“Honey, I am home!”

After eleven and one half months of not working I rejoined the work force this morning when I showed up at my internship. I met my boss, found my desk, attended the HR briefing, received my email address and network login, chose a password that contained a number, a non-alpha-numeric key, and the correct combination of upper and lower case letters. The boss took me and another manager, a student in the part time Kenan-Flagler program, out to lunch. I sat through two client phone calls, one for which the client did not show up, and spent the remainder of the day training myself on the company and its products.

 

When I received the call from the hiring manager yesterday, I had to give him a beginning and an end date for the internship so that they could be included in the offer letter. The dates we agreed upon would give me nine and a half weeks at the internship and one week of vacation before the beginning of classes. Nine and a half weeks sounds a bit short, I was under the impression that an MBA internship should be at least ten weeks. But I have several classmates who either began their internships yesterday or don’t begin until this coming week.

 

I am keenly aware that as a student, I am entitled to certain legal protections that are not afforded to an employee and I therefore will be extremely careful about what I blog about regarding the company. I will only say that it seems like a great place to work and a lot of my co-workers and fun and young, which is not a bad place to be especially compared to where I was one week ago.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The sound that you are hearing is the sound of my ship finally sailing in. Earlier this morning, I received an internship offer. It is the second offer I have received and the first that I am actually excited about.

 

I first heard about this company when I was in India. A classmate had turned down an internship from it because he had already accepted an offer elsewhere. He emailed the hiring manager (a Kenan-Flagler grad) and recommended me as a possible candidate. I did a phone interview from the hotel in Delhi at 3am local time and had the company interview on Tuesday here in Chapel Hill. The manager told me they were looking to hire pretty quickly and when I heard nothing by Thursday I had assumed I was not getting an offer.

 

This company works with major e-commerce retailers on how to best market their products online. With the exception of the internship in Atlanta to put a media company’s contents on mobile devices, this internship is the best opportunity for me in terms of getting into the field that I want to get into after getting my MBA.

 

It took me a total of five seconds to tell the hiring manager that I would accept the job. I start tomorrow. I guess I won’t be working as a finance teaching assistant for this summer’s pre-MBA workshop. 

Pomps and circumstances

Since graduation is on the minds of so many people of late, I decide to share with you a link to the greatest graduation speech I have ever heard. It was delivered by Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institute of Health’s human genome project, at the 2001 UVA graduation. He talked about life’s four priorities - love, faith, work, and fun - and then launched into a rendition of his own version of one of Frank Sinatra’s better known songs.

The link is here. Go to "graduation speech" under "Finals 2001 Archives." Enjoy!

“Deal or No Deal?“

I don’t watch this game show much but I find its premise to be extremely interesting. Do you take the offer in front of you (bird in hand) or continue to play and hopefully receive a better one (two in the bush)? 

 

Last night I found myself in that dilemma when I received a summer internship offer. Yes, folks, I got an offer. It’s for a start up financial consulting firm located in the area.  While this is not the ideal internship, it’s something that will keep me busy during the summer and hopefully get me to where I want to be in the fall when the full time recruiting season begins.  It will also keep me in the area during the summer which is great because I can get to enjoy the area a bit more and plan some road trips on the side.

 

The manager wants me to start on Tuesday but I am going to make a counter offer (I wonder if they will ever change the premise of the game show to allow contestants to make a counter offer to the “deal”) and suggest I begin the following Monday. I am going to be honest and tell him I am waiting to hear back from several places and am also going to see if I can get more from this company in terms of compensation.

 

The most ironic part about this particular internship is that I heard about this position through having dinner with a classmate during the Thursday before leaving for India. We were at McColl together working on the integrative exercise and decided to have dinner on Franklin Street at a place called Basil Spices. Over a bowl of Vietnamese pho noodles, he mentioned that this particular firm is interested in having interns from Kenan-Flagler. So much for me complaining about the integrative exercise cutting into my internship search.

“Denied” at Ramshead

I have been trying to get myself back into the routine that I was in during Mod III when I jogged and went to the gym almost everyday. But I was in for a shock at the Ramshead gym earlier this evening when the receptionist who swiped my card explained that because I am not enrolled in summer session, I can only have summer facilities access by going to the One Card office and paying $30.

 

Screw that.

