Choosing corporate presentations

The Ross School is having great success this year at attracting companies to recruit our students. This has raised a "problem" for students: which corporate presentations to go to? The right answer to this question depends on whether or not you are in your junior or senior year at Michigan.

Juniors should stay relaxed about attending corporate presentations. Think of them as something that you can do when you're not studying. They are useful to go to, but you shouldn't obsess about them. (That's for the seniors to do.) Don't think "Oh, look at all of these that I'm going to miss!" Instead, at the beginning of the week pick out 0-4 per week that you might be interested in. When the time comes for the presentation, if you don't have some studying (or eating or working out) to do, then go to the presentation. Get there on time, sit in the back, be quiet, and observe.

I'm emphasizing that juniors should generally be on the quiet side for several reasons. First, presentations in the fall are generally targeted at seniors. If the presentation says that it is also for juniors, it is most likely for informational purposes for that group; in the winter they'll come back and talk to you about internships. Remember, if you don't get good grades (first) and stay active in your extra-curriculars (second), then you won't need to worry about scheduling lots of interviews and call-backs when you're a senior. Stay focused on what's important (your health, grades, friends, activities) and the recruiting cycle will take care of itself during your senior year.

Second, you don't have much of a background from which to formulate a question. You should wait until after you've had a course in marketing before you ask some corporate representative a question about their marketing job ("What does someone in marketing do?"). To clarify, it's not that you shouldn't ever ask questions, it's that you should ask your questions in an informal, relaxed setting when others with more pressing concerns (like getting a real job) aren't waiting to interact with the representative. Do this now with the understanding that, next year, juniors will do the same thing for you.

Third, and related to the previous point, corporate representatives generally go to many campuses, and you are being compared not only with other Michigan students but with students from other business schools around the U.S. These other students might be in 4-year programs and might have already had 2-3 years in business classes by their junior year. So when you open your mouth and ask a question that shows that you don't have even a basic understanding of the company, their industry, or the career under discussion, you are casting doubt on the company's belief that the school is educating reasonably intelligent business students. When you go to a corporate presentation you are certainly not expected to understand what makes a certain company special, or how that company manages the careers of their employees, or what entry-level positions are available at a specific company. But, if you ask questions, you certainly should have a basic understanding of the company, the company's industry, and the career for which the company is recruiting. If you don't, then do your homework, get the representative's card, and ask permission from that person to send them a question later if one should arise. You can use that later opportunity to ask any legitimate questions and thereby make a positive impression on the representative for yourself and the school.

Juniors should go to presentations from multiple career paths and industries. Stay open-minded. You may think you know what you want to do, but you're more than likely wrong. You're just a kid and you don't exactly have a lot of work experience to fall back on. The average person changes careers X times, where X≥1 --- so, more than likely, your first career is not going to be your last. Another way to think about this is that the career you choose to work in first is probably not going to be the right one for you. (Don't worry. This is a good thing, not bad.) Two conclusions can be drawn at this point:

1. You should gather information about a variety of careers and industries to help ensure that your first decision is a good one.
2. Accept the fact that your decision is probably going to be wrong and take your first job for the learning experience that it will be. You'll want to work at this job hard, try to learn all of you can from it, and make good impressions on all of the people you come in contact with. Everything that you do in your life gets added to the puzzle that is you, and you will be a better person if you learn from all of your experiences.

Let's contrast this with seniors who are going to presentations in the fall to find a company that they would like to work for --- and that might want to hire them. They have all sorts of different concerns than juniors, and the questions themselves should be of interest to the juniors as a way of teaching them about how companies can be compared with one another:

• "Do you have a training program?"
• "Do you have a mentorship program?"
• "What have been the career paths of BBAs who you've hired before?"
• "What's the culture like? Give me some examples of what you mean."
• "Contrast what it's like working with your company with what you know about working with other companies."
• "What makes your company special?" or "What gets you excited on a day-to-day basis about working for your company?"
• "What's the average day like of a person in (this particular entry-level position)?"
• "How much travel is involved?"

In short, learn what you can from presentations but don't make them out to more than they actually are. The presentations are a good way to learn about companies and about what it's like to work for them. Otherwise, take care of yourself, your grades, your friends & family, and stay involved in activities that interest you.