Six Months After Completing My MBA

Six full months have passed since I completed my MBA at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I find myself sitting at the kitchen table of my in-laws. When I returned to school, I definitely did not think I would find myself still looking for employment six months after completing my degree. I am very thankful for the support my family has given me during this trying time. It has not been completely without opportunity, it is just that none of those opportunities have turned into job offers.

I have been fortunate enough to be included in an article in Canadian Business magazine that was just released and is centered around MBA degrees. I am one of several people they profiled. The Business Career Centre and Marketing Department at Queen's University recommended me as a potential candidate when asked by the magazine. This may turn up some leads, but it might also not. Great exposure to get during a job hunt and I'm thankful for the opportunity.

A lot of my classmates have found employment. I'm not sure what the exact numbers are, but next month the school is due to publish the class stats. Although I have been counting the days since my last test, the career centre counts them from graduation. Their"six months" employment stat count is a month further away. Speaking of the career center, the career centre saw two of their most experienced people depart. A loss for the students, for sure, but the opportunity for new people to try a new approach perhaps. Should be interesting to see where things go.

There has been a lot of opportunities since my last post three months ago. One alum I met with contacted me to see if I would work on contract for his newly forming oil and gas advisory service. However, after this initial contact I have heard nothing. After tracking him down, it turns out that he is doing okay, but there is no room to take someone on with no experience. Although it was flattering to be contacted regarding this opportunity, there is no way it will actually result in a position, which is frustrating.

I have also been exploring traditional engineering jobs that would not make use of my MBA. A recruiter that contacted me had a client who was looking for an A&D/Exploitation Engineer and I was the first name that came to mind. Again, however, this turned into months of delays. First it was that they were "taking their time to review candidates". Then it was "the VP is on holidays for two weeks". Next it was "they are very busy". Then I hear they bought another company. All of these delays are understandable. After all of these delays, they went with another candidate and I never even got a call for an interview. I was a perfect fit for the job description, but with the economy the way it is, there is a lot of highly qualified people in the market making competition tough. Once again, it was flattering to be thought of for this opportunity, but very frustrating it hasn't turned into anything substantial. Following this same stream of job hunting I have found a Development Engineering position with a great organization in Calgary, but I still need to see if anything happens with this position after meeting with the recruiter trying to fill it.
Yet another opportunity came from the Queen's Business Career Centre (BCC). A former alumni asked the BCC , in confidence, to provide a few candidates for a potential position. They did not want to post an advertisement and they had not been happy with the results of the internal recruiting process they had almost completed. So, myself and one other classmate were recommended. I met this individual for coffee. It seemed like a dream fit and that everything should be a "go". This was just after the middle of August and the next round of interviews were promised for the first week of September. Then it was that it would take four to six weeks for HR to get things going and get an official interview. Next it was that he had been "too busy to start the process". After that it was that he would be on vacation for the next week. Then he gets back to me only to tell me he has been too busy with merging different division to start the process so it should be another four to six weeks. Then I get a message that a job posting has been sent out that closed on Oct. 7th and I will find out on Oct. 13th if I make it to the next round. It was delayed, again. Now interviews are supposed to be happening on Nov. 11th, but with a track record like the one this potential opportunity has, I won't be holding my breath. I was fortunate enough to discuss this with a career coach at Queen's and the conclusion I have come to is that all I can do is keep being "nice" and find other jobs. Yet again, it was flattering to be thought of for this opportunity, but very frustrating it hasn't turned into anything substantial.

The opportunity with Hatch that I mentioned earlier has dried up. They sent a few e-mails delaying the process and now they have just gone silent.

One of the best things I have done is contact and meet the Queen's University alumni in Calgary as well as attend a Queen's School of Business alumni event in Calgary. Both of these have resulting in strong leads. I couldn't believe that Queen's University has a person in Calgary that they pay to stay in touch with alumni and put them in touch with each other where appropriate. Contacting and meeting this single individual has resulting in an excellent opportunity I would never have found on my own. I have already had a first round of interviews for a position in the Marketing Division of a Multi-national company that sells pipe and the second round is for next week. This could be the opportunity I have been waiting for.

On another note, there have been some interesting consequences of expanding the class. The class size is 111 people. However, there are only a maximum of 80 people per class allowed in the electives. As a result, when it came to choosing electives there was a line-up of people outside the office at 6:30 AM, which opens at 8 AM, as people tried desperately to get the classes they wanted. I'm sure with different students having different goals and people going on exchange that everyone will get what they want for the most part, but its still tough on the students.

All that aside, I have strengthened my resolve to simply find a position that uses my skills and has decent compensation, whatever that may be. I am casting my net as wide as possible, applying for anything that I could even plausibly think of doing and that my skill set could fulfill, even if it is a long shot. From all business (i.e. Investor Relations or Financial Analyst) to all engineering (i.e. Exploitation Engineer or Development Engineer) and everything in between. I have designed myself a business card and put a three bullet point "mini-CV" on the back so I could network like never before and continue to look for and attend any possible alumni or professional event as I can. This "new" approach is starting to bring in a number of opportunities to apply for. 28 in the first week alone. Will this new approach work compared to the careful targeting of individual organizations and positions encourage by my career councilors? Who knows? Only time will tell...