Step Ten: Begin Networking

I know I am a big ahead of myself writing Step Ten before Step Three (I promise I'll go back and fill in the gap) but I figured this was a good segue to write about my experiences this summer.

Working on the Long Term/Short Term goals essays last fall forced me to do a lot of self analysis. I thought about the two jobs I have had so far and made a pros/cons list for each one. After the brainstorm it became clear to me that while I loved the people at job A, I was not into the work itself but at the same time was very interested in the biotech industry. Job B was the complete opposite and the reason I was not happy there was because the consumer goods industry bored me to tears.

Ever since I established the above, I have been making a mental list of the companies I would love to work and intern for and looking into the programs they offer for MBA students and grads as well as which schools they come to recruit from. At the Columbia Open House in April I met the president of the Biotech/Healthcare Club and asked him to run a query of alumni working for my target companies. In May I emailed a few people asking for informational interviews and possible pre-MBA internships. I had 50% success in my reply rate and got a lot of questions answered. Everyone was extremely friendly and willing to help. They were also very impressed that I am using the alumni network prior to the beginning of the program.

About a month ago I received a phone call from one of the people I had emailed letting me know that he had a few projects he could use my help with if I was still interested in a mini-internship. Of course I was! Not only was I bored of sitting on my bum for the past 5 months, but this was my numero uno target company (as well as Fortune 100's Best Companies To Work For numero uno as well - there is your hint).

So far I have been working for two weeks and it has been a fantastic experience. My manager is great and is ensuring that I meet as many people as I can in my short time there. He has me learning all about the company and the products as opposed to just using me as backfill to get the projects done. Hopefully I can meet with the MBA recruiters and get my foot in the door on the internship interviewing process. I would love nothing more then to work for them next summer.

The moral of the story is that it is never too early to start utilizing the benefits of your MBA investment. You paid the deposit months ago and all you have to show for it is yet another email address, or two. Besides being able to get you into the fun of Facebook.com that email address is golden in terms of opening up doors to networking!