Day 6..

Into the day 6 of the placements, and I would say that things are going on a good clip. We might actually see 90% of the batch have atleast one offer by the end of the week. Great job market I would say.. and increase in brand name is pulling far more good roles. Of course, there is/was extreme pressure during the week itself, and a lot of people succumbed to that pressure and took up an offer with a mass recruiter, just to keep one in hand. Each student is allowed to receive two offers (or accept to take up one offer.. whichever comes first), and they are out of the placements. However, each offer comes with a deadline to accept the offer. Hence, people are finding themselves taking up their "backups" because the deadline is running out, and they don't have the guts to take a risk and wait for better roles. And then, finally there are lots of great roles coming out on the later days, and people miss out on those good opportunities.

I want to take a step back and look at these "backups". So, some of the advantages of having a good backup can probably the following

* Definitely relieves you of some pressure
* Gives you confidence to go for better negotiations on the next offer
* If you don't get a better offer, well, one can still be happy.. its definitely a good job to be at.
* Can help focus on only very particular roles in the next few days.. and make sure that one can actually do targeted preparing. Usually till the first offer arrives, everyone is spread thin across multiple roles they are shooting for.

But, here's the deal.. a backup shouldn't be an offer that one takes just for the sake of having a job. My take on jobs is as follows

* Getting a job is an eventuality. I haven't ever met anyone who's always been without a job! Everyone gets a job. When they get it.. is the question. It is as simple as that.
* A lot of people stress themselves out by asking themselves stupid questions like "damn.. will I get a job or not?". Duh.. you'll definitely get one! A more pertinent question probably will be "Will I get the job I want, by day X of the placement process?". But then again, what's the point of getting stressed about it when the answer is a "no". It could be one of two things.. You don't fit the role, or you'll just have to wait longer. Easy enough to deal with either way.
* If you are looking for something specific/unique.. then just by definition of the word "unique" which means that it's not something common, you will take time to come across such a role! If it were lying in abundance, then it wouldn't be "unique". So, be patient!
* Note for career switchers.. You need to persist! Not take your backup and get out of the placements on the 2nd day! There are 9 days just in this placement week, and then another month and a half. So what if you don't get the role on day 2? Obviously, someone with a marketing background will get a marketing job first! Take two resumes, and you'll know why someone would want to pick the first one which has a marketing background.. as compared to someone who's looking for one.. and has no background in marketing! It's not rocket science! But, as the first few companies take their picks, most people with the strongest background will be gone. For the next wave of companies, switchers stand the best chance!
* Define your backup properly. A backup should be something that you are willing to actually work on! If you really don't want an offer and take it as a backup.. then well, all you have done is waste one of your offers.
* Pick something that will be long term.. This year quite a few people had trouble 'cause they'd switched too many jobs in a short span of time. Many companies consider this a negative, especially if their employee acquisition cost is high (in terms of the amount invested in recruiting and training the new employee). Its simple, they require returns for their investment in you, and if they're not convinced that you will stick on to give them returns, they won't invest! Example this year would be a Dean's lister who really felt the pinch of this 'cause in 32 months of experience he had switched 3 jobs. You don't want to be labeled as a person having the "one-year itch". Pick a company where you'll stick around for atleast 3-4 years!

I'm out of the placement process as of last night. I got both roles I really wanted to get. And just a small view point here, just 'cause I didn't get roles I interviewed for 3 days back, doesn't mean I'm a duffer.. and just 'cause I got one of the really meaty great opportunity roles yesterday doesn't make me a genious either! Nothing changed from that day to yesterday. Interviews are quite random. One day you can do everything and still nothing will come together. Another day, you can do the exact same thing, and everything will click. Most people sitting through placements at ISB will agree on this! Sometimes it could just be that you're not the best fit!

My quaddies have all managed switches successfully as well! One of them consulting, one of the other sales in a finance company, one of them moved into Private Equity.. and me into Strategic Marketing (I think). The successful switches, especially into finance, all came due to a lot of patience, resilience to the pressure, and not succumbing to it!