The Dirt

The Shark comes home

2011-06-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, its been a long time since I last updated all of you on what has been going on in my life (actually 4 months). So I thought I would give you the quick and dirty "hyper catch up" of what's been going on with me since March...

1) Never got hired for the Biotech. Apparently they went with another candidate. I'm not sad about it thought because the upper management was full of jerks withe british accents and sticks up their asses.

2) Graduated from my MBA program with a 3.8 GPA, made the Deans List, and won an award for being a Graduate Student Leader. Basically left that place kicking ass and taking names.

3) Because I did'nt get the Biotech job, decided to move back to California and now I'm trying to get a job out here.
4) Figured out that the unemployment rate in Los Angeles (where I am now) is around 12%. Holy shit, finding a job is going to be tough!

5) Had an interview with 1 company so far, still haven't heard anything.

And that's basically it. Now I am just hanging around Hollywood, living it up until I get a job.

Ill try to include some more write-ups after 4th of July weekend, particularly with job-hunting in California, and some shady shit that went down while I was enrolled in my MBA program.

Until Next Time...

The Shark...

2011-02-22T06:42:00.001-08:00

Hello Dirt Readers,
It's that time of year again. That oh-so-dreaded time of year. Not tax season (although, that's a close second). No, I'm talking about something that involves being critiqued, berated, and judged by a group of peers. I'm talking about a process that's more rigorous than a marathon, more stressful than any test you've taken, and will play a major role in determining where you spend 40-60 hours a week, every week, possibly for the rest of your life. That's right people...i'm talking job interviews.

Doesn't it seem like yesterday that you just heard me bitching about finding a job? If you'll recall, after a couple of lackluster interviews, a 9.6% unemployment rate and absolutely no help from my university ("it's such a rough economy right now"), I basically decided to say "screw it" and run off to study abroad in Germany for a month.

Well now it's a year later and not much has changed. Unemployment is now 9.4% (mostly because people have just given up looking for jobs...yay?), my university has no career counselor for MBA's (because of the last one being completely incompetent), and I'm doing another round of interviews again.

I actually just interviewed with a biotech company that has one of the most rigorous interview processes that I have seen. So far I've had a phone interview, and 2 in person interviews. The last interview alone took 3 hours, involved an excel test, a personality test, and a PowerPoint presentation! Yikes, talk about high pressure.

Regardless of whether I got the job or not, one thing is obvious...although the economy is picking up, it's still an extremely competitive market out there. If your a first year MBA, your competing with second year MBA's. If your a second year, your up against graduates. And at the end of the day, the employers win, because they have their pick of the litter.

And you know what...this is F*&king scary. As a job hunter, walking into an interview felt a bit like an episode of American Idol. As a matter of fact, I definitely had a cheerful Paula, a down to earth Randy, and a rigorous and "in charge" Simon (complete with British accent!) critiquing my every response. It was absolutely nerve racking, and who knows how many people are gunning for the same job. Is it 3? 5? 10? At the end of this do I get a little placard that says "You're hired!" or do I get booted, only to be seen in a cheap highlight reel of those who didn't make it?

This interview culminated in the delivery of a PowerPoint about the company to, ironically, the general manager who had been at the company for 10+ years. This to me seemed a bit presumptuous ("let me tell you how you should run your own company!"), but hey maybe I did well. Or maybe they thought "who the hell is this kid with the PowerPoint?".

Let's just say getting judged is stressful, and in this economy were all just numbers, guppies in the ocean if you will.

What the he'll is my point? Do I have one? Probably not. No wait, I think I do...my point is, as special and unique as you might have thought you were, your not. So don't waltz into an interview like a guppy, because you're not guaranteed shit in this barren US economy.

So what do you do when you get in that interview room? Be a friggin shark. Reverse the whole process. Ask the company what sets them apart from the competition. Why do your employees choose to work here? What's your work culture like? Do people rush to clock out at 5? Do you participate in corporate social responsibility practices? In my PowerPoint I managed to stick in a far side cartoon. Why? Because it showed I had a sense of humor, yet still managed to work it into my argument at the time. Why?

Because "Screw it", that's why.

Giving canned answers, predictable PowerPoints, and smiling and nodding doesn't work anymore. And if I'm going out, screw it, I'm going out in style.

When I gave my PowerPoint I was very forward about some of the weaknesses the company had. I think that some of the people got a little uncomfortable hearing about improvements I suggested. Maybe they like the fact that I was open minded about some of the improvements I made and strategies i suggested. Maybe they didn't. Regardless, if you're a company hiring and Don't like hearing about the weaknesses of you're company and how I have some ideas about how to tackle them (which I did in my presentation)? Then screw it, because when I interview with your competitor, guess what, I know what your weaknesses are AND that you prefer to turn a blind eye rather than tackle these weaknesses aggressively. It also shows that you don't want me to think critically, you want me to just do what I'm told.

And you know what? screw that.

Like I've said before and I'll say again, I didn't go into business school to box myself into a corner. I want doors to burst open. I want every opportunity that this world can give me. I want someone to use the degree I earned, not just shove me in a corner doing excel with the possibility of promotion to a middle management position in 5 years because I have an MBA.

Am i smart? Damn straight. Do I seem cocky? A little. But at the end of the day one fact remains. I'm either going to work for you or one of your competitors. So I ask you, company X...do you want me working for you, or against you?

Your move.

Until next time.

Being a broke MBA

2011-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

There is a great irony to being a broke MBA student.

I mean, yes, there are those MBA students who don't have to worry about money while they are in school. Maybe, some of you are working full time AND in an MBA program, which means that you have substituted worrying about money during grad school to worrying about your sanity. To me, this is a fair trade, and I congratulate you. Let me know when the proverbial shit hits the fan and your wife comes home one night to find you huddled in the corner rocking back and forth murmuring something about "black swans coming to get you". Then there are those of you who are "grandfathered in" to your Ivy-league MBA because daddy contributed enough money to build a new library or your parents were members of the "Skull and Bones" fraternity back in the day. Well you never had to worry about money did you? Feel free to disregard this post and go back to yachting...or whatever rich people do.

