Job Hunting Tips

(page 3 of 3)

Katie Volz
Stern School of Business
New York University

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ashkank: What recommendations would you have on securing an internship in a desired field for first-semester MBA students who are contemplating a major career change? Personally, I'm interested in breaking into consulting.

KatieVolzNYU: Preparing to make a career change into any industry, including consulting, requires that you learn as much as you can about the field—industry trends, lingo, and players in the space—to successfully secure an internship. Take advantage of networking opportunities (for example, alumni connections, on-campus presentations, associations, etc.). As a first-year MBA student, I encourage you to speak with as many second-year students as possible before reaching out to any alumni or industry contacts to get their perspectives and lessons learned. Many of your basic questions can be answered through this resource.

FrancescaBW: Can you tell us the state of affairs at NYU? More specifically, how are undergraduate business students and MBAs faring this year? How have events such as the collapse and sale of Bear Stearns (BSC) affected you?

TrudyNYU: So far this year, our undergraduate students have done extremely well. Most of the offers were out during the fall semester, and so for the most part our students are O.K. As you might have heard, Bear Stearns rescinded their offers last week. We have met with every one of the students who was affected and have a strategy in place to help them secure new offers.

KatieVolzNYU: We don't have our numbers confirmed yet, but we seem to be tracking fairly similarly to last year in terms of placement. As far as Bear Stearns, only about a dozen of our students were affected, and we are working very closely with them to assist with securing full-time and summer internship opportunities.

TrudyNYU: We think that the summer market is starting to tighten a bit.

wes7a: How is the current market for summer jobs?

KatieVolzNYU: Presently, summer internship hiring remains strong, as companies see real value in the ability to hire quality MBA students for project-based roles and short-term opportunities.

julieh: Has there ever been a case when MBA internships were unpaid because of an economic slowdown? If so, did these mostly result in full-time offers?

KatieVolzNYU: There is a small market for unpaid internships on the MBA side, particularly in certain industries such as media and entertainment. We don't have data to confirm the likelihood of these unpaid internships translating into full-time offers. Typically the types of organizations that offer unpaid internships cannot predict their full-time needs until much later in the year, so if a full-time offer is extended, it's not normally done at the close of the summer internship.

wes7a: How is the investment banking market in general?

KatieVolzNYU: From an MBA hiring perspective, banks have responded to changes in the market by being more conservative with the number of full-time offers extended. However, this does not apply to every division within the banks. In fact, certainly, areas within the world of investment banking, such as private wealth and risk management, have grown.

TrudyNYU: The same changes in the market that Katie is seeing is holding true for undergraduates as well. If the economy continues to decline, we expect to see some impact in the fall semester.

FrancescaBW: Someone brought up the BusinessWeek article that mentioned this idea that if you graduate into a recession (BusinessWeek, 4/14/08), your starting salary is always behind the times. Is there anything today's graduates can do to make sure they don't fall behind when it comes to salary or job type? If so, what?

TrudyNYU: I think the important thing to do during a recession is to secure a job that will develop your skills and give you great experience to make a move when things ease. I would never advise students to accept a job that pays a certain level of salary, unless they feel positive about the position. Positioning yourself and being flexible is the most important advice I could give anyone looking for a job during a recession.

KatieVolzNYU: In the event that your starting salary is below what you have found to be the median, my advice would be to try to negotiate an earlier performance evaluation and salary discussion to remain in line with industry salary norms. However, as Trudy mentioned, obtaining a position that will further develop your skills should be one of the most important factors to consider.

NicholasM: I am a military veteran and a current MBA student. I have had trouble finding a job because I have no business experience. Do you have any advice to overcome this?

KatieVolzNYU: Your question is very timely, as BusinessWeek just had a piece on military men and women in business school (BusinessWeek.com, 3/13/08). During your networking conversations and interviews, focus on the skills you've obtained through your service, such as leadership, working under stressful conditions, being a team player, etc. These skills tend to be highly valued by employers and transferable to the business world.

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