My perspective on recruiting is different from most other seniors'. I was one of the fortunate ones. I had the security of a job offer after interning six months with the Chase Manhattan Investment Bank. So I did not face the pressure to get a job through school recruiting. Many of my friends and acquaintances did not have job offers, and as the recruiting process proceeded, I watched their emotions ride the spectrum of extremes. They would say, "I got dung by that company." I found people to be extremely harsh on themselves. They viewed the callbacks and job offers as a reflection on their self-worth. I definitely took a different approach. Many things in life are due to luck and timing. Now that the economy is slowing and the markets are erratic, people are finding that they just want a job, any job. I think it puts some perspective back into things.
At first, the interview process was interesting. I got a chance to find out about different companies and how they were organized. The first notifications I received for on-campus interviews were from places such as Goldman Sachs and Fidelity. I admit it was validation for me to get interviews with such prestigious companies. But as the interview process proceeded, I would learn that there are more important things than a company's name. The recruiting process allowed me to learn a little more about myself and what I wanted for the next two years of my life. You spend more time with the people at work than you do with your family (a very sad fact of life). So as my friend Pam says, "You darn better well like the people."
As a youngster, remember your parents telling you, "Just be yourself?" Well, they were lying. I had to mold myself into something different for each employer. Before each interview, I had to prepare some answers so that I could respond concisely to a question like, "So tell me a little bit about yourself." I call that the lazy man's way of interviewing. But I also got quizzed on things like the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the situation in the Middle East. What does the Middle East have to do with asset management? I have no idea. One interviewer grilled me about their equities division. The interview was painful. He had no mercy. He asked me, " So why didn't you apply to Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch if this is what you want to do?" At that point, I gave up and responded, "I just applied to those companies that came to campus". From that point, he used up the remainder of my 30-minute interview preaching about how he was a school teacher and how those qualities prepared him for his job. And yes, he applied to Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. I didn't get an offer from that firm.
Looking back on the experience, the only redeeming aspect of flying down to New York on a Friday night was that the company fitted the bill for my accommodations. So of course, I had to take a bath. For dinner, I ate heavenly soup in their lounge. And to wrap up the evening, I popped "The Mummy" into the room's DVD player and melted into the goose-down bed. I guess the quality food, sleeping accommodations and non-communal bathing facilities were worth the agony of my interview.
I liken the recruiting experience to the Dartmouth social experience. Information spreads like wildfire. Anxious seniors want to know who got called back for another round of interviews or who got what job offer. So you find out if you definitely got eliminated from the process by e-mailing your friends.
The one thing that you learn through recruiting is that employers are quick to get back to you if they want you. As soon as they decide that they don't want you, the communication stops. Eventually, you will get one of those letters saying, "Thank you for interviewing with us. Unfortunately, we don't have a job opening that fits your qualifications," meaning thanks but no thanks. I remember e-mailing some interviewers after a second round to get some critiquing. Well, since I didn't hear from them, they did not waste their time helping me with my quest for professional self-improvement. I guess they had better things to do like attending to their millionaire clients.
By the time December rolled around, I had my dot drawing in the WallStreetJournal.com and three job offers. Taking a month, I spoke with friends at Dartmouth and my former colleagues. But in the end, choosing a job was not about doing what my friends thought sounded exciting or what my professional colleagues thought was best for my career. The job was about what I wanted for me.
When I finally made my decision, I had to make three phone calls. I remember calling Chase first to tell them the good news. My HR representative said to me, "Great." She had something else going on and she wanted me to let her go. Boy, did that make me feel good about my decision. Oh well, the bonus makes up for things like that.
I called the other two companies. I wrote out what I wanted to say. I wanted to be professional and thank them for answering my questions but that I decided to take another offer. They did not take the news gracefully. So much for my professionalism. One company representative told me that I was making a big career mistake. He said the banks were cutting employees, suggesting the job I had accepted was endangered. His comments did not faze me. Incidentally, that company just announced job cuts.
The decision to take the job at Chase (now JP Morgan) was one of the biggest decisions I've made in the last four years. I had to think about my life after graduation and what would be best for me. Now, I'm just trying to enjoy the last days of life as a student.
I think the toughest part of this year was to watch my friends search desperately for a job. Submitting resume after resume, they were questioning their years of hard work. A friend cried to me about not getting this job she really wanted. Seeking validation through corporate recruiting is what I viewed as the unfortunate part of this whole process. The most important thing that I took away from recruiting was the reminder that I should never get so caught up in my job and career so that I loose sight of the important things in life. Sadly, I learned this the hard way. Just over a year ago, my grandfather was hospitalized. I decided against leaving school during the week because skipping classes meant endangering my grades. I just wanted to tell him that I loved him. Instead, I left on the weekend for his funeral.
So recently another friend asked me if I was worried that I might be laid off from JP Morgan. I said, "No." If that happens, I will just find something else to do. Some days, I imagine myself unemployed and applying for that job at the White House for the Economic Counsel to the President or that job in France where the company does not require you to speak the language fluently. To me, there is so much opportunity, so many things to do and only one lifetime to do them.