But lets face it, most of us, enrolled in $30,000-$50,000 per year programs, paying for rent, textbooks, and other essentials like food, coffee, cigarettes, hookers and blow leaves us, well...broke. (Just kidding about the cigarettes, those things will kill you!)

Which is weird, to be in a program that, well, lets face it, is focused around money. You hear it every day in class. Profit. Loss. Leverage. Credit. Especially when your hear about the multi-billion bailouts banks have received, CEO "golden parachutes" worth tens of millions of dollars, and the like. But at the end of the month, when bills have to be paid, and your looking at an ever-shrinking checking account, its a little disappointing to know how little your worth.

Things get especially depressing if your a finance major who starts calculating the Future value of your ever-increasing student loans. Or you start realizing that your credit cards have 19% APR's.
I guess you could argue that's the case with any Grad school student, but I think its especially painful for MBA students. Why?

Besides the fact that we have to deal with huge profit/loss numbers every day, to be honest, most MBA students in general had paychecks and jobs when we entered our programs. That means we actually gave up a paycheck to go back to school, which is a big decision for a lot of people. Our opportunity cost is a lot larger than people in other fields. The same may not be true for other degrees, like, History. Usually, in humanities/science degrees, you go straight from your bachelors to Masters, or only work for about a year or so in between to take a GRE. You don't meet a masters History major and have him/her tell you "Yeah, i got my bachelors, became a historian for a couple of years (?). then got my masters". Doesn't happen.

And lets face it, being broke SUCKS. College was enough of a lesson for me on how much it sucks being poor, why the hell did I want to relive this again? Why did I let something so stupid as ambition drive me to be poor?! Am I done yet?

Remember when in college you drank the crappy beer, like Nattie light (not that im hating on you Nattie, you got me through some rough times) because, you simply couldn't afford anything else. Then you got a job and, whats this you say, people buy IMPORTED beer? "What is this one called...Pac-See-Fe-ko?" "Boddingtons? Sounds like a bird!" "Holy crap they make beer in JAPAN?!". Maybe you bought a car. Remember when you used to go on these things called "vacation" to really exotic places, preferably places which had drinks with little umbrellas in them.

You were living the good life! Then, you got..."the itch". Maybe it was your annoying boss, your colleagues who had already gotten their MBA, or just blind ambition that told you, "Hey, I should go back and get my degree!" In a flash, that import-beer soaked, tropical vacation, car-owning rug called "A paycheck" is yanked from underneath your feet.

And now what? Your back to square one. Nattie is now replaced with Pabst Blue Ribbon, the hipster 23-28 year old beer of choice. You bum cigarettes. You couch surf when visiting friends. Your dying to get your student aid check. The only thing that separates you from a homeless person, really, is that you have a line of credit!

Guys I know. Ive been there. Hell I AM there. But you just gotta keep chugging along. In the end, it will be worth it. "The juice", to quote a finance professor, "will be worth the squeeze.".

And hey, at least its only 2 years of being broke. Unless your doing a Ph.D. In which case, you really got suckered, and thats your own damn fault!

Get me graduated and a job already! Until next time...

B-School Minority

2011-01-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this article by saying that Yes, I am half-Hispanic. Whew! There I said it. the cats out of the bag! Despite my hispanic-ness (or latino-ness? Chicano-ness? I never figured out what the proper nomencalture is...) ive never thought of my race as something that people thought of. I never thought it was a topic of discussion.

One thing that I love about being a US citizen is the wide spectrum of nationalities that make up this country. Its really a beautiful thing. Every metropolitan is carved into its own little Ethnic enclaves; Little Italies, Mexican Barrios, and China-towns are etched into every community. Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday, I heard Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Farsi (Well, some Arabic language I think...what do I look like Rosetta Stone?). Its something Ive really come to love about America. Now this isnt to say America hasnt had its own problems with race, but all in all, Americans, I think, are pretty open minded about peoples race & religion (despite what Fox News might say).

But I guess being born & raised in this country, with a Europeon mother and a Hispanic father, growing up in an African-American community, and going to school in a rather affluent neighborhood, I never saw my racial background as anything, but well, a little part of my identity. Just one of the many little things that make me...well, me.

Sadly, this sort of changed when I started to go to Business School on the East Coast. First and foremost, the first thing I noticed is that there are very few hispanics in business-school. This in itself wasnt a big deal to me, but I think this was a big reason for people, especially professors, to be a little more curious about me.

However, soon their curiosity turned into something a bit more...intrusive. How? Well Dirt readers, I present you with...

The 3 most akward (and perhaps, rude) questions i have gotten in Business School!

Number 3:
Professor: *upon hearing my incredibly hispanic last name* "Oh...were you born here?"
This sort of threw me off, because, if my last name was McBoyle and I spoke perfectly good english, would you ask me If i was born in Ireland? Probably not...but this was the first incident and i just sort of shrugged it off.

Number 2:
Professor: You know, I have to say you speak English very well.
me: *confused look*
Professor: Well, your last name is _____, so....
Me: Yeah, well I was born here.
Professor: Really? *skeptical look*
Now im starting to get a little irritated by these little lapses in judgment. Still, i shrugged off the question. Then, the atom bomb dropped...

Number 1:

Upon recieveing a flu shot from the school nurse...
Nurse: *Looks at chart, reads my last name aloud to herself*
Me: Yes?
Nurse: So...are you a legal citizen?

