The Job Hunting Process

As everyone knows, I was laid off in February, due to the Economy, from a very small financial company. I spent essentially four and half months in limbo. I knew that I wanted to marry my girlfriend, so I proposed even without a future plan for getting a job. I will say that not knowing what was going to happen in the next weeks was a very scary thought.

I was enrolled in school that started in January, but without a job I didn’t know the benefit of being in an Evening MBA program for Professionals. My fiancé was extremely supportive as I looked for jobs that were a good fit for me to apply. In my time unemployed I applied to over 120 different jobs, I know this because I put each one, along with the description of the duties in my iPhone calendar, and I counted them. This means that I applied to 30 jobs per month… really, one job I was qualified for per day. I didn’t stretch on my abilities and I didn’t reach for positions I wasn’t qualified for.

Applying for jobs every day, and only hearing rejections is really damaging to a person’s self esteem. To the point that I talked to my fiancé about the possibility of switching to the full time MBA program if September came and I didn’t have an offer for employment.

Eventually, I branched away from my history in Hospitality and Finance and opened myself to the world of non profits, as I have always been interested in them. I did this in such a way that I would be applying for positions that fit my history and skill set. One of the first jobs I applied for in Non Profit was the one I eventually was offered. The process just took a while, as expected in this economy.

I am happy to report that after three weeks in this new position, I feel like I am building a career each day I am here, and not just working a job.

Data Analysis Review, Ending and Grades

The second course I took during my first semester was Data Analysis (an Excel based Analysis and Basic Statistic course). This course was fundamentally awesome. I have no background using Excel as a tool, so every bit of material was really quite useful.

I would say the book for the course “Data Analysis & Decision Making 3e” was definitely worth purchasing, all of the material covered in the course is covered in depth in the book. The book also came with a disc with additional free add-in material that helps with real world application and shows the reader the usefulness of Excel as a business tool.

With all of that said… The book was a better resource than the lecture. The professor, Robert Burgess, is articulate and detail oriented. Unfortunately, this type of material can only be covered in a certain way. So, at times the lectures, dragged a bit, although they were easy to follow. The professor did a great job of using off topic material to keep the class fun, which is very much appreciated from the student’s point of view.

There were three tests in the class, all of which gave a really good overview of the application of the material. This is a technical university, and because of that, I am happy this course was added to the core requirements.

The largest percentage grade in the class came from a group presentation using all of the material learned in the course. The interesting thing about the organization of the groups, is that the professor had us each take an online survey to find information on our personal backgrounds. He then put our groups together in a way that created the most “chaos”. My background was in Hotel Sales, my group mates ranged from Marine Biology to Engineering to Finance. The group worked very well together, as unlike undergraduate studies, everyone was enrolled in the MBA program for the same reasons: to learn.

I will add one more item to commend the professor, he gave a group project that was extremely open ended, which kept the class interested and was a great end of course presentation / case study on how randomly thrown together groups could interpret the exact same set of directions differently. The presentations and group project was really a lot of fun. Doing the group project was at times frustrating and difficult to see past the insanity of the open ended project. Once you could catch a glimps to the professors end game everything became much more clear. On the final day of class when all the groups presented, everything that wasn't cleared up prior to that point, instantly clicked.

Ultimately, I walked out of the class with an “A”. I feel that is the perfect representation of my knowledge on Excel after completing the class. I would also give the overall class a “B+”. The professor did a great job of making the material interesting to the students, but as the class applied to lecture, it was hard to handle at times. I have a hard time believing that any of the other core courses will be able to take such drab material and apply them in such creative ways; thank you to Professor Burgess for a well thought out and interesting class.

Accounting Review, Ending and Grades

Let me tell you a little about this last seven months. I started school at Georgia Tech, I took two classes in my first semester. I believe that Accounting is extremely important, this class was a combination of Financial Accounting (first half of the semester) and Managerial Accounting (the second half of the semester).

***Firstly, the book was an absolute waste of time; the professor just went off of her own notes… Don’t buy the book; it is of no value to the course.

The Financial Accounting information as taught was awesome. The material taught me the ability to look at a company’s financial statements as a means to find “red flags” that would indicate trouble in the future. Since I was laid off in February and actively looking for employment, I focused on applying my knowledge to find a large successful company that I wanted to work for. So, for me, the application of the material was almost immediate and extremely useful.

The Managerial Accounting portion was a little easier to apply. Since the class was focused on how to react and record transactions from an inside the corporation view point, the material wass a little more intuitive, falling in line with my personal background.

The material for both courses was covered in traditional lecture, small group projects (2 people), and exams.

Ultimately, I ended up with a “B” in the class. It wasn’t the grade I wanted, but with the personal distraction of being laid off mid semester, the week the second exam was due, really distracted me from performing my best. I learned a large amount of information and believe that all of the material is applicable (almost immediately) when transferred to the business world.

On a more financial based grade scale, I would say that I would give the course and instructor, Debbie Turner, a solid grade of “A”. Sometimes in education, I would say that although my grade was not, ultimately what I wanted from the class, I left with the belief that my knowledge taken from the class is more on par with an “A”. In all reality, it was what I learned and can apply that is directly related to how I feel about the course. I would say that I am very happy with my first MBA class at Georgia Tech.

Everybody Loves Murphree

I spent four months trying to prioritize my needs for my new job including what industry I wanted to join. I had experience in Hospitality (Restaurants and Hotels) and Finance (TPA Firms), but ultimately the one common denominator is my passion for Sales. The principles of sales supersedes the industry. With this revelation in mind I could peruse any industry of my choice.

So, I spent about five or six hours per day looking for a career in non-profit. What did I do with the other two or three hours a day?

Everybody Loves Raymond.

I have now officially seen every single episode of this show in syndication. I know the plots of each show now based on the opening scene. I enjoy Robert, Ray, Marie, Frank, they are like my little TV family. I watched shows like According to Jim, Yes Dear, King of Queens, and Friends.

I know every sitcom joke from the 1990's. I can recite entire scenes from each of the shows, ultimately a horrible truth to admit. I watched shows when the lovable lead male lost his job and the entire episode was about his lackluster attitude or his schemes to get reemployed. I took those episodes to heart as they always seemed to hit a little too close to home.

I have developed a new attitude about people searching for work. In the past I felt like they were laid off because of their lack of effort, but the reality is that it may not have been through any fault of their own. I don't find people unemployed to be humerus anymore.

I would have spent more time with Murphree, but the reality is that he literally sleeps all day. While I would love to wake him up to play with me, it would be a bad choice because I really, deep down, thought I would return to employment sooner rather than later. His sleepy attitude will serve him well when he is guarding the house all by himself.