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riverripper
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 18:58
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guys you need to calm down about what company it is. This probably happens more than you think. I mean you hear about huge companies laying off thousands of employees all the time, its probably a safe bet that MBA grads aren't immune to the dreaded pink slip.

Just cause this firm did it this year doesnt mean they will do it again anytime soon...and just because someone didn't do it this year doesnt mean they wont do it in the fall of 2010 after we graduate.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 19:48
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its something that always happens in IB..I know of some folks who got fired while they were

A. Catching a plane to fly to NYC back to office
B. Celebrating their honeymoon in the caribbean
C. On Christmas eve, just after they got their bonus and were all in the holiday spirit....

If I get to be laid off.. I will go out in style.. with a party hat, an air horn and those spray cans that shoot the goeey stuff.....

these fields are super competitive... its all part of the game.... :wink:
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:02
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aviroop
its something that always happens in IB..I know of some folks who got fired while they were

A. Catching a plane to fly to NYC back to office
B. Celebrating their honeymoon in the caribbean
C. On Christmas eve, just after they got their bonus and were all in the holiday spirit....

If I get to be laid off.. I will go out in style.. with a party hat, an air horn and those spray cans that shoot the goeey stuff.....

these fields are super competitive... its all part of the game.... :wink:
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I agree with you aviroop. That is why I asked earlier if the grads were fired or laid off. This post is useless without that information - it only leads people to think the grads were out of jobs because of bad economy.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:04
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aviroop

If I get to be laid off.. I will go out in style.. with a party hat, an air horn and those spray cans that shoot the goeey stuff.....
wink:
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Wow .. What a spirit ... ! Great !!
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:07
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BCC, oz simply posted something that he thought will be useful. If you need more information, just ask. If the original poster has the information you ask for, he/she may give that. If not, you can take the info with the grain of salt or even ignore the post.

There is really no need to call any post "useless".

BCC145

I agree with you aviroop. That is why I asked earlier if the people were fired or laid off. This post is useless without this information - it only leads people to think the grads were out of jobs because of bad economy.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:18
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I work in a pretty big financial services firm and there are some rumors that there are going to be some mass lay offs (am pretty sure you guys know which company- if you have been following the news). I am keeping my fingers crossed that I do get laid off IF I GET AN ADMIT, that way I get paid for a few months without having to work...that would be awesome :D But the IF is a big one!
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:30
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ncprasad
BCC, oz simply posted something that he thought will be useful. If you need more information, just ask. If the original poster has the information you ask for, he/she may give that. If not, you can take the info with the grain of salt or even ignore the post.

There is really no need to call any post "useless".

BCC145

I agree with you aviroop. That is why I asked earlier if the people were fired or laid off. This post is useless without this information - it only leads people to think the grads were out of jobs because of bad economy.
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Sorry guys and Oz. I got carried away ... it's just that if I were to take on +100K debt then I would want to know whether the economy is in the downturn to affect the job prospects after MBA. You are right, I should take this with a grain of salt and Oz was just trying to help out. Again, I apologize.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:45
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BCC, thanks for the understanding. And BTW, great job on your apps. Kellogg admit and Haas invite. Nice job!!!
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 20:47
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A downturn of the economy is going to affect everyone. A 100K worth of education and a piece of paper from a top school is not going to ensure your success. Yes its going to help but in reality its not a surefire thing.

Its a risk you are going to have to accept, just look at how many comp sci majors graduating in 2001 and 2002 were entering a crappy job market. In the late 90s kids graduating with the same majors were walking into great jobs with amazing benefits. Fast forward 3 years and no one was hiring anymore and many of those same people had lost their jobs or lost all those great benefits. Look today, a fraction of the number of comp sci majors are graduating than were graduating in 2000. Kids dont want to go into it cause the pay isnt as crazy, but at least the job market is back to being stable.

All I know is in 3 years when I graduate with a degree from a top 5 school I am going to be a lot more optimistic about my job prospects than I am of them right now as an engineer.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 21:09
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Thanks ncprasad :)

Understand river. I graduated in 2002 and I saw what it was like then (although MEs were not nearly as bad as CS grads). In general though, engineering is much more stable than banking in terms of job security. So if things were really bad in 2010 (and I hope not) then engineering would sound like the safest bet.