Yes, this really happened. To be honest with you, it really sucked to be asked so many times to explain to people why I had such a hispanic last name yet spoke english so well. It was irritating, and the more I though about it, the more that it was sort of insulting. The last time I checked, there were a lot of Hispanics who have been born in this country. And then, I really started to wonder...

If professors are thinking this about me, despite that fact that I speak English perfectly well in class and often get very good grades, what are employers thinking when they look at a resume and have absolutely no idea who I am? Do they look at my last name and automatically assume I am not a native speaker? What other assumptions are these employers thinking?

I got so depressed about fielding questions about my background from professors and students, that at some point, I even considered dropping my last name from my resume and replacing it with my American sounding middle name. Yeah it got so bad that I actually considered changing my last name. This is still something i think about when submitting resumes.

Usually I wrap up my rants with an anecdote or some type of tip for all you fellow Dirt readers. But this time I have none. I still struggle with this question, and in 6 months, when I graduate from school, Im going to be faced with that ever-present question...Do I drop my last name from my resume, or not?

Until next time...

A Reflection on MBA Student clubs...

2010-09-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

MBA student life can be pretty hectic. Midterms, Finals, snarky professors who assign tons of homework, campus politics, administration, caffeine withdrawals, registering for classes...not to mention you might actually have a life outside of class, like a husband/wife, kids. Lets just B-school life can be incredibly draining at times.

However, One often overlooked aspect of an MBA program is the on-campus clubs that are open to Graduate students. The point of these clubs is to not only get you networked (code for actually socializing OUTSIDE of Facebook), but to help you build a sense of camaraderie among your fellow MBA students (you know, when you guys aren't trying to screw each other over by setting the curve for the finance midterm). This is essential for making the most out of your MBA program, and i encourage anyone applying to schools to also check out what student clubs your MBA program offer.

I know what some of you might be thinking, "But clubs take a lot of time", which, frankly, a lot of you don't have extra of. You know what, joining a student club does require a commitment, but let me help you understand something about the business world, which has proven true to me time and time again in my professional career.

It is not what you know, it is who you know.

Dont believe me? Ok, fine, Pop quiz time...

Im the CFO of a company and im looking at two similiar candidates for one job opening, who do you think im going to pick

A) The guy with the 4.0 GPA with an MBA from University X

B) the Guy with a 3.8 GPA from University Y who ive met before and built some rapport with.

OK, ill wait for your answer
*insert Jeopardy theme*

If you chose A, and most people would, You seriously need to reconsider your answer and your perceptions of the job market out there, especially now. Im not saying you shouldn't study, because you should definitely aim to get a high GPA in your MBA program. But, unless your going to an Ivy league institution with a serious brand tied to it (i.e. Harvard, MIT, Stanford or Berkeley), then your going to have to do some serious hustling to get a job. Because a lot of people entered graduate programs because of the Great Recession, there's going to be a flood of MBAs in the next couple of years, and you need to differentiate yourself from the pack.

How do you do this? Networking. And whats the easiest way to network when your in an MBA program? Are lightbulbs going off yet? Am I making a case for joining graduate student business clubs? Still dont believe me? Google "Best way to get a job" and Networking will be at the top of every list. Go ahead do it, you might be surprised.

So go out there! Get involved! Pull your head out of that Finance textbook and go meet some people. At the very least, its a good excuse to go grab some beers with other MBA's. Until next time...

Studying Abroad...An Update

2010-08-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

So I have officially returned from my MBA study abroad program in Germany for the summer, and all I can say is...im exhausted!
Countless people have approached me, asking the ubiquitous question, "So, how was it? How was Germany?", and I try my best to cram a month full of experiences in a couple of interesting sounding, coherently structured sentences before I inevitably lose said persons attention, which we both know, is inevitable in this fast paced, "hurry up and get to the point" culture.

So how was it? You want my honest answer in a no-nonsense, straight to the point style? Fine...two words...F&%$'ing Awesome. Excuse my French...I mean German (?)

Never before have I learned so much yet managed to party so hard in my life. Funny though, when I tell people that I actually learned something abroad, I get a sort of skeptical half-sneer, as if they're saying "Yeah, right!". But to be honest, the program I enrolled in actually did require me to attend class and crack open a book once in a while. So what was the daily Itinerary like?

Here is a daily breakdown for you guys curious in enrolling in a MBA study abroad program. Now be forewarned, if your without any sense of humor (or an Accounting major), then you might find this description a bit crude and offensive. But hopefully, some of you readers are used to this by now.

8am - wake up, with inevitable hangover from night before after swearing to your classmates that "I cant go out tonight guys, I have class/a paper/ major surgery tomorrow". Possibly puke and rally. Think about rushing downstairs to make the free breakfast offered by hotel or university.

8:30am -You suddenly realize that you actually didn't wake up at 8am, you just hit snooze on your alarm until 8:30am. Class is at 9. You have time to do only 2 out of the 3 following 1) take a shower 2) change clothes or 3) get breakfast. Choose wisely.

9am - Finance/Economics class. Still hurting from last night, you pray for a teacher who understands that its an abroad program, and your still young and want to party a bit, and you may not be in top-form for a 9am econ class that focuses on European Central Banking Theory. You cry when you realize that your teacher is an ex-minister of finance for the European Central Banking Committee and he secretly loathes students because they think they can show up to his 9am class hungover. Also, your professor thinks that you remind him of a bully that used to pick on him in 4th grade. Awesome.

10:30am - the room stops spinning.

1pm - Your free! Your free! Class is over! Haha, just kidding, now you have a half hour to eat before going to your 3 hour long German class! You silently weep while stuffing a hot dog in your face so that you can get back to campus on time (or at least you think its a hot-dog, because, alas, everything on the menu is written in German. Which you don't speak. Yet.). Find out from fellow classmates what you did last night when you went out. Because you blacked out at 9pm, you reply casually that "No, i don't remember dancing on top of the bar/punching that midget/inhaling a bottle of Jagermeister last night."

