Finding jobs through your classmates
The single biggest resource available to MBA students is their fellow classmates. No matter which business school you go to, your class will consist of people with amazingly different backgrounds, skills and experiences. If you are 250 students in a class who on average worked four years before the MBA, your class represents a total of one THOUSAND years of industry experience. What that translates to is that no matter what you are looking to do or find – no matter how obscure the industry – chances are that at least one of your fellow students can help you. All you need to do is ask.
The surprising thing is how often we forget this. In my MBA, people had a natural tendency to think that job hunting was something you did with people outside the school. On the class mailing list, we would not hesitate to spam each other asking for advice on where to buy a good bicycle, but it was quite rare that people sent out a mass email asking if someone was familiar with this or that industry or field.
The truth of this really hit me during one of our entrepreneurship classes, where the professor had invited a business angel into the class. At some point during his presentation, we talked about elevator pitches – making a coherent 30-second presentation of your business idea. He asked, “So, is there anybody in here who can try to explain me their business idea?”
We were maybe 35 people in the class. One of our classmates, Jeremy, volunteered and did a decent job of it. He had an idea about making educational toys for preschoolers. First, the presenter gave Jeremy some brief feedback on his pitch. Then, he said, “Now, I’m gonna ask something interesting. Is there anybody in this classroom who knows anything about the toy industry?”
At that point, the guy who sat right next to Jeremy put up his hand and said, “Well, yes, my parents own a toy manufacturing company. I could probably help you get a prototype built.”
We looked at each other with wide eyes. Jeremy hadn’t known this, and if it hadn’t been for the presentation, he would probably never have found out. The guest speaker had made his point: if you are looking for something, you often don’t need to look any further than the person sitting next to you.
The learning point is this: don’t eat lunch with the same crew every day. Instead, get to know your classmates. Don’t always talk about yesterday’s accounting class. Tell people about your dreams and desires, and ask them about theirs. Get into the habit of asking yourself, can I help this person to reach his goals? Surprisingly often, you can; maybe it is just a question of making the connection to another student with the same interests. Make a habit of talking to new people on occasion. It is amazing what will happen if you do.
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