Graduate Student Blog

Networking

Post By Juan Estrada, International MBA candidate.

I continue to write about job search related subject as this is my top priority this semester. Last semester I focused on raising my GPA and didn’t do much more related to looking for a job than attending the NSHMBA conference in Chicago and interviewing with a couple of companies.

This final semester I am spending just enough energy on keeping up with my courses. They are a little less demanding and more qualitative oriented than the courses in previous semesters, which helps. Plus, I feel I’m forward in the learning curve, I spend half the time I used to at the beginning of the MBA reading and analyzing a case and I am able contribute just as much during class. Most of my energy I am spending building up a network. Following the advice of a speaker that was brought to school by the Feld Career Center, Dan Beaudry, author of “Power Ties” (a guidebook on job search strategies for international students in the US), I am looking for a job through this method instead of the traditional, direct approach of filling out internet applications and the upfront “I’m interested in applying to position X at your company” at career fairs.

As explained by Mr. Beaudry, the traditional approach always goes through the Human Resources department, which he explains (and I have experienced it) is not anywhere close to being an international student’s best friend. They are not to blame; their job is to deal with company policies and human capital. Policies and standards require criteria to filter candidates and very common criterion is to avoid the hassle and the cost of sponsoring an international student for a work visa. Perfectly understandable, but it doesn’t help me. Plus, he estimates (don’t ask me how), that only 20% of jobs and open positions get posted through the traditional channels. The remaining 80% are filled through word of mouth and personal acquaintances. It’s cheaper for a company to rely on one of its manager’s recommendation or instruction to fill out a position with someone he knows than the costly and lengthy process of screening and interviewing candidates. He recommends international students to pursue the constructions of relationships and networks of people that will keep you in mind when they come to need to fill out a position, and most importantly, of people who have the power to do so (regardless of the HR policy- so managers and high level executives).

I decided then to attend conferences and career fairs from a different angle. I don’t ask for open positions or jobs but instead I look up the companies beforehand, find a concise reason to justify my interest for them and ask the recruiter for 10 minutes of their time for a meeting in person some other day. This got me five contacts at companies I have an interest for at the last Harvard Healthcare conference. Three of them actually got back to me and two have kept in touch. One I already met in person (for almost an hour), and he provided me with a list of companies similar in size and industry, a referral to the recruiting manager and personalized tips for future interviews. It’s not a job, but it is certainly much more useful than the “Thanks for applying” the computer displays when you submit an application online.

Additionally, I have let a lot of the people I work with and go or went to class with in the past that I am looking for a job in the life sciences industry. At least five good contacts and a couple more informational interviews (also over half an hour) have emerged from people who know people and who have been willing to help.

The process doesn’t necessarily go fast but it is certainly much more dynamic, didactic and in parallel than the traditional approach. When a lead or an application doesn’t turn out to become a job it doesn’t get to you because you have a bunch of remaining leads on the works. Slowly but surely, and hopefully, one of these leads will land me the job I am looking for.

Winter Break – Finding Clarity

Post by:

Juan J Estrada
International MBA 2011

Winter break commitments are hard to keep. During my break I intended to read a book on case interviews and search for and apply to jobs every day. But then I was at home with my family, with good friends, good food, good 80 degree weather, and a beach for New Year’s Eve. And I just didn’t feel like looking for a job or keeping track of school anymore. I wanted to actually break apart from it all during the break.

By the beginning of January I had some remorse about having bummed out for so long. It didn’t seem like the way to compete, and not competing in this business track of life I chose can be a hazard. But on the other hand, I got to recover a lot of energy and enthusiasm during that time, no longer feeling worn out and instead having a strong desire to take over the new semester.

This made the way I took on my break more than worth it. Mentally disconnecting yourself from a subject allows you to recover from your tiredness from it and take on the challenge in a better way. One usually thinks one can do lots of things at the same time. Vacation and work, take a break and look for a job, do homework and chat online. But then it seems like you never really get to unplug yourself from anything. Everything ends up running constantly. Personally, I try multitasking all the time. It’s harder for me to not do it, even being aware that everything would be easier if I actually didn’t.

So to reinforce the feeling that what happened during the break was actually a positive thing, I came across a good article by a guy from West Point. If you have time you should actually read the entire thing. The author kind of has a military tone, which you may like, or not, but he definitely makes several good points. After referring to a research study by Stanford University on multitasking, the author elaborates:

“Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. Not learning other people’s ideas, or memorizing a body of information, however much those may sometimes be useful. Developing your own ideas. In short, thinking for yourself. You simply cannot do that in bursts of 20 seconds at a time, constantly interrupted by Facebook messages or Twitter tweets, or fiddling with your iPod, or watching something on YouTube[1].”

Coming back, I all of a sudden happen to know exactly what position I want when I graduate. And what my plan B is. This clarity was not there last semester, and I highly doubt I would have gotten it without having pulled away from school. Thus the importance of time and temporary isolation from work, school, or whatever it may be. So now, back to school, work, and the white, cozy, beautiful Boston weather.

[1] http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

About the author:

Juan is a first year International MBA student. Before coming to BU he worked coordinating a project on the development of a medical device in Madrid, Spain. Through this European Commission sponsored project, Juan had the opportunity to immerse in a variety of European cultures both in professional/organizational and in social terms. Prior to his experience, Juan had obtained a Biomedical Engineering bachelors at Georgia Tech, in Atlanta. Having grown up in Colombia, Juan enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with tropical ingredients, dancing -specially Latin music- and keeping up with the news and what is going on in the world.