The Career Fair

After a busy Monday morning of Finance class, e-mails and appointment scheduling I head to work and then drop by the Career Center for a brief meeting with my adviser. We go over my most recent cover letter for a Marketing position at Fisher-Price and catch up on what I missed during last Friday’s Career Management class.

At 3:00 pm I have a phone date with the Superintendent of The Boston Globe to rack his brain about press room operations and schedule a time for my group to meet with him next week to get a hands-on look at the facilities.  This is step 1 of a 5-part Operations assignment aimed at giving us a closer look at manufacturing.

After that I meet with my Statistics group to begin work on our first case assignment of the semester.  It's about a toy company trying determining production levels for a new product.  With Hasbro, Fisher-Price and now this, I’m just inundated with toys lately.

Tuesday is the much anticipated Career Fair! The day we’ve all been preparing for since the first week of the program.  Class has been canceled, suits have been dry-cleaned and resumes have been printed.  Here we go!

While I don’t have any interviews scheduled (and, in a way, consider myself lucky for that) I still arrive early to scope out the 30 some employers who will be there today.

I first drop by the Hasbro booth to say hello to a couple of representatives with whom I had interviewed last week. They let me know that a decision on the position I applied for will be made any minute. Eeek! I am so excited and nervous.

I then make my rounds, stopping by Ocean Spray Cranberries, W.B. Mason and Boston Pads before heading out.  In reality, the entire process took me less than an hour. I realized that without interviews, the Career Fair is not as scary an event as I made it out to be.  Now, if you talk to some of my friends who had upwards of 11 interviews that day, they might tell you differently.

Afterward I grab lunch at the Curry Center with friends before heading to the library to write up my interview notes from my Boston Globe interview yesterday, all the while nervously checking my e-mail and phone.  It’s quite amazing because within the scope of a few hours, many of my friends have already received job offers from the career fair.  How exciting!

Wednesday morning I submit the first of my Operations assignments focusing on the manufacturing procedures at The Boston Globe.

This is followed by Finance where we watch a hilarious video featuring our very own professor, some 20 years earlier.  Somehow, seeing him speak to us onscreen, makes capital budgeting seem so much more entertaining.

After class and work, I meet my Statistics group at our professor’s office for some clarifying help on our case.  I’m so glad we went because he corrects us on some faulty assumptions we had made about calculations. Lesson learned kids: go to office hours.

During the past few days, concentrating on school has become extremely difficult.  I keep checking my phone obsessively waiting for a reply from Hasbro.  I can’t wait for a response, especially since I keep hearing rumors that other candidates having been contacted. After our Statistics session my group and I head across the street  to Connor Larkins for a drink, only to find another Northeastern group has beaten us to it.  They are in a flurry of activity as each discusses their corporate residency placement. It seems like everyone who had an interview has already heard and in less than 24 hours at that! Many of my friends even have multiple offers (what a problem to have, right?).  It’s all so exciting to see where everyone will end up and with whom.  Let’s hope I hear something soon.  All anyone can do is discuss the career fair and a general disregard has developed for schoolwork. Who can concentrate when the prospect of moving to Rhode Island, Connecticut or New York is looming?

In Strategy today we discuss the e-reader/tablet market. As a plus, we have some student guests.  Prospective students have the option to sit in on an MBA class during the spring semester to get a first-hand look at what really goes on in Dodge Hall.  I hope they enjoyed it!

After class I meet up with my Strategy/Statistics team to go over our recently assigned final project, a joint venture between the two classes.  We have been assigned to the clothing industry, perfect for our group of six girls.  Our main company focus will be Ann Taylor, a lucky break considering one of our group members was a manager at Ann Taylor before joining the MBA program. Score!

The meeting is brief and we agree upon a deliverables outline for the rest of the semester that includes data analysis, industry comparisons and delving deep into Ann Taylor’s 10-K report.

