Career Fairs, Info sessions & My First Rejection, .. Ouch!

To kick off the recruiting season my school hosted an annual career fair for rising seniors and juniors. We had all the fortune 500's, but I couldn't apply to most of them because of work permit restrictions. Fortunately, the consulting firms and investment banks didn't really care where your were from and they really wanted to recruit the the best people on campus. There was only one real consulting firm (Bain) and one local Investment Bank (Raymond James), in the session that day, and I applied to both.

The folks at Raymond James were very nice, but they told me they had limited positions. I think they were only taking two people that year so I knew I was a long shot. The line formed at the bain booth was so long; a Chinese girl in front of me virtually fainted due to the exhaustion and anxiety. When I finally met the Bainies, I sold my self and gave them a folder I had prepared which contained my resume and cover letter and I also spoke about my interest in the field and in their firm. They asked me to attend the Info Session and that was that, I got a verbal invitation.

The Info Sessions

I attended the info session in about two weeks hoping that the crowd would be less, but to my surprise, there were even more people. Again, I waited till the end and sold myself. It's funny because all the people I met in previous information sessions at Deloitte, McKinsey, and SunTrust Securities were the same people I met in the Bain info sessions, and I'm sure they thought the same of me.

What really made me nervous was the calibre of students in these sessions. These were the smart of the smartest kids (3.75 -- 4.01 if possible) at Georgia Tech and we were all vying for the 4-5 positions. It was tough. Everyone dressed the same way, looked smart, spoke well, and I knew that with my "just above average" GPA I had to bring something more to the table.


The Dinner Party
Secretly, after the info session the folks at Bain selected about 20 of us for a meet and greet, and I was lucky to have been invited! These were the 20 most interesting kids on campus and I was lucky to be one of them! I knew they cut over 90% of the aspiring candidates already, and I knew I had to watch what I said because they were evaluating my every move in this event. I was also the only black guy so that made things even worse.

The Interview
I prayed really hard, and luckily I got selected for the first round interview. Only 10-12 people were selected for the interview, and I knew they were only going to pass less than 1/3 of us all, so I did my best. I was also the only non-ISYE Engineering major (most were industrial or electrical, because they do a lot of supply chain coursework which is very helpful in consulting). I nailed both cases, and I thought they were both very easy. Since they were relatively easy for the average Georgia Tech kid, I knew that my competition nailed em too. So I knew the decision boiled down to the soft skills, like delivery, presentation, and simply cultural fit, areas I knew I wasn't too strong in. I didn't lead a fraternity, visit Europe, and I didn't know anyone inside their firm. To make a long story short a week later they called me up and rejected me after our 1 month mating period. I tried to get feedback from the recruiters and interviewers, but I just couldn't reach them, and I didn't feel like harassing anyone.

I prayed even harder, and I fell into a state of semi-depression, because I was confused why I didn't even make it to the final round. This was my first rejection that I really wanted, but I learned my MOST important lesson:

"When You Ask God To Direct Your Paths, You Must Be Ready to Go through the fire and the storm and still trust in the Lord, even when things aren't going your way."

This is the ultimate test of man's submission to the Lord. I was going to receive more tests and this story has only just begun! So I decided to thank God even though things weren't going my way at all.