Don't they know who I'm going to be?

No money for me. I was summarily rejected from that scholarship for which I interviewed a few weeks ago. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't feel great about the interview, but I'm a little annoyed not to get any feedback. Rejection stings.

When I informed my boss a couple days ago, he told me a funny little story: when he and his partner were raising money for their first independent endeavor and were rejected by an investor, they would console themselves and say, "Don't they know who we're going to be?!"

Love it.

New [Superlative] Mentor!

During my Stanford interview, my alumni interviewer, a young private equity VP, explained his challenges moving to the geography in which we both currently live, a "tier-2" city with a very small business community. Given my desire to move back to this area in the long term, he recommended networking as much as possible in my desired post-MBA field before leaving for business school because so much business here is conducted in person.

To that end, I have reached out to a few leaders in the local venture community over the past couple months. And this morning, I felt like I hit the jackpot: I met a young, bright, HBS-educated VC. Yes, I'm sure there are many of those floating around, but I connected with this person and have a feeling (hope) that we will stay in close touch. She is smart, "balanced," friendly, doesn't have a tech background (like me), and has lots of ideas on who I should talk to in the area and possible ways for me to get into the local start-up/venture capital community. She has already offered to make two great introductions.

Plus--and this is huge--her firm hires MBA interns! Obviously, she didn't offer me a job, but I imagine I will at least be able to interview with her group in the fall. She didn't have a lot of great ideas for how to combat my tech/engineering deficiency, and acknowledged that that has also been a major challenge for her. However, she make me feel like it will be an additional challenge, NOT an insurmountable obstacle. Readers: any thoughts on how to tackle this deficiency?

Scholarship Interview

I recently had a phone interview for the scholarship I applied for. It is not a ton of cash in the grand scheme of things (~5% of my total 2-year package) but every little bit helps, right?

Anyway, my interview made me realize how tired I still am of the entire application process. My voice was a little shaky at the beginning. I talked too fast. I struggled not to ramble. Even though the questions were pretty standard--walk me through your resume, what are your goals, tell me about your volunteer experience--I didn't feel great about it.

If they like me enough, I will have to go to their headquarters for an in-person final interview. My worry is that I will be invited on a final round interview and then not get the scholarship. So I will have wasted my time and money (they make the applicant pay for all travel expenses). Plus, I don't have that many weekends left at home before I start my summer travels.

Of course, I will be thrilled if I actually get the scholarship, but I have a premonition that I won't. I will keep you posted.

Apples to WTF? Continued

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will remember that I interview for my undergraduate alma mater and have been frustrated by the lack of correlation between my interview evaluation and the admissions decision.

I am pleased to report that this year my university seems to have taken my opinion as a volunteer interviewer into account: the two applicants to whom I gave the highest ratings were waitlisted and the other five applicants were rejected. Small sample size I know, but it seems like a decent correlation in comparison to prior years. I am a little disappointed that neither of the outstanding applicants was accepted, but I will hope that one or both with make it off the waitlist and join the class of 2013.

Though I still have reservations, I will likely continue to interview next year from Palo Alto.

Financial aid...

...sucks. The process, I mean. Not the actual aid that business schools offer many students.

My 2008 taxes are nowhere near complete and some of the aid application questions are definitely open to interpretation, which makes me uncomfortable in the world of numbers and electronic signatures.

Also, I can't seem to find any good external scholarships. One of my friends found an amazing full ride with very few strings attached a few years ago, but I am having no such luck. I found one that is worth <10% of the total price tag, so I will apply. A few thousand dollars is still worth something, even if it is a drop in the bucket. I'm pulling together essays and recommendations and will hope for an interview. Wow, this process seems eerily familiar.

First Bschool Homework!

HBS sent me a case study they want me to read for my Strategy class on campus this Friday. The gall, the nerve -- homework before I'm even enrolled! The email did stress that I would not be required to participate in discussion, but rather that the reading would enhance my classroom experience. So I will be reading Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet in the next couple days.

