6/4/2023 0 Comments Smooze spellingWithout blinking twice, I shamelessly sent out my CV to everyone in my contact book. On the morning of 15 September I sent out an SOS message to my closest friends. Given my peculiar profile (euphemistic reference to lack of relevant experience), networking stood by me when headhunters failed to help. I could interview any time, impress anyone with my charming stories, and needed less than three floors in an elevator journey to secure an interview call. I was on the top of my game when I was laid off by Lehman. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Without doubt, the recruitment season in business school and the one month of networking at Lehman were the most stressful experiences of my life. I met more people at Lehman in the two-hour speed dating session than I ever did over 10 weeks of my summer internship. We worked on our elevator speeches, mingled with the recruiting desks over multiple cocktail sessions, mock-interviewed each other, and underwent a formal speed-dating session. Some desks were more popular than others and competition was intense. Little did I know that I would have to endure another full month of schmoozing! As generalist associates we had to fight and find our way to a desk. When I stepped into Lehman as a full-time associate, I thought I was done with networking. And finally, even if the MD ends his presentation by saying, 'There is no such thing as a stupid question', don't bite it. We were taught the nuances of networking - start with an icebreaker (complaining about London weather - check), have an interesting story about yourself (self-deprecating humour - double check), and show enthusiasm even if you know you are going to receive a healthy measure of repetitive BS. The first few months in business school taught us that having a stunning CV or a stint in Iraq just wasn't good enough to get you shortlisted for banking interviews. Networking - the very mention of this word is enough to make most people shudder.
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