One of the companies I talked with at the NBMBAA Conference invited me to interview at their Headquarters. I didn’t realize that I would be interviewing with five people! I flew in and checked into the hotel and then met an employee for dinner. We talked about the company and what she likes about her job. We got comfortable and then the real info started flowing. I was very honest about where I am in this process. (I’m still considering consulting, though banking is about to fall off my list.)
Of course, me being Natasha, I spilled a drop of brown sauce right in the middle of my shirt during the appetizer course. I had no hope that it wasn’t noticeable. So I just talked all through dinner and dessert as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. And nothing had, since I am usually pretty clumsy and accident-prone. I’m used to it. I didn’t drink anything and turned in pretty early, which was probably just as well. In the morning, I had a monster day of interviewing.
I entered the company’s lobby and found that there would be three other interviewees. There was another first year seeking a marketing internship and two second year students, one seeking a finance job and one seeking a marketing job. I guess the intention was to minimize the competitive feel. It is always interesting to see the dynamic between business school students. We size each other up based on where we go to school. People deliver the name of their school with such pride, “I go to Tepper.” (That’s Carnegie Mellon for the uninitiated.) I think it’s ridiculous. Chicago’s reputation doesn’t make me any better. It’s giving me a lot of credit which could only lead to disappointment.
My first interview of the morning, I wasn’t sure how to play. I had no idea what to expect and so just decided to be myself. The HR people had laid out the format and stated that each interviewer had precise questions that they were to ask you. It was all very scientific. So it was with great relish that my first interviewer firmly stated that he didn’t care for the questions and he knew from my resume that I would be great. He wanted to know about me. So I regaled him with some exciting tales of my upbringing and then asked him questions about his job and why he stays where he is. He got so excited to talk about his day, I just sat back and absorbed the deluge of info. One down, four to go…
My second interviewer was a VP who reported right to the CFO of the company. I did not let this intimidate me and asked him about his experience, and what he’s looking for in an intern. He was a little more standoffish, but I faired pretty well. After that it was easy. I got into a groove and just went with the momentum. Repeating myself over and over was a drag. I think I got more daring as the day went on, so that in my last interview I asked the interviewer if he felt that he could go to his boss and say that a project he’d been given was crap. Yes, I said crap in an interview. Surprisingly no lightning came out of the ceiling and struck me down, and no language police showed up to give me a ticket. Amazingly, he answered my question and he relaxed and then I really got my questions answered. Who knows if I got a job offer, but I gained some points for self expression. I really feel that a job offer would be an indication that they really think I could succeed there, and not an acknowledgment that I’d said what they wanted me to. We’ll see.
Of course, all this riveting conversation led to me writing seven thank you notes to mail early this morning. It’s crazy. I returned home to a sink full of dishes, a tornado of clothes I’d been amassing at each of my pit-stops between plane trips, 6 voicemails, and 74 e-mails. I will definitely suffer for being out of sight for most of the last week, but I think I made some strides on the career front, both personally and from the internship standpoint. And I’m still having more fun than when I was at work.
This is gonna be another rough week, of which I am getting much too used to. Have you ever looked at your schedule for the next week and thought WHY? I’m flying out to New York Monday night, returning to Chicago Wednesday morning, and then flying out to Philadelphia on Thursday, and returning to Chicago on Friday night. It’s the first time I’ll take four plane rides in a week. Maybe I can be a consultant!
I arrived in New York to attend the Women on Wall Street Conference. Many of us were invited and sponsored by Deutsche Bank, which annually sponsors the event. University of Chicago women were rolling deep at this event. There were about twelve of us out of about fifty. We attended a lunch with Deutsche Bank women and had an interesting keynote address by Maggie Craddock who spoke about choosing a career. She is an executive coach and she had some good tips on things that influence your choice of career and what’s important to you. Of course, I most looked forward to the question and answer portion of the program. I asked what I’ve been struggling with. You should be true to yourself, but you should also be cognizant of others perceptions of you. But what do you do when the two conflict? How much should you change for others? It’s a question I’ve struggled with for a while, and no one has given me a very good answer. She stated that you can be yourself but you may have to present in a way that is not necessarily your own.
