Seeking advice on my next move...

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>For the past 3 days, I've been scouring the Internet in search of a good forum to post my...issues on. I've known of College Confidential since freshman year of my undergraduate career (2004) but for one reason or another neglected to see this sub-forum until now. I'm hoping somebody out there will be able to provide their insight, level with me, provide some suggestions, or all of the above. Here goes.</p>

<p>Last December, I received my Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing, with a minor in General Business, from Western Michigan University. In my time at WMU, I met a lot of wonderful people and became involved in some great clubs, organizations and programs. When summer time came, I moved back home to Detroit to work as a mover at United Van Lines. Sure...it sounds AWFUL, but the pay was great for a college student and the position taught me more about the "real" world than I could have possibly imagined. During the school year I worked for the university dining services office as a carry-out food service employee. Again, a good student job that I carried no shame in holding.</p>

<p>Being a marketing major, I knew full well that an internship would look great on paper and would probably help me land a career faster, but I could not afford to work for free as I was paying for school. In Summer 2008, I received the opportunity of a lifetime to work with the Obama campaign as a volunteer field organizer, but of course that would come to an end in November. The next month I walked across that stage feeling great about myself and optimistic about my future.</p>

<p>Ten months later, I'm still working for United on a part-time basis due to the awful economy. I'd be lying if I said I didn't sit here on a nightly basis kicking myself for not trying for internships instead of working what I feel employers look down upon as a "grunt" job. Up until this year, I was one of those guys who always proclaimed that he had no regrets. Not so much anymore.</p>

<p>The other thing I've been beating myself up over is my 3.0 GPA. I know I could have done much better, and if I am fortunate enough to raise a family in the future, I will instill in my children the importance of developing good habits early on and always striving for their best - because I know I could have made things much easier for myself. At the same time, many people tell me that I beat myself up WAY too much over this. After all, I'm a great guy who loves serving his community and extending a hand to anyone who needs a helping hand. However, I now feel like I can't even help myself.</p>

<p>I'm determined to earn my MBA in the future, but I'm not entirely sure when.</p>

<p>At the age of 24, am I completely hopeless and destined to live a life of mediocrity?</p>

2

<p>Absolutely not. The good thing about MBA admissions is that work experience counts for a LOT. If you are only working for the movers part-time, I would suggest you ALSO try to find an internship (paid or unpaid) or another part time job in a relevant sector that will make you more attractive to MBA admissions. </p>

<p>Your GPA is low, but not too low to be counted out at many good MBA programs, albeit not “top” program. Don’t give up hope. There is no reason things cannot change for you. Just work as hard as you can to make that change happen.</p>

3

<p>Don’t take it too personally! This year, many many graduates are not working in their chosen field. </p>

<p>You mentioned the internship first and the GPA almost as a side note. I think the GPA is a bigger issue than lack of internship. Doing well in graduate school can assuage that, and once you land that first job, the performance will matter more than school GPA. Good luck!!</p>

4

<p>Now that you’ve been out of school for a while, I don’t think an internship should be your focus. Rather, focus on actual paid work experience in a relevant business. There probably are many graduate business programs available to you, including part-time programs for which an employer might pay.</p>

<p>You should be very proud of completing your degree while working your way through school. You have relevant work experience in two different lines of work plus your experience with the Obama campaign. You also have experience in various organizations and clubs, which may be relevant, too. You sound like you have lots of strong personal qualities that any employer would value, e.g., a strong work ethic, not afraid to get your hands dirty, etc. You just need to sell the relevance of your experience and personal qualities to an employer. What kinds of skills did those jobs teach you—scheduling, customer service, supervising, etc.??? What did they teach you about specific types of businesses----food service, transportation/moving/storage, etc.??? Perhaps someone at Western Michigan’s career/placement office could help you translate your experience/skills into strategies for marketing yourself?</p>

<p>The other thought that occurred to me is that you live in a particularly hard-hit part of the country. Would you be willing to consider relocation? The economy is bad in many parts of the country, but some areas are in much better shape than Michigan----e.g., that middle swath from Texas north though the Plains. (They’re Red states and didn’t vote for Barack O., but, hey, I’m managing to survive in one of them.)</p>

5

<p>I disagree about ignoring internships. If you can find the <em>right</em> internship, it might be a better springboard to either a better job or a nice line on your grad school app down the road.</p>

<p>My D works in a highly charged shop and has interns that are recent grads along with grads and undergrads, depending on the section. In fact, D was a bit unnerved for a bit that she had someone who was older than she was and just as smart reporting to her, intern to permanent employee.</p>

<p>Your 3.0 GPA is troubling, I admit. Fwiw, the effective minimum at D’s shop is about 3.7 and that’s from schools like Yale, Swat, William & Mary, Tufts, etc. (And I’m talking about internships.)
If you can get a good internship, you need to work your butt off as if you were working for a 4.0 while carrying 20 units and display a work ethic that’s lights out.</p>

<p>That 3.0 is going to kill you on a lot of grad school apps as well, at least to the top programs, which is where having a spectacular record in a high-profile internship can be a compensating factor.</p>

<p>No, you haven’t doomed yourself to a life of mediocrity but you’ve put yourself at a disadvantage competing for the top programs, top jobs, etc. It’ll require a lot of extra work…think of it as the work you didn’t do in undergrad, plus an “interest payment” premium…to make up for it.</p>