One Down, Five More to Go

As expected, keeping up with writing a blog has been much harder than expected (funny sentence, I know; true, though). And it hasn't just been the lack of time. It has also been the lack of energy and brain power to do anything once the long days were over.

The last couple of months have been the essence of the race, in a way. Truly "drinking from a fire hose". For me, recruiting has been incredibly demanding, and it took most of my time. I was forced to prioritize and make fast decisions that resulted in annoying sacrifices: not putting enough time into classes, not devoting enough to a consulting project I chose to do, not having enough fun, not cleaning the apartment, and so much more.

I'll try to make it more concrete by elaborating on what’s going on, at least on the consulting front (the main industry I am recruiting for). The school and many companies follow an amazing pattern of unofficial rules in the recruiting process, most of which completely foreign to me as an international. Every big company (big = a company that recruits many MBAs at Chicago Booth) held at least one event on campus in which it introduced itself and quite a few representatives for us to network with. After going through preparation seminars and simulations, we were ready to engage the recruiters in "crop circles". That's the Chicago name for a bunch of students standing around a representative, pretending to listen to each other or to the answers he or she has for their questions. We all try to drop some details on our own background, hoping to be remembered, and then, after we get that business card and send a thank-you note (another bizarre phenomenon), we might even get an answer.

We had ample opportunities to meet company representatives – corporate conversations, coffee chats, networking nights, professional forums. Then came the private invitations. Those of us who were regarded as "high potential" were invited to dinners and/or cocktails and/or bowling nights and such.

The first quarter has just ended. Five more to go. I never felt less prepared for test than I did taking my first finals at business school. I also started submitting my applications for internships, and I can only hope, just like my colleagues, that all the work we have put in so far would result in the companies we apply for interviewing us. The next thing is to prepare for these interviews, as they will take place in just over a month…

I guess this entire process has some positive sides – the companies get to know us and we get a chance to get to know them. But it all felt so artificial and so forced and so exhausting, you can't help but wonder if it even makes sense. Couldn't they think of any better way to do it?

And the worst thing is the kind of atmosphere created as a result of this entire process. It's obviously my own personal perspective, but I can't imagine a place where going through such recruitment frenzy doesn’t create competition and hurt relationships. Some people around me feel disappointed at how alone they are. Coming to business school, they expected a ton of friends and a camaraderie that not quite what they feel they have. A ton of acquaintances, yes. But real friends?

I don't think I share that feeling merely because it wasn't what I expected. Looking back I realize I'm the kind of person who ends up with only a handful of real, solid friendships once a chapter ends. I don't think the MBA experience would be different. It also has to do with the kind of person I am, obviously. But I don't mind that.

Being here has given me so much that I hardly feel I can complain. True, it's tremendously difficult and the more you expect from yourself, the harder you'll have it. You control the hardship dial, and knowing the type-A people we all are here, you can bet the dial points to the red zone for each of us. But this is the first time in my life I can actually feel that I'm growing and developing within a short time-frame. I'm obviously a different, better person after everything I experience, but the kind of things I am going through here have me witnessing my own development process, and I feel fortunate to have that. Is it worth the cost? That's something you only know in retrospect. I am looking forward to being done with recruiting – that's when the best part of the MBA is supposed to start, and probably that's the part that makes it all even more worthwhile.

Laying down easy…?

I'm sorry, but something tells me my updates from now on might at times be slightly less comprehensive and more focused on description of occurrences. Here's an example pertaining to how the experience of going to business school in Chicago has started for me:

So I moved to Chicago. And a week afterwards took a trip to Fiji with a few class mates. It's what they call a Random Walk here, and it's a school backed program (which you pay for). Usually, you'll have 4 second-years serving as "trip-leaders", and 12 various first-years on the trip. It was a lot of fun, and it was mainly the beginning of my assimilation process, which now I'm starting to realize would probably never end (and it's not necessarily a bad thing). We all bonded, and since our return, we've been very close. It's understandable, I guess, now that we're meeting about a zillion new people a day, and so come to appreciate the deeper connection we have with the other members of this "old" group.

I'm growing used to the US, with all its tiny intricacies and huge differences. I'm happily discovering that I'm extremely open and thirsty to experience and meet and explore. And it also applies to myself – I decided I'm going to use this time to consciously develop and grow in at least some areas. It's a partially risk-free environment, so I can take chances and put myself in positions I'd never expect to find myself in, just for the sake of the lesson. I like it.

We started with Orientation, and that in turn began with 3 days of leadership/team-building/relationship-creating workshops in a resort in Wisconsin. We returned to Chicago, and aside from additional workshops, they slowly started introducing us to the academic and career management methodologies of this particular business school.

The autumn quarter started late September, and it's been hard to keep up almost from the get-go. I'm learning how to say "no", but so far I've been elected class-agent (in charge of the class's connection with the alumni network), started forming a group to take on a consulting project for a local company, and tons more. I like the fast pace, the genuine will to achieve and even the type-A atmosphere. Though it's subtle and rare, I don't really like the undertone of competitiveness I sometimes feel with some people. But it goes hand in hand with such a place, right (and I'm allowed to say that – I'm here, aren't I?)?

I was chosen to attend this alumni reunion event as a class agent, so I figured I should go. It was held in this fancy hotel and I didn't put on a tux, though I still think I didn't stand out in a bad way. All these things – tuxes, networking, alcohol (the entire drinking culture), infidelity. So much is so different.

I better get back to my Competitive Strategy homework now. This is a class I actually love. When I sit there in class, as tired as I might be, and listen to the young professor tell us about how a firm should differentiate itself and maintain its difference, I truly feel as though this is one of the things I came here for. Feeling like I take something with me and grow every week. And I'm starting to feel that way about so many other experiences, almost on a daily basis. And this feeling, I find, is purely amazing!