Well, RCs, it’s about that time. You have embarked on a journey that the second-year students are sick and tired of. Some of you are looking for a job; it’s quite noticeable from all of the people in Spangler project rooms last week past 5pm. (Cranberry was over a long time ago, so get real). I wish you all the best of luck with your job searches, but if things do not go the way you expect, DO NOT WORRY. You will be just fine, so there is no need to demand your money back from admissions (I already tried that).
I wanted to talk about the frustrations that a few of us have had to endure since we went down the path of begging for employment. After hell week was over, not everyone in my class was blessed with jobs from three banks, two consulting firms and four super-duper financial management companies. For those that did not, we were forced to endure the objections that came in varying form . . . “There were so many good candidates . . .” or “We appreciate your interest in X,” or whatever. I don’t know if I’d rather be patronized or just let down easily. Sometimes, I wish the people would have just called me the idiotic admissions mistake because after some of those consulting interviews, there was no euphemism on earth for my performance.
Some of us have seen it all. The worse is when you have to listen to the age-old line, “I am so stressed and I don’t know what to do.” After hearing that the first time, I felt compelled to speak up since misery enjoys company (i.e. I needed to know that I was not the only person wondering about a spot in front of the Harvard Square T-stop with my favorite cup). To my dismay, the stress had nothing to do with not having an offer, but instead, with having TOO MANY offers. This was a problem?!?!? “Oh whoa is me. I could be a consultant in New York or a banker in London. Then again, I also need to consider being a banker in New York or a consultant in London. I just don’t know . . .” No offense to all the super people out there; we are truly proud of you; however, please find someone that can empathize with you. For those of us who are now on a budget that makes McDonalds look like 5-star dining, we speak a different language. We are trying to think positively about this $100K debt we have in light of the fact that the possibilities from the Job Bank are getting slimmer and slimmer and slimmer . . .
To close, keep everything in perspective and remember that we all get jobs. Even I found a gig or two . . . in fact, I might be one of those people whining about a consulting here or a banking job there. If so, please be patient with me. It’s not that I am really losing sleep, I just want everybody to know my spot by the T-stop is now vacant.
