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JANUARY 1999 MBA JOURNAL: FIRST SEMESTER WRAPUP Alex Virtue: The Second Half of First Semester
The Recruiting Process Begins While I previously mentioned that first-year MBAs have some exposure to recruiting presentations from the onset of the first year, most of these events are really geared toward second-year students as they enter their full-time job-search process. This all changes after Thanksgiving break, when the big consulting, investment banking, and consumer-goods companies return, armed with glossy recruiting brochures and ready to take on the hordes of eager first-year job hunters. While I attended a variety of company presentations, I had been fairly confident of my direction from the beginning of the year and, as such, focused primarily on learning more about the different investment banks. Wharton attracts all of the players -- bulge bracket and boutique alike. Thus I had ample opportunity to study the I-banker types in all of their pin-striped regalia and slowly absorb the special vocabulary of corporate finance and Wall Street. "Debt, equity, FFO, ROI, buy-side, sell-side, M&A, LBO, IPO, EBITDA . . . At first I was overloaded, but eventually I began to put the puzzle together and understand what these polished, fast-talking dealmakers really do in their gleaming Manhattan edifices. All levity aside, I was actually blown away by the number of top corporate executives that made personal visits during the recruiting season. On one occasion I met the CFO of one of the Big Three auto makers and a few weeks later sat front-row in Steinberg/Dietrich lecture hall to listen to the chairman of one of Wall Street's powerhouse investment banks. In addition to company presentations by Corporate America's top brass, the various clubs as well as the CD&P (Career Development & Placement office) do an incredible job of hosting formal lectures and case-study presentations throughout the year. And despite Wharton's finance-heavy reputation, the students here are treated to the full spectrum of domestic and international business opportunities, including high-tech, media and entertainment, consulting, marketing, and real estate. Given the tight demands of physical space and time at Wharton, students can expect to squeeze in presentations at lunch, after classes, and into the early evening. Since there's no possible way to attend all of the presentations, a little focus goes a long way in maintaining one's sanity and making sure the academics don't suffer as a result of the recruiting mania. Resume Building & Career Preparation As any career counselor will tell you, the first step in landing a great job is a good resume. Well, actually CD&P will tell you that the first step is a touchy-feely exercise known as a CIV analysis -- a review of one's capabilities, interests, and personal values. After that's done, and you're convinced once again that personal career inventory surveys never quite hit the mark (that's right -- I'm still not sure that my life's calling is to be a ranger in our National Park System), you can forge ahead with your original plan. Then again, I'm also not sure that I was born to "bank" either, but hey, you've got to take a stand at some point. Actually, the resume building and career management classes are great and taught by the CD&P's wonderful career counselors. Despite the thousands of students they deal with each year, the CD&P professionals truly do make an effort to get to know each student and provide personalized attention and career advice. In refining my resume, I took advantage not only of CD&P counselors but also of my fellow first- and second-year MBAs. As they critiqued, I revised . . . Eventually, I had something that I felt fairly represented my talents and linked my background and experience to my future career objectives. Like most top schools, Wharton gathers MBA student resumes through this formal process, packages them up in neat, leatherette boxes, and sells them to interested companies. This service, supplemented by electronic versions of the database, allows recruiters to search the current student population and identify promising candidates within the MBA ranks. While this is a great service, as a career changer, I knew that I still had my work cut out for me. More on that and interviews next time. Clubs & Extracurriculars During the first quarter, I attended Wharton's Club Day and signed up for just about every possible professional and social group that piqued my interest: Wine-tasting, rowing, finance, real estate, golf, hockey, and even flying with Wharton Wings. It didn't take very long before I realized that this list would require massive truncation. As most students find, there's really only time to take a serious leadership or officer position in one club -– my obvious choice was Wharton's Real Estate Club. Once appointed as a first-year officer on the Professional Affairs Committee, I quickly began working on initiatives with the second-year officers, allowing me to interface with professors in the Real Estate department -- as well as the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at Wharton. While I appreciate the fact that only a "real estate guy/gal" can probably share my true excitement for Wharton's Real Estate Program, I must mention the Fall Members' Meeting of the Zell/Lurie RE Center that took place this past quarter. The two-day symposium, kicked off by a talk by Mike Fasticelli, president of Vornado Realty Trust, was truly a gathering of the most influential and powerful players in corporate real estate and finance. In addition to the many superb panel discussions, a Center-hosted breakfast and luncheon allowed the students to meet with the visiting professional and begin to form what may some day be a very formidable network. The true benefit of the Zell/Lurie RE Center from a student's perspective is the access that we have to the center's members and contributors -- people who regularly make the news in the most prominent business magazines and newspapers in the country. In my view, Wharton's commitment to being at the forefront of today's rapidly changing real estate environment is truly unique. In addition to the Real Estate Club, I'm a volunteer ambassador for Wharton's online Student-2-Student and E-Talk forums, where I answer questions from prospective and admitted students from around the country and the world. Another great program that I've become involved in is Christmas In April, a nonprofit group (with a Penn/Wharton student-run chapter) that once a year fixes up approximately 25 houses in West Philadelphia neighborhoods. With so many different activities, clubs, and organizations on campus, I've had a hard time picking and choosing amongst my interests. Time truly is the scarcest resource at business school. A Reflection on the First Semester With my final exams behind me, I boarded a plane headed for sunny California just two days before Christmas. My trip back home only lasted a week but was long enough to give me time to reflect upon my experience at Wharton and take satisfaction from the notorious and dreaded first semester being over. Sure, I'd been beat up a little by the rigors of business-school life, but I survived! The sense of accomplishment was palpable. One-quarter of the road to my MBA degree had been traversed, and as I heard from the second-years, it only gets easier from here on out. I'll believe that when I see it.  Alex Virtue  | | Learn about your online education options |
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