She was followed by the head of diversity for Deutsche Bank who explained how much of a priority it is to increase diversity at the bank, and that this serves as proof that women do have productive banking careers. I don’t know if they help or hurt themselves with these things. I notice how many eyebrows go up when a woman explains that she’s got a two-year old at home with the nanny and the housekeeper. I think it works for many people, but a lot of the others are fooling themselves.
After lunch the actual Conference started. There were over 3000 people there (mostly women). We heard from a panel of six women in financial services and their experiences. It was interesting to see how different the experiences were. Then it was time for the keynote address by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole. She was a dynamic speaker and she directly addressed the fact that a lot of the strides that have happened in financial services and other areas have been for white women and that minority females have a very difficult task. It was awesome. She gave great stories from her childhood and how she reacted to others telling her what she could be.
They finished the evening with the requisite cocktail reception which I likened to a shark feeding. They effectively threw some chum in the water and let these women attack. People were actually standing over the plates of appetizers to eat and then guarding the last cheesepuff for themselves. I extricated myself from this repulsive scene and sat myself down in the lobby. I ended up talking to an ex-banker and entrepreneur from Toronto. He was staying in the hotel and waiting for a friend. So we had a lively discussion. When I finally retrieved some of my classmates, we went to a restaurant and sat down to a civilized meal. Then it was an early morning flight back to classes at the Hyde Park Center.
OK, I made it through, and it wasn’t nearly as painful as I’d imagined it would be. The midterm met my expectations and was a bit too much to finish strong in 2 hours. But some people did, I’m sure. There were others who only did a few questions. So I felt like I was pretty close to the average (hopefully). Doesn’t matter, I only have to be as a good as my classmates. Anyway, coming out of our first midterm was like our first taste of freedom. We realized that business school tests are very similar to undergrad tests. There is only so much pressure you can internalize before disintegrating and then the tuition payments tend to fall off. The professor actually tried to console us and told us not to look so nervous.
My marketing group is basically on the road to self destruction. It was ironic that we discussed team dynamics this week in LEAD. I won tickets to the semi-formal alumni dinner in my co-hort by revealing something interesting about myself. That’s for me to know and you to find out…
I got a call from a company that wants to meet with me tomorrow at Gleacher Center. So for the second time this week, I have to head to class at HPC, return downtown for the meeting, and then it’s back to HPC for a group meeting. I love commuting!
This is it! Tomorrow I face my first midterm. Up until now we’ve been comparing ourselves based on fuzzy, subjective criteria. “I know he’s gonna get an A.” or “She’s always studying.” Now we’re all facing the Discriminator which will send many students into a tailspin as they face the first acknowledgment of failure of their entire lives. Now, it is important to note that a failure for many of these students will be a low A, so it will be difficult to deal with a B, and they may need a moment.
Anyway, as grades have never been high on my personal list of priorities, I’m trying not to bow to the pressure of the nervous wrecks around me. After hearing over and over again, how important it is to ace everything you undertake at this school, it starts to make you question your own thought process. “Maybe I am crazy. How can I disregard the fact that getting a B is going to haunt my very soul for the rest of my life?” The fact that I even thought about this is scary. As you can tell, it gets a bit serious and my peers magnify the pressure. I’m keeping it in perspective.
