Adi and his internship search

This week I’m going to wrap up the end-of-year updates from our Student Stories writers.  We’ve already heard from Mariya and Pulkit’s report will appear later this week.  Today we’ll hear from Adi, who is back in Indonesia for the summer.

Just like that, I finished my first year of graduate school.  In a typical two-year graduate program, the most common question at the end of the spring semester is, “What’s your plan for the summer?”, which is really saying “Do you have an internship or not?”  Of course, there are people who are not doing an internship this summer.  They might be using the time to do research, work on their Capstone Project, travel, or relax before the start of another intense academic year.  But my sense is that when my classmates asked me the question, what they really wanted to know was what internship offers I had or hadn’t received.

I know I found myself asking that same question to others with the same intention in mind.  As I carried out my search, there were many reasons why I asked.  Getting inspiration on where else I could apply or tips on how my classmates successfully secured those internship offers, or simply to calm my nerves that someone else out there also hadn’t yet solidified their summer plans.

I remember that, at the beginning of the year, many of the second-year students assured the first years that we should not worry — by the end of the spring semester, everyone would have solidified their summer plans.  They told us that some students will receive an offer earlier than others, but this is not due to their qualifications.  It is simply a reflection of the different timelines of hiring companies, and the wide variety of interests of Fletcher students.  Investment banks and management consulting companies finish their hiring in the fall or early spring.  Many multinationals and international agencies do not start accepting applications until midway through the spring semester.  Other companies simply accept internship applications throughout the year until they hit their quota.

Nonetheless, we first years couldn’t help but stress out a little about getting an internship, so we tried to start as early as possible.  Right from the beginning of the fall semester, I approached quite possibly every single resource that I thought could connect me with an internship opportunity, starting with the obvious, the Office of Career Services (OCS).  I met with Elana Givens, the OCS director, to talk about my interests and start planning out my internship search strategy.  I attended many coaching sessions led by OCS staff throughout my first year.  I approached Dorothy Orszulak, Director of Corporate Relations for the Institute for Business in the Global Context, to ask what exactly hiring managers in the private sector are looking for in internship candidates.  I met with Dean Bhaskar Chakravorti and Kristen Zecchi to find out how previous MIB students leveraged their degree to identify internship opportunities.  Professors were also fantastic resources.  It is through my discussions with Professor Jacque and Professor Schena that I found many ideas on organizations and people to reach out to.  And then, of course, there was the structured Professional Development Program curriculum to help me with my résumé and cover letter, making informational interview requests, and acing interviews.

After laying the groundwork with these resources, I started expanding my network.  My first thought was the second-year students.  Through casual conversations, I managed to figure out who interned where in the previous summer.  Then, I followed up on the conversations with an email asking if they would be willing to chat over coffee about their experience, both the internship search and the responsibilities of the position.  It was fascinating to hear their stories.  One student interned at a venture capital start-up in Seattle that did not have an official internship pipeline.  He simply cold-emailed the company, explaining his background and his interest in working for them over the summer, and luckily that is where he ended up.  Another student leveraged multiple contacts to reach a very busy director of a tech start-up in Kenya, who then replied “I just received two separate emails referring you to my company.  Let’s talk.”  These are only two of the many interesting stories I heard by talking to second-year students.

I had started the fall semester looking to pursue an internship at a management consulting company.  From the onset, I had heard warnings that even getting an interview would be extremely hard for non-MBA candidates.  I reached out to every single person I could who was even remotely connected to the consulting industry.  I worked together with my classmates to practice case interviews.  I attended workshops and webinars about the consulting industry.  During winter break, I received invitations for first-round interviews with Bain and BCG.  In the end, I didn’t make it over the final hurdle at either organization, but I am thankful to have gone through the experience.  I definitely think that I wouldn’t have had that opportunity had I not reached beyond the companies’ online application portals.

In the end, it all worked out.  The advice from second-year students at the beginning of the fall semester turned out to be true.  We all ended up with a satisfying summer plan and my first-year MIB cohort has embarked on our respective summer journeys.  It may not have been what we thought we would be doing when we started planning, but some of us ended up with something better.  As for me personally, I ended up joining Citibank’s Commercial Banking team for the summer and I’m definitely enjoying the challenge.

What a journey it has been!  I’m already looking forward to regrouping with my classmates for our second year.