Great to meet you! My name is Drew Thomas. Before Chicago Booth, I served 10 years in the U. S. Navy as a pilot.
I am looking forward to sharing my Booth Experience with you this year. Of course it is not all class, recruiting and clubs are a big part of this experience. I suspect it will be more time spent with clubs, such as the Armed Forces Group, as a second year than recruiting. My Booth Experience is not individual; my wife Jen and brand new daughter Cate are in this with me. So check back here information on what partners do at Booth as well.
If you have enjoyed Craig’s posts from TBE’15, I will share how I am using the flexible curriculum to be a stay-at-home dad for the Autumn Quarter and a full-time business school student – I already have my daughter doing homework with me!
How was your summer?
As we head back to class, “how was your summer?” is the question I have been asked most often. And it is an important question. Most of us came to business school to change the trajectory of our careers. For some it is learning the skills to accelerate your current trajectory at your firm or in your industry. For others, like me, you are making a drastic change to something totally new – and the summer is your chance to see if a new industry is right for you.
I spent my summer at a bulge bracket bank in Chicago and will be going back full-time. As a career-changer, that would not have been possible without the preparation from Career Services and my friends in the Class of 2015.
Career Services runs an amazing program here at Booth. From learning to tell your story, to researching industries, to LinkedIn best practices, resume review, and interview practice the Career Services team provides a critical link between what you formerly did and what you will do after Booth. Career Services also enlists second year Boothies as Career Advisors, who along with having recently recruited for an industry, have been trained on the process to help first year students along the way. Career Advisors play a huge role in helping first years tweak their resumes and meet 1-on-1 or in groups with students interested in their particular industry of expertise.
Career Advisor or not, every second year I met throughout my process was willing to help. And my friends and mentors did a great job helping me navigate recruiting, listening to my thoughts and sharing their experiences. That “pay it forward” mentality is something that is imbued in every Boothie. It has made a huge impact on my Booth Experience and will undoubtedly make one on yours.
