FOMO of an MSxer

FOMO. Sounds like the name of a Greek goddess from Olympus. Athena, Aphrodite, Leto, Hera… FOMO. She could easily be the goddess of the Hades underworld. Beautiful, insidious and irresistible — spreading the Fear Of Missed Opportunities.

We met her under particularly dire circumstances. The start of our program was delayed from last July to January. We came together as the pandemic flared anew and faced numerous limitations: full Zoom experience, social distancing, masks, even households were not allowed. Ten percent of our classmates didn’t arrive on campus due to travel limitations. And we were not allowed to take any Winter electives as we were doing our core curriculum. It was the perfect environment for FOMO.

But we MSxers have our ways to keep this goddess at bay.

The many faces of FOMO

Every one of us has a personal FOMO, but there are three main shapes she takes: academic, professional and social.

Academic FOMO

“Paths to Power is a really good course,” says one of my classmates. In this very moment I see the face of FOMO appearing behind his back and whispering “Take 22 credits next quarter and audit two more courses.” Many of our classmates fell into this dangerous trap. The majority claims now “never again,” but we also know how FOMO makes us uncontrollably press “enroll” button multiple times during the registration window.

The fact that our program is almost twice as short as an MBA one makes the academic FOMO very popular among the MSxers. This year the painful disappointment of not being able to take any of the great Winter electives made it even stronger.

We came up with an idea to solve it. An individual can’t take all the great courses at the GSB. But we as a class can. Next quarter, we are organizing sessions where classmates can share their key takeaways from the best courses they attended. Cool thing for everybody: the presenters can structure their learning, the rest of the class benefits from the collective wisdom.

Professional FOMO

During a CMC workshop in the beginning of May a classmate mentioned that she had her first interview scheduled for next week. This small comment sparked a huge FOMO bonfire. “OMG, she is already interviewing and I have even not updated my resume or searched for vacancies on LinkedIn. I will end up with no job offers by the end of the year!”

There are a lot of MSx peculiarities that make our professional FOMO different from that of MBAs. We are mid-career professionals with 12 years of career experience on average.

Because of the seniority of the positions we are targeting, our recruitment cycle is less structured than the one MBAs are used to. Finding a high-level position also takes more time. It is especially true for those of us who came here to pivot — geography, industry, job profile. The pandemic added one more challenge to this already complicated situation: we will graduate in December — the low season for recruitment.

It sounds scary but we as a cohort have strengths to leverage. We can use each other’s networks. Look at us — as a class we represent almost all industries, job profiles and dozens of geographies. We worked at top companies and have connections there. We can introduce each other to potential employers, share what it means to work in other industries and give tips for how to get into a certain company. We underestimate this strength and need to use it more.

It is important that we as a class know each other’s aspirations. So we must talk openly to each other and formulate clearly what we are looking for.

Social FOMO

“Should I go to Las Vegas for the night and take the redeye back? I won’t enjoy it, I will just be tired.” But FOMO whispers in your ear.

“I have my family commitments and want to spend time with my spouse and kids. But there is another social event going on which I will have to miss again.”

Networking, networking, networking! That’s what we’ve heard from the first day at the GSB. Easier said than done in the middle of the pandemic when you only see people on Zoom. With restrictions, we started to meet in smaller groups. It automatically created a feeling of exclusiveness. When you can’t invite everybody in the cohort, you have to be selective. And it is painful for both sides — those who are selected and those who are not. In the middle of Spring quarter, we as a group reached a crisis.

The good thing about crisis? It helps generate solutions. So, now we have a recurring Friday invitation where everyone can come with families, play games, have a chat and just enjoy the Spring vibe. It is inclusive and it is set, so everyone can plan for it. We use it also for special occasions like meeting the MSxers from previous years.

In conclusion — #NoSloanLeftBehind

We have just one year at the GSB, and not a typical one. I hear my classmates saying “time flies” very often. These are the favorite words of FOMO. I feel, however, that we as a class have one powerful tool to fight her.

There is a beautiful motto passed from one MSx cohort to another — No Sloan Left Behind. We should use it to its maximum — share academic insights, bring together our pre-GSB networks, be inclusive and accepting in social events.

If we truly have each other’s backs, we as a cohort can weaken that FOMO goddess.