August

So here's my progress for the month of August. I only met 6% of my target for emails and 12% of my target for informationals. My conversion rate is 20%. That is, if I email 100 people at least 20 people give me time for informationals. This is a good improvement over last month, where I only had a 10% conversion rate.

I didn't meet my target because I was busy preparing for interviews. I had a total of 7 interviews so far. I didn't hear back in 4 and waiting for the remaining 3. I learnt a lot from these interviews, especially the ones that I bombed. It was with companies I didn't care much about, so it's all good. Nevertheless, I did feel a bit down after doing poorly in them. Anyway, they have given me a good kick in the butt to prepare harder. I'm now strengthening my PM skills, behavioral answers and my business fundamentals. As far as the books I'm reading, I'm re-reading Cracking the PM interview and Case in Point. When I go on my walks, I think through answers to behavioral questions.

For thinking on the spot, I'm practicing casing with people online. I'm also going to enroll in a course called Fast Math to improve my public math skills.

On the personal front, I decided to stop drinking alone. I had my very last bottle of wine this weekend and don't plan to drink alone again, ever. Maybe an occasional glass socially, but never alone. I used to exercise before, I think I went to the gym for 30 mins everyday and walked for about 5K steps a day. Now I'm doing yoga for 30 mins a day (the stretching helps with relieving stress) and walk 5K steps a day. I live in a very nice apartment complex with a breathtaking view, so it's been awesome. I didn't realize I would enjoy being unemployed so much. Yay for summer!

July

I can't believe its been a year since I wrote this. I got hired back at my old company since I last wrote and got let go at the end of this June. Well technically, my last day will be at the end of August, since they have put the people who were let go on a leave of absence, so I will have 1 year of PM experience on paper. In all it has been an experience with good exposure to Marketing, Finance, Product roles and also to Senior Management especially the C-Suite.  I can't complain about being let go because the company has given severance for 10 weeks and they have given 2 months of leave of absence.  I have no hard feelings and look forward to the future.

So since the past 1 month I have been recruiting or trying to recruit. One of my colleagues who was let go had an idea for a startup which he looped me into and I have been working a bit for that. The first two weeks since I was let go, I worked a lot for the market research and have written stuff in a document format. So I didn't do much in terms of recruiting.

Since the last two weeks I have been reaching out to people and having conversations. Not as many as I would have liked to, since I've been reaching out to less than 50 per day, but now I am seeing some traction. Here's my status so far. As you can see, I've only met 8% of my target in both emails and informationals, with a 10% conversion rate. Of every 100 people I email, 10 people give time to speak. Will start working towards achieving the target from today.

Retail companies to target

1. Amazon
2. CVS Health
3. Walgreens
4. The Home Depot
5. Wayfair
6. RetailMeNot
7. Lowe's
8. Kohl's
9. JC Penney
10. Shoprunner
11. Shopify
12. Overstock
13. Macy's
14. Chewy.com
15. Tate and Lyle

Day 7 - Aug 7

It feels strange to not work. I think my time management skills are not good these days. I somehow waste a lot of time because I have so much of it. One thing I waste time on is the phone. I easily waste 5-6 hours per day I reached out to an alum in my dream company and his suggestion was to prepare behavioral questions thoroughly and then send him one or two roles so that he can refer me.

Meanwhile I had enrolled for the CFA for this December as well and have to focus on that too. There are 60 chapters to study from. 

Day 1 - Aug 1

A lot has happened since I last wrote. I found a PM role, and now I am on a break because I have to switch to another visa category and will be rehired at the company again. I'll try for both consulting and Product Manager roles since I enjoy my current role. I hope this time I'll be able to get interviews and crack them, since I have a bit of experience under my belt. 

Day 20 - Nov 20

Statistics for week 3 ending Nov 18th 

1. Informationals - 0
2. Applications - 3
3. Emails sent - 1
1. Alums - 1
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

As you can see here, my recruiting has come down the lower levels. I am not even sure how to find another job now. Over all these weekends, I had been going to buy stuff for the house or for winter wear.  I think I am finally done buying stuff. I went to a mall yesterday. It was full of people doing holiday shopping. I stepped into a H&M store and there was a long line of people waiting to try out clothes. I did see some that I liked but I was getting late and returned back.

I have to email people and start networking. I am casing on the weekdays and I did 3 cases last week.  I need to do more and also network more with people. 

Day 15 - Nov 15

It's so funny when people try to take advantage of me or try to find out where I am and what I'm doing. I am not reachable to people. The reasoning for me was that people always are curious about what is happening with me, but never willing to help me. Those who are willing to help are not really curious. It's these people who I am in touch with either through emails or otherwise. 

I moved to another team and the work is sort of better. At least I have one person on the team who lets me know what she wants and I can deliver that and leave at 5:00 pm. I don't have time to break my head and learn some arcane product which is never going to be useful in my career. I would rather take a break and do something else.

I have to find time to recruit. That's something I haven't been doing. I did a case yesterday and it was sort of ok. I did the calculations but more refinement is needed on the framework part. 

Day 11 - Nov 11

Statistics for week 1 ending Nov 4th 

1. Informationals - 0
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 0
1. Alums - 0
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 2 ending Nov 11th 

1. Informationals - 0
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 3
1. Alums - 3
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Day 2 - Nov 2

I'm still going to try for Capital One. Can't believe its going to be 6 months since I last applied. I have one regular case interview partner and I'm practicing with her. Also, I need to practice on my own as well and I did two cases today. I made a lot of mistakes in the calculations and I really need to be careful about it. 

