With recruiting finally over and coronavirus concerns causing my school to shift all classes to virtual, I suddenly have substantial idle time (rare in MBA) and thought this is a good time to reflect on my MBA journey up to this point. It has certainly been an intense, unique, and emotional first 8 months in Cornell Johnson, way beyond what I had signed up for.
Fall Semester: Aug 19 - Dec 19
First thing we were introduced in school is networking, and we were expected to practice right-away. It was funny seeing everyone turning left and right chatting passionately with new classmates. Definitely hard to get used to initially, but over the next few months I gradually understand why the ability to strike conversation with strangers is pivotal in MBA.
Enrolling in the same program with my wife Kaixin has been a dream come true, just being able to see her everyday gave me all the motivation to do my best. MBA is extremely stressful, and having a pillar of support really changes everything.
Ithaca is a nice place to be, for a short period of time. Initially I picked Cornell as my target school because of its suburban environment which I thought would be a good break from Singapore's metro life. However it proved to be too remote for younger people, and I'm now dying to get back to lively big cities.
Spring Semester: Jan 20 - Present
I only started putting my mind on recruiting during the winter break, after I received Google's interview invite. I immediately regretted not preparing more in fall after I noticed how far I was lagging behind on tech casing. Despite practicing cases with classmates via Skype on a regular basis during winter break, it felt almost impossible to catch-up to classmates who have been preparing diligently since October. One reason was because tech casing requires fundamental knowledge and understanding of tech businesses, which was not possible to build in a month's time. This shortcoming proved to be critical during my Google interview.
Rejected by Google, Accepted by Amazon
My overall interview experience with Google was pleasant. The interviews were conversational and casual, exactly what I expected for a tech interview. I felt I answered most of my questions well enough to give myself a good chance. If there is one area I could have done better it would be the case question which I stumbled. Receiving Google's rejection three weeks later was a devastation. Despite knowing my performance was not perfect, I thought my performance in other areas would have made up for the case question.
Takeaway: To get into top firms, good is not enough, you have to be the best.
When I received Amazon's interview invite in Feb, I knew I couldn't allow the opportunity to slip by again. I recapped my learning from past interviews and further refined my knowledge to ensure I will cover all bases. The 4 hours of back-to-back interviews was exhausting, but this time round, I felt that I performed so well that there is no chance I will not be accepted. The wait for results was still painful as it's easy to feel paranoid. On Mar 10th, 3 business days after the interview, I was ecstatic to receive Amazon's offer, I did it!
Takeaway: If I had received Google's offer in Jan, I would attribute a big portion of it to luck. When I secured Amazon's offer, I know I earned it because I put in the work.
It has definitely been a roller-coaster couple of months experiencing emotional ups and downs. MBA recruiting has been much harder than I have imagined. Fun experience nevertheless but I hope for a peaceful journey rest of the way.