1:30pm - Your stomach is telling you that you your lunch was definitely NOT a hot dog. And your German teacher is cold-calling you on how to conjugate a verb in German. Bonus: Its an irregular verb.

4pm - Your out of class and your hangover is gone. Time to sleep right? Wrong! Its time to go out! Dont want to go out? Then prepare to be left out of everyone's social calendars for the rest of the month there, because you will be officially labeled as lame (and rightly so!) Hello your studying ABROAD, your expected to party a little! Try to pull the "I cant go out tonight guys, i have class" line, and it will surely be met by cold stares or someone calling you a "Loser!", possibly followed up by a wedgie.

6pm - 3:30am - Drink copious amounts of cheap beer, cheap shots, and protein laden Jager-schnitzels. Bond with your classmates. Hear outrageous stories about "back home" from your fellow classmates. Get in hijinks with fellow classmates. Get kicked out of bars with fellow classmates. Most importantly, have lots of laughs with fellow classmates.

3:30am - 4am - Subways have stopped running. Find out how to get back home. Mix the 3 words you learned in German class with broken up English to try to talk to locals to find out how to get back to your hotel. Watch as the locals take pity on you, the drunk American, and try to give you directions using a series of hand gestures you don't understand. Confusion ensues.

4:15am - Somehow you get home. You Pass out.

Rinse, lather, repeat for 30 days, and this schedule becomes incredibly exhausting. Yes I learned a lot from class, but honestly I learned more outside of the classroom. What do students from China think about the world economy? What do people who were born in countries whose entire economies depend on oil think about the environmental movement in the US? Can I haggle the price of those Beer steins down from 30 euros to 25 euros? Can I manage to navigate a subway system in a completely foreign language? Can I hang out with person Y without offending Person Z, who happens to hate person Y?

Some of these accomplishments sounds trivial, but its overcoming these obstacles and learning from these experiences that not only make you a better person, but a more experienced and capable manager in the future. It sounds weird, but by going to a completely different country with people from other different countries,sucking up any shyness and just putting your best foot forward to reach out to these people, sharing your culture, learning how people from different backgrounds and other cultures react and think, negotiating with the locals, learning how to navigate in a strange city all by yourself...you grow from these things. And to be honest, overcoming all these obstacles has really made me a much more confident person, which is key in management...learning to lead with confidence.

The hardest thing of the whole trip? Saying goodbye to 40 people who over the course of a month I had become really good, close friends with. These were all people I had ate, drank, told stories with, and frankly, had bonded with. And in the snap of a finger I had to say goodbye to them. That was the hardest thing to deal with, but I at the end of the day, I cant thank these people enough. People who had come from Africa, Australia, China, Europe, all parts of America, all people who really were just so open about sharing their culture, sharing their lives, that I feel truly blessed, that, even if in a small way, I was a part of that.

Now, after reading that, how the hell could I even tell all of this to someone in a couple of sentences, without leaving so much out. I couldn't. So when im asked what do I say? What can i say?

I had lots of fun. And Ill miss it.

Summer Reading for MBAs!

2010-06-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Hope summer is going well. Summer ...a great time for some of you who are enrolling in a MBA program to catch up on whats going on in the business world and get a head start on other students headed into school (or at the very least, look intelligent when your tanning on the beach). Here is some business (and non-business) material I highly reccomend...

Bloomberg Businessweek - I was skeptical when Bloomberg bought Businessweek, but as it turns out, I absolutely love their new (and improved!) format. Great for catching up on current events if you find CNBC.com a little too overwhelming at times (really CNBC, you guys have WAY too much going on in your front page). A subscription is around $50 bucks a year, and totally worth it.

The Quants - This book is great if you want a background to the industry of finance and the PhD math geeks who were behind all the hedge funds behind the financial crisis, but do yourself a favor and borrow it rather than buy it (or buy it used). Not worth the $25, but an interesting read, no doubt.

Art of the Start - Essential for anyone starting anything. Its a no BS, straightforward guide to starting a company (or really anything) without any "fluff". Guy Kawasaki (the author) is one of the guys who was responsible for making Apple's users so evangelical.

GQ Magazine - Every man should have a subscription to this magazine. End of story. Not only has great articles, but teaches you how to dress, which, believe it or not, is important not only in school but in life.

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber - I'm only halfway through this book, but its great if you need something to take your mind of business, and is one of the most genuinely entertaining books ive read in a while. About a Translavnian Hockey Goalie who becomes a Bank Robber.Yeah. Oh, its also based on a true story.

How to Win Friends and Influence People - This book is over 70 years old, but still an amazing book. If your bad at people skills, pick it up and read through it. Twice.

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand is one of the most influential philosophers of the century, if not all time. She basically influenced laissez-faire economic policy in America from the 1950's until today. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book, or at least wikipedia her!

Other Books I Like: Anything Anthony Bourdain, God Hates Us All, Downtown Owl, Any Harvard Business Review Book

Allright, well hopefully I helped some of you find something interesting to read for the summer. Or at least I helped you kill 5 minutes of your day by reading this post...

Until next time...

Summer Internship? No, thank you...

2010-06-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well Well Well! Long time no see! Sorry for the lack of updates, but ive basically been in 5 cities in the past month and well...more details on all of that later.

So its summer, and most MBA students are slaving away at a summer internship. For those of you who dont know, almost every MBA student kills themseles from Christmas to June looking for an MBA summer internship (which is very hard to get in this economy). Remember my previous posts about me stressing over finding an internship? Its tough out there to say the least, and its very frustrating. Worse still, is when you cant actually FIND an internship, which then raises feelings of rejection, doubt, and just an overall "Bleh" feeling. Hey guys, i know, ive been there.
However, what I am going to tell you right now is completely contradictory to what every MBA program tells you, but im just going to go ahead and say it. Ready?

