Lessons Learned
1 Oct
Things I have learned over the last four months:
- Do not sleep over at a guy’s place if he has a girlfriend. If anything happens, you’ll be “the other girl.” Even if you think that it’s okay, it’s never okay to be “the other girl.”
- Sometimes, douchebag bosses do need to be put in their place. Even if telling them off won’t accomplish anything, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of seeing the look on their faces when you let them have a piece of your mind. Otherwise, you will dream about having shouting matches with your boss, which is nowhere near as satisfying as the real thing.
- Following from the above, it’s okay to burn bridges. This summer, I burned two bridges (HB and MFL) and it was the best thing I could have done for me. If only I had burned the bridge with LawyerMan too…
- No one will love you like your parents love you. Although I’m proud that I have never been spoiled by my parents, after twenty years, I do want to be spoiled, just a little bit.
- At a recruiting event, don’t say things like “Even if Firm X gave me an offer, I wouldn’t take it” or “I’m only here for the food and open bar.” Especially when there’s a recruiter standing behind you.
- During a case interview, don’t say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” When they ask you why you want to work at their firm during a behavioural interview, don’t answer with any of the following: “Because that guy I met at the recruiting event was super cute!” “Because you guys fly to Germany to party over the weekend.” “Because I heard you can charge trips to Ibiza on your expense account.” All true by the way. But don’t say it.
- Your friends aren’t perfect either. Being the first to forgive and forget can go a long way.
- Holding a grudge just isn’t worth it.
- Don’t take everything too seriously, you’re too young for that.
The last few weeks have been insanely busy. As you have probably guessed by now, it’s recruiting season at The Business School, which means wearing a full suit to school, getting drunk at recruiting events (open bar) while ignoring recruiters, and no classes. Sounds like one big party, eh? Not quite.
The good news is that this time around, I have gotten a lot of interviews. I have six first-round interviews this week, with some of the top five consulting firms in the world. I only applied to global consulting firms because… well, I figured I’d apply to the best of the best, and if I didn’t walk away with any job offers, I would focus on law school.
I have had two interviews so far, which has resulted in one call-back for a final-round interview next week.
The thought of working for one of these swanky consulting firms still makes me feel a little bit like a fraud. After all, I’m a 21-year-old with no industry experience, and I’ll be working on projects for C-level executives of multimillion dollar companies. Go ahead, send me to client sites in Los Angeles, Dubai, Switzerland, Singapore. Go ahead, pay me $70 grand a year for coming up with a few Powerpoint slides.
I don’t know. But I’m sure all that money will appease my conscience. And help me pay for law school.
Burning bridges are so hard, but once yo do it – its so good for you. (:
…I have yet to learn the grudge lesson, i will soon enough D:
Some good advice for sureeee. I’ll be needing this :)
I’m not very good with interviews…
or sleeping over at boys’ places.
Believe me, I’m no good at either. Hence, a lot of lessons to be learned.
Excellent and sage advice. I’ve learned the hard way about sleeping over. And look forward (one day) to burning that bridge w/ work.
I know the feeling of fraudulence. I just got an accidental promotion and I still feel like a little girl “pretending” to be a Head Electrician. But with enough swagger in your step and bullshit in your mouth, soon enough you’ll start to believe it yourself.
I too agree that telling your boss off (politely) is more satisfying than what you could have pretended to do in your dreams.
I don’t feel like a fraud but I feel a bit inexperienced sometimes. Still, I am sure everyone feels that way sometimes. Even those with 50 years of experience.