'Networking'...what is it really?

So I remember when I started my b-school process, a few words I heard a lot were 'networking'. B-school teaches you the art of networking, or so I heard. And thats when I thought, okay, thats great, I go to b-school, do whatever's expected of me, and I'll have acquired the art of networking. Only problem is I never knew what networking really is. Is it having the recruiter remember your name (because it may be that it's hard to pronounce, oh wait, he/she will forget it immediately then!), or is it having the comfort to do the "small talk" with recruiters - and that comes to sports, the National Championship, or the weather? No idea, really.

So I started out, not really knowing what exactly networking is, but knowing that somehow, someway b-school will teach me how to network. And thats when I started noticing what was going on around me.

So my observations of the various "types" of networking:

1. The sycophantic networker:

The scene? A company presentation - think of the big names - the top 4 consulting firms, or the big shots in the social media/ computer industry in today's age. Yep, you got it. And so, what plays out is this: You hear the company presentation, hear why company BigShot is so awesome, what kind of people are they looking for, and thats that. And then, the real stuff starts. You'll have say 5-10 company representatives, and within a second (and I literally mean a second), you'll have those 5-10 mini-hubs or SIP circles as they were called. (I'm assuming SIP means something like situational informational or something. hm?) Anyway, so yes, there we are with those 5-10 mini hubs. And now, here's the funny part. If you're the "outsider", just try observing the expressions of those 10 individuals (read sycophantic networker) gathered around that company hotshot. The expression is one that reads: I need a job, give me one; I don't care why you're here, all I know is that YOU can get me a job. Hence, my admiring expression.

So the problem is, I couldn't see myself playing the sycophantic networker. I thought it seemed ridiculous to try to sneak in a 2 minute "star story" or "why I love your company soo much", when surrounded by 10 other people, each trying to prove they deserve this more than you. Seriously though, from a recruiter's perspective, doesn't it get tiring? Or maybe, its just flattering.

I will say one thing though, any time I saw the circles developed, one and only one thought always came to my mind: "Like moths gathered to a flame".

2. The "I dont-give-a-damn networker":

This is the type of person who thinks they're too cool to meet recruiters, talk to them, and that your star-studded resume will get you the job you want. So, all you have to do, is fill in the application, send in your resume, and bam you're done. Thats how it worked before, right? So why shouldn't it work now?  

Well: (and this comes after working as a I dont-give-a-damn networker for a good 5-6 months, and then realizing why my approach may be wrong):...the point is, things are different now. Think of how many top b-schools there are in the US. Think of how many MBA grads come out every year. Add the ones who may still be looking for jobs from the previous years. Think of the other extremely qualified individuals, who may be non-MBAs and yet even a better fit for the job than you are. Think of the companies who don't even believe in the value of an MBA. 

And that makes you realize precisely this: You are a small fish in a big pond. You cannot change that. Remember it, acknowledge it, and re-strategize according to where you are.  Find your own comfort level in networking, you'll improve, slowly, but definitely. 

3. The "I network-with-reason" networker:

And so that's the final one. Thats the path I decided to take, and am glad I took. I realized (luckily not TOO late), that we all need to network at a certain level. What level and what type of networker you decide to be, is totally up to you, and thats fine. 

When I realized I really did need (and more than that want) a summer internship in the US, I started thinking seriously about what kind of companies interested me. Who could I reach out to? Who might be interested in speaking to ME given my background, experience and prior skills? I started thinking a bit about how to relate what I had to what company x really might need. So when you start thinking along those line, you'll be more comfortable in reaching our, expanding your professional network and learning from other's people's advice on your career. 

That: for me, is what defines networking, really. Being open, finding new avenues, expanding your horizons and actually taking an interest in why person x at company x is at that role - how has their career been shaped? What advice can they give you (given their lessons in their professional life)? Treat them like mentors, and you'll develop a longer "networking relation", rather than a bland "I need a job" relation.

