[2Y MBA] December Updates from the CDO

Published on December 5, 2023

Upcoming in December & January

Keep an eye out for these upcoming events:

December & January Commonly Used Resources

  • Renewed and First-Time Spring Searches
    • Review Industry-specific resources on Your Research & Reflection 
    • Revisit Alumni Panels and Industry timelines on Your Career Path & Timeline 
    • Yale Library offers a number of Target List Resources including Social Impact, Design & Innovation and Start Up lists
    • NOTE: Winter break is a great time to  make and refresh connections for spring searches, which are more individually-driven and less structured than fall searches. Use your pre-SOM networks, as well as SOM alumni, professors, and other current students to  learn about possible paths and opportunities!
  • Coaching Over Break
    • CDO Career Coaches are available during the student break through Thursday, December 21 and starting again on Tuesday, January 2.
      • NOTE: Yale University (including all offices) is closed Friday, December 22 – Monday, January 1.

December & January FAQ’s

  • First, our Career Coaches are always available to help you think through what you want your next steps to be, whether that’s figuring out how to get more positive responses in your current pursuits, broadening your goals, reflecting and restarting a search, and much more. Make a coaching appointment in CMS here.
  • Second, unless there are errors in your resume or other application materials, your resume is unlikely to be the reason for a lack of response.
    • Keep in mind that, while more input is required from you at an earlier stage, you have a significantly higher change of being noticed by employers in the US job market if you build your network at companies of interest, rather than only applying through Career Portals. Building relationships past “a referral” will go a long way to both short and long term career success.
      • If you’re not sure where to start, Yale alumni (particularly SOM alum!) in industries, functions, and companies of interest are great first connection points.
      • Alumni connections can be most easily found through SOM Connect, the Yale School of Management LinkedIn profile, and Yale Cross Campus.
      • Coaching appointments can also be used to learn more about how to network in a non-transactional way or to think through who is best to network with.
    • Additionally, consider your desired full-time start date and work backward from there. Typically, the closer you get to the ability to start working, the more opportunities you’ll see. You could be the #1 candidate for many roles today, but if there are other candidates who can start sooner they’ll may be ahead of you for consideration.
    • And finally, consider the candidate pool for the role. While some employers are looking for fresh business school grads, many roles are open to a number of candidates: 2024 b-school grads, other recent b-school grads, promotion ready candidates, internal organization candidates, lateral move candidates, recently laid off candidates, etc.

  • While there are recruiting events happening throughout the academic year, the pace and expectations of spring recruiting events are very different than fall, and there aren’t centralized MBA recruiting processes with one shared timeline like you experienced recruiting with Consulting, Investment Banking, and some larger Tech firms.
    • Also, there is significantly less formal club programming, facilitated networking, and accountability structures in spring. If self-motivation and organization are difficult due to coursework and other obligations, we highly recommend creating informal accountability groups with like-minded classmates and/or setting up regular coaching appointments to stay on track.
  • In spring, even employers with formal MBA programs will host fewer formal events and rely more on informal, individually-driven, networking to make decisions.
  • Spring is also a good time to pursue niche roles and industries, which rely very heavily (sometimes exclusively) on personal networks for hiring.
  • NOTE: Begin planning and networking now (winter break and holidays are an ideal time to reconnect with existing network).

  • If you have time, join CDO Career Coaches in a live discussion on December 12 at 11:45AM. You can sign up in CMS here.
  • Because winter break tends to be a quieter time for many, here are some recommendations to pursue:
    • Reflection & Assessment:
      • Take a look back (or redo) your Odyssey Plans from the 1Y MBA CDO Fall Fridays. This is a good way to re-orient and evaluate your priorities.
      • Reflect on the reasons you came to Yale SOM and how that has changed and stayed the same during your time here.
      • Reflect on where you want to be when you graduate: what’s a must have in your post-SOM role and life vs. a nice to have.
      • Think through what you’ve accomplished this fall: what went well and where would you like to make improvements?
    • Prepare
      • Once you have your goals in place, take some time to research your industries / functions / companies of interest.
      • Start preparing outreach lists for the spring semester (remember, many are away during the holidays and will be less likely to respond to new outreach). Yale SOM alumni at companies / in industries and functions of interest are a great place to start – they’ve been where you are!
    • Connect
      • Winter break is a perfect time, however, to connect with existing contacts, whether it’s someone you made a good connection with in first year and fall recruiting, someone from a previous company or from undergrad, old friends, etc. You can wish them well for the holidays and share any life or personal updates.
By Audrey Hupp
Audrey Hupp Associate Director of Operations and Program Manager, Career Education & Coaching
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