First month after the MBA
Posted by Vipul on 30 August 2010
Armed with the shiny new MBA degree (well not quite) marching we went into a world of dreams and opportunity (well not quite). But at least I have a visa and a temporary 3-month paid project.
The graduation ceremony was impressive. The champagne reception afterwards even better. And the summer ball was truly amazing. It was great having a jug of pimms with my parents and sister at the Windsor Castle Hotel right after graduation. It was also great taking pictures with my family and in-laws in LT1 and reminiscing about first year core classes. I was a bit surprised that we didn’t actually get any sort of degree/letter at the actual ceremony (they will mail the degree later). But our names did get printed in the Times that day :).
The lack of a job was closing in on achieving “emergency” status. To be honest I managed to get 2 offers within the month after graduation. But they either paid too little to cover my loan or required me to move to a country where language and taxes were a problem (more so than in Britain!). So I took up another short-term project in London, with an IT company that I liked. Hopefully within the next 2 or 3 months I will be able to land a nice permanent job. The market is improving, but its still not easy out there.
The other feared battle was the work visa. This was actually not bad at all. I managed to get it fairly soon, though it did cost a fair bit. Only wish I had known earlier that it was possible to get a premium appointment and get the visa on the day. But I was lucky and still managed to get it within 4 days (read more about my visa experience on my travel blog here).
It’s a little hard getting used to not being a student any more. Many of my friends are now moving away from London, and I’m busy with regular farewell parties. But I still go to campus once in a while for Gym and keep meeting with those classmates that remain! There is a lot of change and hard work ahead, but I am looking forward to it.