As I started reaching out to my friends, friends' friends and so on, one person made a comment that had an impact on me. 

He said, "Choc Heaven (well obviously replace with my real name), Linked In is your friend. Use it."  That is very true. Right after that, I joined LinkedIn, and tried to see what the fuss is all about. Linked In is an amazing tool & can be your friend too :) Let it be one!

So..enough philosophizing, but here's hoping you're a step closer in understanding what to expect from b-school networking, and what you want to achieve from it!

Ciao!

First year @ Fuqua over...

Wow...

my first year at Fuqua is officially over.. damn!  But..it has been a truly great year.. and the best part is, this year has led me with many opportunities. To have the ability to dream, and see opportunities - I feel - is one of the luckiest feelings one can have!

I thought I would dedicate this post to my internship search and how it progressed. I feel like I did some things right and others wrong. But in the end, I think it paid off... To give you an academic calendar of my internship search , here's how it went:

August: School started, no idea what this whole internship search stuff involves.

Sept: Started attending company presentations after company presentations. Wisdom # 1: Do NOT attend the company presentations you really don't give a damn about. It doesn't matter if they hire ' a lot of internationals' or that they pay so well. If you're not interested, thats that.

Oct: Again, just trying to follow the crowd. Not sure why I went to all those presentations at this stage, and what I achieved from it all.

Nov: Missed out on the Week-in-Cities. Thought I was "too cool" to follow the herd, and go network by going on a 'Week in Cities' networking trip. Instead, I took it easy.

Dec- Jan: Didn't have any luck in the on-campus internship search. Finally realized why everyone said you need to 'network' (and what is that exactly? For next time) to get an internship.

Jan - Feb: Started thinking about which companies interest me, and how I am going to go about doing my off-campus internship search. Off-campus means that these companies do not come to Duke to recruit for internships, rather I have to contact them on my own, make an impression, and learn about the internship process.  Harder? Yes.  Less competition? Maybe, maybe not. Does having Duke / Fuqua alums in those companies help? Yes, but its not a pre-requisite. 

Feb - April: Started doing an aggressive internship search. Sending out emails to prospective employers, Fuqua alums, trying to learn more about the opportunities present, how they related to my past experience, where I wanted to be going ahead et al.

May - received my 1st internship offer: for a non profit in NYC. :) Work sounded great!

May - received another internship offer: for small and medium business consulting in Phillipines.

May- received the offer I finally decided to accept - headed to Bloomberg for this summer in NYC! Yay! Bloomberg sounds like a great place, and excited at the opportunity!

Lessons learnt from my subjective experience....

Don't give up hope. Stay positive. Be yourself in interviews. Be natural. Be genuinely excited about the work, company, culture. The markets are definitely better this time, compared to last year. Numerous, and i mean many many of my "international" students friends at Fuqua have gotten amazing summer internships. Its been a great year for all of us.

Being voted #10 in Clear Admit's BOB!

Yay!

a little shout out to celebrate the e-victory of being #10 in this year's top student bloggers at Clear Admit's Best of Blogging contest! :)

its the second last day of my 1st year of MBA today, and I cannot even begin to explain how fast this year has gone by!
apart from other summer plans, I do vouch to fill in the silences by highlighting some recommendations fori ncoming students, news, and student life at Fuqua!

Adios!

Term 3 at Fuqua! Woo hoo!

I guess my track record at blogging hasn't been too regular...My last post was in November :( Wow, when I was applying to b-schools, I promised (myself) to be more regular so that fellow blogger readers could get more updated info on b-school life.. Sadly, b-school life is well, ever-engulfing. It takes you by in a swirl, makes you dizzy, until you realise the term's almost over.

And so today's the second day of Term 3. Half of my first year at Fuqua has flown by. Already. Wow, it has been super quick.