Summer internships are overrated.

I know, blasphemous, right? Every MBA school counselor will tell you the exact opposite. "Take whatever you can get! It looks good on your resume!"

Sorry career counselors, but i call bullshit. What good is an MBA internship if its not something your passionate about? I know so many people who got internships because "I need to pay rent!" (fair enough) or, worse, "I have nothing else to do so i might as well get an internship at Bobs Widget Factory". I think this line of thinking is completely flawed. Why would you just take an internship in a company that you weren't interested in working at after you graduate, or in something that you are only doing for the money? I thought the purpose of going to school was to open more doors for yourself, not wedge yourself into a proverbial corner, career wise.

Now don't get me wrong, if you found an internship at a company in a field that you are really excited about going into, then more power to you! Thats awesome! But about 50% of the people i know took jobs just because it was there, which is, quite frankly, sad. Or worse yet, they're doing unpaid internships! (see my previous rants about unpaid internships).

What am I talking about? What am i smoking? "Your being an idiot, a job is a job" you say. Okay, fine, but let me tell you what I, the internship-less bumb, have planned for summer versus what my fellow MBA graduates are doing. So far, I have traveled all over California (from San Diego to San Francisco), through the east coast, am doing research for a professor so that I can possibly graduate with honors, and since I had no real plans for summer, I signed up for a program through my university to study the Greek Debt crisis abroad in Germany for a whole month while getting school credit. let me reiterate that last sentence in case you weren't paying attention.

I get to go to a completely different country (on the cheap, i might add, since its an exchange program) to study finance for the summer.

Yeah, i might be broke (im still using financial aid money from this last semester), but hey, at least im not at some summer internship that's miserable or isn't paying me. Im pretty happy with my summer plans.

And isnt it said that happiness leads to money, not the other way around? Ok, well maybe i just made that up, but i stand by it. Plus, ill have plenty of other summers in my life to spend working, might as well enjoy my graduate school experience while I can :). Until next time...

Oh Noes Greece!

2010-05-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

OK, so I know I haven't posted in a while, so lets do an up to speed of my life...

1) Finals are coming up. Sleep deprivation is inevitable in the next couple of days (so expect a lot of rambling on my posts)

2) Trying to do research for a professor. A very highly esteemed professor, which is intimidating to say the least. I assumed that I would be helping him do research of his choosing, and instead he responds, quite casually "So, what do you want to research?". Uhhh....I dont know! your the professor!

3) Figured out im going to Germany for summer to study at the University of Frankfurt! Get this, its to study the euro too! Should be interesting, considering all the instability in the markets recently...

Speaking of which, what is going on today guys?!? The Dow tanks 1000 points in 10 minutes? Well, dont say I didnt warn you! Ok, actually Roubini predicted this was going to happen (see my previous posts) but are we headed towards a double dip recession? Is the Greek debt crisis going to trigger a similar crisis in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain, taking the US economy with it? These are certainly interesting times. Hey, at least the euro will be cheap when I go abroad...

Too soon?

What do you guys think, are we headed to a double dip recession?

Politics 101

2010-04-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, Spring is in the air....FINALLY! Its actually getting nice here on the east coast, which is a welcome change. Birds are chirping, flowers are sprouting, and graduate students are stepping over each other to be elected in student elections.

Remember student elections? Well, basically, fellow graduates who are running pretend to care about your problems and vow to "Change the way things are done" so that they can get your vote. OR, if theyre really lazy (Which it seems is the case at my school), they dont even bother telling you what they plan on changing in student government. Your vote is basically hinging on the fact that you guys took a class together. Heres is a transcript of an actual student s pitch to me in between classes...

Random MBA student: "Hey will you vote for me in the Graduate Student elections?"
Me: "Who are you?"
Random MBA Student: "Oh, Im ________, im running for Graduate Student Senate"
Me: " Great...what does the Graduate Student Senate do?"
Random MBA Student: ........*blank stare*
Me: "I mean, you guys do stuff right? you must control the funding for us graduates right?"
Random MBA student: "Yes, right! Thats what we do! So will you vote for me?"
Me: "Well what are you going to do differently?"
Random MBA Student: *blank stare again*
...akward silence
Random MBA student: "Cmon dude, we had Econ together, just vote for me"

Im not joking by the way...
these people have no idea what the student senate even does, they have no platform, and they want my vote?

Elections really bring out the annoying side of people. We actually had to kick a VP out of our campus organization because they basically spammed our group list to vote for them. So what do these people get if they win? Free tuition. What do you get? Good question, im still trying to figure that out.

Can I blame these people for trying to annoy the hell out of me to get free tuition? No, but people, at least pretend to care about the issues at hand. At least tell me "Why yes, i DO plan on increasing the value of your MBA, and heres how..." or "Interneships for all!" or at least take a picture with a baby and give a thumbs up.

Oh well, at least its nice outside...

Until Next Time...

Some interesting MBA Reading...

2010-03-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share some stuff Ive been reading/watching recently to share with all you Dirt readers...

The Quants - Great book im reading right now. Great for anyone interested in the recent Financial crisis or the history behind the mysterious "Quants" of the stock market world.
Roubini - Dr. Doom Speaks! Double Dipping sauce = bad. Double dipping economy = worse.
GDP/Debt Graph - Interesting article I came across. Looks like the world PPF model is about to collapse...
Frontline PBS, "Breaking the Bank" - I have watched this at least 3 times. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see how the domino's began falling in the financial crisis. Also its streamed online free.
Everyone Loves Raymond - Well, thats just a good show. I just tape it sometimes.

Perfect Lazy Sunday Reading. I would have included the BusinessWeek magazine that was supposed to come in the mail this week, but Amazon has been taking their sweet ass time delivering it, so screw em.