Now that I am an admit, I have been thinking about the debt and I must say I am freaking out! :-D
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 21:22
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I saw a report on CNBC today that spoke about financial services industry currently. Couple of interesting things:

1. Most big firms are reporting their 4th quarter results next month (3rd week of Jan) and a lot of analysts believe thats going to clear things up a little big about the impact. Also- as banks are a 'service' based, it is very easy to cut costs- just lay off people and hire them back again when the market looks better.
2. GS apparently is setting aside some bonus pool to go after some highly talented associates from other banks who cannot afford to give them a bonus. Pretty smart i must say.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 14 Dec 2007, 23:39
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Personally, I don't think we need to panic about anything. Think about it this way. If you get a degree from any top school (top 5, 10, 20, 30, 50), you are probably a very resourceful person who is multi-dimensional, ambitious, flexible, easy to get along, and curious (doesn't apply to *everyone*, I know, but just go along with me. :wink: ).

During your 2 year in b-school, you'll meet hundreds of people to form your network and dozens of people to call your friends. These people will be from multiple industries, not just your own (even though you will probably have slightly more friends in your preferred industry). You'll probably take classes outside of your preferred industry because you were either curious about the field, couldn't make up your mind on which industry you want to go into, or were forced to take it as part of some requirement/certificate/"it was an easy class."

With that said, let's say you're this hot shot IB person who graduated from a top school, got into a bank, and then got laid off. Why would you worry or stress out about it at all? First off, you'll probably get a good severance package (up to 6 months I've heard), so you get a good vacation out of it. Second, you probably have some sort of secondary field that you always wanted to try out (maybe real estate? entertainment? entrepreneurship?) that now you have time to do. Third, you can call up your buddies in the different fields and see if you can get some referrals with their companies. And finally, you're resourceful, right? You could leverage all the skills and network you built during b-school to create your own career from that point on, ride out the bad times, and then get back into banking again when the times are good after a couple years (if you still want to go back into IB).

Times get tough for everyone at some point in their careers. I view it as an opportunity to try out something else, take the road less traveled, and maybe learn something from it. I graduated in 2001, when no tech company was hiring anyone. Interviewed with 15-20 companies and were just told during the interview that they're just at the career center for because of "formalities" and keeping their ties with the school. I ended up in an industry I wasn't too interested in, but made the best out of it. I do not regret my experiences over the past 6 years at all, and am glad to see an industry that I would normally never consider getting into.

Maybe I'm an optimist, maybe I'm simplifying things too much, but I feel that the piece of paper you get from this whole b-school process means much more than just a degree. A friend of mine said it best. "B-school doesn't really *teach* you anything you can't learn yourself. B-school is an experience that changes the way you think and approach problems/obstacles." I couldn't agree more.

My "2 cents" :P
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 15 Dec 2007, 00:58
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You can transfer an H1-B, but that earlier advice about getting additional time during severance is not accurate. When you aren't working full time, you are out of status, period.
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Few MBA grads from Class of 2007 - Got fired 15 Dec 2007, 01:08
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dosa_don
I saw a report on CNBC today that spoke about financial services industry currently. Couple of interesting things:

1. Most big firms are reporting their 4th quarter results next month (3rd week of Jan) and a lot of analysts believe thats going to clear things up a little big about the impact. Also- as banks are a 'service' based, it is very easy to cut costs- just lay off people and hire them back again when the market looks better.
2. GS apparently is setting aside some bonus pool to go after some highly talented associates from other banks who cannot afford to give them a bonus. Pretty smart i must say.
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A few things I've learned along the recruiting trail this year:

1. Merrill Lynch announced about a month ago that they were increasing their bonus pool from last year.

2. Lehman just reported earnings in the last few days and their bonus pool is higher than last year.

3. Bear Stearns is the only big investment bank to actually report a negative quarter. The other big banks have suffered losses on certain products, but overall they have all continued to be profitable. In fact, many banks were so busy at the start of the year that they were reaching all-time record levels by the July/August time period.

4. Several banks believe they are in a strong position right now to snap up both market share and associates.

5. Pretty much all of the major banks have said they are recruiting at the same levels as last year, though we expect that there will probably be somewhat fewer offers overall. It makes sense for them to bring in summer associates, to keep up relations and for future positioning. If their summer classes are too small, they will be 2 years behind the recruiting curve.

All that said, I think that tougher times might be to come. As mentioned above, some banks are able to dole out money this year because the first half of the year was so strong. That isn't going to be the case next year. This is just my opinion, but I believe securing a permanent offer after doing a summer internship might be tougher next year. I also think that recruiting for next year's incoming students might be a little tougher.
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