"Putting a wing on the Taj Mahal"

This past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine had a long article about one of the biggest architectural endeavors to hit Mr. Jefferson’s University in more than fifty years, the South Lawn Project. The project is riddled with controversy because of the University’s reluctance to deviate from the Jeffersonian architecture that has made UVA one of the more architecturally unique campuses in the nation.

"Word in Charlottesville had it that Polshek's office — which had won national renown for such widely praised modernist projects as the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock and the Rose planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History — had become frustrated by the school's refusal to approve any design that did not hew to a strict Classical palette of arches and columns."

One thing that I really like about UVA is the architectural consistency throughout the "grounds." Whether you are visiting the Law School or Darden in the North Grounds or walking around the UVA Medical Center, there is a consistent architectural feel that permeates throughout. It is paramount that this be preserved for future generations of UVA students.

Back in the saddle

After a great trip to India and spending a couple of days with my best buddy T.J. (some of you may remember T.J. was my roommate back in my life prior to Kenan-Flagler), I once again find myself ensconced in Chapel Hill. As I was driving in yesterday, it dawned on me that now that the India trip is over and that Jack Bauer will once again successfully save the world on tonight’s season finale of 24, there really isn’t much of anything for me to do (or to blog about) except the internship search and to write that stupid paper for my the India class.

When I was in college, I always wanted to stay behind and enjoy the town and the campus during the summer. I actually have the chance to do that this year in Chapel Hill, only problem is if I don’t manage to find something …. anything ... to do this summer, it will become significantly harder for me to find a full time job once the fall recruiting season begins.

Goodbye India!

Our group went very early this morning to see the Taj Mahal and it truly is one of the wonders of the world. We are now getting ready to check out of the hotel before making the 150 mile drive back to Delhi where we will have a final dinner before going our separate ways. About half of us will be continuing to spend a couple of days in India (I have heard discussion of going to Goa, Manili, ) and the other half coming straight back.

Originally I was part of the group that was going to Goa but I decided to return to the U.S. a few days early to take care of a few things. I am still not done telling all my India stories yet. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to get around to sharing them once I get back.

A tale of two cities

I originate today from Agra in the lobby of the Mugul Sheraton which is 2.5 km from the Taj Mahal. The two pictures in the album above were taken before we left Mumbai yesterday afternoon. One shows a partially hardened river of sewage and trash flowing through a part of the city and the other shows the Inorbit shopping mall which features stores and luxury items that rival those in any modern Western city. The twist is that both pictures were taken while standing on the exact same spot, facing different sides of the street.

Our last stop in Mumbai was to visit a retail company that does a substantial amount of business from Inorbit. There it owns a bookstore (the Indian equivalent of Barnes and Nobles), a high end department store, and a type of “one stop” grocery store (similar to Target’s, only much nicer). After we were done with our visit, we crossed the street to wait for our tour bus and was treated to the putrid stench coming from the river of sludge that we initially smelled from across the street.

The scene was a reminder that India is a land of contrasts. You have on one side of the road a modern shopping mall modeled after western equivalents. Yet on the other side you have unprocessed sewage with garbage stacked on top of it. After we got into the tour bus, we felt so disgusted we all reached for our hand sanitizers.

Mumbai Morning

I am blogging from my room on the twelve floor of the Taj Presidential Hotel and to my left is a window overlooking the Mumbai coastline that is said to look like “the Queen’s necklace” from the sky at night. We have two company visits and some free time later today before getting onto a flight back to Delhi.

Ever since arriving in India a little more than a week ago, I have taken so many pictures and have been saving up so many stories that I wish to share with you. Hopefully I will get around to uploading the pictures and sharing the stories even if it means doing so after I return to the U.S.

Saturday night in Mumbai

Hello from the city that in the past was referred to as Bombay. We landed last night under a full moon and a clear sky. After checking into our hotel a group of us headed out to the Inter Continental Hotel on Mariner Street where we met up with a classmate who is not on this trip but is from Mumbai. We spent the next three hours partying away at the club on the first floor of the hotel. It was just like Lucy’s, except we have to pay 500 rupees to get in, the music is in Hindi, and there is no 80s night.

During the ride back to the hotel (in a cab with the headlights off), I asked the professor (who partied with us!) whether this reminds him of when he was younger and he said this partying scene has only manifested itself within the past eight years.

Village visual smorgasbord

Before leaving Bangalore on Saturday, we visited a village on the outskirts of the city. We walked a couple of village blocks and was followed by an entourage of children asking for candy (we bought some candy before leaving the city) and volunteering to pose for pictures. The children have never seen digital cameras before and were amazed to see their own images on our LCD screens.