Sales Positions, Unpaid Internships, and 10% unemployment...Oh My!

2010-03-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned before that I had an interview this week with a company, which i was pretty excited about. Oh how naive I was.

First let me preface this story by saying that out of nowhere last week i got offered two job interviews within about an hour. When it rains it pours, I guess (fitting since it was pouring on the east coast for about 3 days straight). The first job, which I was basically almost 95% sure that I was going to get, was to be a Bond Analyst for a smaller finance firm. It sounded really cool, but the problem was its meant I had to work about 40+ hours a week, and on top of that be a full time student. Feel free to let that sink in. Ill wait....

Yeah, basically me = no life. I would probably wake up at 7am, commute, get to work, work until 5 (at least) and have class until 9pm, and get home at 10. 5 days a week. Not to mention I would probably have to put in some overtime, and find out how to do homework in the meantime. Oh, and theres the pesky student organization that I am VP of. So, Yeah, that wasnt going to work out. Oh Well.

So then I had this interview for this week. Do you want to know what the interview was for? It was a sales position. Thats right, a sales position. You know, send emails, you pick up phones...which is fine i guess, for a short term type thing, but lets be honest, i didnt want to do that for the rest of my life. "Well, I wouldnt mind a sales position to get a better understanding of the company, as long as it allowed me to, in the long term of course, move into some other field in the company, like maybe finance, which would make better use of my degree. I would love to find a company I could grow with."

Several akward seconds passed by. The guy looked at me like I had run over his puppy.

"Well, the sales people were looking for we would most likely want them to remain in sales."

Thats not what I really was looking for, so the meeting ended, sort of akwardly, and i left the interview, rather confused. Which led me to ask myself, and hopefully some recruiters who frequent this site, the following question...

Why in the &%!% are you trying to hire MBAs for Sales positions?!?!

Are...You...Kidding me? Do you think im getting an MBA so that i can get paid 12$ an hour to pick up a goddamn phone? Really? Really? Its a basic concept people, its called Return on Investment (ROI). Why would i plunk 60,000$+ down on a degree so that I could essentially do what anyone with a high school diploma could do.

Now dont get me wrong, sales people are crucial in any economy (my dad was an excellent salesman), but heres the thing about sales people (especially entry level sales position)...they dont need specialized training! and they certainly dont need an MBA! You are either a sales person or you arent, its not like once you get an MBA, voila!, you can now sell stuff! Any good sales person isnt a good sales person because they took a class in selling, its just something that you happen to be really good at! You ever see the matrix? you know the part where Neo asks the prophet lady if hes "the One?" and she tells him being "the one" is just something you feel and know, you cant be told you are one. THE SAME PRINCIPAL APPLIES WITH SALES PEOPLE!

So that interview sucked, but at least it was a good practice interview. But what kills me is that on top of that, i keep getting sent emails from my career counselor about unpaid internships. Unpaid internship...that just kills me. I wonder if companies do this kind of crap just to see if they can run some kids into the ground for free just for sheer entertainment. I can understand if its a company that im really interested in, but its just hilarious reading these companies ~~begging~~ asking students to join their unpaid internships to get units, free keychains, or whatever other crap they have lying around the office. I expect this type of thing if your fresh out of undergraduate and have a summer to kill, but seriously, some of the people in my MBA program are in their 40's, do you really expect them to spend a summer killing themselves for 2 units of credit? Or get an exciting opportunity to see the exciting world of...being the CFO's assistant assistants assistant?

10% unemployment or not, throw me a frikkin bone here people.

Until next time...

Happy Spring Break! Now Get to Work!

2010-03-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Remember watching "Spring Break" specials on MTV when you were a teenager? Kids dancing on stripper poles, loud music blasting, and shots being poured? Well unfortunately, that sort of spring break is going to have to wait until next year..why? Unlike the quarter system in California, out on the east coast they have the semester system...which means we come back from Spring Break right smack in the middle of papers and midterms. Yikes. So instead of celebrating spring break, im busy with finance projects and papers due next week. Its okay though, im not bitter, ill try to make up for it soon with a trip to Vegas. Nothing like midget strippers and blackjack to lift an overworked MBA students mood...

Then on top of that, right when spring break started, the east coast got a huge rainstorm which lasted 3 days! Thats right, 3 days of rain! What kind of crap is that! "Oh hey welcome to spring, by the way here comes 18 inches of rain?!?" What the hell? I just cant get a weather break here in the northeast...

On the plus side, another reason i cant go on spring break is that I have a job interview this week! Remember how i was ~~bitching~~ complaining last week that i shot off a bunch of resumes in January and heard nothing from the companies? Well now apparently, people are starting to respond to my ~~begging~~ job interview requests, and i finally got an interview! So well see how that goes, hopefully it will be something interesting. Or at least something that will pay my rent...

..which reminds me of something my mom said. I tell her about my job interview, you know what the first thing she said was? "OH are you having money problems dear?". Mom, im in grad school, im poor by default. When I graduate I will be in the hole around $60,000. Yes, i do have money right now, unfortunately, its not MY money. Well i am a taxpayer, so i guess it is my money, to some extent. Wait, so im paying interest to the government on essentially my own money? Those clever bastards...

Until next time...

Edit: I guess I should have a final point in my above rant...The point is, prepare for a large workload when you enter your MBA Program. There is no 9-5 when it comes to being involved in ANY graduate level program, especially for you Ivy League MBA'ers out there... your either "doing work" or "sleeping when you should be doing work".

Internships, Student Clubs, and, Oh yeah...Class

2010-02-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a while since my last update but the past couple of weeks have been absoluteley insane. You, on the other hand, probably don't believe me. You think im full of crap. I know, this is exactly what your thinking. It's ok, I would say the same thing too but let me just sit down and explain the insanity that has been the last two weeks of my life.

