After The MBA

DOOSTANG: Is it worth the money?

Current and recent MBAs are probably familiar with the career website, Doostang.com, thanks to recommendations about it from their respective career management centers. It is similar to other job posting sites like hotjobs.com or indeed.com in terms of functionality. The biggest difference is that you have to pay a subscription fee in order to utilize their job postings. I’m not sure how Doostang is really “exclusive” other than that it separates those who are willing and able to pay from those who are not. Cornell MBAs get a special subscription rate of $75 for three months. I’m not sure what other people have to pay. Maybe those HBS kids get it for free or maybe they pay the same rate.

My main complaint about Doostang is that they don’t post enough jobs. Keep in mind, if Doostang posts 25 new jobs, there will probably be only 1 or 2 jobs at most that fit a particular candidate’s interests and background (or maybe none at all).

I did a quick comparison between the number of daily postings over the course of one week on Doostang and Craigslist to illustrate my complaint. Keep in mind that Craigslist is a normal way to find roommates and jobs in SF and that it isn’t seen as a freak show online forum like in other major cities.

 

Final Verdict: Although quantity does not necessarily equate to quality, I personally think Craigslist is better for finding jobs in the Bay Area than Doostang, especially considering it is FREE. My 3-month subscription to Doostang came up for renewal a few days ago so what did I do? I renewed it of course! Because what is a mere $75 compared to the $140K that I invested in my MBA? Good thing B-school taught me to have a big picture perspective!

I Can’t Wear (Cornell) Red In My Neighborhood

About a month ago, three people were shot and killed in two separate incidents in the Mission district of San Francisco, which happens to be the same neighborhood where I live. These shootings were related to gang violence between rival factions of the Norteños, a Latino gang based in Northern California. Apparently, the Norteños' gang color is RED, so anyone wearing red could be mistaken for a gang member. Living in a neighborhood like the Mission, where there is significant gang activity, increases the likelihood of mistaken identity if you are wearing gang colors. In the ensuing weeks, I tried not to wear anything red, especially in the evenings, because I didn’t want to get shot or stabbed.

Other people thought I was paranoid but then guess what happened last week? Some guy wearing RED SNEAKERS was mistaken as a gang member and beaten on a Muni bus in the middle of the day (google “Christopher Borgzinner” if you don’t believe me). I was talking to my friend Kandea about how we can’t wear our Cornell gear in my neighborhood and then a good point was brought up, “Why do gangs choose all the best colors?” In some neighborhoods you can’t wear blue; in others you can’t wear red. I’m sure some combination of white and black are probably taken too. Why can’t gangs ever choose less mainstream colors like magenta or viridian? In doing so, gang members create a unique identity and brand for themselves and they don’t have to deal with the hassle of trying to figure out if someone is a gang member or not. And for us innocent folks, we don’t have to deal with the inconvenience of not being able to wear some of our favorite clothes. Organized crime could certainly benefit from a few courses in marketing.

I think I smell a potential consulting project for some first-year MBAs looking to bolster their resume with brand management experience!

Weddings Are Like Goodbye Parties

 

I just spent the past weekend attending the wedding of one of my best friends from high school. Although it was supposed to be a day of celebration, I felt a little sad that my buddy was getting married because I knew that this was in many ways, a goodbye party. Most guys joke that getting married is like getting a life sentence to prison and that you will never see your friends again except when you are allowed out of the house for special occasions such as the Super Bowl or if you are in the dog house and not allowed home until you apologize and have learned your lesson (*tip* always admit you were wrong, even if you were right).

My buddy looked really happy throughout most of the wedding and he isn’t very good at hiding his feelings so he truly must have been happy. This perplexed me. I thought about the prison analogy during the reception and then I realized maybe he was happy to be getting married because he was getting OUT of, and NOT GOING INTO prison, and it was us bachelors who were still stuck on the inside. My mix of elation and sadness is how Red must have felt when he discovered that his pal Andy had ecaped from Shawshank.

This refined analogy seems much more fitting. Most people tend to be happier to get out of prison but it also depends on what sort of life (or wife) awaits you on the outside and in many cases, life is better in prison for some guys. Similar to married life, living in the free world involves a great deal of responsibility and sacrifice. Some guys would rather live the single life: less responsibilities to manage, fewer sacrifices to be made, hanging out with the boys all day, playing ball and working out, which essentially is the same as prison life. It all makes sense now!

I can't believe I debunked the prison theory of marriage.....alcohol is a hell of a drug.