Resumes, interviews and... lottery

Ross Business School MBA provides many and many opportunities to meet companies, apply for the job of your dreams and resume your career in promising bases. Since the beginning of the year, I attended 4 company presentations - Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group, Booz Allen Hamilton and General Electric, but there has been a lot more. From those I attended, I enjoyed the good food, especially during the Microsoft BCG events (The wine BCG served was excellent). There are at least 100 companies which will organize a presentation until the end of the Fall Semester. The preferences of the MBA students are similar to those of other MBAS: consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) and investment banking... But worldwide corporations like GE, Microsoft, HP, Dell are also very active and offer many occasions to meet their staff and generate the interest of potential candidates.

In this crucial moment of my MBA, I have to prepare my resumes and cover letters. The resume made in US are completely different from those usually built in France. Here, you must show how much impact you had in your previous experience. So it is not rare to read "have reduced 40% of the cost of my department by reengineering the purchasing sector"... "increase the sales by 80% by opening new international markets".... Each MBA is a prospective Clark Kent bound to become Superman once hired by an employer. It is maybe the most challenging part of the application process for me... but when at Rome do as the Romans...

Then, I am applying for the consulting companies, having selected different geographic offices (Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Chicago..). I am also applying for electronics industries and IT companies. For the moment, the warm up time... interviews are scheduled only in october...

What surprised me was the alternative provided by Ross School of Business to get an interview even if you are not shortlisted by the companies after the resume screening. There is an aunction system they put in place. By instance, you wanna be interviewed by General Motors. General Motors announces that they will interview let's say 50 candidates... 80% of which from the closed list they will constitute on the resume screening. And you happen to know that you've not been shortlisted by GM... Time to get suicide or apply to Ford? No... because Ross gives you your last chance... merci Ross...

20% of the seats are still available for those who have not been selected ... retaking my example, of GM, 10 seats will be available and be attributed to the best offer... Ross School of Business provides each student with 1,000 points for the whole year... and you have to bid part of all the points to get a chance to secure that seat... I was told that best offers could reach 500/600 points for a seat in the hottest aunctions. I am wondering if there is a "marche noir" to sell and buy points... How much is the value of the point for the interview bidding???

Anyways, weird process... but dont forget that we are in America...