What I don't want to do when I grow up...

Last weekend I had a lovely time heading to London for a Not for Profit recruitment fair. I found it to be a bit lacking but I got a chance to talk to a few not for profit recruiting firms and they told me about the current job prospects (at least in the UK) and critiqued my resume (called a CV here). I am realizing that I probably won't be working in not for profit right away upon graduation - unless i find my dream job, but would rather gain more experience (and perhaps more money to pay off that little LOAN I have) working either in consulting or industry. And in business school terms, industry means anything outside the realm of finance, consulting, or non profit/public sector. Maybe public sector would be ok - pays a BIT more than non profit. Ok, I'm rambling now. But you can see where my mind is. On careers. Yes, 4 weeks into our program I'm already stressed about jobs. But they have trained us to be this way already. They say that the 'hidden' 7th course that actually gives us the most work is careers.

There have been a slew of networking and info nights. Nearly every evening the caterers are coming into our common area, setting up tables and getting the wine & olives & brownies out. I dont' go to as many events as others - most of them have actually been finance-based lately - although sometimes I sneak over for free food if I am studying in the MBA syndicate room. We have our own little room with a foos ball table (I think it has only been used twice and both times it was me), computers, printers, couches, a microwave & kettle and then cubicled study areas. I pretty much live in there. Today I was at school for 13 hours. By the end, there were 5 of us in the syndicate room just going mental and laughing at nothing. It is usually pretty productive though and I find it better to study there than at home (both for peer pressure to study harder as well as having the other people there to unwind with).

When I was in London I got a chance to visit my lovely friend Dave who I went to high school with. We had a belated Canadian Thanksgiving dinner with some of his friends and even had turkey (breasts) and pumpkin pie. Delicious. It was great to escape Cambridge for a few hours. I love it here and everything, but stepping away from it was a bit of a relief. It's like a little bubble from which you sometimes forget about the rest of the world. All consuming at times.

Tonight after classes I went to a JP Morgan recruiting session just to check out the investment banking prospects and was thoroughly put off. I think I was right to assume from the beginning that finance is not my thing. The guy presenting was a Cambridge Alum who came across as the biggest jerk of all time. Telling us about how JP Morgan is so work-life balanced compared to other firms because they only work about 11 hours a day. Also completely crapping upon a bunch of other firms that had recently been to recruit at our school. And this is the guy they send to convince people to work there? The scary thing was talking to some of my classmates afterward and hearing about how they thought he was great and how much they want to work for that company. Did we see the same presentation? Toward the end he was talking about positions as Fund Managers. I made a note to the friend sitting beside me and wrote that I think I found my dream job at JP Morgan - FUN MANAGER! From there we got the giggles and couldn't look at each other until the talk was done.

Rowing is still part of my life although it is tough because we are so terrible. I didn't realize how hard it would be for 8 new rowers to row in unison. I think it will be weeks before we get the hang of it (at very least). But for now our cox just screams her head off at us. I'm not a natural. That's all I'll say. My Olympic dreams are dashed. Such is life.