Maxim Mironov: Paintball, Warren Buffett, and the Job Search

Time flies. I can't believe that the school is over and I am about to start a new life. It's been a remarkable two years. I explored numerous opportunities for my future career and have chosen one the most exciting and promising. But let's start from the beginning...

LAST SEMESTER. Our semesters have H1s, for courses given in the first half before the spring/fall break, and H2s in the second half. Like many second-years, I took many H1 classes to be able to concentrate on the job search right before the graduation. Looking back, it was a good decision. I knew I was not looking for a job with a big company, and small companies have a much shorter horizon. Very few companies start looking for somebody more than three months in advance. So, April-May promised to be a hot season for the opportunities that I was after.

At MIT, second-years have a priority in bidding for classes, so I had almost no trouble getting into the ones I wanted to take. To name a few of the classes: macroeconomics with Roberto Rigobon; managerial accounting with Joe Weber; private equity with Phil Coopers; and operations with Sharon Novak. The school also gives students unprecedented flexibility in managing the workload. I found that auditing a class is a great opportunity to get the most value, keeping the time spent under control. Auditing a wide selection of classes helped me learn in two years as much as people learn in a three-year joint-degree program. I don't think that I could get such an opportunity at any other school.

VISITING WARREN BUFFETT. This year the General Management Club organized a trip to Omaha, Neb., to meet Warren Buffett. This was a great opportunity to see probably the most successful investor in the world and ask him questions. We met Mr. Buffett in a local country club where he came driving his Lincoln. He looked like an ordinary man -- no expensive suit, no arrogance one could expect from a billionaire.

It would be naive to think of attending such a trip for an investment hint or a chance to find an employment opportunity. I went to learn about how he thinks, how he evaluates companies, and what questions he asks. Warren was very relaxed and outspoken while answering our questions, but when we mentioned a company he might consider investing in, he transformed, leaned towards one of us, and shot questions about the business, competition, and management team. It was exciting see a great investor in action and I am very thankful for his offer to meet us.

MIT-HARVARD ANNUAL PAINTBALL COMPETITION. I believe that the school is as much about having fun as about preparing you for a new career. One of the fun events is the MIT-Harvard annual paintball competition. About 30 Russian-speaking students from both universities went to the suburbs of Boston to spend a day shooting each other. It sounds weird to get excited about lying in the mud or hiding behind a barrel trying to hit somebody from the other team with a paintball, but it is a lot of fun, I swear.

As we ran out of paint, tired but happy, we decided to find a place for dinner. Over the dinner we recalled all the exciting moments and looked for bad guys who had shot us from a few feet. I think this is one of the great traditions that keep the Russian-speaking community strong. I am proud of my fellow countrymen to be such supportive and fun people. After graduation we are all going to different places to work for different companies, so it is great to have somebody you can call any time for business advice or a beer. My Russian network is one of the biggest assets I have built over the past couple years.

SPRING GALA. Spring Gala was one of the most remarkable events of the year. The school organized a nice ball in a 19th-century mansion in Rhode Island. We had a great night -- nice dinner and good music. It was a rare occasion to see my classmates all dressed up. It was a lot of fun; I wish I had gone to last year's gala as well.

JOB SEARCH. Finding a dream job is one of the biggest challenges for most second-years. Some people accept offers from their summer companies, but well over 50% of students are still looking during the last semester. The school tries to encourage you by showing how many people got their offers in April-May, but you still stress out about the possibility of not finding the right place soon enough.

I knew I was looking for an operations position with a small company, preferably in retail. My background in consulting for such companies in Europe made me a strong candidate. I also realized that most graduates are looking for mainstream positions in large companies, ignoring numerous niche opportunities. The amount of networking needed to get an interview for a position in a small company and the highly specific set of skills expected from a candidate make a niche strategy very risky. So, most people play safe and concentrate on big companies.

