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Company Presentations At Kellogg

Early on at Kellogg, everyone quickly learns that success in the recruiting process requires more than getting good grades and doing well in interviews; it requires building networks of relationships and finding a good fit with your skill set.  One example of doing that is through coffee chats and lunch and learns, which companies tend to have pretty regularly.  Another example is going to the company presentations, which companies put on the entire fall quarter.

So far, students have been pretty good at attending many of these events. After all getting a good job upon graduation is the primary reason people decide to attend business school. But going to all these events, while also studying for class and taking part in Kellogg activities is also tough. And sometimes, it’s even harder for the students who may not have a sense of what industry they want to work in after graduation.

On one hand, the rewards from taking part in the activities can be many-fold: learning about various industries that you may not know much about, having access to top leaders in different industries many of which are Kellogg alum, and taking in part in fun and interesting events alongside Kellogg classmates who are exploring just like you are.

One the other hand, the more of these events you go to the harder it can be to squeeze everything into a day. Similarly, for some people, the more events they go to the harder it is to ultimately make a decision because they become exposed to too many opportunities.

But perhaps more important than those things (both of which can be spun as positive, i.e. busy days and lots of exposure to business) is that at some point, time becomes more limited as the quarter goes on, and at some point, people will have already begun prepping for the recruiting process in certain industries. So for some people, there is competitive pressure to move quickly, so you can be best prepared to do case prep, network with the right people, and target the job that you want.

That said, many of the first year students are still doing some floating between industries. Some are going to both consulting and marketing. Some are doing consulting and investment banking. Some are doing marketing and strategy. And another group of students is still floating between a wide array of other industries. But you can definitely see some shifts taking place, and we’re starting to see some regulars at many of the presentation. Personally, I’ve got a pretty good sense of the things I’m interested in, but I’m still keeping a broader net, not only because of my short-term recruiting interests but also because of my long term interests.

I’ve recently attended events put on by Education Pioneers and The Broad Residency, two organizations that I’m very interested in.  I’ve also gone to events by BCG, Bain and Mckinsey,  and attended an event put on American Express (SPG).  In addition to that, my Media Management class has also been interesting.  In the last two weeks we’ve met with the Statesman (Texas Newspaper) and the Tribune, and today, we have a guest speaker meeting with us from Google.

At Kellogg, we’re all very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with all these interesting companies. Stay tuned to hear about some of these sessions in more detail.

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