It's Friday night. I'm in, in my humble opinion, one of the best cities in the world - New York. And NYC on a Friday night offers a plethora of incredible options. There's Broadway, great restaurants, stores still open for shopping, and the list goes on and on.
What have I chosen to do?
Interview prep.
Yes... Interview season at Darden officially kicks off on Monday morning. 10:15 am on Monday for me. And I am not quite as ready as I'd like to be.
Interview prep in my life before Darden was so much less work. I was naive and foolish and thought that having a few good examples of my leadership skills and work ethic were sufficient to land me a job. And, indeed, they were. However, I am now up for jobs against people who have all the same great qualities as I do. And all those people are likely also spending their Friday evening prepping for interviews.
Making the decision to stay home and work today was quite difficult, but with NYC close by and no second chances for interviews, it was a necessary one. And it's not that I can say I've been busy spending my entire break prepping for interviews. I've gotten in some skiing and sightseeing (highly recommend the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA!) and visiting and board game playing. But tonight I work so that tomorrow my friend and I have time for fun and celebrating her birthday.
For those of you prospective students who have tuned in to read about my thrilling interview prepping life, I'll give a quick background of on-grounds recruiting at Darden. First, companies spend the entire first semester doing company visits and wooing you with closed event parties and dinners. The next step is dropping resumes, which for me occurred mostly on December 4, the last day of classes. After that, some of the companies which previously wooed you break your heart, others surprise you with interview invitations. Interviews then run from January 11 onward, with second and final rounds, depending on the company. Classes do not start until January 18, giving companies a jump start on the interview process.
In addition to being invited for interviews, you can also bid on interview slots. Everyone is given a certain number of bid points, and you allocate these points to each company, depending on your level of interest.
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Friday, January 08, 2010
Friday, October 09, 2009
Airport Tests
Over the past few days, I have spent a lot of time talking to consultants, learning about consulting and figuring out how to prepare for the consulting interviews.
One of the key aspects of the consulting interview is the airport test. Basically, the interviewer needs to feel confident that if stuck in an airport with you for several hours, they won't want to resort to listening to their iPod or reading the Wall Street Journal.
A while back, I blogged about my frustrations with the recruiting process. And indeed, as I started talking to my career consultant this week to go over my resume, the question of networking came up. But I discovered something this week that I think will help with the rest of the recruiting process: I don't have to fit into any sort of mould to network. Previously, I had visions of sliding into a conversation, smoothly delivering my story, asking intelligent but canned questions and listening politely to the answers. While there's nothing wrong with any of those things, it just seems like a stuffy way to spend several evenings in a row.
Instead, I have discovered that networking can be fun, after all. In the past week, I have discussed being stranded in small Saskatchewan airports, Monster Truck rallies, sore feet, how many times you can hit "Snooze" before getting out of bed to catch a plane, and the stealing of the Section B bird. One of the shining moments of the week for me was when I was asked to give a fun fact, talked about how I love road trips and had driven down from Canada and had one consultant say, "you just wanted to slip in that you are from Canada," to which I replied, "well, being from Canada isn't much of a novelty for me." To which the other consultant replied, "THAT is a great line" and repeated it back.
Anyway, what I am discovering is that the nice thing about the people I am meeting in my career progression, especially the Darden alum (though I have had some good conversations with people from other schools), is that they are fun people. There is no need to put on my serious face and figure out how to ask serious questions. These people have all passed the airport test and thus are actually fun to talk to!
One of the key aspects of the consulting interview is the airport test. Basically, the interviewer needs to feel confident that if stuck in an airport with you for several hours, they won't want to resort to listening to their iPod or reading the Wall Street Journal.
A while back, I blogged about my frustrations with the recruiting process. And indeed, as I started talking to my career consultant this week to go over my resume, the question of networking came up. But I discovered something this week that I think will help with the rest of the recruiting process: I don't have to fit into any sort of mould to network. Previously, I had visions of sliding into a conversation, smoothly delivering my story, asking intelligent but canned questions and listening politely to the answers. While there's nothing wrong with any of those things, it just seems like a stuffy way to spend several evenings in a row.
Instead, I have discovered that networking can be fun, after all. In the past week, I have discussed being stranded in small Saskatchewan airports, Monster Truck rallies, sore feet, how many times you can hit "Snooze" before getting out of bed to catch a plane, and the stealing of the Section B bird. One of the shining moments of the week for me was when I was asked to give a fun fact, talked about how I love road trips and had driven down from Canada and had one consultant say, "you just wanted to slip in that you are from Canada," to which I replied, "well, being from Canada isn't much of a novelty for me." To which the other consultant replied, "THAT is a great line" and repeated it back.
