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MAY 2003 MBA JOURNAL: INTERNSHIP INTERVIEWS Tonya Harris: Navigating the Process [Page 2 of 2] So, in addition to the informationals and resume mailings campaign, I also went through the traditional job search using Columbia's on-campus recruiting process. Most companies came to campus and held information sessions. It is typically a good idea to attend these sessions, but not mandatory (depending on your industry). Once you know about the company, and its available positions, you apply for an opening by "dropping" your resume. The "resume drop" means that a company posts an open position through career services with instructions about how to apply. This typically means, e-mail a cover letter and resume to the representative by a certain date. To ensure a place on the interview list, it is good to know someone at the firm (which is where the informational interviews come in handy) and put their name in the letter, if possible. This, again, is not mandatory, but definitely recommended. I "dropped" quite a few resumes, and I was placed on quite a few closed lists. The closed lists include all the individuals the firms want to interview based on their letters and resumes. Most of my interviews went well, or so I thought, but my efforts were fruitless for quite a while. However, through this on-campus process, and some spectacular training and advice from Kara in career services, I RECEIVED AND ACCEPTED AN OFFER FOR A SUMMER INTERNSHIP THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!! I am so excited! I will be working for a cosmetics company in marketing and advertising. This job will allow me to be creative, to learn marketing from a great company, to get some wonderful experience, have fun, and most importantly, not be an engineer!!!! Now, I would like to explain the internship search process for all of the wanna-be bankers out there, because it is quite different from what I went through. Because I tried to stay as far away from this field as possible, I had no frame of reference on which to base my comments. However, one of my amazingly intelligent, handsome, and kind Cluster mates, Chris C. (I will call him CC from this point forward), was nice enough to let me interview him to get the scoop on the banking scene for you. So, here goes. CC comes from a non-banking background. However, he knew that this was the career he wanted to pursue in business school. The summer before school started, he began contacting individuals he knew in the industry to build a good network and to do some research (this is crucial in any field). He compiled a list of banks he was interested in and found out all that he could about them (what are their personalities, specializations, locations, etc.). About three weeks into school, the financial institutions began to arrive on campus, and the rat race started. Tons of students attended these presentations to learn about the firms, or so it may seem. In actuality, the students' goal in attending these presentations is to leave a memorable impression with the firm representatives, get a few contacts at the firm, and to make sure their name is on the sign-in sheet. (Company representatives actually check these lists to select individuals for their interview lists if you don't show up, you probably won't get an interview). This is where an aggressive personality definitely pays off. After the presentation, it was mandatory to follow-up with the individuals you met and set up informational interviews. This shows interest in the firm, and most importantly, it gets your foot in the door. Once you have kissed up to as many people as possible (my words, not CC's), the letter writing campaign begins. This lasts from early November to early December. You "drop" a cover letter and resume for the firms that you are interested in working with. This process is exactly like the one described above. Before the end of the semester, around the second week in December through the end of the year, the closed lists for interviews are posted online. For financial institutions, the closed lists are not only determined by letters and resumes, but also whether or not the individuals attended information sessions, and the amount of contact the individual had with the firm. This list is for the first round of interviews. These interviews range in content from technical questions to behavioral, fit-based interviews. Technical questions tend to be, like, "What is a DCF model?" or "Here are two companies and are their financial statements and values. Who should acquire who?" Once the first round of interviews is complete, you usually hear within 24 hours whether or not you made it to second round, which is typically at the company's offices. These all occur within a short span of time, about three days. The second round of interviews are in-your-face, pressure interviews, as well as meetings with senior executives. They basically want to see how you handle yourself. If the company is interested in you, they may also want to know if you will accept a position, if you are offered one. The key here is to not be pressured into saying yes, and never lie. CC did get a great summer position with the institution of his choice. He judged his offers based on reputation of the firm, exit opportunities within the firm, and the firm's areas of concentration. Since he received his offer, he has been asked to rank the available industry groups in his order of preference for the summer, which again requires a bit more kissing up to (I mean, meeting with) individuals in the different industry groups within the firm. He has an exciting summer ahead of him. I hope that this gives a good idea of how the process works at Columbia. I am sure that it is pretty similar at other universities. Here are the key takeaways from all of this, and what I learned by living it: (1) Know what you want to do, and know how to explain it to someone else in 30 seconds or less. (2) Select a list of target companies in your industries of choice and find out as much about them as possible. (3) When you have the opportunity to meet people in your target company or industry, strive to make a good impression be confident, and make them see you in that position. (4) It is not about what you know, but instead, who you know get as many contacts as you can and use them. Keep in touch with friends, call alumni, build your network. (5) Lastly, have a plan B to fall back on never put all of your eggs in one basket.
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