Post MBA life! Phew!!

Ok, so I now have a job (a good one too), but apart from getting the right job, there are so many aspects that one has to consider post MBA, especially if that city you live in, ain't your home town or is not in your home country. For example:

1) Is this the place where you want to settle in? Do you go for the permanent residency or citizenship?
2) Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years from a job, life and location perspective?
3) Are you ready to buy a house?
4) And most importantly, how do you finance your life to success? You definitely have the outstanding student loan to pay for - remember?

Those are the rather broader questions that any MBA will have to answer somewhere down the line. You change locations, jobs and functions post MBA, so it kind of becomes important to answer these as well.

Some find it easy to answer, as they take a 'tackle life as it comes' approach personally or have enough expendable funds to support their post MBA life decisions as they come and go. For the ones who totally depend upon post MBA job income, the 'tackle life as it comes' approach works too sometimes, more so when there are too many things going on in parallel, and you want to sit back and enjoy the daily pleasures of life - ordering a pizza and watching a movie with friends, or catching those Pokemons! But you see, if the Googles and Apples of the world started taking this approach, they would just hit an all time low on their stock performances in a span of few years (a few days in the current world scenario) as the stakes are too high! And if you find yourself in such high stakes situation, then planning your life takes the number one priority!

As far as I am concerned, I am still trying to answer all the 4 questions, and I am yet to successfully plan my life at least for the next few years in the horizon. As I'm trying to figure things out, my simple motto, in the meanwhile, is to reduce my debt to earnings/savings ratio! That definitely does not mean that I'm not enjoying my day-to-day life! It just means that I'm not indulging into actions that require me to take on additional debt - such as buying the house of my dreams! To that end, I'm having fun with my friends, I order pizza when I want to (hahaha), play Skyrim on my Alienware, and often give in to my tech savvy needs [a new super awesome smart phone and/or an HDR 65 inch TV?].

Let's see when I come up with my immediate future plans, but there's one thing I can certainly say: owing to my MBA, my life is not commoditized enough [yet] in the job world, which buys me some time to sit back and breathe, while Google and Apple strategize and act on their respective game plans day in and day out! What does that mean for you? Go get an MBA of your dreams - if you really want to, while MBA still holds the prestige and until it doesn't turn into the (For instance: Male + Engineering + IT job profile amongst millions of prospective MBA students from India) commoditized career path of tomorrow! 

It has been forever!

Well - I do believe it has been forever since I last posted! But that's because life had been crazy all this while.

Let me go back a bit in time and touch upon my Summer experience.

Summer at RBC was one of the biggest eye-opening experiences for me so far. When I started, I pre-assumed that working at the biggest bank in Canada, would be extremely smooth - the processes would be fluent, the architecture would be top-notch and the teams would be very-well organized. To the contrary, I have to admit - that while RBC is one of the most stable banks, it still does have a highly entrepreneurial culture. Things are not as rosy as you would imagine - and I do believe it is a good thing. In these crucial times of increased disruptive innovation, harboring such a culture will prove advantageous eventually.

It provides you with all the opportunities to bring new ideas to the table, and deal with the resistance, quite maturely. If I learnt anything at all, it was how to get steps closer to turning into a successful influencer, while capitalizing on the opportunities to deliver.

And on a side note, I moved a bit closer to the finance world, something that I had never imagined myself doing, ever! All in all - a valuable experience nonetheless.

First one and a half months post Summer were intense. I started working part-time at RBC (continued with my summer role), pursued 5 full blown courses at school for my 2nd year MBA and was deeply involved in the club activities of South Asian Business Association. Amidst all of that, was the hunger to secure a well-suited full-time recruitment opportunity. It has been almost two weeks since I accepted my offer, and the feeling has finally sunk in - I do not have to have to worry about my immediate future anymore!

It is often said that it is almost impossible to pull off a triple jump post MBA - change in geography, function, and industry. To be very honest, I never paid attention to this triple jump convention. I had always known that I would aim for a role that I will be the most comfortable with. In the end, at least as far as I can foresee, I do believe I have successfully launched myself into such a role. And co-incidentally enough - it turned out to be a triple jump.

When I moved to Toronto (a by default change of geography), I saw myself pursuing the strategy function, and believed that the industry agnostic consulting world, (owing to my past extremely positive and thrilling consulting experience with Deloitte) would be the most appropriate path for me. I soon realized that while consulting was a great path to take on, not all consulting was equal to strategy, and nor was all of vice versa true.

Bottom line is - believe in yourself. It will lead you to one of the right paths for certain. I had the options of multiple parallel paths that I could pursue. And in the end, I do believe that I am excited about my future with RBC as a CBLP associate! A new world awaits - and right now, I am the farthest from visualizing what my future looks like. I paused at a forked path in my life, and chose to tread a path unknown. :)

The frenzy over Consulting Case Competitions!

Major chunk of 'it' is over!

After braving 2 grueling weeks (Microsoft Case Comp - people did win XBox'es!!, McKinsey Case Comp - this was about elegance and 'class', and of course - every significant event packed right into any breathing time that you thought you could get - slept for an hour or two on most days) , it's finally time to get that well deserved sleep, and get back to focusing on the extremely neglected classes.

Term 1 almost felt like a breeze. It's still on, but exams are here like in two weeks. And there's almost no time yet again to read through and practice everything. But I am not complaining - all I'm saying is, it's now or never!

I got to admit, case comps ('it') were super fun and exciting experiences. Working with different groups of people, is what I value most. Case comps to me were more about extracting those diverse experiences and insights - how do individuals from different backgrounds think about and approach a given problem - I must admit - it was phenomenal to go through that process. More than what you learn from your peers in class, you learn via case comps in those action packed weeks.

If you do get to come to Rotman, be ready for some amazing fun times - the delight of those late night pizzas when all you had in the day was a cup of coffee, those discussions about - this idea definitely does not feel right; this is not the right data to back up the hypothesis, use all those time crunched hours to discuss about every other aspect of life that you shouldn't be discussing about, but you only end up doing because you have so had it with the process of creating that 'beautiful deck'. It's worth every second. Whether you win or not, it will still make you a better 'Consultant'! It's all about that experience.

Good luck to my class and good luck to all you guys out there, who look forward to coming to Rotman!

What's new - well old enough by now! (A tad bit of Consulting!)

There have been some really fun events that have taken place over the past few weeks!

Bain Super Saturday: Some invaluable insights into what consulting giants such as Bain look at when they interview you!

Deloitte Distinction: Awesome 2nd session about case interview best practices and how to rock case competitions!

Promeo Case Consulting: An ex-McKinsey consultant gave his insights into the best practices for acing case interviews!

MCA Internal Consulting Industry reception: About 17 of the major internal consulting firms graced Rotman with their presence, and helped students like me gain an insight into what the internal consulting industry looks like!

Forthcoming: 

Career Center initiative: ex- ATK consultant will help us with our case interview and behavioral interview preparations

MCA External Consulting Industry reception: All major consulting firms (including MBBs, ATK, Monitor), will grace us with their presence!

Keep a lookout for more insider information about the ever so happening life at Rotman!!!

Cheers!

Dranzer