Let’s see... After spending so much time this weekend talking with prospective students, I had a bit of catch-up to do. So I spent most of Sunday working on my marketing case and studying microeconomics with a group. It was helpful to review the material and see the things I’d overlooked. But it wasn’t worth the 4 hours I ended up spending on it. And yes, I do mean spending. Because around here time is more than money, it is fiercely protected. I’ve seen more than one fight start with, “This is a waste of my time…”
Monday, I started my job in the Career Services office helping get recruiters settled in the interview rooms. It is mildly interesting and I took it mostly because I wanted to get to know the people in Career Services. (You want to know them very well.) I then had a study group for Accounting, where I was encouraged that I’d at least been on the right track with our latest Financial Statement Analysis case. Trust me; no one is more surprised than I am.
Unfortunately, I finished off the day with my increasingly unproductive marketing strategy group. I’m starting to think of it as a dysfunctional family. We have people who change their mind every meeting as to what our recommendation should be. We have people who say nothing in the meeting and then go to the professor and bring a report back of what we’re supposed to be doing. I end up in a near apoplectic fit after we’ve wasted another two hours, only to end up setting another meeting to repeat the same ill-fated process. My friends are calling me Debo (from the movie, Friday) because I keep “checking” people. Maybe I’m wrong. Nah, it’s everyone else.
Yesterday, I had no classes, so after work I blew off CMS (Sorry, Career Services) and took myself out for a real lunch at a real restaurant. I know it’s been a while since I’ve been out (without recruiter supervision) but it was soooo nice just to sit and relax without feeling like you’re supposed to be somewhere. It probably wasn’t the most responsible thing I’ve done this week, in light of my Micro midterm tomorrow, but it was absolutely worth it!
This weekend, the GSB opened its doors to prospective students. They got the opportunity to meet with students and admissions people, and get the inside story on the school. The school gets the chance to conduct interviews and address some of the wild stereotypes that discourage people from applying. I was encouraged by the number of minority students who came out! I haven’t done any work this weekend but it was worth it to talk to all of the prospective students.
I met some students after the “Admissions Survival” seminar. They had an LPF (Liquidity Preference Function) for prospectives paired with an Activities Fair. Basically they served pork sandwiches and allowed them to check out the clubs on campus. This was supposed to convince you that we don’t study all of the time. I took it as an opportunity to share my experience. Talking to students is the greatest way to see how you’d fit in here. Our collective experience is easier to stereotype, but each individual’s experience is much more difficult to nail down.
My motto for the weekend was, “You need LEAD!” I asked one prospective student, who shall remain nameless (and you know who you are), what they wanted to do. They rattled off a twenty-minute history of their life and experience in minute detail with narry a breath in between each sentence. I tried to jump in about seven times and explain that I was unemployed and had no job to offer them, with no success. Eventually the student realized that they were in danger of missing a seminar and walked away. I was left there trying to salvage the remnants of my IQ and rewet my eyeballs, and I thought: they need some IMPACT feedback.
The minority students and prospectives were invited to attend dinner at the home of Nobel Laureate, Professor Fogel, and his wife. It was a great time in a much more relaxed environment to talk with one another. The Dean was in attendance, and many prospectives took their chance to give him their 240-second spiel. It was like seeing the other side of the company presentations. I really feel for the corporate recruiters. There were some representatives from a company who sponsored the event. Many students tried to be on their P’s and Q’s. I’d heard the company reps would pull out a notebook and take notes on your behavior, language, etc. I have to be myself, so my notes are probably entertaining. It just reinforces my belief that that company is not for me. Some people were quite stressed. I felt that the dinner was about the prospectives and each other, and I can start looking for a job on Monday. Can we get a break?
We started Saturday with a women’s roundtable. Prospective students were able to ask questions of first and second year women about issues particular to them. Many women were concerned with living in Hyde Park (many women do it), dealing with spouses and dating, and having no quantitative background at a “quant school”. The students were very upfront about their experience. Prospectives kept asking whether being female became an issue in class or study groups. Did we ever feel like we had to prove ourselves when we were the only woman in a class or study group? I wish somebody would! This school is truly merit based. If you say something stupid, it doesn’t matter that it was a guy, a girl, or a professor. It was stupid! But that works the other way too.