Day 1 - Nov 1

I finally found a job. A role which is not really relevant to MBA, but I took it as a backup option. I have to still keep looking. I will document my journey going forward. 

Day 214 - Oct 31

Status as of today. Recruitment has recently gone downhill because I accepted a position and traveled outside the country as well. I am trying to get back on track and will resume recruiting from tomorrow.

Day 143 - Aug 21

Statistics for week 18 ending Aug 12th 

1. Informationals - 1
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 4
1. Alums - 4
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 19 ending Aug 19th 

1. Informationals - 5
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 27
1. Alums - 24
2. Recruiters - 3
4. Questions - 0

Day 131 - Aug 9

Statistics for week 16 ending July 29th 

1. Informationals - 9
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 12
1. Alums - 11
2. Recruiters - 1
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 17 ending Aug 5th 

1. Informationals - 3
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 1
1. Alums - 1
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Day 113 - July 22

Statistics for week 14 ending July 15th 

1. Informationals - 6
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 2
1. Alums - 1
2. Recruiters - 1
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 15 ending July 22nd 

1. Informationals - 0
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 3
1. Alums - 2
2. Recruiters - 1
4. Questions - 0

Day 103 - July 12

Statistics for week 12 ending July 1st  

1. Informationals - 3
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 14
1. Alums - 10
2. Recruiters - 4
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 13 ending July 8th  

1. Informationals - 4
2. Applications - 2
3. Emails sent - 27
1. Alums - 25
2. Recruiters - 2
4. Questions - 0

Day 91 - June 30

A lot has happened this month. I didn't get through both the interviews. The Capital One thing was case interview based and I needed to be a lot more prepared for that. The other one was more of business planning and analysis and I didn't have the experience. I was pretty depressed for a while after the company I interned for rejected me. They called me, knowing I didn't have the experience. I think I'm ready to start fresh now in a new place. Tired of this whole place and people. 

Statistics for week 9 ending June 10th  

1. Informationals - 1
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 4
1. Alums - 4
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 10 ending June 17th  

1. Informationals - 0
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 0
1. Alums - 0
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 11 ending June 24th  

1. Informationals - 1
2. Applications - 1
3. Emails sent - 14
1. Alums - 8
2. Recruiters - 6
4. Questions - 0

Day 64 - June 3

Ok, here are my statistics for weeks 7 and 8. Week 8 is the worst. One it was after a long weekend. Two, I had to arrange the logistics of moving and staying at a new place. The E-Commerce retail company rejected me. What the hell. I thought I had done well. Anyway, I only spent half a day preparing for them, so I didn't feel too bad.

Again, the company I interned for approached me for another role. I don't know when the interview is going to be but it would be a good backup.

Statistics for week 7 ending May 27th 

1. Informationals - 2
2. Applications - 6
3. Emails sent - 18
1. Alums - 8
2. Recruiters - 10
4. Questions - 0

Statistics for week 8 ending June 3rd  

1. Informationals - 2
2. Applications - 0
3. Emails sent - 0
1. Alums - 0
2. Recruiters - 0
4. Questions - 0

My casing is going on. Yesterday alone I cased with 4 people. At the end of it, I was so exhausted and my brain seemed to be fried. However, I have let go the fear of appearing stupid to people. I am going to be fine with practice. 

Today I did casing with three people, all people I met over the internet. I didn't know I would make so many friends over the internet. 

Day 56 - May 26

I had the initial discussion with the E-Commerce company today. The hiring manager seemed a little tired while speaking with me. I thought I gave good answers, but let's see.

Day 53 - May 23

I went through the entire Victor Cheng's Case Interview Secrets book and the LOMS videos and also went through about 10 cases so far. Now I get the hang of it, but I need to practice to get better.

Today again I had a call with the travel company and they asked me to look for opportunities in the US and touch base with them later. Idiots! Why do they schedule a call and waste my time, I don't understand.

Recruiting is really going downhill. I need better time management. This is the status of last week and it doesn't look promising.

Statistics for week 6 ending May 20th 

1. Informationals - 1
2. Applications - 2
3. Emails sent - 19
1. Alums - 6
2. Recruiters - 13
4. Questions - 0

I finally managed to have the courage to case with two people online. For the first one, I was pushed to do it because I had given a case already and my case partner wanted to return the favor. However, I did terribly and was so discouraged. My case partner gave me an actual case from an interview. Also, I couldn't understand his accent and couldn't understand the question either. I simply did not understand the graph. The second case practice was so much better. This again, I had given a case before and my case partner scheduled time with me to give me a case. I got great feedback and points to improve. It was a profit and loss calculation and more of a strategic case. My case partner was simply awesome! I mean, I was impressed. People who I contacted on the internet behaving so nicely and fairly! Much much better than my B-School classmates, for sure. One of them knows I am recruiting, but still asked me to give her cases. Not, can we practice casing, but can I give her cases. Incorrigible.

Day 49 - May 19

Every day, I learn something new. Yesterday, someone who I had thought was a close friend left without as much saying a bye. So much for two years together. I don't think I'll make any effort for our paths to cross again.