Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
External Opportunities & Getting the Jobs Most MBAs Miss
Donald Asher
Asher Associates(415) 543-7130
The Only Three Things You Need to Know
You get jobs by talking to peopleYou need 100 leads at all timesLook for work in channels
Watch for the pink bathrobe story
The Three Pillars of ‘B’ School
AcademicsConnectionsJob Search
Why to Network While a Student
You’re supposed to; it’s part of the educational process! It’s part of why you are in school!
Everybody loves a student The economy could get worse, especially this
year and next Career exploration now creates job leads later
This Is Easier than You Think…
You can call or email anybody and ask, “May I know the name of your MBA recruiter?” Undergrads would ask, “May I know the name of the person who hires new college graduates?”
Then, you email that person and ask,“How can I best get consideration by
your company? What are you most looking for?”
Respect Hiring Cycles!
1. How can I submit my resume, and when will you review them?
2. When do you expect to begin interviewing?
3. When do you expect initial offers might go out?
Stages of Job Search
1. Identify job targets (industry, function, title)
2. Identify raw leads (companies, people, ideas)
3. Identify names of specific people
4. Turn a name into an appointment
5. Sell in the interview
6. Stay alive through the selection process
7. Close the deal
The Four Dynamic Tensions…
JobSalaryLocationEffortIf one is really important, you have to be flexible on the others…
Where’s Your Next Job?
On campus interview cycle Self-directed search Your old employer
Don’t blink, because
There is NO other source
Everybody Needs a Back Channel
Top-half complacency It’s practice for the future Maximize benefit of your contacts The best students gain benefits from multiple
offers Nobody wants to come out without an offer
International?Directory of Foreign Firms
Operating in the United StatesDirectory of American Firms
Operating in Foreign Countries (3 vol. set)
www.goinglobal.com
Who Hires Internationals?
Anyone who wants one bad enough, especially for OPT, also
www.foreignmba.com H1Base.com bilingual-jobs.com H1visajobs.comAnd the U.S. DOL: http://ows.doleta.gov/foreign/about.asp http://www.flcdatacenter.com/casesearch.asp
The Guru
Mark B. Rhoads
Attorney at Law
Immigration Practice Group
McCandlish Holton
1111 East Main Street, Suite 1500
Post Office Box 796
Richmond, Virginia 23218-0796
804-775-3824
Internationals – How to Get Started
Same as everyone else: Alumni, Family, Friends, Faculty (more on this soon)
Call all your old countrymen and women who have ever lived in U.S.
Go to all the receptions and info sessions, even undergrad
Register on social networking spaces Find alumni from your home country
Why Multiple Channels
At most MBA programs, about half do not find internship through on-campus interviewing
Don’t fail to work multiple channels:– On campus– Self-developed external opportunities– Career fairs– Etc.
Top salary offer (by design) – bottom offer (by default)
Identifying a job target
Interest alone may not be enough, but… Friends can open doors that skills and
experience cannot Remember:
Recruiters are not paid to be creative
The Diamond of Success(But You Don’t Need to Go Obvious Until March)
C om p etito rs
C u s tom ers &C lien ts
Y ou r R ecen t E m p loyer& A ll A ffilia tes
V en tu re P artn ers &C on su ltan ts
S u p p lie rs & V en d ors
Want something new?
On campus interview cycle– Recruiters may accept raw skills and genuine interest– One of the only ways to get easy access to recruiters– Good practice anyway
Aggressive informational interviewing and self-directed search
– You find the right people and you get them to talk to you
Three to Five Goals
“Something to do with green business or exporting”
vs. “Broker for industrial-level recycling of post-
consumer electronics, as in container loads or larger, and global trade in such materials”
Undecided?
You cannot afford to leave this room without a direction…
Building Target Statements
IndustryFunctionTitle
Building Target Statements
Industry– Insurance– Commercial real estate– Electronic components manufacturing– Global commodities trading– Plastics extrusion
Industry is hardest to change, so do it first.
Building Target Statements
Function– Operations management – Logistics– Finance – IT & systems– E-Commerce leadership– Sales, marketing, business development
Building Target Statements
Title– CFO– CIO– VP Business Development– Pick a next job, rather than ultimate goal
Titles reveal you as an industry insider– Assistant Editor vs. Editorial Assistant
Building Target Statements
Industry Function Title Values Location Commute Dress Hours
Travel Autonomy Tele-work & flex-time Supervise New / Old / Large / Small Compensation Risk Opportunity / career path
Alignment Your goal must match your plan, your skillset,
your experiences, your personality, and the real world
The movie industry is in L.A. Broadway is in New York There are no part-time jobs for beginning
investment bankers And you can’t become a ballet dancer now…
Your Targets for This Year
for first years --Dream InternshipBackup Plan
you need 100+ iterations, which means you will be doing research
Where jobs come from
See the very sophisticated MBA diagramThe Stacey Factor2/3 are contingent (temporary, part-time,
or contract)You have to get ahead of the cycle
A Profound Difference
The Overt Job Market– Posted openings anywhere– Job seeker is not “first mover”
The Hidden Job Market– Jobs that are not yet posted anywhere– Job seeker is “first mover”
How Big Is The Hidden Job Market?
