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August 23, 2006

Further Westward Ho!

Heading out for a week of fun and sun in Vancouver.

Be good, kiddies.

Posted at 5:40 AM
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August 17, 2006

Where the Buffalo Roam

Hanging out with the family in Edmonton. While it's nice being back in my home town, I've generally been bored out of my mind. So far I've brushed up the resume, been to Edmonton's one real attraction a bunch of times, caught up on some reading, had random meals with random friends. Not really sure what type of excitement I'm looking for, but there's a general restlessness that has taken hold.

There's an impressive amount of construction going on around the city. Makes sense given the Alberta boom that everyone seems to be talking about. Apparently even Tim Hortons is paying upwards of $12/hr with benefits. Housing prices have been skyrocketing. I wonder what will happen when the oil sands run out?

I think I have to work on my patience - slow Edmonton traffic is killing me. The open lanes of the Whitemud are screaming for a faster than 80k speed limit.

Posted at 6:31 AM
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August 13, 2006

The Office

David Brent goes to Microsoft.

Hahaha.

Posted at 7:14 PM
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August 09, 2006

A Public Service Announcement

I originally started this version of my blog with the intent of capturing the steps I took in getting to and through an MBA. The rest of my life sort of took over the writing though. There's a lot of pretty good advice out there - I'm totally an information junkie - the business week forums have some nuggets and numerous blogs have been fantastic sources. There are, however, a couple things that I thought worked for me through the application process that I thought I would add to the rest of the noise on the internet.

There are two major pieces of advice that kept me sane through the process. (They're also good pieces of life advice, so it's sort of a 2-for-1 deal.)

Be yourself
Finding a school that fits is like finding a soul mate. Base your application on who you are, not what you think the school wants to hear. If you tell the school what they want to hear and you're bad at it, they'll see right through you. On the other hand, if you're good at it, there's a good chance you may end up with something that was a completely wrong fit for you. If you are yourself and get dinged, sure it's disappointing, but it doesn't mean failure. It just means that the school isn't necessarily right for you at that very moment. Adcoms work very hard to make sure that the people that get into the school are the best fit for the school. By extension, the people who best fit the school are the ones that the school best fits. That was a little convoluted. Eh, let's just leave it at that soul mate thing.

Know yourself
Know why you want the MBA. It's an essay question. I'd argue it's the most important essay question. If you know why you want the MBA, everything you do is that much easier. You can target your schools appropriately according to their strengths. You can position your application better according to what you want. You can shape what you learn to fit your future. It'll make sure that you're not just another unemployed person with three additional letters at the end of your name. Plus, there are better ways of finding yourself other than spending a mint and a couple of years at b-school.

One more quick thing that's a huge pet peeve of mine. 720 GMAT, 3.2 GPA, 4yrs WXP, 26yrs old, industry - what are my chances of getting into H/W/S? I hate seeing things like this with a passion. It's not all about the numbers. The stats are akin to the minimum height requirement for carnival rides. You'll need something to prove you can handle it, but once you're in, they're irrelevant. What really matters is you and what you want to do.

More as I think of it.

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Posted at 3:35 PM
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August 05, 2006

Wincent has left the building

Today was the third time they've bid me farewell at Lilly. They've tried to get rid of me before, but like a bad penny, I kept on turning up in different places and capacities.

This time was a particularly... special... given the practical jokes that are the social lubricant of our group. It all started after I had finished packing up my things and started saying my goodbyes. I returned to my cube to find duct tape covering the entrance and pinning down the box I had packed. Sort of ridiculous, but definitely not unexpected. What really caught my attention was the blue push pin taped to my desk with a note: You'll probably need this. Love, Lilly.

I knew immediately what I was going to find. I decided to move the box at my cube to the car a little earlier. Only to find that my car was no longer where I had originally parked it. I put down the box and in the sweltering heat combed the parking lot looking for the car. There were more than a few curses uttered in my search. I eventually tracked down the car and found it was filled with balloons.

Lovely.

I went back to the place where I had left the box in the parking lot. Only the box wasn't there anymore. What ensued was a frantic search around the building for my things. My friends who pulled the joke took different tacts to annoy the hell out of me. Some were telling me to go to the lost and found, others played dumb, while still others paged me bugging me about lunch and the like. Finally, they broke down and told me where my stuff was. It wasn't over though. On my way back in, they also decided to deactivate my badge and laugh at me from the security office.

Thanks for capping off a memorable five years.

Jackasses.

Posted at 3:41 AM
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