Anyway, what I am discovering is that the nice thing about the people I am meeting in my career progression, especially the Darden alum (though I have had some good conversations with people from other schools), is that they are fun people. There is no need to put on my serious face and figure out how to ask serious questions. These people have all passed the airport test and thus are actually fun to talk to!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Job Search
It seems the reality of Darden is that just when you feel like you've got a handle on something, another new challenge rears it's ugly, opportunistic head.
For the first couple weeks of classes, I struggled with class participation. I didn't know how to raise my hand, didn't know how best to contribute value, didn't always know how to communicate my thoughts. While I don't consider myself an expert in any of those things, I've been feeling much better about class participation. There's even an objective measure of how I'm doing - the weekly peer-to-peer assessments in which we see how many times our peers have recognized us for contributing to their learning experience. So, all in all, I've been feeling more confident in that area of my academic life. (In fact, one of the highlights of my day yesterday was giving a definition for R-Squared in DA and hearing a flurry of typing as people wrote my definition into OneNote. Yes, it's the small things in life...)
Enter the job search.
Yesterday, I attended a briefing for one of the consulting companies that is right at the top of my desired company list. Basically how briefings work is that you sit in a room for 45 minutes while the representatives of the company tell you all about the company. All of that is really just a prelude to what has become not-so-affectionately known as "pit diving," in which dozens of keener students eagerly swarm the company representatives in hopes of making a positive impression.
During said "pit dive," you are expected to make small talk with the company representatives. Now, I have spoken in front of over 1,000 people before. I've given presentations to classmates, managers, boards and children, all with the greatest of ease and confidence. But put me in a small talk situation with someone and I suddenly feel awkward and unsure. In order to combat this fear, I wrote a paper in an undergrad communications class on small talk, and while that helped, it is still something I dread. (It doesn't even help to know that everyone else feels the exact same way about small talk or that people are surprised I fear small talk because they think I'm social.)
And if all that isn't enough to fear, there is the resume to deal with. Before Darden, resumes were a simple list of job titles and responsibilities. Not anymore. Now each bullet point has to be tied to a situation, task, action and result. And, wherever possible, said result must be quantifiable. All of that makes me wish that I hadn't only just been starting the development of metrics before I left the Company.
Anyway, if I've learned anything over the last two months, it is that sometimes you just need to put yourself out there and do what you need to do, regardless of your level of confidence. I have learned that the greatest blessing can be recognizing your weaknesses and then figuring out what to do with them. If I managed to get a better handle on the class participation puzzle, I can do it with the job search as well. (And then I'll be finished with challenges until my fabulous internship starts, right?)
For the first couple weeks of classes, I struggled with class participation. I didn't know how to raise my hand, didn't know how best to contribute value, didn't always know how to communicate my thoughts. While I don't consider myself an expert in any of those things, I've been feeling much better about class participation. There's even an objective measure of how I'm doing - the weekly peer-to-peer assessments in which we see how many times our peers have recognized us for contributing to their learning experience. So, all in all, I've been feeling more confident in that area of my academic life. (In fact, one of the highlights of my day yesterday was giving a definition for R-Squared in DA and hearing a flurry of typing as people wrote my definition into OneNote. Yes, it's the small things in life...)
Enter the job search.
Yesterday, I attended a briefing for one of the consulting companies that is right at the top of my desired company list. Basically how briefings work is that you sit in a room for 45 minutes while the representatives of the company tell you all about the company. All of that is really just a prelude to what has become not-so-affectionately known as "pit diving," in which dozens of keener students eagerly swarm the company representatives in hopes of making a positive impression.
During said "pit dive," you are expected to make small talk with the company representatives. Now, I have spoken in front of over 1,000 people before. I've given presentations to classmates, managers, boards and children, all with the greatest of ease and confidence. But put me in a small talk situation with someone and I suddenly feel awkward and unsure. In order to combat this fear, I wrote a paper in an undergrad communications class on small talk, and while that helped, it is still something I dread. (It doesn't even help to know that everyone else feels the exact same way about small talk or that people are surprised I fear small talk because they think I'm social.)
And if all that isn't enough to fear, there is the resume to deal with. Before Darden, resumes were a simple list of job titles and responsibilities. Not anymore. Now each bullet point has to be tied to a situation, task, action and result. And, wherever possible, said result must be quantifiable. All of that makes me wish that I hadn't only just been starting the development of metrics before I left the Company.
