Post MBA: Week Six Mini Update

It’s now been exactly six weeks since the graduation ceremony that was held at the Sheldonian and I think it’s a good time to give a mini update on where things stand.

Housing

If you are planning to stay back and look for jobs after graduation, your first dilemma will center around your post graduation location i.e Oxford or London. There are pros and cons to either location and you should make the decision based on your situation. My initial impulse was to stick around in Oxford as it would have been much more convenient to move my things to another location in Oxford. Furthermore, I would have been able to use the library and other facilities in the business school. However, I found that it was really difficult to find short term housing in Oxford, and I reluctantly abandoned my plans to stay there.

I eventually wound up moving to South London with three of my classmates. London is more expensive than Oxford but it does have a few advantages. Oxford is very different from the outside world and after a year there, you can find yourself in a bubble. Moving to London in some ways feels like moving back into the real world and this can be useful in the job search process. I am also able to attend events and network with product managers in London by attending Meetups and I do not think it would have been as easy if I did not live here. The last reason may seem trivial, but it’s also an opportunity to live in London for a while and experience what the city has to offer.

I would say that in terms of numbers, approximately 20 students from my class chose to stay back in Oxford, while around 50 or so moved to London. The London numbers also include those who found work and hence moved there to begin their jobs.

Job Hunting

In the past six weeks, I have had three job interviews. One did not lead to an offer, while I am still in the interview process and waiting to hear back from the other two. The visa issue is frustrating as there have been three other companies in the UK that wanted to interview me but could not as they would have been unable to sponsor my work visa. I have had pretty good results applying to technology companies in Berlin. This is probably very specific advice to those looking to work at technology companies, but as Berlin is trying to establish itself as a hub for technological entrepreneurship in Europe, there do seem to be some opportunities there.

I have been speaking to my Indian classmates who are here looking for jobs and the good news is that many seems to be getting invitations to interview and are hopeful of receiving job offers. The economic climate has improved and things do seem to be better for our class than the batch before us. However, it is also true that a few have left and returned to India as they did not feel that their prospects were good. The standard for most business schools is to report the employment numbers three months after graduation. Hence I think it would be premature to pass judgement until then. I will give a jobs update in mid December and hopefully a clearer picture will emerge.