MBA over with a BANG!!!!

Here I am...June 18 2009...looking forward to the next Monday, June 22....Whats so special about that day?....why am I so excited about it?...Before I disclose that, lets take a step back as I would like to share whatever has happened since my last post in April 2008.....

I screwed up on my CFA exam last year as I got sick just a week before my exam and 6 hours exam turned out to be a story of lack of revision and lack of concentration. I started with Goldman Sachs from June 9 and it took me just few days to realize that I was not enjoying my experience.

Not only the projects I was doing but also the kind of activities/tasks done by people around me did not interest me. I think I had too much expectations out of my "Operations" experience. But still I don't regret choosing Goldman over the other options I had. Some good things Goldman internship did to me were getting exposure to "Equity and Interest Rate Derivatives", Goldman Sachs on my resume and an opportunity to interact with some of the smartest guys (outside the Operations group) in the industry...Everyone in one of my group was really helpful and approachable but at the end of the day, it was a "FIT" factor.....

With not much hope from Goldman for full-time offer and more than that not much interest from my side in joining them, I restarted my networking with Simon Alums and other professional contacts. 9 out of 10 people I approached asked me to accept the offer from Goldman (if i get it) as US financial market was getting precarious day by day. But my persistence paid off and I got three interview calls - Aetna, Cigna and Citigroup. All of them for Corporate Finance role, not exactly what I wanted to do but still better than Goldman Operations.

15th September 2008 - just a day before my Fall 2008 quarter was supposed to start - I was having a much needed break in Niagara Falls - the two big news appalled the whole world - The 4th largest US Investment Bank, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy protection and Bank of America's move to buy Merrill in a $50bn deal. Three of the top five US investment banks have fallen prey to the sub-prime crisis within six months. Stock markets and the US dollar tumbled in reaction with banking shares hardest hit.

As the Interview day (Simon School's New York Minute Event) approached, lot of companies countermanded their hiring plans and it was no more difficult to prognosticate about the future of the US job market. Citigroup interview turned out to be a disaster for me as lack of technical preparation hit me hard but it wasn't the case with me in case of my other two interviews - Cigna and Aetna. Both of my interview went extremely well - thanks to my deep research on health care sector and respective companies.

Cigna called me for the super day interviews and my profound understanding of health care sector and my well prepared behavioral answers again proved to be handy. I was almost confident that I had nailed it. But I was wrong and I couldn't make it as interviewers felt that I was more inclined towards a job in capital market and I won't enjoy my stay in corporate finance group at Cigna.

In fact, they were RIGHT and I didn't want to repeat the mistake I did while deciding on my internship. Instead I got referred to CIGNA Investment Management (CIM) group and I approached our Simon School's alumni there. They offered me a 1-month internship opportunity for my winter break as they has some short term project going on and my skills would have been extremely useful. I accepted the offer as I considered that as an opportunity to learn about the group, expand my network and if possible, explore any opportunity to get a full-time job there.

Meanwhile I also attended NSHMBA job conference in October. I personally felt it was extremely helpful. I was able to get three interviews with three different companies - Microsoft (Financial Manager), PwC (Financial Risk Management) and American Airlines (Corporate Finance). My interviews with Microsoft and PwC went really well and I was very much optimistic about it.

I started with CIM immediately after my fall quarter. And the one thing which stood out at CIM was people as everyone was extremely helpful and approachable. While, I was enjoying my projects at CIM, I also made sure I interact with most of the senior management in the group. Given the short time frame of just 5 weeks, it wasn't that easy but I had just one thing in my mind - "If not now , then never." And my hard work paid off, everyone from my manager to CIO showed interest in my as a possibility of full-time with them.

But I hope life was that easy.....In the first week of 2009, Cigna decided to fire 1100+ employees as part of its cost-cutting process. Though CIM had no plans to fire anyone, they had to delay plans for hiring as well. And I came back to Simon School without any decision from CIGNA but with just some hope. At the same time, HR of Aetna came up with some good news for me. I was shortlisted for the super day interview and it would be scheduled sometime in March.

Status on my NSHMBA interviews - American Airlines rejected me after the first round, Microsoft never got back to me and PwC called me for the super day. On Super day, I had 6 interviews with PwC and I believe I screwed up one of the case interviews and that was good enough for me to get a reject.

Aetna cancelled their super day and hence any job plans this year and my trip to Cigna office in February, to show my continuing interest, turned out to be no more than a perfunctory handshake. In the meantime, I got an opportunity to interview with FBR for an Equity Research Analyst position (to cover financial services) but got kicked for not having enough relevant experience. I unofficially graduated in March but registered for one course so as to delay my official graduation. Pressure was building up and I don't know what drove me to register for CFA again this year (needless to say I had failed last year).

