The Internship..

I thought I'd elaborate on my last post... because it was somewhat vague, and because I really cannot bring myself to start the Business Analytics & Modeling case that's due on Monday quite yet.

So, to bring us up to speed... Last semester I decided pretty firmly that I wanted to give consulting a shot. (Any unsureness was only just my fear of not getting a consulting offer.) I spent the majority of the winter break preparing for consulting interviews.  Pretty much as soon as we got back from Colorado, I was hitting the books. Consulting case prep books, that is. And practicing. I had my dream team of Rishi, James, Jeremy, and Quentin... and throughout the break I met one of them pretty much every day leading up to interviews in order to practice. 

Why so much work prepping for consulting case interviews, you ask? Because they are HARD! Here, take a look at a few examples: Deloitte, BCG, and Booz. The part that most freaked me out was the fact that you have to do math without a calculator. Have you tried doing math without punching numbers into excel lately? Yikes. I needed some work. But beyond that, there are the frameworks, structures, questions, etc... that all go into the case interview. It's not easy. (I mentioned that, right?)

So anyway, I had 4 consulting interviews lined up the week before school started.  The first one - with BCG - was really fun, with interesting cases and good conversations. However, I was 100% positive I bombed the interviews due to my lack of quantitative pro-activeness. (Yes that's a term. Yes I made it up just now.) I was so sure in fact that I GAVE AWAY my case prep books once it was done.  The next day I interviewed with Deloitte, and 100% bombed the case. It was all financial, and I felt like I just wanted to run out of the room. Finally, on Friday I interviewed with PwC in the morning and Booz in the afternoon. By the time I hit my fourth company, I was feeling far more relaxed and ready.  I heard back from Booz the next day that I was invited to final rounds. I was stoked.

Then came the following Wednesday, when we were supposed to hear yes or no from BCG. I hate to admit it, but due to my perceived poor case performances, I had written them off. So you can imagine my complete surprise when I was invited to interview for second rounds. In two days. In Dallas. Yay! Gulp! Wait, I already gave my case book away! Oops! I did a practice case on the phone the next evening and it was painful. My brain just wasn't clicking and it got me completely frazzled. But, I figured, I'm lucky to have gotten this far - I'm just going to go and have fun.

So... I did. I love the BCG Dallas office. The office is spectacular, the people are cool, and frankly - the firm is one of the best. I had three back-to-back interviews, and I treated each one like a fun conversation with a new friend. I left feeling like I had given it my everything and was proud of my performance. I didn't have a feeling of whether or not I was successful (and clearly my read of these situations isn't the best) but I felt honored to have had the opportunity. Besides, I was doing second rounds with Booz the next Friday and I loved them equally too. I was in a good spot.

Fast forward to Saturday night at 6:42pm - yes, I remember exactly the time ;) - I get a call from a 214 number. I recognize it as a contact from BCG, and answer immediately. The conversation went like this.

"Hey Erin... What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Well, I'm heading to Target and then to Red Box to get a movie, but that's it. Why are you working on a Saturday night?"
"I'm not, don't worry. But I think you need to come up with something better to do tonight."
"I know, I'm kind of lame."
"Well, yeah. But seriously, is that really the way you want to go celebrate?"
Silence.
More silence...
"What?"
"Erin, you got the internship. Welcome to the team. Now go out and celebrate!"
E starts crying.
"Is it totally unprofessional that I'm crying right now?!"
"Haha, no. But seriously, go celebrate. We'll be in touch."

And so it was. To skip over and wrap up a somewhat long and complicated-only-to-me story, I submitted my acceptance letter yesterday and am getting a ton of "welcome to BCG!" emails tonight. I'm officially going to work in Dallas this summer and try my hand at consulting.

If only I had known this would happen last semester, I would have been 100x less stressed and neurotic. However, perhaps that helped me get to where I am now.  It probably did.

My internship is wrapped up. Now I just have to focus on schoolwork, my India global trip, some practicum projects, Marketing Fellows, and so much more. Then in June I will head to Dallas to take on a new adventure. This MBA thing is working out after all.

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive along the way. It has meant the world to me! :)

The Update...

Getting into Texas was great, but it pails in comparison to getting an internship offer from one of the top consulting firms in the world. 

Mission accomplished. :)

India Blog

I have to maintain two blogs for two classes this semester.  One of which is my thoughts on India - since I will be visiting for two weeks in March! I'm over at blogspot again, with a title "erinandindia." There's not much to it yet, but hopefully it will soon be filled with amazing insights and experiences!

School update coming soon...

Parameters

There comes a time when you have to say: "I have done the best I can given the parameters I am willing to work within."

I believe I'm there with at least one recent all-consuming part of my life. And here we go!

