Summer Internship!!!
It took less than a week to get my summer internship. And, I am delighted I got an internship in my top choice firm.
When I applied to business school, I thought I wanted to work in the investment management industry. Once I came to Tuck, I spoke to people in the industry and realized I liked work that was more fast paced and energetic. While people within investment management were brilliant and loved their work (the attrition rate on the buy side is really really low!), my gut told me it probably wasn't the right choice for me.
After a workshop on Sales & Trading at Tuck in early October, I spent some time talking to traders and decided I wanted to do Trading. Since I was a career changer (prior background - IT management in India), I was prepared for a long and arduous internship hunt to get my trading job.
However, it was not to be. During the Finance club trip to Wall Street firms, I identified some firms I liked. A friend who graduated from my undergrad school spoke to me about the nuances of trading and the skill sets needed on the trading floor. I then had a shortlist of 3 firms where I would like to work and one other firm where I may fit in. As I spoke to people in each firm, I soon realized that I had one top choice and two close second choices. So, I focussed disproportionate energies on my top choice firm.
The Tuck & Dartmouth networks were of tremendous help as I went about researching the firms. Alumni went out of their way to connect me with people. Really senior people (folks with upwards of 20 years on Wall Street) gave me tons of time and spoke to me about their experience at the firm. Many people had worked at different shops on the Street. So, I got a perspective based on their experiences. Going into my interviews I had spoken to almost 15 people within the firm across work levels. Folks did mock interviews with me, gave me feedback and prepped me so that I did a good job in the real interviews.
The coaching given by second years for interview preparation was phenomenal. They were always at hand to answer questions about the firms, to conduct mock interviews, give their feedback on stock pitches and to boost our confidence when necessary. Next year, I will be happy if I can do as good a job as they did.
All the preparation seems to have helped in the interviews. The first round and final round interviews went off very well and a couple of hours after my final round interviews I had my offer. Since it was my top choice firm, I had no hesitation in accepting the offer though on-campus recruiting wasn't completed yet and many firms were yet to release their second round lists. In summary, it was a very nice ending to my summer internship search.
Oh yeah, mid way through last week I decided I didn't want to interview with the consulting firm (though it was again a top firm and I am sure I would have loved working there). I however interviewed with a couple of buy side shops.
My tickets to India are also in place. A friend is getting married in Delhi in mid March. A horde of Tuckies are attending the marriage. I also get a chance to spend a few days at home. I am looking forward to good ole Bangalore!
Diamonds!
No.. I am not talking of the DJIA based Exchange Traded Fund. I am talking of the crystalline form of carbon.
Last couple of days, we did a case on De Beers in the strategy class. As always, a large part of the learning happens outside the class, in study groups. Like last term, my study group this term is made up of a set of people who are good fun to be around. The De Beers case provided lots of fodder for conversation about everything surrounding diamonds. Since I have never purchased a diamond or even thought about buying one, most of the conversation was knowledge for me.
The simple but super effective marketing strategy of 'A person should spend two month's salary on an engagement ring' was something I had no clue about. Then the married men in the group spoke about how they broke their bank to buy their women a rock! Mid way through the serious discussion on the strategy behind De Beers, the group started constructing rings on ADiamondIsForever.com. 0.25 carat, 0.5 carat, 2 carat ;-). The site recommends rings based on the combined salary of the couple.
The story of DeBeers and diamonds seems to defy a popular adage, "You can't fool all the people all the time"
Since the engagement ring market is showing signs of saturation, De Beers is launching a new campaign "I Forever Do". The objective is to get people to buy diamonds for every anniversary as a sign of everlasting love!
I thought that the cosmetics industry, selling hope in a jar to people who couldn't afford to meet their daily needs, was the worst face of business. Apparently not :). That said, I wouldn't be surprised if you find me complaining in a few years time "My wife is wearing a car on her hand!". The statement is copyright a friend who shared his anguish with the class earlier today. Priceless!
Recruiting is in progress. Made it to the second round of one of my top choices. Have some more interviews lined up for the next few days. One internship is all I want :).
Internship recruitment countdown...
Just had a 4 day break where I didn't do anything worthwhile. Of course, I got a lot of sleep.
I now realize that I am way behind on my preparation for recruitment. 24th Monday, I have my first campus interview. And in the 4 days beginning 24th, I am interviewing with 7 firms. Interviewing with 7 firms across consulting, trading and investment management requires a tremendous amount of groundwork. With 7 days to go, I feel woefully underprepared.
"Yuddha kaale shastrabhyasaha" was a quote used often by my Sankrit teacher in high school. Translated, "Learning the use of weapons at the time of war". Obviously, a bad idea!
There is a beautiful subhashita (Sanskrit couplet) that comes to mind in this context. "Chintaneeya hi vipadamadameva pratikriya. Na kupa khananam yuktam pradeepte, vahni na gruhe". Translated, "The reactions of people at the times of crisis is thought provoking. It is not advisable to dig a well when your house is on fire."