This case's title seemed familiar and I realized that this is the case discussed in HBS's online video, Inside the Case Method. I watched this short video when I was prepping for my HBS admissions interview and it's actually informative and interesting.

IN: Cover Notes; OUT: Cover Letters

As a fairly recent college graduate with an "informal mind-set," I feel the need to break it to the New York Times' Career Couch -- cover letters are indeed on their way out of the door, at least in the traditional sense. (Random aside, wouldn't "career coach" be a better title for the regular column?)

The recent article makes several good points, namely that it is still important for a job applicant to introduce himself with some non-résumé text, that it is vital to keep the language concise, and that following up with a hard copy may yield more interviews. (I find the last point a little hard to believe given how dismissive my peers, older colleagues and I are of paper mail, but I will give it a try when the time comes.)

However, I have to take issue with the necessity of formal cover letters, especially in this challenging job landscape. Let's say you get the 200 résumés for a job opening that this article references. How in the world are you going to sift through all that drivel (e.g., "my skills are well-suited to blah blah blah," "I will apply my enthusiasm for yada yada")? Short answer: you won't.

Wouldn't one or two paragraphs in the body of the email be enough of an introduction? I think so. And let's not dismiss the fact that we laid-back Echo Boomers are not merely the lowest on the totem pole of job applicants; we are the upcoming generation of recruiters. Most of the head hunters I have met are under 35-years-old.

So here are PAFAW's rules for writing a cover note -- not letter -- note:

1. Keep it short: 2-3 paragraphs max. (two is the sweet spot)

2. Answer three questions:
- who are you?
- why are you interested in the job?
- what skills/qualifications do you have that will help the organization reach its goals? (okay, so I kind of stole the last one from the article)

3. Do NOT rewrite parts of your résumé in paragraph form.

4. Do NOT be repetitive. If you have already said it somewhere else in the note, move on.

5. Get a second and maybe a third pair of eyes on the document before hitting the send button.

PS: if you look to the left, you will find a new sidebar with PAFAW's running list of "ins" and "outs" as they relate to my posts. Enjoy!

Apples to WTF?

I interview for my undergraduate alma mater. I meet each applicant at a coffee shop near my office, ask softball questions about academic interests, extracurricular experiences, why XYZ College. The only hard ones I throw in are, "How would your closest friends and family describe you?" and "What are people surprised to learn about you?" both of which I was asked in my HBS interview. I give each applicant the opportunity to ask me questions. The whole thing takes about an hour and is quite painless and predictable, in my opinion.

However, almost every interview leaves me disappointed and I'm wondering if that is because I just went through the business school application process and have unreasonable standards that should not be applied to 17-year-old high school seniors. You be the judge:

me: So talk to me about your interest in XYZ College.
interviewee: It has a great academic reputation. Plus, I like the east coast.
[silence]
me: Have you thought about what you might study?
interviewee: I'm thinking about studying economics.
me: Oh really, tell me why you're interested in that subject.
interviewee: My dad is in business and that always seemed interesting to me. XYZ College doesn't have a business major, so I figure econ is the closest.

Some of these experiences are cringe-worthy. Two applicants this year did not contact me to schedule their interviews. Their mothers did. One student called me up, asking to schedule an interview with an entirely different college. Another turned the interview around and started drilling me about my career progression. One told me at least three times how combative he is with his teachers and other students. The other end of the spectrum includes applicants with 3-page résumés, rehearsed platitudinous answers, and plastered smiles. Once a year, I encounter a talented, articulate, thoughtful young applicant. And that applicant usually gets rejected.

So it is not with sadness that I inform you that college interviewing has ended for the season. I do wonder if the two applicants I rated highest this year will be admitted. Last year, I gave just one "outstanding" rating and that applicant was rejected. Maybe XYZ College is just humoring old alumni who want to stay connected to the school. If so, dear alma mater, please spare me.