Finding that ‘perfect’ job

My email box seems to be inundated with emails from all the industry clubs about networking opportunities. If you are thinking about switching careers, it is considered a must to attend these industry networking opportunities. Most of us in b school are looking to switch careers so finding that perfect job can be an intimidating task, given the competition.

A classmate forwarded me an HBS article that advised against plunging head on into a new career. The author suggested keeping your day job, while launching your new career on the side. Seems reasonable right? However when we started to discuss the merits of this strategy we realized that it was only applicable to certain types of career switches. The article gives the example of a lawyer who became a writer or the auditor who started her own toy company. This strategy works for those seeking new opportunities that are either creative or entrepreneurial.

Moving from one type of corporate job to another is impossible to do on a part time basis. For example, what if you are currently employed in the IT sector, and want to switch to finance, or if you are in finance and you want to be a consultant? I guess that’s why the summer internships are important. Again, being a part-timer puts you at a disadvantage. How do you break into a new career without attending those networking events or scoring a summer internship?

Although I am in finance, I would like to be back in the money side – either lending or investing. I have personally found it very hard to get into either a portfolio management company, or an investment bank. I am amazed at people who do make a successful career switch. Maybe I have never wanted it bad enough.

Of course persistence and focus is key in landing that perfect job. However I also think that all the stars have to be aligned. There have been times in my career where I’ve gone for zillions of job interviews, and never landed a single job. The opposite has also happened. There have been times where all it took was one interview to land my perfect job(at the time). I have even been hired on the spot once. No it wasn’t at a donut store…

I personally think at the end of the day finding the perfect job is about chemistry and kismet. The element of chemistry: people hire who they like. Everyone is capable of doing the job, there are training programs to bring people up to speed. The element of kismet: meeting the right person at the right time at the right place.It sounds a bit like dating to me.

Big Words in Accounting – part 2

So this was the first week we had class on both Tuesday (Stats) and Thursday (Mgmt Accounting). We had this ‘Rendezvous at Rotman’(free food and drinks) before class started on Thursday, and some things have come to our attention. We, part-timers are clearly at a disadvantage... all the info sessions, club meetings, and career coaching workshops are during the day. Makes sense since 80% of the students are full-time, however not great for us. This means we have to make an extra effort to get involved and participate in our mba instead of just warming seats.

For our management accounting course, we have the same professor we had for Financial accounting – this is good as we know what to expect in terms of the exam and assignments. The accounting prof did teach me something in class.. Did you know that inventoriable is a word?? We thought he made it up.. but go ahead google it.. also learned interesting slang words courtesy of a classmate/urban dictionary... stripper wallet, little steve, smell check, ignoranus, and my personal favourite, work hot.. so when you put them all together...

Update: sentence removed due to possibility of libel lawsuit and bad karma!

This is what I do to relieve some stress.... make silly incomprehensible sentences with stupid words...it is the bad writer in me....Highly recommend urban dictionary if you want a chuckle in class or at work.

Another classmate informed us of this website that rates your professors ...very useful when deciding electives. It also has a field where you can rate the hotness of your profs, some of those hotness ratings are questionable at best. lol. Must go and do some stats homework. Apparently two people failed stats last year.

The universe is trying to tell me something...

Had serious reservations posting about this, but since this blog is about my MBA journey, and rejections are part of the journey here goes:

A couple weeks ago, we got an email from the Rotman Asset Management club asking us to apply to participate in the annual Financial Post Stock Market challenge, where each team receives $1 million in play money. The challenge is open to all the b schools in Canada. I thought it would be a fun thing to do, and applied.

Today, I got an email from the club selection committee informing me that I wasn't selected. Apparently 40 people applied, and I think only 5 or 6 people get selected. I am not sure what the selection criterion is as they don’t have a job description, nor do they interview candidates. I didn’t think it was that hard to get into. I personally didn't think I would play any lead part in it being a part-timer, however I thought it would be a great experience to be part of. Perhaps I should have written more about the stocks or strategies I would have employed, instead of just the standard experience and education along with the prerequisite resume.