So, yes, the internship search is still going on. I relaxed for my term break - a whole 5 weeks. Quite generous I have to say. Perhaps I relaxed a bit too much.. But anyway, its back to spinning wheel once more :) 

Thank goodness Durham's less cold now. By the way - international students - if you thought Durham won't get cold because its in the South, think again. It definitely gets cold ...but then again, I am ever grateful I'm not studying in Chicago or NY - that cold is unbearable (for me at least).

So, again, Term 3. My courses for this term are: Operations Management, Market Intelligence (one of Fuqua's most prized and popular courses), GATE course in Latin America and Effective Advocacy. Interesting. 

I've also signed up for Junior Achievement (www.ja.org) - every week, I am going to train kindergarten / 1st grade students at a local school on how to develop business skills :) Now that's called an early MBA education! Seems fun nevertheless!

For all my Fuqua-applied-and-waiting-desperately-for-the-result-bloggers, relax! You've earned a great break..Hope for the best, and enjoy the time till b-school starts!

Cheers! 

Fuqua - first month!

So , I finally found a free half hour in between events and thought I'd update y'all (apparently y'all is a very Durham/N.Carolina/ Southern-ish phrase, so i'm going to use it!) on life at Fuqua.

To all prospectives, hopefully this should give you a better idea of what b-school is like just as you're approaching your early-D or other deadlines.

So, after orientation, we all had a compulsory 1 month pre-term called "Global Institute" - which basically consists of two courses: Leadership Ethics & Organisations (LEO), and Global Institutions & Environments (GIE). So primarily, we had classes of LEO and GIE every weekday from Mon- Fri (at least thats what I can remember - seems so long ago!)

In a nut shell, what do you learn from the Global Institute?
Well, it's one of the only times when you pretty much get to see the WHOLE of your batch i.e. 450 people, so you can interact with people from other sections as you're all on similar schedules and courses.

In LEO, we learn about basic concepts that managers / employers consider when building organisations such as decision making, motivation, organisational culture, how to have constuctive discussions etc - it's a great course to build up your skill set prior to the "real" b-school classes/ world. We had some fun activities in this, such as Triangle training day - a day where you get to go to an outside resort of sorts, do rock climbing, role playing, balancing on ropes, and other physical activities that really build your knowledge of how working in a team is. e.g. in rock climbing, you (4 people) are all linked to one another from a rope, and so the leader can't move on, because he's limited by the people beneath him (his team) - lesson learnt? one person can't move ahead while others lack, you need to develop as a team. it was also a great opportunity to get to know your team members i n a non-academic setting.

GIE course is more macro- and teaches you concepts of efficiency - how to view different ideas, markets and economies based on their institutions, the level of efficency of institutions etc. i found it quite interesting.

So after the Global Institute, we had a few days break (not really, they had some compulsory career days in between!!), and what ensued was the blur, haze and speed of life, i like to call "B-School".

let me just say one thing - it is SUPER fast. I mean i thought i knew what a hectic life meant, what it means to be busy all day long, but honestly, this is a new level :) it's fun though - as we're just now building onto the summer internship recruiting/company presentation/ student clubs info sessions.

We have team assignments due almost every class, so make sure you have / build a good rapport with your 6/7 member first year team during the Global Institute. This team is the one you will work on for ALL courses and ALL team assignments until Jan of your first year. The teams are formed randomly, and they try to ensure there is diversity of background, work experience and academic experience in each team.

e.g. in my FY team of 6 people, there are 3 Americans and 3 Internationals. Our cumulated work experiences and backgrounds span the US, Latin America, Japan, Europe, China, S. Asia and parts of Africa as well - now that is what Fuqua really is all about - diversity.

So that's me for now - i'm off to run an info session with Second Years to learn more about what their summer internships were.

By the way - in case any of you prospectives have any specific questions on Fuqua or life at Fuqua, feel free to write a post and I'll reply to your queries.

Adios!

Fuqua finally!

Just wanted to let you know (provided I still have blogger readers :)) i'm still alive, and very much living through orientation O-week... not just that, but i'm loving it so far!! The past 2 days (orientation is 3 days long, so we have had the first 2 so far), have been crazy, fun, hectic, partying, and well, even more hectic. it's really been amazing - my initial thoughts on Fuqua, Team Fuqua, the resources, the expectations, and what orientation has to offer are to follow soon ( i promise!).

