I can't believe that 4 out of the 6 quarters making up the Anderson experience are behind me. People say that the first quarter is the most difficult, but for me, the most recent quarter was by far the most challenging. After having the first year behind me, I must have thought to myself, "sure, I have a good sense of how things work around here, why don't I take it up another gear and take on more in year 2?". (Jesse, what were you thinking?)
The process of signing up for these various commitments at the end of last year went something like this:
Career coach? Sure. Recruiter Relations position with the Marketing Association? Why not. Sussman's "Cases in Real Estate" class? Bring it. Net Impact Board Fellows Program? Yes. Peer tutor? Yes. AMR project? Of course. Classes with a lot of group projects that require more coordination? Love it. Recruiting for full-time positions and over 15,000 miles of travel for onsite interviews?...
...well let's just say that this last piece snuck up on me. It was by far the most time consuming aspect of this quarter, but I had to jump in. The window of opportunity for many of the most sought-after MBA full-time jobs is short - about 8 weeks across October thru December. Securing a career-switching dream job was one of my main goals coming into Anderson, so this was the time to get after it. Plus, the stakes are higher this time around since as a second year, we "play for keeps" (full-time as opposed to a summer internship). In light of this, I took a broad approach to my search. Unfortunately, I had already committed to a full schedule (mentioned above) and it was too late to step down and right-size my schedule. Bye bye sleep...
Thankfully, I survived! I completed the course work, stuck to my volunteer commitments, secured a few job offers, and didn't fall asleep behind the wheel.
Now, I'm writing from my hotel room in Seattle, home of Amazon's headquarters and the site of the MBA Flyback Weekend for candidates with offers. Should be a great time getting to meet more people from the company. From now until January 9th is winter break for us. 8 hours of sleep a night never sounded so good...
-- Jesse Ferlianto '12
