Laid Off!!

Not to be, uhm, a party pooper, but do you actually know you will be quitting in June? I mean, should you at least be considering the possibility you don't get in this year and have to wait another year? If so, just go find another job... If not, just enjoy the time off.

FYI, this happened to me in 2001... I feel for ya!

Rhyme did you apply in 01?

I would be utterly shocked if I was not admitted to at least one of the schools. I am going to find out real soon about one of them. But youre right, I dont know for sure so I guess I have to go and lie my way thru some interviews to get another science job. This sucks.

But back to the original question...do I tell the schools??? If I am admitted and they do a background check or something am I going to be kicked out then??

I'm really sorry for you.

Abouth this last question I think that only adcom know how to answer that. it's been a very tough year for some industries (especially Banking) and I'm sure you're not alone on this situation. I wouldn't just tell them, perhaps they would withdraw their offer, not sure...

Perhaps a good strategy is trying to find either a job on your field or a internship on business areas (even without payment or with a low one).

I am really sorry for what happened.

If I were in your situation, I would not just phone and tell the Ad Com. Your situation is unfortunate and out of your control so the Ad Com at the schools you already applied to should understand this. If they do a backgroud check on your application, they will know that the information that you provided is true at the time when you submitted and to the best of your knowledge. I would not worry about it.

Looking ahead though, I would try to turn the negative to positive. I echo River's advice that it is in fact an opportunity for you to do what you want to do. If you want to get into banking, try to find a pre-MBA internship in that field. If you want non-profit, then try that. For non-profit, you can even join an organization to keep you busy while you look for jobs. This way, if an Ad Com ask about your employment status, you will have some great things to talk about.

I think B-schools look for students who make the best out of their situations, either good or bad. This is my personal philosophy as well.

I wish you all the best in whatever you decide to do.

The same thing happened to me in September...company closed our office. i took a position really quick out of desperation to complete my app...should have moved back to Jan round...i ended up receiving an offer by one of my reccos for a managment position one month after accepting the desperate position. I made the decision to move to the new company in order to be back in direct management. Don't rush it....find the right position.

Ive applied for about 50 jobs this morning, feels a little better I suppose. I did just get an email from my boss's boss saying how sorry he was etc, but that he or even the VP or CEO, or COO would write a letter saying it was purely a financial decision and that I was a great employee, I guess its nice to have that in my back pocket but Im still pretty shocked about the whole situation.

In fact, im not sure my old company will even exist this spring to do a background check the way things look over there.

Question: Without being affiliated with a school or anything, where could I find a banking internship or something along those lines?

No, I meant just being laid off. Ironically, I was also promoted barely a week before they let me go.

I'll just be blunt. I don't think you can. Lots of reasons, some specific to you, some not. First, clearly, without any background in the area, you'd face a pretty herculean task of actually getting an interview in the first place. Second most banks (I assume we are talking now about ibanks) have formal internship programs - very structured, very set, very organized in their recruiting. Getting in outside of that regular process (that is, recruiting through MBA channels) would be, in my opinion, very difficult. Some exceptions of course can be made, but this is usually for people with experience. This structured recruiting approach, combined with a lack of industry knowledge, prior experience, or appropriate coursework probably makes landing an internship without being in an MBA program nearly impossible. That said, better to have failed and tried than to have never tried at all. Your first step would be to contact your undergrad institution and enlist their assistance.

My advice is this:

1. Breathe .... stop worrying about what schools are going to do to your app as a result. It wont even come up in your background check.

2. Don't contact schools and tell them you've been let go. You have nothing to gain by doing so now. Post admission, you can talk to them about "amending" your application to reflect the correct dates (if you really want to - though I still think you shouldn't bother)

And for 3:

You have two choices, and they are largely dependent on where your finances are and how confident you are you will land an admit.

3a. Go find another job in science.

3b. Don't go find another job in science. Rather, wait for your admit (which you say is coming) and immediately after you receive it, go to the school, photocopy everything you can fathom about the industry you want to join, subscribe to the wall street journal and financial times, start reading those things religiously and spend your summer preparing. Reach out to student groups in your intended areas and ask them for advice on preparing. Meet with them for coffee. Ask them if they can put you in touch with someone who did an internship in X. Then ask him if he can put you in touch with someone who did one in Y. Then ask Y for someone else. Repeat. Drink coffee every week with someone else in the industry. Network. Network. Network. Learn the jargon, learn the ins and outs. Consider other areas you might not normally consider. Read key books -- say something with Warren Buffet on investing if you plan on going into that -- start tracking stocks if you want to go into investment management, ask the school to put you on distribution lists for special events (might be hard to, but you can try), guest speakers, etc. Go listen to em. Look at courses, considering preparing a bit for those you think will kick your butt.

I don't know if this helps: but 2 years ago a good friend of mine had the same thing happen (in late Jan - he applied Rd2). He was sweating bullets over the situation, especially for interviews. He did not update the adcoms on it immediately. He didn't bring it up at the interviews unless it was necessary, which it was in 2 of his interviews out of 4. On the 2 interviews when he mentioned it, he followed up with the adcoms to update afterwards. He got into 3 of the 4 schools, 1 of which he updated the adcom on (all top 15).

I can check if it helps, but I don't think he ever updated the other schools on the change in his situation (including the one he enrolled in).

Long story longer, he still didn't have a job when acceptances rolled in around in March. He ended up working on working a deal with an NGO for a 4 month "internship," since he didn't want to get a "real" job for just 4 -5 months prior to going to school.

On another note.. i am definitely planning to quit my job and enjoy a bit of me time if i get into a school.. considering that we mention our exp till we join the school, would this affect my candidature or considered inconsistent by adcoms..

well I got into a very good school (anywhere from 5-15 depending on the ranking) so thank god about that!

I have forced "me time" although I have a pretty good interview already lined up for next week...but I have to be dishonest about my goals which is not my style, I am contemplating just riding thru until the summer and finding a new hobby, getting in great shape, reading some books on leadership etc and enjoying this "opportunity"

In fact, my boss recommended I not get a new job b/c the industry is too small to piss off a company.

What would you guys do in my situation???

Well, congrats on the admit. Where is it ? Do you mind sharing the details ? I know that lots of people seem to be very focused on UEs in this forum, but I am pretty confident that there are lots of people also interested in the top 30 here.

Concerning your question, I would definitely seize the opportunity. Why don't you plan some travelling, it would look good in your resume if you go to some country and try to get the basics in its language. Have you ever been to Asia ? Maybe you could go and do some community service there. Life is cheap and it would not cost you much to stay there...

I was about to propose the same. As long as you are confident of getting into school, go do some interesting stuff, something that won't be too hard to get into but that won't look bad in a resume.

L.

Michigan?