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.