If you have followed my Anderson MBA blog for the past few months, you know that I have expressed a strong partiality for DaVita. What can I say? That company has a truly charismatic leader and actually seems to care about its values. As it turns out, I have failed to convince DaVita to invite me to an interview. Indeed, the irony of the situation has not escaped me, but c’est la vie! Of course, that outcome is disheartening. I did, after all, attend all of DaVita’s presentations, visited the headquarters, and networked (obviously not very successfully). In other words, I invested a great deal of time and effort for naught in the end. But let’s talk about would-be investment bankers, shall we?
For the past months, many of my classmates have been working day and night – and I’m not exaggerating – for a shot at investment banking. I wish you had seen them practicing, over and over again, all their quantitative and interviewing skills, networking ‘til they drop, while working hard to get a high GPA. Now, many of them have been invited to at least ten interviews, and for the past two weeks the hallways of Anderson have been invaded by students in pretty nice – if awfully conservative – business attire. So far, none of those I asked were invited to a second round interview. Hence, for my classmates, too, it ought to be very disheartening, especially considering how good the Investment Finance Association is at training us. I imagine aspiring consultants will be facing the same reality soon enough.
I don’t have the arrogance to believe that not interviewing me is DaVita’s loss, and I hope that you feel the same way if you are in a comparable situation. But I’ve seen a few long faces on campus this week (including mine), so I’ll tell you this much: don’t give up. Whether you are currently competing for business school, an internship, or a job, it is awfully competitive out there, so keep trying as long as it makes sense. Consider that there are probably 50-200 people competing for each position you are targeting, and that 10% of these applicants are likely strong candidates, so you will have to try harder. Actually, under these conditions, making it to an interview is an exploit in itself. But do have a plan B, for all of us can’t become the next President of the United States.
–Simon