I'm surviving on 4 hours of sleep per night (for the past 2 nights), so it's difficult writing all my initial thoughts right now! Hoping to put forth something in a few days (or once i get a good nap), on this blog! 

Stay posted, and Fuqua rocks :)

Long distance Apartment-hunting...

So finally I won't be sleeping off the pavement in Durham :) I decided on an apartment and submitted the holding fees! Phew - what a relief! Honestly, the pre-apartment research was grueling (and might i mention a bit stressful). Here's why :

Majority of Fuqua students live off-campus. Apparently Durham is not really a city you can explore by foot - you do need a car to get around. So I weighed the options - the standard apartment complexes 8 minutes drive from campus, or the pricey complex within walking distance, but known as party central? Anyway despite being not able to attend the Blue Devil Admit Weekend, and do the apartment tour they had that day, I feel like I already know what it would look like. The magic word - the Internet.

The 2 or 3 areas I had shortlisted, provided me with complete information such as amenities available, 3D views of the rooms, floor plans etc. The Facebook group for the incoming students has also been pretty useful as seniors have given their thoughts / experiences on the apartments as well.

I'm all set now - decided on a roommate, exchanged a few emails with her to see if our living habits would match, and seems pretty good till now :) So now that I know i'll be staying somewhere for my Fuqua days, I feel like i'm finally going.

I do plan on cooking a bit (provided there is time), perhaps on alternate weekends or something.. I don't know. however, i've decided to refresh some of the recipes i'll be needing the most and the ones which I know i'll miss the most!

Preparing for Takeoff !!

So the way I see it, going (abroad) for an MBA is pretty much like a pilot preparing for takeoff. The feeling of nervousness, last minute butterflies in the stomach, excitement, restlessness... it's pretty much what I would expect a pilot to go through before a flight. Hm.. then again perhaps I wouldn't really want to be sitting on a plane where the pilot is feeling jittery and slightly nervous :D hehehe

See I always thought that the hardest part would be the MBA apps.. and so, when I completed those, was lucky enough to be admitted, I thought, wow this is it... now I can sit back and relax..welll... I just had a big laugh at myself for actually thinking this. For now, as the destination has suddenly become oh-so-clearer, I'm swamped with things to do, preparing to go abroad and much much more!

I don't know if domestic US students are going through all the paperwork, housing worries and preparation that international ones have to. Perhaps, perhaps not. You see, for an international student I guess the process is a bit longer as it's about relocating your stuff, belongings, thoughts, view on life, social network, support structure to a new place, a new country for 2 years. It's part of the process, the MBA journey - and that's also what makes it so exciting!

Here's a short list of to-do things that I guess would help international applicants (especially those for whom its going to be the first trip living in the US).

1) Branching out, Finding out: Once your'e admitted, and have decided to attend school x, start networking. Find out as much as you can about the school, the location, surrounding locations, airport, facilities available as you can. It's going to be a long process, so it would be best to start soon. In my case, I've started contacting current 1st year students, alumni, my MBA interviewer, International Housing staff, Facebook groups, other MBA applicants, and have really learnt quite a lot about Durham and Fuqua from them. The web can really be a great resource - I haven't ever been to Durham, North Carolina, and yet I have a great image of how I expect it to be from:
1) The University website
2) The town's official website - in my case, Durham's official website. Even got a free magazine from them about things to do, where to shop & dine in Durham! Cool :)
3) Facebook - ah, finally I like Facebook again! Here's why - by joining your school's MBA Class of 2011, or the International Student's Class of 2011 and so and so Facebook Group, you can sit wherever you are, and discuss housing, living and everything with mentors, future friends and other people in your situation.