Gorgeous view at the ICA

As I’m leaving campus I meet up with a friend for an afternoon of relaxation.  We make a beeline for Panera for some afternoon dessert and coffee after which we jump on the T to the Institute of Contemporary Art.  We make it to the financial district just as the sun is setting and it looks just beautiful.  

However, just as I walk in the doors of the museum I see that I have missed a call from a Rhode Island number. How!? I have been guarding this phone with my life, using up all of its battery in an hour as a I desperately check it e-mail every five seconds.  I excuse myself and rush to a corner of the gallery to call back.   

Perhaps I should have waited...I am informed that I have not been chosen for the Hasbro position.  Needless to say, I am devastated.  Fortunately, the representative on the phone is very kind and gives me valuable pointers on how to improve my candidacy, asking that I keep in touch.  It is all I can do to keep my voice from cracking as I thank her and say goodbye. 

Admittedly, the next few minutes are a bit tear-filled (yes, in the middle of the museum) but fortunately I have the distraction of modern art, so I take a deep breath and join my friend.  While the museum left much to be desired (the entire exhibit was only one small floor) there were some beautiful views from the huge glass walls out onto the harbor and, as is always the case, the museum store was fabulous.  Plus, entrance is free every Thursday from 5:00pm - 9:00pm so no complaints here.

We leave the museum around 6:00pm in search of a bar, landing at Elephant & Castle for some delicious spinach and artichoke dip.

On my way home, we also stop by my favorite pizza place, New York Pizza, because, honestly, I’ve had a rough day and pizza always makes me feel better.

The night ends with me wondering what to do now.  I have applied to that one Fisher-Price position but no new co-ops have been posted on eRecruiting since the Career Fair. I irrationally freak out that I will be the one person without an internship. I give myself the weekend to wallow before starting over on Monday.

While there is no Career Management on Friday, I still manage to find myself on campus for a 1:00 pm conference call with the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  I am thrilled with the results and we come out of it with an actionable plan and a firm deadline! This is what I have been wanting all along. Our official goal is to increase membership by 10% during the next year. To take advantage of the flower show that runs from March 16-20, we decide to run a campaign using Groupon, Living Social and/or BuyWithMe; three online coupon communities. We delegate tasks and agree to have all information in by Thursday so we can then run the numbers and pass it on to Mass Hort.

Dinner at Giacomo's in the South End

That night I meet some friends for a late night dinner at Giacomo’s in the South End. Since we can’t get dinner reservations until 8:45pm we meet up at a friend’s house for cheese, crackers and wine (how sophisticated do I sound?). We make our way to Giacomo’s only to be told that they are running half an hour behind. We hop next door to Anchovies for some drinks before finally sitting down to eat at 9:15pm. I feel like I’m back in Rome, eating at this time of night.  The food is delicious and I order a linguine and clam dish drenched in their famous Fracomo sauce (a mix of their house Giacomo lobster-based red sauce and their spicy Fra Diavolo sauce). For a reasonable price I get a huge portion that even I can’t finish, not to mention wine is only $4.50 a glass. We end the night indulging in their tartufo dessert- chocolate ice cream with an amaretto filling that’s dusted with nuts, coco powder and whipped cream. Lovely.

Saturday I send out my apartment lease renewal (yes, in February- real estate is super competitive here), run errands and send out some thank you notes for those who helped me in my Hasbro interview process. I also buckle down and begin researching possible corporate residencies on my own.  I even spend some time looking into my Indian visa information (and am glad I did since they always turn out to be more complicated than anticipated).

Sunday starts with a meeting at the library with my Supply Chain teammate to hash out the case that’s due Tuesday.  After half an hour of so, I bid her adieu and make my way down Massachusetts Ave. to buy a flip cam and Dunkin' Donuts gift card for our Marketing Club Logo competition next week.  That night finds me at the laundromat doing my Finance and Supply Chain homework to the whir of washing machines.

Admittedly, this week had a few bumps, but I'm trying to stay positive.  Hey, at least this way you all get a very in-depth look at interviewing for corporate residencies and what happens when you don’t get that first, or second, job.