Rhyme's Guide To What To Expect From Recruiting

One of the things I wish I had known going into recruiting was just how incredibly tough it can get - not just mentally, but physically and emotionally. I often heard "oh yea it sucks, but you make it through it" from a lot of folks but no one every really sat me down and laid it out for me. So I'm a gonna lay it out for you.

So fasten those lapstraps ladies and jellyspoons, its time to take a trip on the the magic carpet ride of hell, also known as MBA recruiting.

I know what you are saying, but rhyme, haven't you picked your worst to show us? Yes, sort-of, but its not dramatically different from any other week during the middle of recruiting season. That said, I do subscribe to the "show me the worst of it and the rest will seem manageable by comparison" mantra. Accept the below as a plausible week, and you'll be prepared for what to expect.

So with that in mind, I first present you a typical week during the pre-interview season. This is when you go to coffee chats, career services presentations, off-campus recruiting events, dinners, cocktail invitations, some invite only events, meet and greets, etc.

So what might a week there look like?



To see the full size image, click here: https://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9329/c ... ntsio1.jpg

Red = some kind of event like those mentioned above
Gray = classes or class related stuff, eg meetings, or study sessions or deadlines
Green = unrelated social crap like going out for drinks (no, I don't normally put these on a calendar, but when dinners and such started creeping up with companies, I did, just to make sure I didn't double commit)

Ok, so thats not too bad... but as you can see, its still pretty crazy. Keep in mind that you really want to go prepared to these events - you cant well show up at a Bain event and ask them about their office in X, if they don't have an office in X. Nor can you walk into some firm and be like "So what are you recruiting for this year?" or "What do you do?" or "Where are your headquarters".... Keep that in mind when you look at that diagram. There's a lot of prep work inbetween those gaps that you have to do.

For an idea of what good prep for a firm is -- you should know:

* what they do
* office locations
* what their top 3 growth strategies are
* SWOT analysis
* recent media events / press releases
* names of school alumni at the firm
* have read the 10-k and recent analyst reports
* ideally, you should know the stock price the day of the event (seriously).
* market outlook for the industry
* the name of the CEO and other key executives. (You dont want to ask "So, who is Frank?")
* major competitors
* firm vision / mission
* have read the job posting in detail
* annual revenue, key divisions, number of employees, biggest office
* why you want to work there (this should probably be first)
* what specifically youve done that is relevant (dont be surprised when they ask you what you did before school.)

This is pretty deep, but if you are serious about a firm, this is the kind of knowledge it takes. Maybe not all of it at this stage, but certainly by the interview.

That said, recruiting itself is a bit tougher. Here's a week from February that I wasn't a huge fan of:



Full size here: https://img258.imageshack.us/img258/9963 ... ingot5.jpg

A few things to highlight:

* Notice the number of interviews I had this week - 11. (some are actually two 30 minute interviews, so in reality, I had even more than those listed here).
* Notice that I also had two evening events.
* Those of you who are married, take note that this falls over valentine's day. Moral: set expectations with your significant other early.
* You may think this actually looks less busy than the pre-interview timeframe I showed above. Thats deceiving. This is actually a lot worse.

Preparing for these takes a lot more effort than for events. Its not uncommon for companies, especially corporate firms, to grill you on what you know about them. I've had firms straight out ask me if I read their 10-k, or "tell me everything you know about us", or even "given what you know about us, what do you see as our biggest threat in the market in the next 3 to 5 years and how would you mitigate that risk?" or "Describe to me what our different revenue streams are, and which you think are undergoing the most pressure now. Why?"Good luck swinging a bat at those questions if you haven't done your research. What you dont see here is the effort that goes into that prep. You'll also notice a lack of gray - studying isn't even on here because its just what I did at night. The day was always focused on interviews.

To give you an idea, actually think through a couple of those days: 9.30am interview followed by a 10.30 to 12 - thats two firms and probably 4 total interviews. That means I probably got to campus by 8, ate something, refreshed my memory on those two firms and went to the interview. Then at 12, I get a 30 minute break, then I do another two firms. At 2.30, I leave campus, drive downtown to make a 4pm offsite interview. I finish that around 5pm or 5.30, probably run some errand at 6pm, so I can make it to a pre-interview event (likely a dinner) by 7.30. Home around 9 or 10pm. Do any homework for Wednesday. Go to bed maybe round 12 or 1. Get up, get on campus at 8, go to class from 8.30 to 11.30. Go to lunch. Review notes for companies 7 and 8, try to do homework for Thursday. Go to those interviews, probably go home and change before next event at 7.30. Thursday, repeat with 2 more interviews....
And inbetween all this, you are waiting on calls from the firms you interviewed with to find out how things went! Stress!

* I had a midterm that week, ugh!
* There is absolutely noting social noted here. Don't be surprised if you become a hermit for a few weeks in the middle there.

Now, a few other tidbits:

1. But rhyme, what kind of 1@(# up interviews with so many firms? Yes, I had far too many interviews that week and I should have just canceled some. In the end I interviewed with something like 20 firms, but really should only have bothered with roughly 10 of them. Excluding 2nd round interviews, I probably averaged 5 interviews a week for about 4 weeks. That might sound easy, but keep in mind how much research is needed.

2. Banking recruiting is shorter and more condensed, but just as intense.

So, thats the beginning of what to expect.

Now to keep you guys from jumping off a cliff.... by comparison, my schedule now is much nicer:



Note, I work all day Mondays (I dont work till 8pm, i just grayed the made the whole day red in case I stay late), gray is class related stuff, green is just drinks etc...

I'd write more now, but frankly, I'm a bit tired. If you guys have questions, let me know.