After The MBA

Party At Facebook!

Last week I had the privilege of getting an invite to attend a Facebook Game Developers Event.

I recently learned that Facebook has its own flavor of vitaminwater called “Connect”. You know you've made it big when you have your own vitaminwater flavor. I was under the impression that you could only find this flavor at the Facebook offices so I was excited to snag a bottle. Then I saw them on sale at Safeway a few days later and felt kind of let down. “Connect” didn’t taste very good either. Next time I'm at Facebook, I'm going for the coconut water instead.

 This is what $7.8 billion in the flesh looks like. (Yes that is Zuck giving an intro speech)

 

After seeing how awesome Facebook’s beverage fridge was stocked, I was really excited to see what type of food they would be serving us. All I can say is that I was expecting something different.

Jalapeño Poppers and Quesadillas                Beef and Pulled Pork Sliders

                             

   Facebook Swag!

My First Month At Work

I recently celebrated my one-month anniversary at my new job and I’ve learned many key lessons thus far:

1.)  Work life in a tech company >>> Work life in a bank. This is the first time I have ever worked outside of financial services and the first time that I have worked in tech. Tech companies are totally chill and laid back. You can pretty much wear whatever you want to work and they also give you tons of free snacks like chips, cookies, and soda. Most Internet companies don’t have those dreaded cubicles either so it’s cool to just have an open work space.

Check out my awesome desk!  

 

 2.)  There is an inverse relationship between working and working out. I’ve gained like 7lbs since I started my new job. This is the direct result of not going to the gym anymore and eating all those free snacks (see above).

 

 3.)  Palo Alto is really expensive. I have never had so many $20+ lunches before. Back in the day when I was working in NYC, a $20 lunch was a pretty nice lunch. In Palo Alto, $20 is only slightly above average. Yes, I could bring my lunch and save money but I think it is better to get out of the office and grab lunch with your coworkers.

I recently celebrated my one-month anniversary at my new job and I’ve learned many key lessons thus far:

1.)    Work life in a tech company > Work life in a bank. This is the first time I have ever worked outside of financial services and the first time that I have worked in tech. Tech companies are totally chill and laid back. You can pretty much wear whatever you want to work and they also give you tons of free snacks like chips, cookies, and soda. Most Internet companies don’t have those dreaded cubicles either so it’s cool to just have an open work space.

Check out my awesome desk!

 

 

2.)    There is an inverse relationship between working and working out. I’ve gained like 7lbs since I started my new job. This is the direct result of not going to the gym anymore and eating all those free snacks (see above).

 

3.)    Palo Alto is really expensive. I have never had so many $20+ lunches before. Back in the day when I was working in NYC, a $20 lunch was a pretty nice lunch. In Palo Alto, $20 is only slightly above average. Yes, I could bring my lunch and save money but I think it is better to get out of the office and grab lunch with your coworkers.

Building Name Fail

The Spankme Building! Spotted in downtown San Mateo on 300 8^th Avenue around the corner from Ramen Dojo (the spicy garlic pork ramen was quite good btw). Yes, I know this post is quite juvenille of me but can you blame me?

The Search Is Over

14 months after graduation from business school, my job search has come to a close! In all honesty, I probably only job-searched hardcore for about 8-9 months but I was still surprised and humbled by how difficult it was to find a good job out here in the Bay Area despite having an MBA from a top business school. Although I only sent out about 125 cover letters, at least 50% of my submissions had at least one internal referral, and sometimes as many as four or five.

I have no doubt that I could have found a job much sooner had I gone back to NYC, where my finance background was in higher demand compared to the Bay Area. Plus, it was incredibly difficult trying to switch from financial services to working in industry, especially in this economy (California’s Unemployment Rate is 12.3%). However, San Francisco is where I really wanted to live so I tried to follow my heart.

I’m not going to say that my California dreams weren’t risky. In fact, I was probably about 1 month away from running out of money and being forced to either move back home with my parents in New Jersey or to live in the streets of San Francisco (yes, like a homeless person). Either outcome was equally appealing to me (because SF is that awesome) although I had accepted the real possibility that I was headed back to the Garden State the following month. But I always said to myself, “No risk, no reward”. And in the end I was rewarded with a dream job (working in the gaming industry!) and nothing comes close to the Golden Coast.

Thank you to everyone who gave me their support during my arduous search! Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan so you have to roll with the punches and find the best happy hour specials around (not necessarily in that order).  

And don’t worry, this blog will continue. It's called “After The MBA”, not “Jobless After The MBA”. The adventures don't stop just because I am working now!