Blog in the life of a London MBA // by Chris Theo

New song -"In Its Place"

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:25:04 PDT

In its place by ChrisTheo Hey all, I've been a busy bee working on some new music and I thought I'd share. Enjoy! Critics have said: "hahah i love it" "my boyfriend is awesome and so is his song, listen to it" "I like this song"

Joined an online start-up

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:49:24 PDT

Pastures anew Hey all, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s because I’ve been pretty damn busy (instead of lazy – let’s face it, that’s what you were thinking). Just over a month ago I interviewed for a marketing position with a brand new online start-up and I guess they liked me or figured I had some sort of potential (if only they knew!) because I landed the position. It’s been

Government sponsored obesity?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Sat, 23 May 2009 06:04:04 PDT

Yeah, we get it, everyone is getting fatter, we are all going to die with dribbles of lard from the corner of our mouths after a fatal heart attack facilitated by clogged arteries and type II diabetes. The thing is, if the UK government is really behind tackling obesity then where are the proactive measures, where are the subsidised gym memberships for the unemployed and where can people get real

A call to end social network sackings

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:24:28 PDT

In the last 2-3 years social networking usage has grown at an exponential rate, to the point where most now consider it an accepted form of communication that sits comfortably in day to day life. At the same time there’s been a lot of publicity given to those who fall foul of the often tumultuous relationship between such sites and their users’ employers. Is there any room for organisations in

What exactly is EasyGroup's business strategy?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:53:48 PDT

Most of us have heard of or even used EasyJet, some may even have rented a car from their sister company EasyCar but how many have bought a product from EasyValue or music from, you guessed it, EasyMusic? Nowhere near as many, just take a look at the kind of traffic just a few of EasyGroup’s websites receive: (Higher is better)- Many of EasyJet’s sister companies don’t even register My question

New series of BBC’s The Apprentice leaves a bad taste

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:46:24 PDT

So, I’ve managed to overcome my unease at watching BBC’s The Apprentice. The problem with it was that seeing a bunch o’ city boys n’ girls arguing just reminded me a little too much of group meetings during the MBA (some of them at least). People fighting to be heard and lots of talking over each other combined with some monumentally bad ideas seen through to completion used to make for

9 ways to maintain well-being during unemployment

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:04:11 PDT

Let’s face it, being unemployed for any amount of time truly sucks. For a lot of people it is the not working, for other people it is the uncertainty and of course the financial insecurity. Granted, there have been days where the stress of work was just too much and thought to myself “oh, what I wouldn’t do to be unemployed!”. But the reality is very different and in times like these, when you

Out of the red and into the green?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:10:53 PST

I recently watched a documentary aired on American network television entitled "Marijuana Inc." that focused on the underground cannabis growing industry in California and it gave me a few ideas about what the UK or other countries can do.For those unaware, California (and numerous other states in the US) have decriminalised possession of cannabis (this isn't the same as legalisation), and has

To what extent are government initiatives helping the highly skilled unemployed get back into work

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:52:51 PST

Not much it seems. Perhaps the newly proposed measures will actually come into effect quickly enough to make an impact on the rising unemployment rate. Either way, Job Centres round the country don't ask you what educational background you have and will only point you in the direction of jobs within a certain industry as opposed to specific roles. They fail to take each individuals

Telling people you work at Tesco makes you unattractive

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:43:10 PST

Times are hard and some people, especially Londoners, are suffering. You may have just lost your job and are struggling to find work, jobseekers allowance won't even cover the bare minimum of expenses and you have but one choice. Get a crappy job for a bit. But where to work, retail is suffering and there is an abundance of more experienced staff out there looking for the same jobs. However,

What do you want to be when you grow up?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:40:50 PST

This is a question I'm sure many of us were asked when we were young and still one we might be asking ourselves now (it's never too late to change career, right?). At the end of the day it is unlikely we are all doing what we wanted to do when we were children, either because we were being unrealistic, hadn't thought it through properly or were just going through a phase of some sort. Despite

Big Brother is watching you!

