How's everyone's internship hunt going?

Just to offer a different perspective:

I didn't even think about consulting until one firm got interested in me. I went to one afternoon tea, one dinner, and stopped by office hours. Then I did a mock interview. Didn't do company presentations, didn't do any of those hoke-y emails. Made the closed list.

Figured if I was applying to one company, i might as well do another. Had never done anything whatsoever with these folks and still made their closed list.

Of course, the closed list isn't a job, but I do think that students sometimes get a little out of control with networking. It probably depends on the company - some really don't care that much if you don't show up at everything they do. Some really do care.

thank you for the different perspective aau! Yeah, I might do something similar to you if I'm interested in consulting (right now I'm not) at all. I mean, if a company looks interesting, and they find me interesting, then it should be a friendly "get to know each other" process, not this crazy networking thing that sucks up all your time...

then again, that's probably because I really don't care much about consulting right now that I have this attitude

I heard the same thing about the closed lists.

Some people that smooozed all fall and attended all the events didn't make the closed list. But there were others who never attended all the events (maybe 1 or 2) and made the closed list. Maybe they screwed something up, but from the way the story was told it didn't seem so.

I'm guessing in the end it's like b-school applications. Your essays could be great and all, but if your background is not a good fit or you don't have the credentials, then you probably won't get in. On the other hand, you could have the exact background the schools are looking for (companies in this case), but as long as you show some effort and are professional about it, you get a chance to be interviewed...

As for discussions above about which industries are the schmooziest, I would definitely add brand management. They're nuts. Apparently, you're supposed to mention all the schmoozing you did -- went to this pizza party, that cocktail hour, this presentation - in your cover letter. I was trying to help a friend shorten her cover letter, and she had about 2 lines of that stuff. I wanted to say something general like "after speaking on several occasions with a number of your colleagues...." but that wouldn't fly.

A number of my classmates are disappointed by not getting the closed lists for brand mgmt -- they didn't schmooze enough, or schmooze correctly, I guess.

I should work on a French accent. All the brand management chicks will dig that.

...ah...no I dont wanna do brand management. Been there.

There are definitely some sectors (and firms within a sector) which favor schmoozing, while other sectors and firms are much more resume driven in their recruiting. I think it also relates to the recruiting team for your particular school. There's a firm that recruits here that has for years been known as clubby, fraternity-like and so forth. It's impossible to land a job with them without substantial schmoozing efforts. There are definitely other firms where it's clear that you can't schmooze yourself into an interview, although you could definitely screw up and get dinged during schmoozing.

Getting a fever two days before interviews is not a good thing.

I feel awful, and it doesn't do much for the stress of the situation either.

Just a quick question. I am curious when signing bonuses (for internships and full time offers) are usually paid? Is it included in the first paycheck or do they usually pay them prior to you beginning? Just a question that I have not been able to answer.

Just curious if anyone's turning down a lot of internship interview invites to keep the workload somewhat more manageable. There's certainly some economies of scale when it comes to interviewing, but I'm starting to worry that I have too many booked for one day. The first week back is going to kill me.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or are you just accepting everything and seeing how it goes?

I took every interview I could get, 13.

I went ahead and too all that I was offered, which at this point is 17. This includes six on the first day (firms all like to show up first). If that turns into 6 second round interviews, or even 3-4, I might have to start to decline because second round interviews are longer, they are scheduled on a more adhoc basis (meaning you have less control over gaps and how long they run) and I have three new first round interviews on the second day. I do have some relief in my situation because some of my second rounds will be back in California so I won't have them right away.

oi vey!

chockablok.... all these interviews just for internships!!!

Ok, good to see others are in the same boat.

Just finished with day 2 of an approx. two week interview schedule I'm pretty much done because I got my top choice! (well one of my top 2). I'm just going to finish up with final rounds I already have scheduled, but I'm dropping the rest and can pretty much relax now. I don't want to post my result on a public site, but it's bulge bracket that I've really had a wonderful time getting to know this fall. If anyone I know from here would like details, please PM.

It will be interesting once classes start back up to see everyone interested in consulting, marketing and general management conduct their job searches. I guess the one good thing about the crushing time commitment of IB recruiting early on is that you get to finish first and can focus back on school. Now we'll get to watch all our classmates come to class in suits every day for their interviews, and in some cases their schmoozing events.