2) Vying for Visa: This is probably one of the biggest headache's - visa. It's ok though, really. We're all in the same boat. We will all get it :) But it's good to speed up the process (if you can), figure out how long it's going to take you, and yes, always have a plan B.

3) Housing: Most business school's don't really have on-campus graduate housing. I may be wrong, but at least at Fuqua, 99% or so of the students live off-campus. So here are things you need to start figuring out right away: What kind of housing do you want - on campus or off campus? What locality? What location - do you want a family friendly housing or a party place? Do you want a single room or a roommate? When should you start booking in advance? How much rent are you willing to spend on the room / apartment? Will the housing have live-in facilities such as laundry, furnishing or will you need to do all this yourself? What kind of roommate do you want (if so)?

4) Immunisation Incentives: Make sure you get all your immunisations done. Fuqua's pretty good about this and has a whole list of immunisations required from international students on their Duke wbebsite. Check with your school in advance - if you're free, might as well get it done now.

5) Health care / health insurance: Needless to say, if you fall sick, you need to know where to go :) Sure the home-made remedies of chicken soup, Joshanda, or herbs could work for a flu. But in case it gets prolonged, you should be prepared.

6) Planning a budget and arranging for finances: Look at living expenses in detail. The universities usually provide an item by item estimated expense. See if your budget would allow for this. Else, figure out how you're going to manage it. If you intend on saving or living with spouse/kids, you need to make provisions beforehand.

7) Cell phone / connection: Decide which cell phone / connection to get. This is also an aspect where current students could help you out.

8) Computer Cruise: After browsing Fuqua's recommendations for computers, I just realised that my Mac may not be such a great option for Fuqua. Oh damn. Apparently, not all their softwares are Mac workable, or even workable for Windows installed in Mac. Figure out computer, laptop, internet options.

9) Transport tour - Decide what you're going to do about transport. Are you going to have a car? Are you going to rely on public transport or car pool? In this case, housing becomes important - perhaps you want to look at an apt near the bus routes / or parking spots.

10) Gearing up your Goals: Figure out what you want from your MBA - See once the MBA starts, you'll be too caught up to realise how it's heading. Decide in advance, what you want to get out of your MBA - for some it could be a job in Pvt equity, or Financial Services, for others it could be about the global exposure, for even others it could just be about networking, or making new friends. I'm sure we've all done this in detail for the actual MBA essays / apps, but hey, it doesn't hurt to re-visit the goals.

11) Pre-course work: Fuqua has a Math Software that we're all supposed to revise / refresh before school actually starts. Check with your school if there's something similar.

12) And finally.... RELAX!! This is the pre-best time of your life :P Quit work, resign, travel, do what makes you happy, enjoy the me-time, hang out with friends. You've done half the work (getting admitted) - now enjoy - you deserve it!

All the best, till my next post! and yes.... before I forget... a big Congrats to all fellow winners of the Clear Admit's BoB contest! Thank you Clear Admit, Judges and fellow voters for making this
Number 7 in the best of blogging applicant category and others!!

Back from Ghana and Nominee for Best of Blogging!!

My blogger friends,
I'm back back back! Well the excitement says it all - just got back yesterday from an amazing trip to Ghana - with visits to Accra, Cape Coast, Elmina, Volta Region, Busua, Axim and much more.. I can't believe the 2 week vacation sped by so quickly, although I must admit - I did miss my blogging!

My detailed travellogue, experience and things I noticed about Ghana, their people, their culture, their arts, music, dance, nature and wildlife will follow in the next post or so (once I recover fully from the long flight's jet-lag). However, I can safely say .... It was great!! Did quite some adventurous touring, took a lot of pictures which I will also try sharing here for the benefit of fellow bloggers / tourists aspirants to Ghana.

In other news, I'm all set for Fuqua. My seat has been secured via a healthy tuition deposit :) and now's the time to start thinking about housing, visa, etc etc and the list goes on.

