(Loyal readers, here's an excerpt from a recent I email I sent to contacts in the University of San Francisco's MBA program. I show loyalty to this school because it gave me a research fellowship to defray the cost of my tuition. The school demonstrated faith in my abilities by putting its money where its mouth was, thus earning my support. People and institutions who have failed to support me earn my undying scorn.)
Hey current students! You are your own brand! Check out what Tom Peters has to say at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html for more wisdom. Rely completely on your own initiative to find a career you like, because no one can do it for you. USF lacks the endowment size and name recognition of Harvard or Wharton, and you have to compete directly against Stanford and UC Berkeley in your own backyard. That means that Fortune 500 companies won't necessarily come to you; you have to go to them. Once you figure out which niche fits your personality, network with every group you can find therein and keep every business card you collect for future updates and informational interviews. Here's where social networking tools like Facebook and LinkedIn come in handy, so check out my profiles there. If a big company isn't for you, there are plenty of startups to meet at SVASE, The Indus Entrepreneurs (http://www.tie.org/), and the VC Task Force (http://www.vctaskforce.com/). Get on their email lists to keep abreast of their many ongoing events. Temp work with firms like Robert Half might be necessary to survive Great Depression 2.0.