With that wisdom in mind, I have decided to focus my efforts on such prep that I expect to yield maximum results. So, between now and 26th, I aim to have practised 4 cases for my consulting interview. Most people around me have done anywhere upwards of 20 cases, but it is too late to think about it now :)
Was just looking at my calendar for the next few days. It is choc-a-bloc with engagements. Mock interviews, study group, class preparation, career workshops. I don't think I have ever been so busy at Tuck.
I have a stock pitch to make tomorrow afternoon and I don't have my investment hypothesis ready. I have to visit a firm in New York on Friday, I don't have my clothes ready. I have made plans for my trip to India in March, I don't have my tickets ready.
Everything will fall into place. Everything!!
I hope it does :)
Back to school...
It has just been 3 days since school started. Feels like it has been ages! The weekend didn't seem to help much. I already feel so much behind in terms of classwork :(
Friday night was the 80's party. I had no clue on what to wear for an 80's party. A friend suggested that I wear something I would normally not wear. He was so spot on! I wore blue jeans, an ORANGE shirt and a crumpled turquoise polynosic shirt. When I looked at the mirror I thought I was a tropical bird :). The party was fun with people going to various lengths for the authentic look. I returned early but the pics told the tale of what a wild party I missed.
I need to ramp up preparation for job interviews, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Opted out of an investment management interview because I didn't like the prospect of living in Salt Lake City, UT for the summer. Hopefully this will allow me to sharpen my focus for interviewing.
Haven't been going to the gym regularly and feel a bit guilty about that. But, I did do some grocery shopping over the weekend and got myself another 48 pack of Snickers! If you create the supply of calories, the demand will emerge. Atleast, I hope that will happen!
Since all my calories should not be supplied by bars of Snickers, I also got myself a huge bag of pistachios. 24 servings per container is what the bag says. How can somebody stop munching on pistachios!! I think 8 servings is more appropriate. Oh yeah, I chose pistachios because they are healthy. Compared to cashewnuts, each serving has almost 20% Daily Value of Copper, Vitamin B-6, Thimin and Phosphorus as also significant percentages of Iron and Vitamin E. The label says the Percent Daily Value of fat per serving is 20%, but I am sure it is a typo. It is actually 2%. Trust me on this.
Trivia - One of my study group member's name on the ice hockey team is Free Leis. No. Don't say it out loud!
New Year thoughts!
Winter break has ended. The year has changed. A new term has started. A new set of people now form my study group. Change is in the air!
The last few days I was at New York City. Agenda was part fun, part business. Chilled out for a the first couple of days. Ate some good Indian food, looked around the city. Met up with a friend who is attending B school there, spoke to another. Met a fellow blogger who is applying next year. Met up with people at some firms I am targeting. The energy on a trading floor is tremendous. And this energy exists regardless of which firm I visit.
I also visited the world's largest trading floor at Stamford, CT. I just wasn't prepared for what I saw. Rows and rows of trading terminals. Each person having upto 6 LCD screens in front. Had a look at the arena from the top. This trading floor has to be seen to be believed!
In each firm, the enthusiasm and support I got from Tuck alumni continues to surprise. Sometimes I wonder whether I can live up to those high standards. Really senior people (somebody who has been trading for 20 years and manages a team of 20 traders is REALLY SENIOR), spent almost an hour (he actually told the HR contact to ensure that I meet him when I am at his firm). At another firm I visited, another senior trader set up meetings with people he thought I should meet and talked for over half an hour about why he liked his firm. The bond Tuck creates is just mindblowing. Think of it - I have almost NOTHING in common with these people except that we attended the same great school. Just that is reason enough for the passion.
During my firm visits, another aspect that surprised me was how small the world seems to be. Every Tuckie who is senior seems to know everybody else who is at the top of his profession. For my summer internship, I have also applied to a hedge fund run by a Tuckie. And already, 2 other alums have told me to say hi to him since they know him. So, if I interview with the fund, I picture the interview will be 'Hi, this is Tagad. Nice to meet you. By the way Trading Guru and Consulting Guru say hi to you. I met them over the last month.' Some applicant asked me whether I had experienced the famed Tuck network. 'Experienced the Tuck network' is probably devaluing the whole community to an often misused word.
Internship recruiting starts soon. Job search takes the priority now and everything else takes a back seat. All firms that recruit on campus have to have 50% of their interview slots open for bidding. The remaining 50% (closed list) is for candidates they have decided to invite for interviews based on their resumes.
From the outside, it looks like getting an interview is really hard (expensive in bidding points) if one is not on the closed list. This is true for certain consulting firms. For Investment Banking interviews, anybody who wants to interview is able to bid for the slots without spending too many points. I think most people will end up doing some banking interviews regardless of their interest levels in the domain.
So far, my luck with respect to the closed list seems pretty good. Have ended up with some trading interviews, a consulting interview and a investment management interview. Considering the fact that trading has been my main focus and I have only applied to 2 top consulting firms, I am quite happy with the way things have turned out. A large part of the credit for this goes to my ex-study group members who helped me build a powerful cover letter and polish my resume for better impact.
The interviews with a disparate set of firms opens up a pandora's box with respect to preparation. Consulting firms have case interviews. Investment management firms require a stock pitch. Trading interviews are technical. And all of them look for fit. By end Jan, I will know whether I fit somewhere or whether I am a misfit!
Happy New Year to everybody.
