The first semester is crazy. People warned me it was crazy, but I didn’t believe them. How bad could it really be? Pretty bad if you are recruiting for everything. Part of me wants to just chill out for the rest of this year, but I’ve actually met people in real life who finds this blog useful so to pay it forward for other vets, I’m going to keep on going.

From a logistics point of view, all of my posts now are probably only useful for those MBAs entering the class of 2015 because most of the things I’ve learned this fall isn’t relevant to the spring at all (because traditional recruiting happens in the fall).

One quick note I wanted to jot down was the difference between banking in the US, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa, but basically London), vs. APAC (Asia Pacific, but basically Hong Kong). In the US, you are a new associate without any experience in banking among 80 other dudes who came from other industries. There is a super tight military network at MOST banks and your MBA alumni network should be strong.

In London, there’s a lot of analysts being promoted to associates and they have 1 year MBA. What does all of that mean for you? Instead of 80 new guys, you are one of 10 new guys vs. the 70 guys who have been there for 3-4 years. How do you think you’ll rank among them during annual reviews for the first two years? Bottom third. There is a London Banking Summit every Thanksgiving so I would take a look for yourself and enjoy London as well.

The main barrier in working in Asia, regardless of banking, consulting, or any industry, is the language requirements. There will be reading, writing, speaking, and even translation tests at most firms. I don’t know a lot of veterans who even meet this pre-requisite so this is already out.

The whole point of looking beyond the US is that you can potentially increase your chances of getting more interviews. If you know you are cut from Barclays in New York, that does not mean you are cut from Barclays London. So you apply to London. Hit up all the bulge bracket firms during your networking and the ones you get cut from, apply to their London/HK office.

That’s it for now….more to come:

• Recruiting tips, networking etiquette
• Why you should recruit for everything
• Why banking in London sucks
• Detailed notes on every company that I’ve researched

I’ve been out of the loop lately because school has been busier than I could have ever imagined.  I just finished the first month of my MBA experience and it is like drinking from a fire hose. I have stayed at school until midnight at least a few nights already. I wanted to write a quick note on sleep and I have a lot of great JP Morgan / Credit Suisse notes to type  up….eventually.

A lot of people talk about various ways of having success in an MBA program but I think it is as simple as getting 8 hours of sleep every night. The thing is that there will just be an endless supply of academic, recruiting, and social events and you can’t do it all. The best way to deal with this is to really block out 8 hours of sleep and then work the rest of your day from there.

Without proper sleep, you can’t be at the top of your game academically, recruiting-wise, or socially.

Pros:

1) Routine. Getting up at the same time every morning, read a newspaper, make breakfast, etc. I want to go into my MBA running like a well-oiled machine. If I stop working, I’ll just degenerate into never wearing pants at home and playing video games.

2) Money. Unless you are independently wealthy, a month or two of salary helps the financial burden that an MBA carries.

Cons:

1) Not having enough time to relax. I can see that happening, but then again, my philosophy isn’t about rewarding myself or my family on specific occasions, i.e birthdays. I try to relax on a year-long basis. If you try to fit all your relaxing into a specific period of time, doesn’t that seem kind of stressful in itself?

2) Self reflection. This is the biggest con of not taking a break until your MBA begins. The MBA is a journey on self-reflection and you should probably figure out who you are and what you want to do, generally speaking, before you start your MBA program. There are just too many opportunities that you need to filter without getting swamped.