We had a lunch panel of current students which proved to be interesting. Some of them needed LEAD. I can’t figure out why nine people had to answer every question, but I’m into efficiency, so maybe it’s just me. I thought they were selling just a little too hard. It’s my opinion that people will recognize the school is for them or not, and it doesn’t have to be overhyped. Just like in an interview, the panelists were asked the weakness question, and predictably they responded with “perfectionism” and turned it into a strength. It was a bit cheesy! However, I think that the enthusiasm for the school and the diverse personalities that are happy here came across.
We finished off the day with a social for minority students at the Lucky Strike, a local bowling alley, grill and bar. I had annoyed enough people by this time that they felt comfortable asking the real questions they’d come here to ask. “Why didn’t I go to X school?”, “How many minorities are in my classes?” “Is LEAD annoying?” Finally, they were getting real. They’d survived their interviews and it was time to get the real info. I was happy to share my experience, but I prefaced it by saying this is my view. I don’t know that I am typical (or sane, but that is a different conversation).
Some people were a bit much, and I wanted to tell them to, “calm down, you’re stressing me.” Most people told me that they had a different opinion about the school than they did when they’d arrived. They might have been sucking up, but it encouraged me. Thanks everybody! I hope that people will keep in touch. I am happy to answer questions about my experience and/or read essays. I hope to see many of you in the spring at Admit Weekend!
It is so refreshing to attend classes and study groups without those pesky corporate presentations breaking up the day. The feeling on campus is so much more relaxed. The second years are a bit tense as they prepare for interviews next week, and the first years are gearing up for midterms. I think there is a sigh of relief in getting into a routine.
We had our Squad dinner on Sunday. It was interesting to meet everyone’s spouses and hang out for a while without thinking about LEAD protocol. I didn’t do my accounting because I was making enchiladas for the potluck. My study group frowned at me on Monday morning, but they helped me get prepared for class. I attended an info session with a consulting company rep. He thought I was a second year and I didn’t disabuse him of this notion, mostly because I thought I’d look more idiotic to excuse myself from the conversation.
I completed my ACT seminar which entailed giving a speech in front of eight people. It was painful to do and painful to watch others do. We did our introductory speech about ourselves and the facilitator gave us feedback, and then we did a pitch speech about something we know a lot about and everyone gave us feedback. We left with eight sheets of feedback and a videotape of our speeches. Yeah, like I’m gonna watch that tape!
I attended a meeting of the Minority Graduate Student Association, which is made up of students from all of the schools. It was interesting to meet students from the anthropology, sociology, and public policy programs. They pretty much hate us. Not just the business school, but all of the professional schools, because we don’t participate in events, and we’re always looking for a job. There weren’t many representatives from the medical school or law school, and there were only three of us from the GSB. The feeling from the other students is a huge contrast from the GSB environment. I hope to be able to attend many of the events and get to know some of these people. The fact that their experience is so different from my own makes me interested. We can learn from each other.
I’ve made my first faux pas at the GSB. It was bound to happen! I am Natasha, after all. There was a panel on Entrepreneurship and Private Equity summer internships given by the EVC (Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group). I was very excited to learn that I could actually get a summer internship in entrepreneurship. There were seven panelists and they introduced themselves and talked about their summer experiences. It quickly became apparent that everyone in the audience was interested in private equity. People just trickled out of the room when they couldn’t take any more. Then there were several points when there were forty of us watching a conversation between a panelist and a person in the audience. I raised my hand and asked if we could end the formal part of the program and talk individually. Well, apparently, I was wrong for that. I got my questions answered though!
I am sitting in the Investment Management Group’s Stock Pitching Boot Camp. I am not at all confident that I am even interested in this, but my schizophrenic approach requires me to attend several events that I don’t necessarily find interesting. This week, I’ve attended two consulting lunches, a consulting reception, two investment banking receptions, and the corporate forum which was mostly made up of companies looking for finance in a company and/or marketing. I’m all over the place. Not much is actually interesting me, so I’m joining yet another club: Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group. I’m up to seven (which is masochistic), but I think we may have a winner here!