I have had a series of events that have happened recently, and I think that perhaps finance isn't for me. I am starting to think that all of the events that have happened are all signs that perhaps finance isn’t my career goal. I think I am fairly decent at it, as I actually make a living doing it, but am I passionate about it?

In the movie, Serendipity, John Cusack’s characters says: ‘Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: "Did he have passion?”'. I am not sure about the accuracy of the statement, but I think it’s a great question to ponder.

Career season has started.

I went to the Merrill Lynch info session this evening. One of the Merrill bankers introduced the company and gave a speech for about 15 minutes. It was a pretty straightforward presentation. He talked about the company accomplishments, structure, culture, and the type of people they were looking for. If you can’t attend the sessions, the presentation bits are videotaped. He then opened the floor for Q&A. No one asked any questions. He then said the formal part of the presentation was done, and now we could talk to the Merrill bankers individually.

I only talked to two bankers, both of whom were very friendly and informative, and most importantly patient! People asked them so many questions, and I am quite sure they were being asked the same questions over and over.

Apparently, Merrill is only hiring 8 people for this year. I found out later it was for all of Canada, not just Rotman! This must mean their employee turnover is low, given their size. However, chances of a full time employment aren’t that amazing without the summer internship. To part-timers the summer internship is not a viable option, so I am not sure how a part timer would get a job in IB. Also, one of the ladies I spoke to said they aren’t really looking at the grades. This was a big surprise! She said they were looking at the whole package, and fit was important.

I personally dislike these events, as there seems to be so much pressure to outshine everyone else in the room. Pretty hard to do given the 100+ people in the room. However, given this is an MBA recruitment event, and these are MBA students, there were quite a few people trying to do just that. It was so obvious at times, I almost wanted to cringe.

In terms of the networking: It was extremely hard to get any one-on-one attention with any banker. There are usually four or more people huddled around one banker. Some smart people did ask for business cards and will probably follow up. I personally didn’t. I found it hard to establish any real contact with any banker. You don’t get to form any connection with the person you are with. They don’t ask you what you do or anything personal about yourself. I did overhear some people go into their experience, but most people just stand around asking them questions. If you aren’t familiar with capital markets, then it is a good idea to attend just to get more information and practice the lingo.

I was very nervous about this ‘meet and greet’ networking event, but I managed to find the ‘on’ button. It was a good learning experience, as it made me realize that I was more confident in these situations than I had anticipated. I guess this is an acquired skill, and with practice it can be refined.

So, I guess if you are going to go to these events: Be aggressive and ask for business cards and/or hand them out. Also, try and say something about yourself. And if possible, try and get one on one attention with someone. That is the only way to establish any sort of future networking opportunity.

TIFF movie reviews - in my humble opinion...

Films generally follow the same themes: love, war, sex, violence. However, film festivals tend to have more than your average dose of sex and violence. Since I usually stay away from violence, I end up steering towards the other end of the spectrum - the relationship/life genre. So if you aren’t interested in reading about it, skip this post entirely. Please also bear in mind, that my films were at best random selections, given film availability, my disorganization and lack of memory as to what the films I had scribbled down in haste before I got to the box office.

Filmmakers attempt to enlighten us, make us question our beliefs, and if they are really good, they touch our hearts. These are the only two movies I have seen at TIFF so far, and they are worthy of comment.

Married Life
I watched it tonight. I didn’t know too much about the plot except for the fact that it starred hottie Pierce (007), Rachel McAdams, Patricia Clarkson, and the very talented Chris Cooper. They were all in attendance, except for Pierce.

Synopsis: its set in the late 1940, a married couple’s happiness is slightly marred by the fact that the husband is having an affair. He loves his wife too much to let her ‘suffer’ through divorce, and instead opts for killing her. I know what you are thinking. Yes, I too thought, okay it sounds like the Laci Peterson story, however the movie was based on the 1953 book ‘Five Roundabouts to Heaven’ .

This film could have gone down the bad movie path, however, the dialogue was brilliant, the dark humor was laugh-out- loud funny, and each of the actors brought the characters to life. I really hope it gets picked up for distribution.

