I haven’t been back to the business school at UT for over a year now and haven’t regretted the decision to leave for a long time. I had written some about why I left, and thanks to some recent experiences I am even more confident in my decision.
I work at http://infochimps.org/, where I do business and customer development. Recently I have been bringing in more help, from technical programmers and data mechanics, to internship roles to help me in my position. We are doing some of this through on-campus recruiting and the students that listened in Business Administration 101 are the worst applicants that I get.
Their resumes are boring and bland. In BA101 you are taught how to write a three paragraph cover letter saying that you look forward to this ____ position. That you’re a hard worker, your GPA shows it, have great communication skills, and you look forward to working in an office environment. And then include nothing else, because employers do not want to see that. I know they do, I was there.
I get these applications, with good GPA’s, some work history, and my first question is always “Have you been out of the state of Texas?” In the interview, their most important answer is the one to “Tell me about a project or experience that you’ve had that was self-directed.”
The directors of the business school programs somehow don’t see that these are the most important qualities any excellent employer is looking for. I want to know if you were born in Panama and spend 2 months a year there. That’s COOL. That means you may see things differently than everyone else. When a business school disencourages the inclusion of this on a resume, and even the three years you may have spent living on a sailboat in the Caribbean, they are seriously fucking you in the ass.
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