Oh yeah, and more news.... My blog got nominated for ClearAdmits Best of Blogging 2009!!!!! Wow!! It was quite a surprise, considering I'm new to blogging, but I must say, I agree with MissionMBA on the thrill one gets in seeing their blog named in Fridays from the Frontline and getting recognition .. Let's hope this blog gets its first win as well :)

It's been great blogging, sharing the woes and wins of MBA apps and stressful waiting with other people... More to follow soon, keeping fingers crossed!!

Accepted at Fuqua!!!

So remember my Duke result was (much) awaited.. well I finally got it, and here it is: ACCEPTED!!!! woohooo! am really happy now that it's finally sunk in!

The tension before was almost unbearable, got a weird nervousness, butterflies in stomach and all that... the Businessweek forum suddenly became quite a happening place as all of us in the same boat, tried to pass time and bet on when exactly the result would come out :P lols..

anyway so yeah , somewhere around 12.00 noon ET (night time where I live) I got an email from Fuqua telling me to check my status .. in the email was another link, and finally I clicked to see a nice-looking admissions letter open!! :)

Went a little numb initially so it took time for the words to get absorbed in the mind :) many congrats to fellow-Fuqua admittees, and best of luck to all others... here's to the 1st woo-hoo of this MBA process..

Time after some Time...

I used to love that song.. 'Time after time' by Cyndi Lauper, when I was a kid. .. somehow the 80s songs are just so unique, don't you guys think so? And that ever-favorite classic 'girls just wanna have fun'.. anyway, so i saw another great program yesterday on the travel channel. its called planet food, and it basically links great scenery, great places with great(looking) food. yum. my kind of program!

anyway so yesterday they focused on greece, and particularly 'cretan food' which is supposed to be one of the healthiest diets in the world, due to the reliance on olive oil and fresh veggies. pretty interesting.

in other news, i just realised yesterday that i have been more-or-less dinged by Johnson (Cornell), as their final decision is released on march 18th, and all admitted people have prior interviews. Considering the fact that i still haven't been called for an interview, i think it's time to put the missing pieces together :) anyway thats okay. there's really no way of figuring out what clicks for x school vs x school. I guess they do have some kind of deciding factor, although i believe that to a certain extent, it all comes down to luck. fate, or kismet.

As you all know, the d-day for duke-dom is approaching. 1 day away as i speak. yeahh :) finally the wait will be over, and i can either cross another one off the list or make a nice :) next to it. hehe.

I've lined up a 2 week vacation in end March. Phew!

Fellow bloggers, would love if you can predict which continent & country i am going for on a vacation :) HINT: its not easy! but still, bring on the comments and guessing!!!!!!

Post-application stress reliever

So I have nothing much new to report (since my last post was just a few days ago), yet I still felt the urge to write. The recent sporting fiasco vis a vis sub-continent cricket has put me in a bit of a downer-mood and that's having an impact on my thought process :P I guess I am trying to mentally prepare myself for the 'ding' (or was it ring?) awaiting me in a few days... sheesh, I wish this tension would just go away! 

Tried watching ' Doubt' and man is that one slow movie. So here's to a stress-free tomorrow. 

And then there were eight...

I had a flashback of that murder mystery today.. 'And then there were none' by Agatha Christie.. funny, huh, how counting the days till March 10 (D-Day for my Duke Fuqua app) reminded me of that book... so yea, here it is. 8 days to go till I get my 1st 'decision'.

It's been a long walk though. Still remember the Duke deadline and how I was so relieved when I submitted the application. phew. that kind of relief is just phenomenal. i guess what follows stress is often relief. who can forget the stressful days of thinking of what to write in applications, mulling over how to write it, how to make it look /sound good, and how to edit it...oh man, am i so glad that's over!

anyway so despite this anxious sounding blog, i guess it's okay. if i've waited 54 days already (jan 7th onwards), then i guess 8 more really can't hurt. 

in other news, I had a fun-filled weekend.. meeting old friends, gym-ing, snoozing, movie-watching, organizing a surprise party and yea, relishing some yum desserts!