A New York State of Mind?

So, I thought I should do an update on Cam’s summer internship search. Things have become a little more complicated than they were a couple weeks ago, but we’re still not going to complain! Cam is heading to NYC next week for a kind of “Admitted Internship” evening (he said, “they’re paying for me to fly there for a party!”), and if all goes well, he will probably just accept JP Morgan’s offer. BNY has indicated that they want a second interview in Boston, but they can’t give him a final decision until after February 16….which is when JP’s offer “explodes” (I had never heard this “exploding offer” term until the last few weeks…why don’t they just say “expire” or, god forbid, “we have to tell them by February 16 if we’re going to accept”?).

Anyway, this whole BNY situation made everything slightly more complicated. Should he wait until after the NYC trip to tell BNY he is going to back out of the process? Should he just tell them now in case they want to extend a 2nd interview to someone else (he is one of three candidates at the moment)? If he was offered the BNY position, does he think he would take that or the JP Morgan job? This seems to be the most important question to me, and it’s the question he has the toughest time answering. All he can say is that there is a good chance he would accept the JP position even if he got the BNY job. In that case, it’s tough to give up a sure thing for a 33% chance of getting another position. Oy.

In either case, it looks like I am spending 10 weeks of the summer in Chicago alone! Cam will be in NYC and Boston, and, though I wish I could, I can’t just quit my job right now and follow him ;). And because Cam is the primary puppy caregiver, Henry will head to puppy summer camp at Cam’s Mom’s house in Connecticut. It will be weird being single and childless for 10 weeks, but I’m committed to having a good time! We’ll see each other most weekends and rendezvous in Connecticut to visit the pup. More on this Chicago alone time later; it’s a big topic of conversation amongst the working partners….

Also, our Partner Group takeover has pretty successful! Things are looking up there, and we are getting ready for Admit Weekend!

Busy, busy….with all this business school stuff going on, it’s a wonder I have any time for my actual job….;).

Ssshhhhh.....he's in!!!

Thank God, the worst is over. Cam got an offer for a summer internship yesterday – one he might actually end up taking! He interviewed with JP Morgan on Tuesday morning and felt, unsurprisingly, “okay” about the interview (this was the “he was old” situation). Well, he felt much better Wednesday afternoon when they called and offered him the position! They aren’t even requiring a second round of interviews, which is pretty unusual :). He also got a call about a second round interview with BNY Mellon, so yesterday was a good day!

In some ways, though, I hesitate to celebrate too much. It is great for us and for Cam that he will not be unemployed this summer, especially since the economy is still a bit slow. He’s excited about both of these companies, and I’m glad that he’ll be doing something other than PE for the summer (incidentally, he also interviewed with a PE firm for a class next term called “PE Lab.” He thought that went really well, so, hopefully, he’ll still have his foot in the PE door if this other plan doesn’t work out.). However, while he has heard, there are so many people here who haven’t…

Just last week, I was complaining with a friend of mine about another partner whose Facebook status was something like, “Congrats (boyfriends’ name)! Time to celebrate!” No other info, just pure gloating – clearly about a summer internship. Very annoying when you’re biting your nails wondering if your husband is going to be THE one who doesn’t get an offer. So what do I write as my Facebook status yesterday? “yay!!! Cam is officially not jobless this summer!!! :) :) :)” (Yes, THREE smiley faces!!) Almost immediately, I wanted to take it down. Too bad people are SO fast with their comments and started replying right away!

This time is stressful enough without having other people’s good fortune constantly being rubbed in your face. All of my friends here are waiting to hear about their husband’s/boyfriend’s interviews – a situation I was JUST in less than 24 hours ago. It’s that same feeling you might have had when applying to college…you hate to say “Yay!! I got in to (blank)” to someone without knowing if they just got their final rejection letter.

For now, I think I’ll just be quietly relieved…I know that, soon, everyone will be ready to celebrate, and then we can really get loud ;).

God Grant Me the Strength....

I basically screamed at my husband this morning for not using a tissue. I don’t know….maybe it was the fact that our puppy woke up at 3am ready to go, or that Roddick had a disappointing loss last night, or that the bathtub drain I had JUST unclogged seemed to be worse than before, but his sniffling in my space was just about the last straw. “Use a tissue!!!!”

Did I mention he was up early because he had two interviews this morning? Whoops.

I know, I know – not very supportive, right? Well, let me tell you, it is freaking exhausting to be supportive 24/7. Exhausting. Especially when half the time, I feel as though he has reverted back to his 15 year old self. Except that now he’s treating me like his mom, not his girlfriend (yes, we’ve been together a loooong time).

Me: “How was your interview today??”

Cam: “It was okay.”

I raise my eyebrows in that “aaaand” kind of way.

Cam: “I think it was fine.” Shoulder shrug.

Ooooh, the interview you’ve been stressing about for 2 weeks is over, and all you can say is that it was “okay?” It took everything in me not to reach across the table and smack him! Just like with applying to business school, all of this is stressful to ME, too! Except that I’m not IN the interview; I have to wait and wait and wait to hear what HE has to tell me about it. So I wait and wait and stress and stress, and all I get is an “okay” or “he was old.” “He was old?!” Ugh. As I said, it’s exhausting to be supportive. Especially when half the time, I feel like I’m the one who needs all the support!

At any rate, interviews are done for now, so now we just have to wait. He had two more today (one for a class next term, not an internship), and they went well, as far as I can gather. As far as waiting goes? According to Cam, “it’s okay.”

It's only the rest of your life.....

I’m skipping way ahead, but it’s necessary :). My husband has an interview for a summer internship today – probably RIGHT now!! It’s his second interview of 5, which I guess, isn’t that many for the average b-school student? It seems like lot to me (considering every available position gets at least 100 applications), but what do I know ;).

Anyway, as I said, he already had an interview 2 weeks ago and was actually offered the job. Without even having interviewed for the 4 other positions, however, he didn’t feel comfortable accepting the offer. He asked for more time to decide, they said no, and he declined. Risky? Um, absolutely. As many of you might know, getting an internship these last few years has become tougher and tougher, and getting an offer from a private equity firm has been almost impossible!! But, he’s not sure if he even wants to do PE post-grad, so he is hoping one of these other interviews pans out. At least he knows the guy who was offered his spot, and he was VERY excited.

I was all for him declining the offer, even though it was in Chicago, and now it is almost guaranteed that we will have to spend the summer apart. One thing that has really irritated me about business school so far is that you start recruiting in about October. You’ve been here for a month, and then they want you to decide what you want to do for the summer and basically for the rest of your life! A lot of these internships lead to full-time offers, so you’re essentially picking your career a month after you get to school. Cam - unlike most people, I guess – wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he left school. He liked PE, but he was also interested in checking out private wealth management. Well, what if he takes an internship in private wealth management and doesn’t like it? Has he shut the door on PE forever? What if he takes a PE internship and then decides he’s really done with PE? Is he stuck with that career?

I thought going to school was supposed to help you decide what you wanted to be when you graduated, but they seem to expect that you'll know this when you walk through the gates in September. I find it very annoying! And it’s stressful for both of us!

Anyway, good luck, husband!!! I’m sure you’ll be great today, and you’ll have lots of options for the summer….and for your life forever after.