The best line was towards the end of the movie when Pierce Brosnan’s character says ‘Raise your hand if you think you actually know what the person lying beside you is thinking’.

Une Veille Maitresse (The Last Mistress)
Synopsis – Based on the book of the same title, the film is set in 1835, amid the excess of Parisian aristocracy. There is an impending marriage and past love affairs are under scrutiny. The director really did an AMAZING job with the film. It was just one of the most beautiful movies. Everything about it was beautiful : the cinematography, the costumes, the actors (esp, Fu’ad Aït Aattou, the lead actor).

Although, the movie dealt with the main characters going through a love/hate relationship, and all the awful things we are capable of doing to each other in the name of love and lust, there was enough levity in the movie to not make it a harrowing experience. The grandmere stole the spotlight in all of her scenes in her quest for the salacious truth. Again, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. It premiered at Cannes and was apparently a contender for the Palm d’Or. I can see why, as I saw this on Monday, and it is still lingering in my brain.

Catherine Brellait, the director of this film was asked why she chose to adapt this novel. Here is her response:

I love the books of the l9th century.. I would have liked to be the author; he was considered scandalous; he was immense. I did a period piece because I want an ambiance in which passion is possible: the aristocracy allows for the range of emotional experience. When you are starving in Darfur, you cannot think about passion.

I was a bit stunned by the last line. I understand that people in Darfur have to deal with basic survival, but isn’t love and passion a universal feeling? Do poor people not feel passion or love? I think they do. I stumbled upon an article about an Afghan tea boy who has been jailed 15 years for love. I personally think it would make for a great film.

Hello, six weeks later...

I did absolutely nothing on the six week break. I think I needed to do nothing though, as I really did feel burnt out after last semester. Remember the ‘fun’ list? Well I didn’t even cross off half the items on my ‘fun’ list... I only read two books from the stack of books sitting on my shelf.

Today was the first day back to school. There is a different vibe at school, as the school seems to be invaded my nameless full timers. Starting the part-timers in the summer is a smart idea. It gives us time to adapt to each other and to our surroundings. It’s an odd feeling to share the school with 400+ extra MBA students, not to mention the MiFs, undergrads...We are all going to be jostling for prof.’s attentions, networking opps, coffee, study space and more importantly bar space. Can you imagine being at Wharton or Harvard? (Okay I know some of you might, but that was never my dream) Apparently, the incoming class of MBA students is in the 800 range!! Can you imagine competing with 800 people for a job? Wow, makes me realize how much of a commodity the MBA designation really is.

I have been a little mopey and whiney lately at the thought of another semester at school. All the excitement of getting into MBA school seems to have worn out. I am now counting down the 3, possibly 2 years (!) till I graduate. I know, it’s all about the journey right? But what if while you are on a certain path, you realize that there are other paths you could be on. What if you could live somewhere else? What if there was a possibility of a dream job, but it was just the wrong timing?

A couple weeks ago, I was on Pixar’s website, and decided to check the job postings. I saw a posting for a Film Finance Lead at Pixar. The description said ‘reporting to the director of Finance, and a dotted line to the producer’. How amazing is that? It would combine what I am trained to do professionally and what I love to do in my spare time. I didn’t even know such a job existed. Naturally, given the fact that Pixar is in Emeryville, California, and Rotman is in Toronto, Canada, I had a lot to think about. Although the possibility of an interview is never certain, I always think very carefully about whether I want to apply for a specific job. After hours spent discussing the pros and cons with everyone, I decided not to apply. Interestingly, my mother thought otherwise.

But this is what life is like isn’t it? In order to get something new, we always have to give something else up. I have to keep reminding myself of how I will feel when I finally get this degree instead of all the missed opportunities along the way. Getting my accounting designation was one of the best feelings ever – I actually cried when I got the results! Yes, I was like one of those actresses who start crying when they receive their Oscars.. I know the MBA is worth it for me, and it will definitely open more doors. The hardest part is patience. I still derive some sadistic pleasure from logging onto Pixar’s website and staring at the job posting.