*sigh*

hi friends!

i miss you guys.

just wanted to say that.

October Photo Updates...

So... my blogging has been less than stellar lately. What can I say, I've been busy! I figured pictures are better than nothing. So... thanks to the amazing skills of my Samsung Epic camera, here we go.

First we have the Consulting Case Challenge, which is an overnight challenge wrapped around a business case.  In other words, you get a case at 7pm, work on it nonstop until 7am, and then give a presentation some time between 8am and noon, hoping not to let your lack of sleep and delirium overshadow what you've just worked on the past 12 hours. Below are pictures of my team at 3:00am & at 8:30am. We didn't win, but it was a fantastic experience. :)

Next we have the marketing trek to Dallas, where we visited the headquarters of Dr. Pepper Snapple, Yum! Brands, and Frito Lay. I wrote more about that here. Below we have my friend Arun and me at... well... I think you can figure it out. :)

But wait, there's more. I competed in two case challenges last week. The first, a Finance Challenge, started on Monday and ended on Friday. I was honored to be asked to be a teammate, considering my financial analysis skills are... ummm.... anyway. So, that was a whole lot of fun, and I really enjoyed my time with Yifan & Arpit.

Meanwhile, I had a case challenge for GE, in which my buddies Angie & Praveen & I came up with a program to generate sales of electric vehicles by college graduates. (This was much more up my alley!) The coolest part is that we presented the case to GE's chief marketing officer, and she selected our presentation as the best. A win!! (Finally!) Here we are...

Lastly, I've been trying to come up with a way to do some good at school rather than be so self-focused. So, I finally launched a speaking/communication group for my friends from Korea, Japan, Thailand, and China. We had our first meeting this morning and plan to keep going each week. The word has spread and we're already gaining members! :)

So, that's what I've been up to, school-wise. I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to see Sarah Silverman & Friends at the Paramount, I've decided I'm going to run the 3M Half Marathon, and Joe has invited my parents to come spend Thanksgiving with us.

Things are looking better in my world, I'm glad to say. And... I'll be all done with this semester in one month+three days anyway. Then I'll wonder what to do with myself! (I'm taking requests now!)

A Letter To Myself.

Dear Erin,
To start, congratulations on receiving your MBA! I know that there was a time during late October your first year that you were questioning your decision to go back to school. Way to stick with it, though. In the end, it was the best decision for you, and now you are all the better for it.

Remember when you had that horrible week where everything seemed to go wrong? You ran for positions and lost; you were less than enthusiastic about your grades; you were rejected from two interviews; you fell out of a chair in front of all your classmates; your bottle of water exploded on your laptop and killed it after doing 8 hours of homework; you had breakdowns, got better, and had more breakdowns; and then when Monday came around again, it just didn't seem any better.

But you got through it. You took advantage of being in classes where you already had previous knowledge; you realized the jobs you didn't get weren't ones meant for you anyway; you appreciated your friends and boyfriend and found endless support from them; you realized that one closed door meant you were closer to the one you were meant to walk through; and you realized that grades aren't everything and that the experience is what mattered.

I hope you look back at that time period and feel proud that you made it through, and you realize how far you've come. There will always be bad days and bad weeks, but you always persevere.  Don't forget that.

Full Circle

Tomorrow I start a new quarter-semester of classes.  Microeconomics, Marketing, Analysis of Markets, and Operations. Here's what's ironic.

When I was contemplating getting my MBA, I went and sat in on an Operations class. I took more notes than the students did. I kept thinking, "Wow! I could have used this with GMW! How cool!"

Well, tomorrow at 8:00am I will start that exact same class. Same professor & same classroom, even. Full circle, I tell you!

By the way, I survived finals. I don't believe my grades in finance or accounting will actually resemble the amount of knowledge I have accumulated in the subjects, but I am okay with that. (Hopefully recruiters will be too.) As of now, I only know my economics grade and I will say that I was pleasantly surprised... i.e. jumping around the house with glee. Statistics is a toss-up - we'll see! I certainly GET IT, but it will just depend on if I performed better on the test than my classmates. 

But overall, the first semester was a blast. Oh... I also was selected for the Marketing Fellows, which I start tomorrow as well! Good stuff....

On the agenda for Q2 - career fair this weekend, consulting case challenge, finance case challenge*, marketing case challenge, projects, clubs, running for officer positions, Dallas marketing trek, interview preps, internship searches, Brief & Meets...

Phew.... 8 more weeks and finals start all over again!

Lists!

I've come so close to crossing off everything on my to-do list for this quarter!!!! :) I know you guys are super jealous. But don't worry, there will be another one of these next quarter - so if you want to share in the fun, you know where to find me!

