Jones Journal -- Alumni Magazine of the Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University

Please send comments to:
Deanna Sheaffer, Editor
Director of Alumni Affairs
Jones School of Management - MS 531 Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston TX 77251-1892
e-mail:JGSalum@rice.edu

Diary of an MBA:
A First-year Student Writes Journal for
Business Week
– By Saul Keeton, Class of 2002

1 :: 2

In the last year or so, I have either asked or been asked the following three questions most often:

1) Are interviews really THAT hard?
The short answer for this one is an unequivocal YES! I’d say that on average I spent three or four hours researching a company and its industry before each interview. Each time, I was prepared to quote the company’s latest stock price, discuss the security’s five-year trend, compare its return to that of its competitors and the S&P 500, and talk about current issues in the industry. Unfortunately, I had a ton of first interviews, so needless to say, it has been an exhausting semester. (And if you think your professors will let up on you to do this recruiting “homework,” you’ve got a surprise coming.)

In addition to company knowledge, recruiters expect interviewees to have a working knowledge of basic financial concepts, and yes, they will quiz you on your level of mastery in the interview. In my dozen or so interviews this semester, I was asked to price an annuity and a perpetuity, to discuss the basics of risk in the capital asset pricing model, to outline the methods I would use to discount cash flows, to talk about Monte Carlo simulations, and to define LIBOR. If all that sounds like Greek to you now, just wait until next year when you have those concepts and 1,000 others like them ricocheting of the sides of your brain at once!

2) How hard is it to get a job?
I’ve answered this one so many times, I can do it in my sleep now. For those students who had at least a 3.5 GPA in college and made over a 700 on the GMAT, the biggest problem is deciding which internship to take. But for those of us with more human statistics, the internship search provided steeper hills to climb. My advice here: identify five or six companies (or a particular industry) as early as possible in your first semester. Call your school’s alumni that work there. Schedule informational interviews. Get to know the human resources recruiters. Let them know you’re interested. As my mother used to tell me, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Never has that been more true. Thanks, Mom!

3) What should I do to prepare for the recruiting process?
First of all, you need to know your resume backward and forward. I know this goes without saying, but interviewers are likely to completely deconstruct your work history and ask you a question about the most minute detail. If you mess this up or give information that isn’t consistent with what is on your resume, you’re toast. My suggestion: print a copy of your resume for yourself and one for the person with whom you are interviewing. That way, you look like you’ve got everything covered when you hand the interviewer an updated copy, and s/he will not notice when you place a fresh copy on the desk in front of you, cheat-sheet style. This will help you keep your facts straight.

Secondly, but no less important, is your two-minute elevator speech. These are the selling points that you would use to describe your strengths and your work history if you were asked on an elevator leaving the first floor. The idea is to be concise, be persuasive, and be done by the time the elevator reaches the 100th floor. Every single interview I’ve ever heard about or been a part of has begun with a simple request, “Tell me about yourself.” This is your chance to shine and put on the hard sell. A solid two-minute speech can sometimes seal the deal. (You know what they say about first impressions, right?) Mess this up, and it might be a short interview.

All reprinted excerpts from Saul’s MBA journal entries are provided courtesy of Business Week Online. You can read all of Saul’s entries in their entirety at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/index.html. Saul is currently working at Entergy for his summer internship.