My list of interviews

I do not want to give you a strategy and not show you the results. Here are the companies I got calls from:

Amazon
eBay
Dell
Salesforce
ReputationDefender
Teachscape
Yelp
NexTag
Next Jump - got an offer and accepted.
Rackspace
Reply.com
Navteq
Clickable
uShip
PCH - got an offer did not accept

I spoke with many other companies and made many contacts throughout the process.

Using LinkedIn for your job search ***IMP***

I will share my job search strategy that worked for me. This strategy applies to off campus search.

1. Make a solid LinkedIn profile. Fill the summary with keywords. HR people don't understand S*** about things. They are told to look for candidates with X, Y and Z skills. So make sure your resume and your LinkedIn profile has these X Y and Z keywords.

2. Get at least one recommendation from each job (very important). Try to get a total of 4.

3. Profile pic - include a pic in your profile. Let people see your personality.

4. Add some spice to your profile - I added my blog and my reading list. Almost all interviews asked me about at least one of the two. You will hit a jackpot if you are reading a book that the interviewer likes or if you blogged about something s/he is interested in:)

5. Join groups - join groups of your industry. For example, I joined groups like Internet Product Mgt, Silicon Valley Meetup, etc. Join all HR groups. This will put all HR people in your group.

6. Your profile should have a theme. If I read it, I should be able to tell what industry and function you are interested in.

7. Start contacting people on LI. Let us say you found a job in company ABC. Look for people in ABC and if possible for people in the department you are looking for work for. Send them messages.

8. How to write messages. Do NOT ask for a job. Your messages should be really short. Tell them you are interested learning more about ABC and that job position. And that you want to have a short phone conversation with them. Thank them for your time. NOT more than 5 lines. You will be surprised how well it works.

9. The phone conversation - start by thanking them for your time, then "tell them about yourself" ask about the culture, what they like most, and the last Q should be if they can help you with the job. MOST people will say fwd me your resume. There you go you hve hit gold.

10. Repeat till you get a job :)

My thoughts on MBA 6 months after graduation and a job in hand

A lot of my posts earlier had been about how useless an MBA is. I still have doubts on whether or not its worth $100k+ of debt, but I will say that its not totally useless.

In the past 6 months, I have spoken to a LOT of people at different companies as part of my job search. I consistently saw that MBAs were easier to net with. They understood that I was looking for jobs and got to the topic right away. It was a little difficult with engineers, they just did not get the concept of networking. Many were like, "Why don't you talk to the HR about this?" After a few calls I decided to just ask for a recommendation from them. Some said yes, some said no (which is fair because they didn't know me).

I felt that MBAs were better talkers, they could address their issues and concerns about my application in a more clear and professional manner. They were better networked at the company. MBAs really understood the business side of things. I had to explain ROI to a few engineers, man it was the worst experience ever.

I just want to say that I am NOT suggesting that engineers (I am one myself) are not smart, am just saying that MBAs are better positioned to handle the business side of things.

So overall, I will say that MBA has some value, and definitely a lot if you are on a scholarship and do not plan to start a business. If you want to start a business, do NOT get an MBA. Not that it won't help, its just that your time and money are better spent on your business.

Now as far as an MBA being worth $100k+ in debt.... I don't know the answer to that question... yet.

The key is know what you want from your MBA. Don't just take classes and get good grades to get a consulting job. Focus on *learning*.

I am employed!!

I am happy to write that I am employed (finally). I got a job offer from Next Jump in NYC. It is an online rewards/loyalty programs company.

So what got me this job offer?

1. Luck - Yes, I will be the first to admit luck played a big role. One day I was sitting with a few friends complaining about graduating without a job. A friend of mine, Vivek, suggested I attend the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in NYC. I was like alright why not. I attended the conference and met a few people there. One of my friends I met here recommended me to Next Jump and the rest is history. I should say that these friends I had made were not for networking purposes, which is why I am calling it luck. We just happened to be on the same volunteer team and ended up talking.

2. My Blog - I am a big fan of blogging. This blog (TCM) helped me get my summer internships. Both my employers said I got their attention because of this blog. Getting back to NxJ - After a few months of the NYC conference, I had an interview in SFO and wrote about it on my blog. One of my friends from the conference read the blog and told me she was in SFO as well. So next time I was in SFO we met and talked about my job search, and she recommended me to NxJ.

3. MBA - Yes, after all the crap I have written about MBA, it was helpful in getting this job (another post on MBA useful(less)ness soon). They were looking MBAs with a technical and entrepreneurial background. I fit the role pretty well. Their interview process was very different. It was on a Saturday from 10am - 7pm. I had one leadership presentation (individual), 3 interviews, a networking lunch, and a team presentation. There was a lot of public speaking involved. And I thank my professor Tim Flood for that awesome communications class. I aced my presentations, and interviews went well too.

So take aways from this experience - networking is important for off campus job search, do something different like blogging, good public speaking always helps, and pray for a little luck.