Checking In....

... or Procrasinating. Either way...

Tomorrow starts the last week of my first quarter of classes. Then come finals. Then it all starts over again on October 10th. Seriously, where did the first half 1st term go?  As I was explaining my plans for the upcoming week, my mom commented "I didn't realize this MBA thing was going to take over your life." Hahahaha.... I did!

So, before I take my finals and skew my thoughts on the past 1.5 months of school, I want to say a few things.
1) I am SO HAPPY that I decided to get my MBA. While I often wonder what took me so long, I also appreciate my past experiences when trying to relate what I've learned and understand why it is important. I'm also SO HAPPY I am getting my MBA at Texas. It is 100% where I need to be.
2) I do not like tests. Not one bit.They send me into a massive downward hate spiral of doom.
3) Before I thought I wanted to be a consultant, I was living easy street because most marketing positions don't require GPAs. But not consultants - they want to know everything. UGH. That being said, I will try my  hardest to get a consulting internship (especially with a few of my favorite firms), but if it doesn't work out, then I also know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE marketing too, and I would be equally happy working in a marketing position again.
4) I am meeting some ridiculously cool people. My facebook friend list has grown by nearly 200 people. I sadly don't get to see my old friends hardly at all, but at least the people I do see every day are great. (Old friends... I shall be free after 2nd quarter finals mid December!)
5) I often think "I could never go back to my previous job." It's strange to think that something so natural for me is not even an option anymore. I miss the people, but I certainly don't miss the job.
6) Joe is insanely patient with me. I've been the lamest girlfriend ever, but he never says a thing. Well he does say "E better be nice to E" a lot, but that's another story...
7) There isn't enough time in the day. I was feeling like there was all the time in the world on Friday, but now that it's Sunday night I'm starting to mildly panic again.
8) My favorite events so far are the networking events. If only they gave out grades for networking - I'd be a 4.0 student.  
9) Speaking of networking. At a career fair last week, I met someone who is married to a girl who knew me... because she was a freshman in BBYO when I was a senior, and I planned her intake convention.  I felt really old when I heard that.  To think he may have a say in whether I get a job, too.
10) Even though I'm stressed out a lot, and I am harder on myself than I have been in a long time, I'm still having the best time of my life. When I actually stop and realize that, I can't help but realize that everything is going to be okay.

So... with that, I am going to do a few more housekeeping things and get back to studying. 

MBA Update....

*Borrowing from the MBA Student Blog*

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the “Dallas Consulting Trek” put on by Career Management. (I was lucky since I was the last one off the waitlist who got to attend – this was a popular choice trek!)

The details:

• 40 first-year MBAs make their way to Dallas to visit with 5 of the country’s top consulting companies
• Thursday night: Welcoming reception with the consulting team of PwC
• Friday: Wheels down (via a giant bus) at 7:15, where we headed to Bain & Company for breakfast, a presentation, and an office tour.  Next stop: Booz & Company for a presentation and office tour, complete with soaring views of downtown Dallas. Next stop: Boston Consulting Group for lunch, a presentation, and rotating roundtable discussions with their team.  Last stop: Deloitte Consulting for happy hour and an energetic group discussion. Final bus unload at 6:30pm.

By Friday night, I was exhausted.  The nonstop networking and information flow was intense! At the same time, I felt very excited because I found the companies so interesting… and places I could see myself working at.  The differences in each office were evident, and yet I liked aspects of all of them. I was most impressed with the caliber of people we interacted with – talk about SMART PEOPLE!

The timing was great for another reason, because on Saturday I received my MBA+ project offers. I decided to go with a marketing strategy project for Booz & Company – which was made even more exciting since I had just met my project contacts the previous day.

I’m constantly impressed with the opportunities that Career Management provides. In addition to our one hour weekly class where we are taught everything from research to resume writing to networking… They put on events like this so we can see first-hand what it’s like to work in a particular industry and at a particular company.

 

Laura, Sarah & me at Booz & Company

Back up for air...

I made it through midterms.  By "made it" I mean, I took them. Without going in to too much detail, I will offer up that one for question for my finance midterm, I answered with a drawn out sad face. Think I'll get partial credit for humor? (i.e. desperation?)

Luckily midterms are behind me, and I won't have to think about tests for another, oh, three weeks! Just projects, papers, studying, homework, interviewing, resumes, clubs, etc...  I'm not complaining, I promise. I'm getting my money's worth!! I just have to keep this in perspective... My former career was not based in finance, accounting, statistics, or economics. Bring on 2nd term courses! Marketing, my eye is on you!!

I was hoping to have something more interesting to say when I started this, but I think my brain is still fried.  Carry on!