Who would have known back in the fall and winter of 2006 that the economy would be so crappy? Back then, things were good, Suzy and I were just married and we thought that going back to school to get my MBA would be a great idea. After all, all the statistics said that MBA grads typically had multiple job offers to choose from upon graduation, salaries were high, and the options were endless.
Now fast forward 2 years and change. During my 6 week winter break from school, it has been my full time job to find jobs and apply to them. Even under the best of circumstances this is a daunting and tedious task, as I am sure that many of you know. Adding the poor economy, the enormous pool of business students, and the microscopic job opportunities, makes the task monumental.
Today, a week and a half before I start school back up, I am officially burned out from job applications. I give up! 45 applications in and several more pending, I give up! In reality, this is mostly just a stall tactic so I don't have to work on them, while I try and earn some sympathy to raise my dwindling confidence.
Last week I applied to a job, one that I thought I had a decent shot at. Well within 30 minutes I received a rejection letter, which on the whole is not too bad. I have heard of faster rejections and I would rather know that they don't want me than be left thinking I still might have a chance, when in reality I don't. But, the thing that got me was that the email stated, "After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we will not be pursuing your application on this occasion." Ha! Right! "Careful consideration." Lines like that make a discouraging process even more discouraging because I know I was rejected before a human even had a change to look at it.
My one small victory from that one was that they addressed the email to me and not "Dear Applicant" or something like that. We are fortunate though, that even amid this poor economic conditions, my education has not cost us, and we will be debt free when I graduate. I cannot imagine the stress on the students at other schools who will be coming out with upwards of $100,000 in student loans.
On a more positive note, the baby is going good, and time is flying by. It is only 24 days to the due date, though Suzy and I both are hoping for her to come early. Here are two images from the ultrasound from 18 weeks, they have been on our refrigerator, and I finally got around to taking photos of them to post (another job application stall tactic, anyone know any others?). In the first picture you can see her little foot and the second is a nice little profile.
Shameless plug: If anyone knows of a company looking to hire a smart, hard working MBA let me know!
6 comments:
Don't be too discouraged - there are still lots of jobs out there and someone is looking for an MBA grad just like you! I just hope they are somewhere west of the Mississippi.
:)
It is hard. My husband's company sent out lay off notices about 3 weeks ago and today was the first string of lay offs. Thes rest of the employees (for now) will loose 5% of pay, 401K matches, and other benefits, but all I could say was, at least we have a job. He has been looking for other jobs and he waiting to hear back about interviews. All we can do is pay our tithing and have faith that all will work out. Stay positive, that is what I tell myself every day. The Lord will take care of his people, if we allow him. Don't lose faith in that.
When we had Jaxon, Andre took 7 weeks FMLA so that he could find a job and not have to go back to his other job. It really took 7 or 8 months to find that job. Sometimes it takes longer than you want. Good thing you are starting now. Some people graduate and then say, "gee, maybe I could write my resume."
Good luck!
Oh that's tough! We're one of those couples who is going to graduate with debt in the $100,000 neighborhood ... ugh! Keep positive. You're baby girl looks beautiful!
I found a link to your blog on Kelda's blog! It looks like you are doing well - it is exciting to hear that your wife is expecting! Good luck with it all!
We're going to be hanging out with Sarah! There should be an "in debt to our eyeballs with student loans" club or something!
I graduated last May and it took until the end of October to find a job. Even then, it wasn't exactly what I wanted/hoped for and it isn't utilizing the skills I gained by earning an MBA.
Have you utilized your contacts on LinkedIn? I was able to make some new connections through my colleagues and in the end I got a job through a connection. I had to be pretty bold in asking people to refer me as a 3rd level contact but I'm glad I did!
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