Only one more semester to go...it's a cliche... but I have to say "I can't believe it's nearly over." Last year I discussed what HBS students do over the winter break. This year is of course no exception. Most students are traveling, and mainly overseas.
I'm going to India for almost three weeks with three sectionmates. Despite India having a population of over a billion people, I have no doubt that I will be running into other random HBS students on a regular basis. I don't know how many HBS students are going to India, but it's probably in the hundreds, and everyone tends to go to the same sites. It's interesting to see that many HBS students take a vacationing interest in countries perceived to have the hottest growing global economies: India, China, and Brazil. I take it as a positive sign for the global interest of people here and would be curious to see a study of trends in HBS overseas travel. I wonder if there would be any sort of correlation with GDP growth, and whether it is a leading or a lagging indicator.
I also want to share some interesting articles I've read recently. One is from an HBS 2010 graduate who posted some really interesting statistics on the top employers of HBS graduates and particularly insightful numbers on management consulting hires over time at HBS. For the actual statistics, you should check out the InsideHBS.com blog.
Another really interesting blog is Our Consulting Problem, a case of a Kellogg/HBS husband and wife team who decide to quit their management consulting jobs and do something completely different with their lives. The subject of whether one with little prior business experience "needs" consulting after business school and whether the option value generated is worth the time invested is a topic of regular discussion here (or at least with my circle of friends). Anyway, the essay on Option Value is both funny and highly descriptive.
I recently spoke with a very senior partner at a management consulting firm who is also an HBS grad. His firm had given me a full time offer and we were chatting about how I was thinking about the decision. Perhaps because I am considering such starkly different options, that I am also willing to be very open and transparent about it. He claims that he enjoys his work so much, that he was "shocked" when I told him that relatively few HBS grads going into consulting do so with passion for the business. About the only thing HBS students are less passionate about than consulting is doing investment banking, so it is very ironic those are the top two most common jobs coming out of HBS. These truths may be rarely discussed outside of business school, but they are readily recognized from within. Perhaps people who enter those businesses eventually learn to like it or change their outlooks; I'm not the person to speak about that.
Everyone is always speaking of finding their "passion." The catch is of course, that nobody can find his or her passion by searching the web or reading books, not any more than one can fall in love by simply searching dating sites or looking at magazines. All this leads to some very dynamic forces; heavy pressure to achieve great things and change the world, while at the same time dealing with short-term forces that challenge our better judgments about ourselves. I suppose these dynamics will never change for those of lucky enough to attend this school, so in that regards, HBS is a good place to practice!
Relatively few people come to HBS because they genuinely want to be a consultant or an investment banker, yet the overwhelming forces here places most people either in those positions or on the edge of them. It is a very difficult force to fight. Some of us are still hanging in there.
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