On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas…

The Russes gave to me…

A new job.

I have been trying to find a job since this summer. I have applied and interviewed for a lot of engineering jobs and consulting jobs. By the end of November, I had gone through the final rounds and been turned away from every engineering and consulting job I had tried for.

I had one final round interview left with McKinsey & Co, for a management consulting job. It was the job I was least suited for in terms of my educational background. It was the one I was least likely to get, but it was also the one I wanted the most. Two days before my final round interview I tore my disc in my back again, and I was completely debilitated. I couldn’t stand or sit at all. I could barely move even when I was laying down. I had to cancel my interview.

The next week was Thanksgiving, so I had that much time to recover. My interview was rescheduled for December 1st. I convinced my spine doctor to squeeze me in for a steroid injection the day before Thanksgiving. The injections reduce the inflammation and take away a lot of the pain. I also got a new prescription for OxyContin. So the day of my interview came and I was still in pain but functional. I took all of my narcotics and hopped on the three hour train ride to the interview.  At that point I was feeling a lot like George on Seinfeld when he interviewed with “MacKenzie”, the part where he was panicked, not when he was feeling cool, calm, and collected.

 

The interview consisted of three one hour slots, where I had to work through a consulting case on the spot, doing the calculations in my head and coming up with ideas on the fly. I practiced some with Emily beforehand, and she said that it gave her nightmares. The interviews went pretty well but not stellar. I got stuck in one part and had to ask the interviewer for help. After the interview I was sitting at the train station trying to figure out what my game plan would be at this point. It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to get any of the jobs I had tried for.

I was incredibly relieved and overjoyed (but not as much as Emily was) when they called me at the train station to let me know that they were going to give me an offer. In hind site Emily and I feel like me re-injuring my back may have been a little divine intervention. Maybe that was what needed to happen to get me lined up with the right people, to make this happen. Or maybe I needed to be on OxyContin to perform my best ;-). Either way we are very happy and feel very blessed.

This job will be in Stamford, Connecticut, and won’t start until this summer. I am writing up my thesis at MIT over the next month or so, and plan on taking a little time off to relax and to let my back recover before I start with McKinsey. We will be sad to leave all of the wonderful friends we have made here in Boston, but we are excited about the what lies in store for us ahead.