I've Been Discovered!!!

Holy cow. TheLadiesChoice's cover has been blown. For weeks now, my family members and close friends have been bugging me to disclose this super secret blog. However, one friend (you know who you are, tsk, tsk) has been able to penetrate all my defenses and decoys. With my cover blown, I'm now at a loss as to whether to proceed with this blog. I never would have expected it, but the relative anonymity of blogging has given a somewhat exhilirating freedom that I've come to cherish.

I need a couple of days to decide what to do. Choices being:
a) Continue with The Ladies Choice MBA blog but restrain full disclosure
b) Continue with The Ladies Choice MBA blog with full disclosure (just take it strong)
c) Create a new blog....

We'll see what happens next.

Backlash

TheLC is still trying to process what happened at Virginia Tech. On the most superficial level (or maybe not), I am very anxious about a possible backlash against Asians in US campuses. Coupled with the current confusion and panic regarding H1B visas and caps (I don't even understand half of it), it appears that the US MBA path has gotten just a bit murkier and darker.

As is usual with TheLadiesChoice, I am struck by seemingly random things. With the massacre at Virginia Tech, I got goosebumps when one of the survivors described how Cho would really get up close and shoot students through their heads 3 or 4 times. Can you imagine that? Can you picture yourself actually going up to a fellow human being and just blowing their brains out at point blank range? Of course shooting people from afar definitely isn't the lesser of two evils, but that vivid description really made me appreciate the term "cold-blooded killer" in a very profound way.

On a different note, I found the Cho family statement very heart wrenching. I think the letter was very sincere and genuine.

Never Refuse An Invitation

I'm not entirely sure why, but I've been repeating this line from the official soundtrack of The Beach (Yes, I know I'm a closet DiCaprio fan. Hey except for the cheesy Titanic, he's had some pretty good movies with a lot of good lines.)

I think this has sort of become my mantra for this long summer before business school. Never refuse an invitation. Never resist the unfamiliar.Now I'm in the best shape of my life (which is not saying much, believe me.) learning to play tennis and going to the gym religiously. More importantly, my liver is in high-school form. The almost daily consumption of alcohol has prepared me for the work hard, party hard days ahead.

Next up: solitary road trips, whale shark watching, a trip to Bangkok, photography trips, and finance classes (TheLadiesChoice is a dork really.)

So fellow class of 2009, just keep your minds open and suck in the experience.

Orbital - Beached Lyrics

Trust me
It's Paradise
This is where the hungry come to feed
For mine is a generation that circles the globe
in search of something we haven't tried before
so never refuse an invitation
never resist the unfamiliar
never fail to be polite
and never outstay your welcome

just keep your mind open
and suck in the experience
and if it hurts
you know what... it's probably worth it

you hope, and you dream
but you never believe that something is going to happen for you
not like it does in the movies
and when it actually does
you expect it to feel different
more visceral
more real

i was waiting for it to hit me
i still believe in paradise
but now at least i know it's not some place you can look for
cause it's not where you go
it's how you feel for a moment in your life
and if you find that moment

it lasts forever

A Uniquely Humbling Experience

TheLadiesChoice quite unexpectedly found himself in the midst of a debut party in his long-forgotten hometown, a far-off barrio and a lifetime away from TheMetroCity. It's been decades since I've participated in such a provincial celebration. But, it was not the unsanitary food, not the stinky stench of a nearby canal nor the unsightly, gaudy and garish color schemes that struck me the most but rather the earnest smiles, the wistful dreams and the simplicity of life of the common folk. These are the people who truly make up the backbone of my third-world country. More importantly they are the self-same clients of my family's business. Ours has forever been a refuge for the rural poor. And there I was last night amongst the salt of the earth who are ultimately responsible for sending me to business school.

It's been a while since I touched base with my roots, but I am deeply grateful that I did. I am truly humbled by the experience. It's a very, very long way from the town of Gawilab to Chicago. A long way from goat's milk, farmers and fishermen to one of the top business schools in world.