First of all, it's february which means two things in the northeast for MBA students...feet of snow and, ironically, applying to summer MBA internships. Yes MBA students if you want to get a decent internship you better start looking now; and I mean right now,especially in this recession, or your going to get an intership that's either A) Unpaid (boo) or B) At McDonald's. Guess what? I've applied to about 6 internships, and the responses have ranged from no to, well, not telling me anything. Not only is it incredibly frustrating and time consuming to apply to these internships, but it's sort of depressing. If I end up having spent a quarter of my life in school to get an MBA internship that ends up paying minimum wage and involves me asking people if they want fries with that, well, FML.

So yeah, there's that.

On top of that this week I actually became a Member of the largest on campus MBA student club. Ok actually, I didn't just become a member, I actually became VP of the organization. Which is cool, right? People like me, they really like me and decided to vote me in! Either that or this is some sadistic joke to try to slowly kill me because there is so much work that needs to be done with this student organization that its insane! Settng up social events, bringing speakers, coordinating everyone...yikes. But im looking forward to it.

So there's that...

Oh yeah...and there's school. You know, that little thing. Ive totally been lagging on doing finance homework because, honestly, if i have to sit there and figure out how to use that little (ln) button on my calculator while keeping order of operations one more time i might pull my hair out...

And then there's you guys, who take the time out of your day to read my blog and listen to me rant only to have me treat you as the red headed step child of the family by not updating the site in a while. Im terrible. Well Ill try to be better next week. No...seriously. Until Next time...

Ethics, Or Lack Thereof...

2010-02-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Certain MBA programs have certain requirements. You know, like its expected that you take an accounting course so that if an accountant tries to run a money laundering scheme within the company, you, as a CEO, can catch it (right, Jeff Skilling?). Well the same is true with Business Ethics. Its a required course, and after having my first class, I can easily see why its required...it seems as though, after discussing our first case, that about half of the class would probably give up their first born child if it guaranteed them some extra zero's in their paycheck. Seriously.

Well OK, maybe i'm exaggerating just a little bit, but after my first Ethics class, I can tell that there are definitely some Bernie Madoff Jr's in our class, and what you will find is that this is true in almost every MBA program. Why? Ive often asked myself the same question, and to be honest I really cant come up with a solid answer. Maybe because the Business and Finance world is so cut-throat to begin with that a culture of Darwin-like "may the strongest survive" mentality is ingrained in Business culture. Whatever the reason, MBA's have the potential to attract the type of people who have that "succeed at any cost" mentality.

So heres what happens in Ethics class. Every week we read a case (usually a Harvard Case) which depicts a scenario where an employee in a company is facing an ethical dilemma. The end of the case usually ends by asking what the reader would do if they faced the same situation. We basically argue over the course of an hour what is the "right thing to do" vs. "what is legal". Sounds fun right? Well it is, but, even after just one week, some of these kids in the MBA program, to quote Trainspotting, "are clearly lacking in moral fiber".

So whats our first case? Basically it deals with a consulting company with an employee who is forced with a difficult decision of whether or not to lie to her client or not. If she lies to this client and gets the information she wants, the consulting firm will be happy and she gets a promotion. If not, the employee of the consulting firm will most likely not get the promotion she has been seeking. Simple enough right? It would be wrong to lie to a client...why sacrifice your integrity to make a quick buck? The case also mentioned that she was burned out at work, and that high turnover had been occurring over the last couple of years at the company (warning signs, if you will)

So what did most of the MBA students vote for? 50% said she should lie, the other 50% said she should not, and possibly think of quitting the company. Yes, you read that correctly, the class was split about lying to a client. One kid went as far to say "Who hasn't lied in order to get the job done?". Wow. Words cannot express how much I loathed hearing that comment. I have a feeling this kid will be doing the perp-walk in no time...

So watch out entering MBA students, your definitely going to meet some classmates who will put their welfare over your own if they can make a quick buck or gain some type of competitive advantage. Im starting to figure out why they call Business school "The Shark Tank". Until next time...

MBA Textbooks and Moores Law

2010-02-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Have any of you ever heard of Moores law? It's basically a principle that an Intel engineer came up with long ago that states that as time progresses, electronics become smaller, faster and cheaper. This is why your 10 ghz Octocore laptop costs 20 bucks today, when back in the days of the 60s and 70s computers were the size of a room and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Unfortunatley incoming MBA students, you will find that the exact opposite is true of textbooks. While, yes, your textbooks do get smaller over the years, they also get more expensive! Not only that, but they get more boring...less pictures, and more monotone color schemes (probably to reflect the attitude of progressively jaded MBA students). Case and point? Last Quarter my Accounting Book, full of brightly colored pictures with people happily doing Accounting (yeah, i dont know what was wrong with them either) was around $120 dollars. Today on the other hand, I purchased a marketing book that is no more than an inch thick (Ive seen children's books bigger!), does not contain one picture (but lots of exciting tables and diagrams!), comes in an exciting color scheme of grey and burgundy, and costs...get this...$140 dollars. There was no way I was paying $140 dollars to the campus bookstore for that book!

Which brings us to my tip of the day. Incoming MBA students, when buying textbooks, avoid the campus bookstore like the plague! They are a rip off and really overpriced...so what should you do? Ive provided some great sites to help you find a textbook for cheaper.

1. Amazon.com/Half.com - Usually offer prices about 10% cheaper than the campus bookstore.

2. Chegg.com - rent the textbook instead of buying it! Like Netflix for textbooks (Usually around 40$ a semester/book)

3. Thrift store - Sounds weird, but if your class is entirely note based, just grab a textbook on the subject at your local thriftstore. I spent 3$ on my economics textbook last quarter (and, yes, i got a good grade)

4.Craigslist - Can be a bit trickier than other online sources, but you can find one for dirt cheap.

