The Spring (MBA) Recruiting Mindset
Originally published on March 11, 2019 at www.linkedin.com.
One of the defining features of a career in education is the cyclical nature of the work. Whether you’re a schoolteacher, a college professor, or a university administrator (like me), you become attuned to the seasons and the recurring challenges and opportunities that come with them. Former NYU President John Sexton spoke about this a few years ago at LAUNCH (Stern’s full-time MBA orientation). I remember him saying that in his view, those of us who work in education are always moving in a kind of circle through the seasons, while students are essentially moving in a straight line.
In my experience, when the straight line meets the circle, the difficulty lies in managing students’ expectations and helping them cope with the uncertainty that accompanies the academic seasons. This is particularly true when it comes to MBA career development, and it is up to those of us who have experienced the cycle to help students prepare and adjust as needed when things don’t go as planned.
A case in point is the spring semester, when many of our students are looking to rebound from an on-campus recruiting season that did not go as planned. This is arguably the hardest time of year for the MBA career coaching team. After weeks of preparation, some of our students receive the disappointing news that they will not be receiving an offer from their target firm(s), and they come to us for guidance. We reassure students that the spring semester will bring a fresh abundance of opportunities, and we tell them that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with them as candidates. The truth is that when you are surrounded by dozens of talented classmates and interviewing at firms with limited spaces, the math doesn’t always work out in your favor. Put simply: rejection stinks.
Over the years, I have seen countless students experience this rejection and go on to obtain fantastic internship and post-graduation opportunities, but this is much easier said than done. And, going back to my previous point about the academic cycle, our students have simply not traveled around this circle before. From their linear vantage point, I can understand why things seem so bleak.
Given all of this, the purpose of this piece is to describe the mindset that is required for successful spring/summer MBA recruiting. This is especially relevant for full-time MBA students, though I hope it is interesting for those beyond the full-time MBA realm. Also, I should note that the tips below are great for students who have NOT participated in on-campus recruiting, and who have been waiting patiently all along for the spring semester (when their target companies/industries tend to hire) to begin.
To be successful in the spring, you must:
1) Be proactive. Students who have taken part in (or at least witnessed) on-campus recruiting often grow accustomed to the highly orchestrated corporate presentations, club events, and coffee chats that come with the fall and winter seasons. In industries like consulting, consumer products, financial services, and, increasingly, technology, companies invest heavily in campus recruiting and can afford to make job offers months in advance. The spring semester, on the other hand, is characterized by a less structured recruitment process, as the MBA recruiting behemoths are replaced by companies that recruit comparatively fewer MBAs and conduct their hiring on a “just-in-time” basis. The Office of Career Development continues to send out resumes, bring in job postings, and organize on-campus events in earnest during the spring semester, but the difference is that companies are generally no longer coming to find you; you have to make yourself known to them.
This means that students who are proactive and get themselves out of the building (literally and figuratively) will reap the greatest rewards in the spring semester. This includes networking and attending events, of course, but it also means taking a close look at how you are portraying yourself online. What are you saying about yourself on LinkedIn, for example? Hiring managers, alumni, friends-of-friends, and whomever else you are contacting will almost definitely look you up online before they agree to meet with you, so it is important that you have an active and updated online presence that succinctly captures your strengths, accomplishments, and interests.
Another part of being proactive is positioning yourself for opportunities before they are officially available. I have seen students achieve success by applying for jobs as they are posted (reactive), but it is even better if you have done your homework and established a relationship with someone at your target company before the position appears on any job board (proactive).
2) Be flexible. In the spring, as I mentioned above, job opportunities are abundant. Companies in the tech, luxury/retail, entertainment & media, and not-for-profit spaces are especially active in the spring, but even in banking and consulting, there are boutique and specialized firms that conduct their recruiting later in the year. However, as I outlined in a previous article, Stepping Stones in Your Career, students may benefit from thinking of spring semester recruiting as a chance to find a position that is an intermediate step toward a longer-term goal. Jon and Evelyn, the students I profiled in that article, were successful because they utilized their prior industry and functional skills (respectively) to find stepping stone positions that positioned them for their longer-term goals. [Editor’s Note: Evelyn and Jon have both made additional transitions even since I published that piece.]
Being flexible could mean expanding your scope to an additional industry (or two) beyond your original target industry, without necessarily compromising on your target job function. Someone targeting a brand management role in consumer products might now seek a marketing role in technology or retail, for example. On the other hand, you could stay true to the industry you were targeting at the outset of your MBA, but consider expanding your functional scope. A student who originally sought opportunities in tech product management might instead consider a product marketing or operations role in the tech industry.
Finally, flexibility could mean expanding your target geography and looking for opportunities elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world. I met with a student recently who was looking for internships strictly in the New York City area, as she wants to be here after graduation. However, when it comes to the summer internship, having an open mind and being willing to move to another city for 10–12 weeks can result in a vastly increased set of opportunities from which to choose.
3) Stay positive. Above all else, my advice to students embarking on a spring or summer job search is to stay positive. A couple of my previous articles addressed the importance of positivity, including bringing humanity to your job search and taking care of the fundamentals, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to maintain an optimistic mindset when life gets stressful as a student. I know this because I had my own struggles with stress and negativity when I was a master’s student (and doctoral student more recently). Luckily, there are resources-and real human beings, including career coaches, administrators, professors, friends, and wellness professionals-to help you maintain an optimistic outlook during your job search. It’s not easy to ask for help, but the most successful students are those who tap into the support available to them. When you look around and realize how many people are dedicated to your success, you may find that recruiting becomes easier to embrace.
Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave comments. In the meantime, bring on the spring!