A Rather Rudimentary Attempt at Choosing a Post-MBA Job

Okay, TheLadiesChoice is in the doldrums of the MBA matriculation process. I know I should be neck-deep in preparing the paperwork for my visa but I can't seem to find any inspiration in filling-up tedious F-1 forms, I-20s and SEVIS fees. So I've decided to try to determine what would be the best career for my post-MBA. Here's the simple exercise that I did during my last week at work (you can see that I had way too much time on my hands). As mentioned previously, I find myself inclined to join the typical MBA bandwagons of management consulting and investment banking. I'm such a sucker for peer pressure. Of course, I really enjoy marketing and do believe I have a natural knack for the job so I've included going back to industry as part of my options. I listed the job-related concerns that I have and gave weights in order of importance. Then I rated each career option on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the most favorable. The first table looks like this:














Multiplying the weights to the ratings gives the the final table below.






Some caveats: I have absolutely no first-hand knowledge about management consulting and investment banking. The ratings above are a reflection of the impressions I've gotten from people I've talked to, message boards I've read, and of course Hollywood's portrayal of the said professions. A lot of people will have different job-related concerns but these here are my own. The weights I hope are representative of an afternoon's worth of deep soul-searching in front of my office PC at the expense of course of my previous employer, ThePlaceToBe.

For me Compensation is 30%. I have a family to feed, places to see and Ferraris to drive so shoot me.

Work Hours is also a concern; I've never heard anyone who actually enjoys being cooped up in a cube 20 hours a day.

It may come as a surprise, but I hate travel. I hate the anxiety of long lines, delayed flight schedules and I hate flying.

I'll give in to my inner prestige whore and allocate 15% to wow-factor.

Entrance difficulty is also a concern. As an international student with no finance or consulting background I have a gnawing fear of not having a job at graduation due to my lack of prior work experience. My demons keep me company.

Exit strategies to industry are also a concern. Eventually I do want to go back to industry and hopefully be fast tracked to a C-level position. I'm a corporate ladder kind of guy and I can't help it.

The last 15% goes to all the other self-actualization factors that go into job search. Will I fit in? Will I have find meaning in my work? Will I enjoy doing what I do? Basically at the end of the day, I still want to give props to all the values and principles I learned UpOnTheHill.

Looks like it's Investment Banking for me for now. Will let you know TheLadiesChoice's thoughts on this startling development soon.

Asking Alex (about IB)

Probably one of the most insightful people in the net these days is this guy Alex Chu from mbaapply.com. Alex is also very active in the Businessweek forums that I mentioned in my earlier posts. Out of all the consultants giving free advice on those boards, I find Alex's opinions and insights the most grounded. Below, I have posted his response to TheLadiesChoice's inquiry regarding Investment Banking. I'm currently exploring post-MBA options and I'm afraid that I have fallen for the MBA bandwagon of consulting and investment banking (more on this in a future post). I've edited the school names to minimize debate, but you can still see how helpful Alex can be for people trying to get to b-school, studying in b-school, and graduating b-school. I'm quite sure we'd all appreciate an opportunity to have this guy over for a bottle or two.

From Alex Chu:

You won't have trouble getting an IB job out of SchoolXYZ. It's a core school for all the major banks.

Yes, SchoolXYZ doesn't send armies of people into IB, but it's simply because there's less people at SchoolXYZ who are interested in banking.

Here's how IB recruiting works. For the schools that a bank would consider a "core school", they have IB associates assigned as the primary recruiting contact for each core school. Usually, these associates are alums of the school. So the associate who is a SchoolXYZ alum would lead the SchoolXYZ effort, the SchoolABC alum would lead the SchoolABC effort, the SchoolDEF alum would lead the SchoolDEF effort and so on. They will interview most of the candidates from their school, but their primary job is to serve as the liaison between the bank and the school's career center to coordinate company presentations, shrimp cocktails, resume submissions, interview scheduling on campus, etc. However, even though they are primarily administrators/coordinators, they do have a say in who gets hired from their school. And even though SchoolXYZ doesn't send as many folks into banking as say SchoolABC, there's still enough XYZers who end up in IB that you'll have them at every bank.