5.Other MBA students - Cut a deal with a classmate, it will often be cheaper.

6. Library - Usually (and surprisingly, most professors wont tell you this), a textbook is kept on reserve at the library. Since you have the textbook and are already at the library, you might as well do the work!

Hope i helped you guys save some bucks. Until next time...

Winter Break, Part 2

2010-01-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

So this past week I returned back to the east-coast to start my MBA program, but I was a little exhausted after driving for 1000 (!) miles. Although the fact that me and my girlfriend did it without tearing eachothers hair out is quite impressive. 15 states, 4 days, and 36 cups of coffee later, im sitting here back in my MBA program fresh from my road trip, when i hear the words that every MBA student secretley dreads. No its not a quiz or a test of some sort, this is something far, far worse...

"OK class, you have a group project, so were all going to say a little something about ourselves and start forming teams of 4."

It was my first day of class (Marketing), I just got back from a very exhausting road trip, it was pouring rain outside, I might have a flu, and now all of a sudden im thrown in front of a class of 37 people who I dont know and im supposed to put on a cheery smile and talk about how I would make a great addition to a group?!?! Seriously?!?

Any of you who are in an MBA program know that group work can be one of the most stressful activities for an MBA student. Actually I thought of a great analogy. Group work on the first day of class is sort of like a blind date. With 3 people. At once. Who have the power to fail you.

I know groups who have actually become very good friends, and end up perfoming very successful group projects...and i have seen groups melt down faster than Mariah Carey at the release of Glitter. So ive decided to use this opportunity to give you some tips on picking a successful group in an MBA program...

1. Location, Location, Location. What does this mean? More often than not people will form groups based on where they are sitting. See someone you know will perform up to par because youve worked with them before? Sit next to them. Conversely, if you know people who have bombed group projects before STAY AWAY. I know, you guys had accounting and next to each other one time last semester and you bonded over the stupidity of transaction analysis, but you are going to be working with this person for the next 16 weeks. The last thing you want is someone you joined a group with because you had some obscure bond with dragging down the whole group.

2. Dont be shy. If you know you see someone you definitely want to work with, PULL THE TRIGGER. Just approach them. Toss out any fear of rejection, the worst that they can say is that they are already in a group. If you have a break during class, strike up a conversation with them, and when class is over just casually say "Hey are you interested in joining a group?". One less thing you have to worry about now...except actually doing the work!

3. Dont wait. Do you want to be the person stuck with the group of people who were too afraid to approach other groups? How do you think your first group presentation will go if you have 3 introverts who didnt want to be in a group in the first place go up to the podium?

4. Girl:Guy Ratio. Also very important. No offense ladies but every time i see a group of 4 girls i already know that its game over...cat fights, US magazine, and debates over which shade of sephora eyeshadow is the prettiest are usually that groups downfall. Same with a group of guys...usually theyll spend the majority of their group sessions high fiving and talking about how hot Tiger Woods mistress #13 is. Try to keep it as close to 50:50 as you can.

5. Google Docs. Need to collaborate word and excel documents in the group? Make everyone get a gmail account and start collaborating through google docs. Who wants to deal with endless back and forth attachments?

Hopefully ive helped you guys with some solid tips. Until next posting...

Winter Break, Part 1

2010-01-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

So im on Winter Break from my MBA program and what a vacation...heres a quick recap of it so far.

Week 1 - Started off the vacation with a trip to visit my dads side of the family in a REALLY small town in California. It seems as though small town folk have nothing to do except get pregnant (i dont mean this in a mean way, but really, its true!) I swear i saw 3 new babys running around that werent at the Family Christmas party last year. Oh, and one of my cousins just got out of prison. Nice. If seeing this side of the family doesnt motivate me to get my MBA, I dont know what will.

Week 2 - Went on a snowboarding trip, despite my parents protests of "youll kill yourself!". I thought they were being overly paranoid. I sure showed them...by breaking my arm..sledding. What a lame way to get injured.

Week 3 - After having two weeks of really nothing to do, i have now understood the allure of televised sports. I never used to watch TV, let alone football, but now i LOVE it. Its like playing a sport minus all the "doing stuff" part. You get excited when "your team" scores, even if you pick a team for a seemingly trivial reason ("Oh, i like birds, i guess ill root for the Cardinals!"). Then when your over it you can switch on some quality TV...like Jersey Shore.

Up next in Part 2: I fly back into the east coast so that i can freeze my butt off, and my girlfriend suckers me into driving from Miami to Boston.

First, an introduction...

2010-01-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

Who am I? Why blog about an MBA program? and who cares?

Im just a kid really. Well actually, im 26, but if it helps, i feel that i have the mentality of a 13 year old. Im originally from the west coast, went to a public university, and, after a brief stint in a small company, I, against the will of my parents who were happy with me earning a steady paycheck as a scientist (actually, to be fair, who wants to hear that their kid wants to leave a well paying job to blow $60,000 to go back to school?), applied to an MBA program on the east coast, and got in!

So why blog about it? because, when trying to find REAL information about school MBA programs on the internet, all i got back was, frankly, crap. Every MBA program website you go to has pictures of MBA students playing hackeysack in the quad, or having lattes with their fellow students and professors, everyone in a prozac-like state of happiness. After surviving my first semester in business school however, I can tell you that this is NOT what happens in B-school. There is no hackeysack, no lattes with professors, there are however 8 hour long study sessions, fights among group members, and long winded debates about whether its possible to intravenously inject coffee to get a better caffeine buzz. Im here to tell you what REALLY happens in MBA programs. The joy of getting an A on a midterm, the failure of bombing a group project, the cliques, the drama...im here to tell you all about it while I experience it.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy, or at least laugh. Or comment on how much of an idiot I am.