You've gotten in -- now get the job you deserve

[aveekguha]

The job recruiting season is going to be tight, as tough as any in recent memory. There are a couple of key principles to help you along:

1. Act like you belong
A oft-remarked comment from recruiters lately is the relative immaturity of MBA grads. We can debate the truths/untruths of this statement, but the fact is, this year they will look to people that are business-ready more than others. There is less patience for development of talent. That means that MBA grads need to act like executives. So ask recruiters tough questions - how is your firm looking to manage through the recession, what are your competitors doing that you envy, what is keeping you up at night. Save the "how does your mentorship program work" questions for the back burner. Bottom line, they will look for people that act, walk, and talk like they are professionally-ready, be in that category. Don't patronize, they will see it a mile away.

2. Trumpet recessionary-themes in your skillset
If you have experience in recessionary topics in your background, now is the time to bring them to the forefront. That means cost-cutting (as unsexy as it may be) or innovation. On the former, experience in process redesign, shared services, etc will be of interest to recruiters -- its germane to the current times. On the latter, many companies, while hunkering down now, are still trying to see around the corner. So experience in innovation (however, broadly you want to define it) will be interesting -- so what have been involved in that pushes the frontier in business (e.g., social media, crowdsourcing, global business practices, etc). A recruit that can show affinity to the current environment stands out over others.

Bottom line, it will be a tough recruiting year, now is the time to be aggressive and focused.

Aveek Guha
President, MBA Day Camp
www.mbadaycamp.com
https://mbadaycamp.typepad.com/mbablog/