So don't worry. The IB recruiting thing is set up at SchoolXYZ to make it as easy as possible for you to get the job. They will come to you - they have their presentations early on for 1st years (Oct onwards), some will schedule company visits or "day in the life" kinds of thingys, and then they will coordinate with the career center on resume submissions and interview scheduling on-campus. The banks wouldn't be spending this much effort and resources to send their junior and senior bankers to recruit and interview @ SchoolXYZ if they didn't think it was worth it.

As for your chances, land the summer internship and you'll be fine. Go to the company presentations, schmooze with the bankers who show up there (they'll usually try to bring as many SchoolXYZ alums from MDs down to associates, so they're on your side), submit your resume, and interview well.

And one last thing. Bankers don't care about prior experience or whether you're from New Jersey or Madagascar. They can't afford to. They need an army of people each and every year (it's a high employee turnover industry after all), and most ex-bankers in b-school aren't interested in banking anyhow.

When you go to a top school like SchoolXYZ, keep in mind that the investment banks and consulting firms set themeslves up in a way where both are the easiest jobs to get for students. They need an army of MBAs in good times and bad (the difference is in bad times, they will hire you, then renege on your offer in the summer after you've graduated, or fire you in the following Fall).

Alex Chu
www.mbaapply.com
alex@mbaapply.com
The MBA Field Guide (sample essays and more)

FREE HUGS

The Art of Jabbing

Came home at 3am last night driving in autopilot (read: over and beyond the legal alcohol limit) with a happy smile.

Had a few Scotch sevens with TheMonster, my closest buddy in my previous company (ThePlaceToBe). Since I only resigned a few weeks ago, we talked about the latest office gossip but mostly it was the sort of good conversation that comes from the judicious consumption of alcohol. All about life and love. Truth serum indeed.

Then I was off to an impromptu party of my previous-previous company (TheGoodLife). News spread pretty fast about my b-school acceptance and I must admit that I was more than a little flattered with the attention and the congratulatory remarks. I was so happy that I rather quickly went from downright flattered to downright plastered.

Spent the bulk of the night talking and jabbing. Jabbing is the subtle art of conducting exploratory dialogue with members of the opposite sex whom one finds rather attractive. We all know the drill. You jab a little, she jabs a little. You both try dancing over, under and through the witty banter to find out if the attraction is mutual. Jabbing and jabbing to bait the opposite party to finally punch back and fight. Everyone's a fighter, but every fighter needs a good jab.

Let's just say TheLadiesChoice had fun trying to be a lady's choice night. Good job. Good jab.

PS. Thanks to AsianGal, Boywonder and Bancaku for leaving comments on the site. Click the links and visit their highly entertaining blogs.

Living Quarters...choices, choices, choices

In a couple of days, the online application for my bschool's on-campus student housing will be up and running. It's going to be lottery-based so there is no guarantee that I'll be able to secure a spot. Nonetheless, I remain very optimistic since I've read quite a few posts in the student-discussion boards hosted by the school that pretty much everyone who wanted a slot got one. Turns out, that despite the relative convenience of living in-campus, this type of housing is significantly more attractive for international students like myself. The locals, or those living in the States prefer to source their own living quarters from the vast array of surrounding apartments and condos. No doubt, they aren't afraid of the extreme weather conditions or the culture shock that are sure to send tropically-inclined people like me scurrying for cover. I hear the cost-savings of living off-campus are quite tempting as well.

I've pretty much decided on on-campus housing. I have no plans of buying a car during bschool, and since the units all come furnished that also solves any problems of buying furniture, setting up Internet and phone access and all the hassles of moving into a new place. My dilemma now is whether to choose a studio unit, a one-bedroom unit or a twin-studio(!). If costs weren't an issue, I'd go for the one-bedroom unit. Think of the parties, poker nights and PS2 tournaments that can be accommodated by my spanking bachelor pad! But alas, the price is not right. So I'm stuck between a studio or a twin-studio with the latter being the more economical choice.

