As an international student living in the U.S. for the first time, it was really challenging to recruit for a job as the process was new to me.

Understanding the Recruiting Process

In the beginning, I didn’t have the necessary confidence to begin all the conversations and be prepared with a response to the famous TMAY (tell me about yourself) prompt. I remember my first conversation with Dave Solloway, a member of the Career Management Center (CMC), before I started classes at Fuqua. Since the first moment we spoke, he has been supportive, tried to understand my story, and helped me to structure my TMAY. I remember taking notes on all his recommendations and started organizing my TMAY—one of the most important things to have for the recruiting process. Since you are going to mention it in most of your conversations it must be powerful to generate a great impact.

Also, very early into our time at Fuqua, we started having sessions with the CMC and the various clubs to better understand the recruiting process. They walked us through the whole process, including how to start small talk, conduct a mock interview, and potentiate your LinkedIn profile and resume.

Mentorship From Classmates

A key element for me was the help of second-year MBAs. They helped me review my resume and sent me examples of cover letters and mock preparation. Also, they helped me to build an adequate strategy to apply to more than one industry. A very important person in my process was second-year student, Milagros Favre. From our first conversation at her apartment, she was very supportive, gave me tips, and took the time to go line by line through my resume and think with me about the ideas I wanted to communicate.

My C-Lead team was also an important element of my successful recruiting process, because when I was busy with coffee chats, interviews, traveling to New York, or other things, they helped me stay caught up in the classes we shared. Also, my Fuqua friends and partner were critical to me. They motivated me all the way and celebrated my achievements. Now, as an admissions ambassador, when someone asks me one of my favorite things about Fuqua that has surprised me, it’s the great friends I have from Brazil, South Korea, Iran, and the U.S., among others. It is one of the most valuable things that Fuqua has given me.

Practice!

I remember when I was receiving invitations to interview, but I was not feeling confident about succeeding and converting the interview into an offer. I told this to Dave, and he immediately offered me time to practice. We spoke for 30–40 minutes. He asked me some questions, I gave my answers, and then together we gave some structure to my answers. He helped me to boost my confidence and was so helpful with his advice because in the same week I used a lot of the things that we practiced together and received my first offer. Having my first offer helped me to be more confident in my interviews, and I started receiving other offers. If you asked me months before, I would never have imagined the outcome that I had from my recruiting process. I was surprised at how Team Fuqua was able to potentiate me and helped me demonstrate my true self.

All in all, I consider that my success is part of the sum of all the help that I received from many different people: my friends, second years, the CMC, clubs, alumni, among others. This is part of what Team Fuqua is for me—the way everyone helps each other. If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with a team.