From Bangalore

We landed yesterday in what is called “the Silicon Valley” of India. Among our destinations in India, Bangalore is the one that most resembles a modern Western City. Our only scheduled destination yesterday was a visit with an outsourcing firm founded by a man described as the architect of the I.T. industry in Bangalore. This man and his firm were mentioned in Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat. Later that evening, our professor took a bunch of us to dinner at a restaurant called MTR. MTR is well known for the line of packaged foods it sells in Indian supermarkets worldwide. The dinner for six (including beverages) cost a total of 310 rupees (approximately $7.11 USD).

We spent this morning visiting the crown jewel of India’s I.T. industry. The company sits on a 100 acre campus that resembles more like a city (imagine the AOL campus raised to the third power) than your typical office park. In the afternoon we visited an apparel manufacturer that is the biggest supplier to Victoria’s Secret. The general manager showed us the factory floor (see photos) and explained some of the steps that go into manufacturing something that will later be supplied to a retailer. Part of the process involves testing the fabric colors under lighting specified by the retailer to ensure that the end products will display the desired color under the lighting used by each individual retail chains. The last part of the process is running each garment through a metal detector to make sure no pins are embedded in the product that may accidentally injure the purchaser.

Tomorrow afternoon it’s “wheels up” for Mumbai. Mumbai will serve as a stark contrast to Bangalore. It includes some the most devastating poverty we will witness on this trip. I look forward to blogging to you then.

Delhi Street Photos

It's a little bit before 7am right now and our group is leaving Delhi for Bangalore. We had was an alumni/aadmitted setudents reception last night at the Bukhara, one of the best restaurnts in Delhi. It's located at the Maurya Sheraton where President Bush stayed two weeks ago.

I have attached an album of some pictures I have taken in Delhi in these past three days. Enjoy.

Incredible India

It’s Wednesday morning in Delhi and our group has been here a little bit more than two and a half days. And what an exciting two days and a half it’s been. We visited a couple of attractions such as Humayan’s Tomb, Akshardam Temple (Hindu), and one of the biggest Islamic mosque in Delhi.

The group that came on this trip last year told us that everyone of us will eventually get traveler’s diarrhea. To make the situation more interesting, we formed a betting pool on who among the twenty five of us will be the first and the last to get diarrhea, with money divided among the people who correctly guess the “first down” and the “last standing.” Over lunch on Monday I found out that I, along with another student, am tied for having the most number of participants (five) picked as “first down.” I became even more concerned when I found out that one of those who picked me as ‘first down” was my professor. Someone in the group said “don’t worry, it won’t affect your grade.”

Off to India

Later today I leave for India. The itinerary includes Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Agra, back to Delhi before going onto Goa. I should be able to blog from there, the major challenges will be finding the time and finding the internet connection. What I will most likely end up doing is jotting down some thoughts on a Word document and uploading it days later when I get the chance.

So over the next two and a half weeks, expect a periodic update about … say .. once every three days. If I am in the mood to try to shoot for the H (high pass), I may even toss in a photo album or two.

Until then …..

One last trip to Franklin Street

The integrative exercise ended up taking much more time but was more enjoyable than I had expected. Our team used Windows Media Player to produce a two minute ad emphasizing the major selling points of Kenan-Flagler to recruiters. In the afternoon we had a trade show on the first floor of McColl where each team displayed the advertising campaign it had created. Some teams had videos, others had pamphlets, while some created magazine ads. When the ordeal ended, we had a social outside Koury Auditorium and at the plaza celebrating both Cinco de Mayo and the end of our first year.

Last night I did something which went against what I would normally do. After having spent 12 hours in school working on the integrative exercise, instead of spending the night packing for India, catching up on sleep, or send out resumes, I went out to having spent 12 hours in school working on the integrative exercise, Franklin Street. At one of the regular Kenan-Flagler hangouts, I saw very few of my classmates but I ran into the undergrad girl from last Thursday (not to be mistaken with the BSBA cutie from Friday). We ended up going to Carolina Coffee Shop where we watched the remainder of the LA Lakers game. It’s just too bad she is graduating because I just found out from our conversation last week that she’s a Christian. But I am glad I went out and had the chance to spend some time with her before she closed the chapter on what may be the best four years of her life.

