has guidelines on when first years should interview and that they try to allow you as much time as possible to explore career opportunities and prepare yourself for interviewing. I’ve decided to proceed with the interview I arranged at the conference next week, but it is reassuring that if I’m offered the job, I don’t have to feel pressured to accept it. Apparently it is common for a company to make an offer and allow you the time to go through the recruiting process and then decide. I was worried that if I was offered the job, I’d either be locked in before I know exactly where I want to go, or turn down a potentially great opportunity. I’m looking forward to the conference, because I think it will be great to get some feedback and meet more students from other schools.
I’m planning out the next week, because it is going to be a doozy! We have the LEAD Outdoor Experience (LOE) from Monday through Wednesday morning in Wisconsin. Then we leave for the NBMBAA Conference in Houston on Wednesday night. When we get back from the conference on Saturday morning, we have to get dressed for a semi-formal in downtown Chicago. So, since I have to be on the bus for LOE at 6am on Monday morning…I have got less than 36 hours to make preparations:
1. Print out 100 copies of my resume
2. Do the laundry
3. Pack a bag of outdoor clothes, bug spray, and rain gear for LOE
4. Pack a bag of suits and party clothes for the conference
5. Research the company I’m interviewing with, in-depth
6. Plan out all the companies I want to target at the conference
7. Perfect my 30 second spiel (It still needs work)
8. Iron my dress for the semiformal
9. Do the dishes
10. Get some rest so I can make the 6 am bus!
Last Sunday I was worried about what to wear on the first day. I can’t believe I’ve only been “in school” for four days, as I already feel a lot different. The second-years seem much more composed and on-top-of-it than I feel. Everyone is extremely helpful and they will answer any question you can think of. It helps to know that they were here only one year ago and they not only got through it, but succeeded.
We were split up into our cohort groups for the Thursday and Friday programming, which covered Financial Aid and Career Services. Priscilla Parker is in charge of financial aid and she gives it to you straight. She saved me a lot of useless hours trolling for scholarships for MBAs. (There aren’t many.) Anyway, she gave us some reassuring words about the massive amount of debt we were willingly signing up for. A classic quote that sums it up, “If you live like a CEO when you’re a student, you will live like a student when you’re a CEO.” Such wisdom…
The Office of Career Services, led by Julie Morton, is tasked with helping you to find a job. They take this very seriously, and the message we were given over the past two days was that we should as well. Fortunately, they have seen just about everything and they’ve devised some great tools to help every slacker with their resume. As I’ve stated before, they sent out a lot of exercises to help you get started over the summer. Using this as a starting point, we worked on wording bullet items and relating previous experience to your new career choice. I attended a session targeted at non-business backgrounds which focused on recognizing transferable skills. It’s all in how you spin it. Yes, creative writing may be required!
We also tried to get feedback from other students, as we tend to overlook the mundane things we did everyday and it helps to get an outside perspective. The administrative things you did at your old job may be the communication and team-work skills that business recruiters are seeking. Your job is to make that blatantly apparent. We also started working on our “30 second spiel”. You have to introduce yourself, give your reason for being here, outline what job you want, and explain why you think you can do the job. You’ve got 30 seconds, GO! It’s not that easy. Mine was pretty bad. I was fine with everything except why I think I can do the job, which relates to… you guessed it, transferable skills! It just doesn’t flow naturally. It sounds scripted and stiff to me and it smacks of bragging. I’m working on it…
I was shocked to get an interview call this morning from a tech company. I had an informal telephone interview with a manager in operations finance. I hadn’t really considered corporate finance, but I was interested in the feedback and don’t want to discount any opportunity at this point. He asked me some operations questions which I could manage, but he touched on finance, of which I am almost completely ignorant, and it was apparent. I immediately saw the importance of preparation. He said that I’d done well (in spite of myself), and that he was impressed with my background and my resume. So I now have an interview set up for the NBMBAA Conference next week. This is both good and bad.
I am encouraged that my resume worked the way it was supposed to and inspired interest in me, but I recognize that I am not ready to interview. We aren’t supposed to interview until January, as the school wants us to go through the recruiting process, and because we will be better prepared to do well. I don’t even know that I want to do corporate finance, let alone at this company. It’s ridiculous to be speaking on classroom instruction you’ve just signed up for. I’m already claiming concentrations when I have yet to sit through a class. The whole process is moving very fast, as they assured me it would.
The Office of Diversity Affairs, in conjunction with Career Services, has set up a session to prepare us for the Conference, including going over “days in the life” of different careers and talking to second years about 1st year pitfalls. It may be the most useful session of orientation.
Today was an improvement over yesterday. There was a brief introduction to the computing services on campus and advice on protecting your laptop. (You can register it so that it is marked “stolen” and can not be sold.) They suggested we get and maintain virus protection on our computers and went over some of the university policies concerning copyrighted materials.
We then got a very useful introduction to the thirteen concentrations, and faculty gave guidance on which of the introductory course we should take. Many people tend to overestimate the exposure gained in undergraduate accounting and statistics courses. It was interesting to hear about econometrics and statistics, and organizational behavior which were areas I might never have been inclined to take. The idea was to generate interest and I think the faculty achieved that goal.
A necessary introduction to the course bidding system finished out the afternoon. Of the three hour presentation, I probably understood about 50%. They started talking about bid prices and arbitrage and I was completely lost. I understood that we have to pick a schedule and come up with some sort of value for how much we want that schedule. Then there were some calculated formulas which determine who gets what classes and how many points it costs them. You could see the economists’ eyes light up at the thought of outguessing their classmates and beating the system. I guess this is our first look at capital markets. Welcome to the GSB!
Our first day opened with the Dean, Ted Snyder, introducing the school’s values and some of the initiatives he’s got planned. The day was filled with lectures from various administrative departments going over the materials they’d sent out to us over the summer. I guess they assume we didn’t actually read the materials and they may be correct. There was an excited buzz about the brand new building, Hyde Park center, which will open next week.
It was humbling to see over 500 classmates, and then to realize you’ve got two years to get to know all these people! They’ve broken us up into our cohort groups, which are smaller groups of about 55 students whom we will go through orientation with our first term. Theoretically you should know fifty plus people very well come December. The rivalries are already coming out with some cohorts planning on T-shirts and slogans to demonstrate their dominance.
It was stressed early on that you will be busy and that we should really consider our priorities when deciding on activities, given the time constraints. You can only do so much. We learn about registering for courses tomorrow and then get started with orientation and team building programs.