I'll make this an update on the internship search- my consulting hunt came to partial disappointment- basically did not get any offers from the big consulting 4-5 firms I was after. I did receive an offer from Genpact, a firm spun out of General Electric which engages in outsourcing activities- this firm is going places, with 25% revenue growth year on year with innovative ideas in an outsourcing industry that is exploding- in the news recently was their announced entry into the entertainment and media industry (outsourced digitizing old movies from miles of tape reels). I was offered to choice to work in either their east coast office in Connecticut or in Gurgaon, India on either Re-Engineering/Benchmarking or Industry Value Proposition.
I had hedged my bet with consulting with one Technology company in the On Campus Recruiting process- Microsoft. Whilst most people interested in Tech are rushing to the likes of Google- I have to admit, I have always been a fan of Microsoft since they entered the video game industry, which although currently only a tiny source of revenue for them compared to Windows and Office- it is exciting that such a big "elephant" of a firm can execute so well in a console launch- the underlying capability is their superior marketing of technical products... But I also think that this would later allow Microsoft to eventually re-invent itself as a younger and "cooler" company not just known for their traditional products. With Software as Service now threatening some of Microsoft’s products as well as 2006 being the year the company launches a record number of products and services (Vista, Office 2007, X-Box360 etc...)- it should be an exciting period within Microsoft. The interview process was a challenging one- flew up to Seattle and had 8 back to back interviews from around 9am and finished at 6pm. I then spent the second day sight-seeing round Seattle- which reminded me of England, with a much more compelling choices for outdoor activities- opportunity to climb Mt. Rainier etc... The all expenses trip up to Seattle was as much an opportunity for Microsoft to sell Seattle as a great summer experience as well as to interview candidates. Eventually this was a big factor in my decision making process.
I was afraid Microsoft would delay with their decision (they had taken 5 weeks to actually schedule final round interviews), but to my surprise, they came back with an answer just after the weekend (with a week until finals). So in the end it came down to deciding between Genpact and Microsoft- after taking some advice from the Career Management Centre and a classmate who had worked for both firms- The Microsoft Product Manager role won, the over-riding factors were clearly the brand name the prospect of an excellent experience in the summer, not to mention to appear more favorable to consulting firms should I re-try later on this year. Unfortunately- it looks that I will not be able to fulfill the requirement for a GMIX (I would have if I had taken the offer to work in India for Genpact!), with 10-12 weeks, it leaves no time to fulfill 4 weeks of work in Santiago, Chile for Vertical. Will like to state that this is a function of this year's holiday scheduling- we lost time in the 1 week break for thanksgiving which has eaten time in the summer- hence, a lot of people are unable to easily meet their once ambitious summer plans... Of course I won't make it home to Tanzania, which I know my parents are not too happy about.
Okay- So I promise to document more about the other side of the GSB after the career search is over- I feel a huge weight/burden lifted from me- I estimate 30% of my time freed up to get to know my classmates better, engage more in academics and club activities (will soon begin planning the East Africa Study trip for x-mas 2006) and not to forget reaching out to get to know more of California- been doing exactly that this Spring Break. Made some excellent connections in the bay area outside the GSB scene- one character, www.zboinski.com. Is on a mission to get to know the Bay area and San Francisco well, every night Wednesday to Saturday, session out meeting new faces- I can finally keep up with half his pace.
Speaking of California: This week’s weather is looking very un-california like- it has been raining a lot- but there’s been a noticeable change in the fauna- getting nice and green- the land needs it- but I’m sure the sun will return.
This is not the Californian weather I expected!
Would like to say Congrats to Puru- for making it through- he reached out to me for advice, and I knew he had the makings to get into the GSB- Congrats man! Can't believe a year has passed- this blog is one year old! Hope people have been enjoying reading it- despite there having been large 5 weeks gaps from time to time- but that is understandable given the hectic business school lifestyle. The hard part of the core is over apparently- it should be plain sailing from here... More on academics in a later post.