Comparing my consulting experience with my summer internship, I concluded that I will have much more fun making things happen at a small company than returning to a big one. I wanted to be in charge and make decisions with a long-lasting impact on the business. To find the right opportunity, I leveraged my school and alumni network along with students at other schools. It is not a secret that most small companies that submit job postings to business schools do it to a few that they know somebody at or are close to geographically. Knowing people at most of the schools helped me learn a lot about opportunities as they were opening.

However, the greatest resource was Peter Caparis, COO of Avalon Organics and my summer boss. Peter helped me understand what small companies need and what makes me a great candidate. Finally, Mercantila, the company that I accepted an offer from, came as his lead. Peter's good friend, Tina Frey, is CFO of Mercantila, a San Francisco-based online apecialty retailer. Tina introduced me to Jonathan and Tom, founders of the company. Pretty soon I realized that Mercantila offers the opportunity I'd been looking for and I ceased the recruiting process with other companies as it became clear that we were moving toward the offer. I will be joining the company as a director of operations and am very excited about the road ahead.

GRADUATION. A bittersweet moment, graduation ceremony. Early in the morning I put my cap and gown on and joined thousands of soon-to-be-graduates. Graduation ceremony takes place in Killian Court, a legendary place in front of the main MIT building. The graduation ceremony was very solemn and highly efficient at the same time. The entire Class of 2005 was organized by schools and sorted by alphabet so that not a second was lost during the ceremony. At least three times on the way to Killian Court we were asked our names to make sure that the order of people was proper.

Two of the best years of my life are over. I remember writing application essays and clicking the "submit" button as if it were yesterday. I am a graduate now. It is amazing. I am very thankful to the school and my classmates who helped me grow and look to new horizons. It's been a great time, and there are even better moments ahead.

If I were to start the school again, one of a few things that I would do differently is to learn more about what makes schools different. I was lucky to make the right choice and go to MIT. I strongly believe that a person admitted to one top school can get into any other top school. It is all about understanding the "soul" of the school and finding a personal fit.

The best way to learn the differences is to visit the school, speak to students, and stay in touch. It is amazing how few people actually visit more than two schools or speak to students prior to admission. Time spent learning about the school will pay back tenfold when building a network and looking for a job.

In five to seven years, I see myself returning to the classroom for executive education. MIT helped me see a variety of things I need to learn. Over these two years, I had a chance to only touch this ocean, leaving so many areas unexplored. As my career progresses, a deeper understanding of finance and organizational behavior would be very helpful. I believe there will be numerous opportunities to learn on the job, but taking a few months off and returning to a school is another great option.

MOVING TO CALIFORNIA. It's the beginning of a new life. There are new challenges and new opportunities ahead. I am very fortunate to be working in San Francisco, as my wife and I both like California. Now we'll have a lot of ways to enjoy the cultural life of the city. Shortly after accepting the offer, we started planning the relocation. We always wanted to make a cross-country trip; therefore, buying a car in Massachusetts and driving it to California seemed to be the best solution.

We started our trip going to Washington, D.C., where we spent two nights with our friend and then hit I-70 West. Going through Missouri, we visited Hannibal, the place where Mark Twain spent his boyhood, and learned why Mr. Clemens took the name of Mark Twain. We stopped for two nights in Colorado Springs with Olena's university friend and her husband. Lilia and David took us to the Garden of the Gods. If you ever visit Colorado, don't miss it. It is a small but beautiful park.

Probably the most memorable part of our journey was the road from Colorado to Utah. We drove through desert, yellow hills, red and black rocks, sand dunes, and many more beautiful landscapes. We took many photos and will use some of them to decorate our new apartment. It was a great journey and I am happy we did it.

In conclusion, I would like to encourage readers to take risky decisions and consider the MBA program as a way to create new opportunities for your future career. It worked great for me and may be the right thing for you.

If you'd like to follow up on one of my articles feel free to contact me at: Maxim.Mironov@sloan.mit.edu.