When I came to MPA, it was with the knowledge that our Career Services team was top notch, and that employers actively sought students from the program.  The fact that the program makes us so much more employable and desirable to employers was a big selling point for me.

What I was surprised by, however, was how quickly that process started.  Before orientation, I met with Vinh in Career Services to go over my resume and get some guidance.  At orientation, we jumped right in with a great networking event (in particular, the employer “speed dating” was really cool) followed by an MPA career fair.  The MPA program uses a fairly robust system for connecting students to employers, including resume submission and interview scheduling.

Less than two weeks after the start of the semester I saw resume deadlines for some employers.  The Big 4 recruiting process is particularly involved, so it pays to be on the ball with the recruiting system.  I’m in the middle of the recruiting process now, and it does take some effort to stay up to date.  At orientation, it stuck in my mind that we should think of recruiting as another 3-hour course.  That seemed like an exaggeration, but it’s not.  Between writing cover letters, attending information sessions, meeting with employers, interviewing, office visits, and the various other aspects, it’s really true.  On one hand, it can be pretty overwhelming to balance classes, extracurriculars and recruiting, but on the other hand, it’s worth the time because this is the job I’ll have after graduation.

I’ve had a couple restless nights thinking about recruiting, but I’ll sleep easy once that work pays off and those offers start coming in.

I can’t guarantee a joke every post, but I do have another one:

Did you hear about the chairman who hated meetings?

He was bored of Directors.