About half the people who are hired did not respond to a posted opening
So, about half the job market is the hidden job market
And only about 1/3 of jobs are posted online!
See “Sources of Hire”
Sources of External HireRank Source %
1 Employee Referrals* 25.6
2 Company Web Site? 20.7
3 Job Boards 12.3
4 Agency / HH / Temp-to-Hire* 7.1
5 Print / Media 6.9
6 Direct Sourcing (Internal Recruiting)* 6.4
7 Re-hires* 5.2
8 College Recruiting 3.8
9 Career Fairs? 2.7
10 Search Engine Ads 2.0
11 Walk Ins* 0.5
12 Other / Don’t Know 7.0
Why Is the HJM Preferred?
Biggest reason:
Less competition
The Stacey Factor
Where Jobs Come From
6 Sources of Job Leads
Networking Research Job Fairs Internet
Active Passive
Headhunters Newspapers
Networking
It’s about information, not power Types
– Hiring authorities– Direct referral sources– Centers of influence– Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudene
Don’t forget receptions and job fairs, one of the only places on the planet to meet a lot of recruiters easily
Research
Business library experts Industry directories & association lists Hoovers or zapdata or D&B (10+ million)
Chamber of Commerce State Department of Commerce Drive by Int’l students: see int’l student rep
You don’t have to do this on your own. Get some help!
Internet
Active works the same as research– Find companies in your area of interest– Research companies before any interview
Passive works in limited cases (more below)
– Post and hopeUse the career center lists!
The Problem w/ Job BB
Intensive competition, 250-to-1 is typical You have to be perfect Monster, CareerJournal.com and others like it Always running behind the cycle Secret: Trade press and specialty publications
still a great source
Headhunters
Find people for jobs, not jobs for people 1000+ is generally considered minimum effort Go to kennedyinfo.com or look at the Directory
of Executive Recruiters, aka “The Red Book” How to field and/or deflect a HH call Do NOT expect a recruiter to babysit you, give
you friendly advice, or help you find any job except one she has an open requisition for
Leave no stone unturned!
I.D. 50+ companies that are “right on,” and 100-200 “2nd Tier” companies, minimum!
On-campus interviews and search training Receptions and job fairs (Travel! It’s worth it!)
Alumni networking Post on all MBA web sites Plan holiday interviewing junkets Remember Uncle Bob & Aunt Claudene
Overheads on Breaking Down the Door
See your handouts…
Interview Rules
You will call and confirm the day before You will research the company before the
meeting You will arrive exactly 4 minutes early You will know the plan for the day You will look your best
Questions they’ll ask you
The Classics– Tell me about yourself…– Strengths, weaknesses, preferences– What would your former boss say about you?
Behavioral Interviewing Questions– Tell me about a time when….– What would you do if…?
Case Questions
Classic interviewing questions
Tell me about yourself….
Tell a short business story that leads to the inevitable conclusion that you are just now perfectly prepared to contribute to this company
Behavioral interviewing questions
Answer the question! Provide a specific example Tell a short business story, hopefully one
where you are the hero Go from the specific to the general, that is,
show that you understand the big picture after you answer specifically
Case Interview Questions
Mental gymnastics: How many golf balls in a 747
Case questions: people, product, financials, may be verbal or written– How would you improve net revenues?– How would you design a succession plan for the
founder?
See career center for practice and samples
Follow up questions
Does that answer your question? Is that what you had in mind?How do you do it at your company?What approach does your company
favor?What are your plans relative to this?
Questions to ask them
What are your hiring criteria? Which skills and abilities are critical for success?
How many interviews do you plan? When will you be able to extend an offer?
What would you like to see accomplished in the first few months on the job?
What resources will be available to me to accomplish my objectives?
How will success be measured?
Salary Negotiations
Interns are not to negotiate hard for salary Deflect the issue if it comes up
– “Salary is not my first concern. I’m really more interested in the opportunity, especially for the internship.”
– “As long as the summer comp is fair and competitive, I’ll be happy.”
Questions? See the career center
Staying alive
Send a prompt thank you letter by mail! Hit their radar screen every week or two What to do if you’re seventh choice…
7th Choice?
Who Needs Aggressive Techniques
Entrants– New graduates– Dropouts– ADA-empowered entrants
Re-Entrants– MBA interns and graduates– returning parents and caretakers– returning prisoners (who knew you had so much in common?)– the idle rich
Career changers– especially career changers
In a downturn: Everybody
It’s YOUR Responsibility
This is part of your MBA education, but it’s all your responsibility to follow through
If you don’t have timely success, you must follow through with the career center; they’re there to help you
You get jobs by talking to people You need 100+ leads at all times Look for work in channels