Casino Royale trailer

I don’t know about you but from the trailer, Daniel Craig looks like a pretty good James Bond to me. Needless to say, I am marking November 17 on my calendar. 

 

Enjoy! 

An exercise in irony

My two last full days in the United States before leaving for India happen to coincide with the two nicest day of the week. Unfortunately I will not be spending them enjoying the weather, which is what I want to do. Nor will I be spending them sending out cover letters, which is what I need to do. I will be spending them working with my classmates on the Mod IV integrative exercise, which is what I am required to do.

 

The business school does a good job at selling the integrative exercise to applicants. It’s mentioned on the admission brochure and when I was here last year for the MBA Experience Weekend, a couple of students talked about it as a great way to integrate what you’ve learned in the classroom to a simulated real world assignment. Actually doing the assignment is a completely different story.

 

The first integrative exercise took place the first week of January. All first years returned from winter break three days earlier than the second years to work on a valuation case where we had to calculate a fair market share value for Dell and prepare a marketing strategy for the company. This second integrative exercise is less quantitative and centered on improving our leadership skills, we are to come up with a marketing campaign to sell the Kenan-Flagler MBA brand to potential employers.

 

As I sat at Koury Auditorum this morning listening to the presentation of what is expected from us over the next 48 hours, I felt myself getting angrier and angrier. There are things that are much more important to me right now than doing this exercise, namely packing for India and finding more companies to send cover letters to. Yet the school forces me to allocate my precious time to this integrative exercise.  And here is the kicker that I have been saving up until the very end of the post, the purpose of this second integrative exercise is to improve your leadership ability to help you succeed during your summer internship.

 

To borrow a line from Alanis Morissette “isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?” 

Making observations at the Davis Library

I have been spending a lot of time lately doing work (mostly internship search related work) at the Davis Library. Davis is on main campus right by the Pit. This is exam week for the entire university and the place is swarming with undergrads. I am amazed at how many times I look at an undergrad’s laptop screen and see either Facebook or AIM.

 

This reminds me of a conversation I had in college about ten years ago with a bunch of guys from my dorm. The conversation turned to new technologies and someone said that “investors” (I am sure by that term he really meant venture capitalists, although none of us were aware of that term yet) were beginning to look at the usage habits of college students to determine what the next “big” technology was going to be.

 

A good example is AIM. When I was in college, I had never heard of it. Sometime around fall of the year I graduated, I received my first IM from a college buddy of mine who went on to graduate school. I was so unfamiliar with it that I thought my AOL account had been hacked once again. During the next four years, AIM gained popularity mostly among college students with each year’s graduating class leaving its campuses only to continue using AIM to communicate. We are now at a point where almost everyone thirty or under has an AIM (or equivalent) account.

 

Could Facebook be next? It is already the fifth most heavily trafficked site. I first signed up in November but didn’t start to really use it until around February when I discovered that a ton of my classmates are on it. Facebook now allows networks to be created based on office email domains. I believe that just as AIM redefined the way people, starting with college students, communicate in the late 90s, Facebook is the mid 00’s (have we agreed on a name for this decade yet?) equivalent of this “killer app.”

 

I had blogged last week about the joys of academia. This is something else that’s unique about being on a college campus, you get to observe trends and fads and where technology is taking us.

Say hello and goodbye to the second year(s)

The hardest class I have taken at Kenan-Flagler to date ended five hours ago when I handed in my final exam for managerial accounting. Judging from the number of students who left the room early, either the final was not as hard as the midterm was or they were really sick of looking at income variance and activity based costing.

This marks the unofficial end of my first year in the MBA program. I have an integrative exercise, something which hopefully I will get to blog about later this week, on Thursday and Friday. The first year will official end sometime in June when I hand in my response paper to my trip to India. After that I can start calling myself a second year, regardless of whether I have a summer internship or not.

Speaking of second years, they will start trickling out of Chapel Hill sometime after the last exam on Wednesday for “beach week.” I commented last year that whenever I transition from one phase to the next (ie graduating from college, leaving a workplace) the group that I always miss the most are the people that I knew well enough to do a quick “stop and chat” with, yet I did not know them well enough to go out of my way to make plans with. There are a couple of second years who are in this category. I very much would like to say goodbye to them in person before they leave but realistically I may have to settle for sending them a “best of luck, keep in touch” email since they will have permanently left by the time I return from India and during this past year I did not have the chance to get to know them well enough to feel comfortable about calling to say goodbye.