So what's the problem, you ask?

The thing with the twin-studio is that I'd be sharing a common kitchen and bathroom with a roommate (horror of horrors!).

Well, if you must know, TheLadiesChoice is actually one big mama's boy. Yup, that's right, I've never lived away from home and thus have never felt any compulsion or need to do any household chores. I'm like an undomesticated wild animal...well as wild an animal as a 27 year-old who can't cook, clean, or do laundry can be. Failure to launch indeed.

My thinking is that, if I'm going to have to clean the toilet, then I might as well be assured that I'm cleaning my own crap. I really can't imagine sharing something I hold so sacred with another human being. If it's going to be a mess, then it might as well be my mess.

The price difference is a whopping $300 a month. A small price to pay for my peace of crap. Haha.

What the heck...B-school Rankings!

Everyone makes a lot of fuss about b-school rankings. I think it's just human nature. Everybody loves rankings and talking endlessly about them. It's just that deep down everybody feels an intrinsic need to share their own opinions, to have their voices heard, to have their OWN rankings.

And so, here are mine. Some disclaimers first. I don't have any formal methodology to my rankings (apologies to rankingsgod1 from the Businessweek forums) but I have done my fair amount of research. Before the actual rankings, let me list down a few things which I believe in, and which in turn have greatly influenced TheLadiesChoice's MBA rankings:

1. I'm a marketing guy. And so I firmly believe in the power of prestige, branding and brand names (no matter how subjective or unquantifiable).
2. From all the official and published rankings, the only ones which I trust are Businessweek and USNews. I think that WSJ, Forbes, and FT vary too much from year to year to make them credible.
3. The school stereotypes (Kellogg for marketing, Sloan for techies, Columbia for finance) are true, but only to a certain extent. The top schools especially the so-called M7 reputedly can open almost any door to whichever industry one chooses (provided the hard work is put in.)
4. I do believe in determining that elusive "fit" when applying to b-school. Thus I encourage all applicants to do their research and come up with their own rankings. The most useful sites I've found are the discussion forums in Businessweek and College Confidential. Just learn to be wary of the trolls that lurk.

So here goes. TheLadiesChoice's B-school Rankings:

1. Harvard (brand name without par)
2. Stanford (most selective, great location)
3. Wharton (exceptional academic program, strong brand especially for finance)
4. Kellogg (marketing powerhouse, overcomes 'weak' NW name to still be top tier MBA program )
5. MIT-Sloan (MIT name and strong ties to the engineering school)
6. Chicago (reputedly the strongest academic program, starting to shed it's uptight image)
7. Columbia (finance in the finance capital of the world)
8. Tuck (most active alumni network, great community)
9. Haas (leverages on Berkeley name and proximity to Silicon Valley)
10. Duke (Go Blue Devils!)

This is where the story begins

This is my first posting. I never thought I'd be one to write blogs, but I've decided to give it a go.
So here I am, one week after I've officially quit my job. I have roughly four months until the start of b-school. Four months to do everything I've always wanted to but never found the time to do so. But I've found myself to be merely doing small errands, tying up loose ends. More than anything I think I'm relishing the fact that I have the OPTION of doing whatever I want. Choosing whether or not to exercise the option is a different thing entirely.

The thing is, having gotten accepted to b-school has been a truly big load off my back. I'm actually a re-applicant, so I have been at this whole GMAT, Essays, Recommendations brouhaha for a good 2 1/2 years already. The relief, jubilation and peace of mind stemming from the first acceptance letter was truly life-changing.

This blog will be about this endless summer of 2007 and hopefully until the end of my 2 year stay at business school. From time to time I may look back and reflect on what I have learned from the whole application process, but I'm more concerned now with enjoying the present and looking beyond to the future.

As one of my closest friends said: this is the summer of 007:license to chill.