No anecdotes or deep musings, just some cold hard truth about getting ahead as an MBA. The educational experience is great, as are the friendships, but if you honestly answer why people spend two years and countless thousands of dollars on this degree you’ll conclude that it’s to get a shot at a better future. A more challenging and rewarding career. A new beginning to the rest of your professional life. And here I was, along with most of my other classmates, struggling to land up a single job.

And then in April 2009, I decided to stay away from Corporate Finance jobs as well as again and again, my passion for capital markets was coming out in my interviews. I decided to just focus upon capital market jobs like - Equity research, Trading and Portfolio Management and these were the areas which were hardest hit by this crisis..........

I kept on working on a trading and portfolio management tool I had started developing in Oct 2008 and shared that with various Simon Alumni and my professional contacts. Most of the time it worked for me as I got an opportunity to speak/meet with lot of industry professionals in asset management and trading. I landed up an interview with ITG (Investment Technology Group) and after couple of interviews, I got an e-mail saying that "hiring plans have been kept on hold" but as per my internal contacts at ITG, I learnt that the main reason was that they got a feel that I am more like a "Stock Picker and Research" person. Well, here you go, each interview was helping me to develop a specific focus. But in this job market, can u survive with such a focused approach?

One of my close friend at Simon School, motivated me to develop a valuation model and an equity research report to have a better shot for equity research jobs. And I spent around 2-3 days working on my model and report (no prize for guessing - company i picked was ITG as I had already done lot of research on that). I immediately shared my work with most of the Simon Alumni in the industry and with some other professional contacts in the equity research industry. And BANG....My reply ratio jumped to 90%...i think this is what is called "targeted" networking.

One of our Simon Alum at Soleil Securities, was highly impressed with my work as he referred me to Pomeroy Research, a research partner of Soleil Securities. I was immediately called for the first round of interview. During my first round of interview with Pomeroy Research, I learnt that they were looking for someone to cover “Health care Information Services” sector. I used next few days (or I should say next 30 hours) to do a thorough research on that industry and came up with a valuation and equity research report for one of the companies in that sector. I shared my work with the Alumni and my interviewers and they called me for the next round of interviews. And then finally, after couple of more conversations and after speaking with my references, they extended me a verbal offer few days back and a formal offer letter this Monday.

I have accepted the offer and will be starting with them on Monday, 22nd June 2009 as an "Equity Research Associate" position in NYC. I am extremely excited about this opportunity...And now you know why I am looking forward to next Monday......

I also had my commencement ceremony last Sunday, June 14. Now, just H1B related issues need to be figured out either next year or get a H1B transfer this year itself. Good thing is my new employer is fine with anything.

I have learnt a lot as I progressed through my journey from the start of my MBA to getting a full-time job offer. If the ultimate goal is landing your dream job in any field of your choice, there are a few important things you should know. Landing an internship in your target field with a respected firm goes a long way. Actually, it is essential if you are a career switcher as I was. I found that there was not enough time in the day to excel at the internship/job search and at academics. Unless you are one of the brilliant people who can master everything simultaneously, you must make choices. If your priority is a great career, do not sacrifice your internship/job search at the expense of your schoolwork. I kept this ratio as 80% job search and 20% schoolwork and still managed to be in top 20% performer and be considered for Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.

In this tough job market, employers are looking for three things: ability, passion and desire to work for their organization. Someone once said to me - "If you get one call back for every ten you make, then make 400 calls and voila you’ve got 40 leads". So, network like crazy making sure you are within professional limits. Realize that it’s an incredibly competitive job market and you need differentiation. There are very few candidates out there doing all of this. Some rely solely on their school ranking. Some rely solely on a friend or family member. Use those advantages if you have them, but do not stop there.

Always keep these three points in mind:

Don’t be a marginal candidate & Always differentiate yourself - The best way to avoid being a borderline candidates is to focus on a particular industry or function. Know the companies in the space, understand their issues, and know the job. The company you want to work for might hire 10 people this year instead of 20; you need to do what it takes be one of the chosen ones.

Network, Network and Network - Talk to people who have the jobs that you want. Talk to alumni from your university. Talk to people two or three years older than you. To our chagrin, some of the best jobs never get posted to public job boards. Talk to as many people as you can and create channels by which you hear about these opportunities.

Use unique job search resources - Generic job search sites are being overrun with panicked candidates, creating an immense amount of noise for employers trying to find qualified candidates. If you want to stand out, look for jobs that are posted on niche sites like alumni sites, blogs, and industry associations. For me, linkedIn and Careershift were some of the extremely valuable resources.

All the Best!!!!