Walking the Straight and Narrow?

With Mod IV upon us, the internship is ramped up for some and neatly packaged for others. I know people who wanted to do brand management and are interning in finance. One of my friends was interested in technology companies and ended up in banking. So the question is: how narrow should you be about your job search, your summer internship, and your business education in general?

I call this expectation management, and I have sat in the offices of six different professors or advisers and asked them how I should approach this as a Young MBA. They all say some version of “Do what you like, but be realistic about your opportunities.” They tell me that I will be the exception if I make a salary on par with my colleagues having more work experience, but I should not settle for compensation equal to an undergraduate’s entry-level job. But by the time I’m 30, having worked with an MBA for 6 years compared to my older colleagues’ 2 years, I should be making at least as much as they are.

But it’s not all about money - in the Young MBA’s career of over 35 years (haha!), you have to do something you enjoy. This is trickier for us because:

1. We have a hunch as to what we like, but we’ve never actually done it.

2. We have to appear to have direction that we are (realistically) pretty unsure of.

3. It’s harder for us to get really rich MBA-level information on all of the opportunities out there before we start business school.

So how can you be realistic and also optimistic? You want to do something that you will enjoy doing and will open doors, but also something that you can succeed in and learn from. Whoo! That’s a tall order. So where do you make your compromises? How do you determine what you want to do while aligning yourself with what the market wants?

I sat down and made a list, and I am lucky that my concentrations of Healthcare and Marketing narrows me within an industry. You always need contingency plans. The most important part of your plan is writing WHY … it helps clarify your thoughts and gives you a solid justification when networking or interviewing.

Here is an example of what my list roughly looked like:

1. Reach Option - exceeds expectations

What? Brand Management in a Healthcare Company

Why? Brand Management is the grand-daddy of marketing; I will be best positioned to either stay in brand management or enter a variety of other marketing roles.

2. Great Option - meeting expectations

What? General Marketing role in a healthcare corporation

Why? I need for-profit, corporate experience so that I can understand the industry better and expand my skill set to include strategic and financial considerations.

3. Good Option - experience meets expectations but the particular function may not

What? General Marketing role in an academic medical center or not-for-profit delivery system

Why? These opportunities are already on my resume and it would do me better, and interest me a bit more, to enter a more corporate setting. But, in these sorts of organizations I could get a lot of exposure and really leverage that to my FT job.

4. Bottom of the Bowl - expectations will be unmet

What? Marketing position outside of healthcare

Why? Healthcare is my passion and strength … this would poorly position me for my future career goals.

The biggest gray area is between 3. and 4. Obviously, lots of companies will fall between your Good Options and your Bottom of the Bowls, and don’t feel bad if you’re often switching companies between the tiers. You can always get new information that changes your mind, and sometimes things just click. For example, earlier in the search I seriously considered pursuing marketing at a cosmetics company such as L’Oreal, and I was thinking I could spin it to healthcare with skincare and personal hygiene.

The other important thing to note is that your Good Options say that the EXPERIENCE will still meet your expectations even though the function may not. As a Young MBA, the crucial takeaway from your summer internship is to build practical experience and gain transferrable skills. You aren’t settling for a job when you’re committed to getting the best experience possible out of it, and your attitude towards this will really matter both in helping you learn and in convincing your interviewers that you are an asset. Keep this in mind, and you’re set up to exceed the expectations of your colleagues!