Georgia on my mind

I landed this morning at the world’s busiest airport for the Southeastern MBA Schools Interview Forum held at the Emory Conference Center Hotel. I interviewed in the afternoon with the credit card division of a major financial firm. The interview went okay, the recruiter suggested and I walked out to the hotel courtyard and we talked in the warm Georgian weather. Most of the questions were about situations I have been with in the past and how I dealt with them. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the position and it probably showed.

But today’s main event was this morning when I interviewed with a major internet content provider. The job involves deploying content to handheld devices. The interviewer said he noticed my resume because it shows work experience in interactivity and telecommunications. He asked me a couple of questions about how I would proceed in planning certain projects and I wrapped most of my answers around things I have seen at America Online. I even had the chance to play the “UVA card” when he mentioned the company’s parent company and I recalled having been at a UVA game one time where it was announced that the parent company’s CEO has made a substantial donation to UVA. At the end of the interview, he said “I cant make you any promises because I haven’t interviewed everyone yet but let’s just say I extremely appreciate your understanding of our projects and the enthusiasm you bring to the table.”

After the interviews I went by Emory’s Goizueta Business School and drove through the Emory campus. I spent the remainder of my day driving my rental car through Lenox, Buckhead, and along Peachtree Street to Downtown before returning to the airport for my flight back to RDU. The most interesting thing about today was the chance to speak to students from other schools. A first year from Goizueta said that about 90% of his classmates that received summer offers in investment banking are international students. This in comparison to Kenan-Flagler where most of the offers go to domestic students.

I was reminded once again today of how small the MBA universe is. One student from Goizueta is friends with a Kenan-Flagler classmate of mine. A couple of Darden students gave me updates on some of their classmates who went to UVA with me. When I flew out of RDU this morning I ran into a classmate who was flying out to Arizona for a case competition. At the lobby of the Emory Conference Center Hotel, I saw another classmate who had just wrapped up an interview and was flying out for the same event. My last words to her as she headed out the door were “win one for Kenan-Flagler.”