We are finally having our first African-American MBA Association (AAMBAA) meeting next week. Impatient as I am, I want to get involved and start working on events. I’m getting various perspectives on the first-years’ experience, and I’m curious as to what we can do to improve the organization. I’ll give a full update when I know what’s going on.
I’ve got two marketing cases to read through, Accounting problems to complete, and a micro assignment to start for a study group. I also need to wash my “business casual” clothes as they seem to be required at everything and I am running low. I am also making enchiladas for a potluck dinner with my Squad (from LEAD) and I also need to file the ridiculous amount of company and/or Career Services propaganda I was handed this week. I’ve finally organized my business contact list so that I can search by company. This will be handy when I need to look at names before a presentation or dinner.
It would be nice to actually see my apartment once in a while! I must admit though that I am much happier when I am busy. The GSB has made me very happy!!
Whew! I’m surviving another week. I have only half as many receptions to attend, but they stepped up the “lunch and learns”. The companies bribe you with lunch and then talk incessantly about how great their company is in relation to their competitors, under the guise of educating you on their industry and function. I’m not hating. I haven’t bought a meal all week!
A lot of the company presentations are focused on second years and we have been not so politely uninvited. I completely understand, as some of my classmates are out of control! As a Student Ambassador I got to work a second year presentation and it had a completely different feel. The “deer in the headlights” facial expressions were mostly absent. What do they have to be afraid of when they’ve already been through the process once?
I’ve quickly discovered the down side to signing up for five clubs. I get emails from all five about various events and some of them are duplicates. I’ve been managing my time fairly well, but I’m finding it difficult to anticipate events. Some things are hard coded in the schedule: class, LEAD, presentations for companies I really like. Other stuff is filler. But we get several invitations to apply to attend something, and you can’t necessarily count on actually attending, but you also don’t want to sign up for something else and then have to decline one later. Everything has to be penciled in with all of the other options outlined as well (And there are many!).
Classes are going well. The study groups are somewhat annoying. We meet several times accomplishing nothing, but annoying each other and wasting precious sleep time. Then someone gets irritated enough to call a halt and assign everyone a portion, then we get back together and debate it again. Finally we turn in something that 51% of us agree with. Who needs consensus? It’s truly absurd! I think it’s all a plot to increase appreciation for LEAD skills.
The 20th Annual DuSable Conference was this weekend. We were invited to attend and it proved a valuable introduction to AAMBAA. The Career Fair consisted of about 15 sponsor companies set up to talk with students. I stayed with my strategy of talking to each and every company and quickly made it through talking to a lot of people, many of whom I already knew. One company had already picked me out from the resume book as a possibly good match. I cannot stress enough, the importance of a stellar resume. The evening finished with a dinner where Dean Snyder spoke followed by a keynote address by a local business owner and alum.
Saturday we met for workshops. They had something for everyone, covering topics like “Wealth Management” and “Managing a Small Business”. I attended one session that was akin to “Scared Straight” about life after business school. It really hit home for me and has made me very introspective. I’m really thinking about what I want to get out of business school and whether I’m actually pursuing what I say I want. It’s deep…
Anyway, it was encouraging to see so many successful African American business people and alumni. It is amazing to think that I’ve joined this family of extremely accomplished people and that I will someday be in the position to guide someone else. It didn’t hurt that they were able to raise 75 thousand dollars in less than 3 hours, in order to have a room in our new building named for the Black Alumni Network!
Finally there was a party to close out the conference. It is very disconcerting to see a recruiter or alumnus at a party a few hours after you were discussing banking interviews. You don’t necessary want your future recommender or employer to see you in your club wear! But I guess it works both ways… They aren’t quite so intimidating after you see them dance!