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:04:58 PST

London is the worlds "most watched city" with upwards of 500,000 CCTV cameras. The controversy here is nothing new with many labelling our 'surveilance state' as nothing short of Orwellian. This recent BBC article puts it into perspective. The article goes on to talk about DNA profiling with 7% of the UK population having their DNA sample on record compared to other nations (USA is 0.5%)! Scary

To beard or not to beard, that is the question!

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:02:54 PST

I've always been a fan of facial hair, I believe it has the ability to make one appear distinguished, mature and confident -just to clarify, I'm talking about men! But I was always a late bloomer catching my first whisker of facial hair only in my late teens. It wasn't until I was around the age of 23 that I was able to sport a goatee & tache combo with any confidence and even then a full beard

How are things looking so far in 2009?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:31:21 PST

After a busy and indulgent Christmas and a distracting first half of January I find myself in the same position as many other people this year: without solid employment. With less jobs available and more unemployed job applications are very oversubscribed. This morning I received a call from the MBA careers department reminding me that I am not alone in my job search and that they are here to

Passive Aggressive notes

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:07:22 PST

I thought this was worth sharing... Why you don't want to go to business school in two words: Group projects

Everyone is unemployed!

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:24:53 PST

In a time when everyone seems to be losing their jobs the job hunt for myself and the majority of my MBA classmates is looking increasingly bleak. Headline after headline reports joblosses all over the city and apparently it is only just the beginning. One of my biggest problems with the current economic crisis is not the fact that it is happening because it is obvious (especially in retrospect

MBAs in China: UNLEASHED

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:27:24 PDT

Here's what you've all been waiting for:The adventures of four MBA students in China for 11 days and nights through Hong Kong, Shanghai & Beijing.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:Dinesh, Mitesh, Bobby, Yanal, Shef, Ping Ping, Marcelo, Katya, Oksana, CJ, Rupert, Brendan, Nicolas, Kat and the rest of the MBA China posse.Extra special thanks to:Sam Collins (who did all the hard work of editing, ie not watching

A taster of the current job market

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:38:32 PDT

So, I've been unemployed a couple of weeks now and this is what I've discovered. It's tough out there, it really is. Changing career right now is not going to be easy (or perhaps even possible at all), everywhere is downsizing and they're not prepared to take on someone inexperienced in that field.Take a look at this email I received from a well known marketing & HR agency and tell me if I should

Spencer Tunick - why do we continue to indulge him?

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:18:50 PDT

For those of you who don't know who Spencer Tunick take a look at this:That's right, he's the photographer who photographs large numbers of naked people. Please, before reading on, realise that this post is just a pure and unadulterated rant.HOW IS THIS ART? From the dawn of civilisation people have been taking their clothes off, we know that lots of people like doing it, look at naturism, it has

How the new MBAs compare to the old

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:01:25 PDT

Today I went into university to listen to a presentation by a management consultancy called Boxwood who were there to recruit. They pride themselves on their resource based view HR policies. They hire well rounded balanced individuals who are passionate, down to earth and ambitious (and now that I write it surely that's what every organisation aims for right?). Either way my point is they

xkcd tribute

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:54:39 PDT

I'm a fan of his stuff and then I had an idea:Happy to do more if you enjoyed this one.

That's it, it's over, I'm done

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:08:08 PDT

That's right. I finished my project yesterday and the MBA for me is over. Picture of me and my final project report:I celebrated handing in my final report with a huge fry-up:

Lost count of the days...

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:48:53 PDT

What manner of nocturnal beast have I become? My soul drained, my mind in meltdown. If I keep this up much longer I will surely perish. Just... a few.... more.... words... and IM FINISHED!!!!!! HOME STRAIGHT BABY! I'm handing this report in within the next few hours and I'm working through the night to get it in one day early. Ok ok, it's not the one week early that I had hoped for but

5 days and counting...

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:44:55 PDT

PANIC PANIC SHEER BLIND ABSOLUTE FUCKING PANIC!!!!!

6 days and counting...

christo_theo@hotmail.com (Chris Theo) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:53:36 PDT

This write-up is getting old fast. But literally one week from today I'll be free of this and have a whole new set of things to deal with, job stuff basically. It's at times like this that I wonder, who in their right mind would employ me!?