With the economy in turmoil, many MBA graduates are finding the job search tough going. To give readers some insight into the strategies they’re pursuing and the difficulties they face, BusinessWeek has recruited four out-of-work MBAs to write about their experiences for a new feature called “The Hunt” that will appear periodically on the Getting In blog. Comments, as always, are welcome.
By Juan Manuel Meneses Buchanan
It was a hard ride, but as I hoped, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It is amazing how time has a way of making things work out. What seems erratic and disorganized turns out just the way it is supposed to. In the end, you have a bigger and broader new order. As I have said before, I am from Lima, Peru, and I have always wanted to study abroad. For me, the MBA was the perfect opportunity to fulfill this need and at the same time enhance my professional life. From the beginning, the journey was difficult. But when I was accepted to London Business School, my dream business school, the one I wanted most, it felt like the start of something special.
My first obstacle during the MBA was to secure a summer internship in a top-tier investment bank. When I received the Lehman Brothers offer for the summer internship in London, I thought that everything was running smoothly, like a well-oiled machine, just as I had imagined as I wrote my application essays. Then after 10 weeks of hard work at the internship, the full-time offer arrived and I wanted to pinch myself because things were going so perfectly. At that point, my life was as I had pictured it. In addition to my professional achievements, I was getting married in Peru just a few weeks later on Sept. 13.