Tulane University Freeman School BLOG

Lately, I have been bogged down with my job, the full-time MBA, this blog and ABOVE ALL (really), my endless search for the perfect internship. You have to get hungry if you want it to happen. No one, especially not the CMC, does it for you. The people that recruit on campus, thy spend lots of $$ doing roadshows. It isn’t because they want you. It’s because they want the right to narrow 500 applicants to 5. So if you think you got what it takes to get to that top 5, then by all means, only talk to the people that come around, give us pens and t-shirts and talk about how sweet it is to work with them. They talk about how they like each other so much that half of them get married to each other and go on vacations together. They love the job–no two days are the same. Maybe you’re in one of those 5, but the rest of us are not.

My internship search started this semester, as the CMC detests. My biggest obstacle: I love New Orleans, good and bad. I love Tulane. I love the heat, the fury, and the fun. New Orleans will be my base of operations until someone convinces me otherwise… My second biggest obstacle? I am not a corporate kinda guy. I like the growth potential working for a start-up. I like to call my shots, make my mistakes, and learn from them. I shave once a week. I like to show up at work at 10 and work until 9 if I need to. I like to take random vacations when I get stressed and need to think about things. I might take a Tuesday morning off and go to the park. I also might work all day Saturday morning (a la now). I am human, like you, and realize what I need to do to succeed. So it’s like Brian Gibbs, my real estate professor says, “It’s either your terms and their price, or their price and your terms…”

Now… getting back to Tulane. What has this meant? This means I have to use the network more than anyone. I made a list of alumni working at places I might like to work. I write them letters and meet for coffee. I add them on linked in. I then ask professors if they know their bosses. I use my pull with TEA to get email address and phone numbers of their bosses. I write to them and drop professors names, copy their subordinates who I had coffee with, and ask for interviews. I shave. I try to make a good impression. I follow up with them. Jeremy Loescher of Rebith Capital Partners, here in New Orleans tells me it took him a year to get his job. He was unemployed and looking for a job the whole time. I talk to second-years related to local companies – get more emails, request more advice. I hear the same things – stay hungry, New Orleans is one of the toughest job markets in the country, but keep in touch.

It ain’t easy. Anyone can get a job as a teller at the bank. Anyone can wait tables poorly and make rent… and there is no shortage of jobs for that. It’s just like being an entrepreneur. You have to be hungry.

Will

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