One month out

It was one month ago today that I officially received my MBA degree, this is a good point for me to give an update on my job search. As mentioned earlier, I traveled down to Atlanta for an interview for a position at the internet division of a cable television network and an informational interview at an internet company. I have yet to hear back from the cable television network. I figured this most likely means that the position has been offered to someone else and the company wants to wait for this person to accept before officially informing me that I have been rejected. However, I emailed someone in that company’s human resources last week and got a reply from the director (the UVA grad whom I had the initial phone interview with and whom I interviewed with again in Atlanta) telling me that a decision has not been made yet and that she has been having a tough time interviewing all the candidates because of everyone’s vacation schedules.

 

Right before leaving Atlanta, I had one informational interview with a product manager at the internet company. The purpose of an informational interview is not to apply for a specific (or even an existing) position but to express interest in the company and to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry. I think I did that quite thoroughly. I talked about some of the areas that I think the company should either go into or be weary about and the manager told me that one of the points that I brought up was something that has recently been discussed at a meeting. He told me one of his products was that company’s Internet Explorer toolbar and just two days earlier when I was interviewing at the cable television network, I learned that the television network’s desktop software served as a distributor for that toolbar. I casually brought that up just to impress him on my familiarity with his toolbar and he said “oh yea I talk to (name of cable television network) every week.” I then asked if he knew the name of a particular product manager at the television network and he said “I talked to him just today, how do you know him?” I then tried my best to not smile and revealed that he had interviewed me on that Wednesday. We then talked about that television network’s online products and what we thought about it.

 

That internet company’s recruiter had wanted me to meet with two to three other people for informational interviews. Sadly those have not taken place yet. But I have been making progress. I reached out to that company’s CEO, a Kenan-Flagler MBA alum, and he’s been supportive. I also had a random encounter with a Kenan-Flagler professor at the Southpoint Mall Barnes and Nobles on Memorial Day and when I emailed her a few days later about something she had asked me about, she wrote back and offered to introduce me to various contacts she has in the area. But sadly not every I have reached out to has been as responsive. There are two other companies I have been trying to network with. One is a cable television provider in Philadelphia and the other is a mobile phone content provider in Durham. I emailed Kenan-Flagler MBA alums in both companies last Friday and they have not replied yet.

 

The most challenging part of any job search is to stay positive. I have been doing a pretty good job with that until yesterday when I began to feel a bit discouraged. This morning I went out to have lunch with some people I know from church and then went to the Health Sciences Library where I emailed more alums. One of them is someone I found on the UNC General Alumni Association directory (this is not the Kenan-Flagler alumni directory and is available only to paid GAA members) and he responded within an hour and got me in touch with a recruiter at the Philadelphia cable television provider.