Anyway, if I've learned anything over the last two months, it is that sometimes you just need to put yourself out there and do what you need to do, regardless of your level of confidence. I have learned that the greatest blessing can be recognizing your weaknesses and then figuring out what to do with them. If I managed to get a better handle on the class participation puzzle, I can do it with the job search as well. (And then I'll be finished with challenges until my fabulous internship starts, right?)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
In the Big Leagues Now
As I saw the personal contact info for an investment banker at Morgan Stanley splashed across the screen today, the sheer power of the Darden alumni network really hit home. Coming from Canada, everything is very small-business oriented. I meet Presidents, Partners and CEOs quite regularly, but they are usually self-made entrepreneurs. After learning a lot more about I-Banking during the MBA application process, the gravity of where I am now is really hitting home.
There are many things I could write about today: section announcements (I am in Section B, which is pretty much the best section. A few people that I had already started getting to know are in B as well, so that is great. On the down side, I didn't get a Kindle), the weather (still unbearably hot), my long-gone nights of 7-8 hours of sleep or my slowly-becoming-insane schedule. (I am fighting to keep up with email and classes haven't even started...) However, as the career search has been foremost on my mind, I want to touch on that and the career management process at Darden.
Long before I started the MBA application process, I knew I wanted to go into strategy consulting. I want the fast-paced nature of the job, the travel involved, the challenge of new assignments and the opportunity to work with really bright people. I am not an expert in what consulting entails, but from what I know, it seems to be a perfect niche.
The economy being as it is right now, however, is forcing me to examine alternative routes and options. While consulting internships are historically competitive, with hiring down, they are brutally so this year. Since I don't want to reach the end of January and be left with no consulting offers and THEN start searching for alternative routes, I am using this time to give considerate thought into what would also be good careers for me.
The Darden career management process focusses heavily on fit. Each of us have our own unique attributes, personalities, needs, etc. Companies and job functions complement these needs to varying degrees. As I have been sitting in the career discovery forum all day, I've been paying close attention to what resonates with me. For example, while my strength with numbers could be a good fit for corporate finance, being so focused on numbers alone would drive me crazy. Although marketing is not until tomorrow, I know that focusing only on marketing would also drive me crazy. So as I look for jobs in industry, I need either something that will provide a general management rotation (work for a while in finance, then marketing, then operations, etc.) or for a company that will allow me to rotate even without a formalized career track for rotation.
Anyway, there are a lot of other thoughts that have been going through my mind, but I don't need to go on about my own personal discoveries. And I have to go get ready for tonight's networking etiquette dinner... :-)
There are many things I could write about today: section announcements (I am in Section B, which is pretty much the best section. A few people that I had already started getting to know are in B as well, so that is great. On the down side, I didn't get a Kindle), the weather (still unbearably hot), my long-gone nights of 7-8 hours of sleep or my slowly-becoming-insane schedule. (I am fighting to keep up with email and classes haven't even started...) However, as the career search has been foremost on my mind, I want to touch on that and the career management process at Darden.
Long before I started the MBA application process, I knew I wanted to go into strategy consulting. I want the fast-paced nature of the job, the travel involved, the challenge of new assignments and the opportunity to work with really bright people. I am not an expert in what consulting entails, but from what I know, it seems to be a perfect niche.
The economy being as it is right now, however, is forcing me to examine alternative routes and options. While consulting internships are historically competitive, with hiring down, they are brutally so this year. Since I don't want to reach the end of January and be left with no consulting offers and THEN start searching for alternative routes, I am using this time to give considerate thought into what would also be good careers for me.
The Darden career management process focusses heavily on fit. Each of us have our own unique attributes, personalities, needs, etc. Companies and job functions complement these needs to varying degrees. As I have been sitting in the career discovery forum all day, I've been paying close attention to what resonates with me. For example, while my strength with numbers could be a good fit for corporate finance, being so focused on numbers alone would drive me crazy. Although marketing is not until tomorrow, I know that focusing only on marketing would also drive me crazy. So as I look for jobs in industry, I need either something that will provide a general management rotation (work for a while in finance, then marketing, then operations, etc.) or for a company that will allow me to rotate even without a formalized career track for rotation.
Anyway, there are a lot of other thoughts that have been going through my mind, but I don't need to go on about my own personal discoveries. And I have to go get ready for tonight's networking etiquette dinner... :-)
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