How the new MBAs compare to the old

Today I went into university to listen to a presentation by a management consultancy called Boxwood who were there to recruit. They pride themselves on their resource based view HR policies. They hire well rounded balanced individuals who are passionate, down to earth and ambitious (and now that I write it surely that's what every organisation aims for right?). Either way my point is they considered themselves different and it really seemed to permeate their culture and although I went in a skeptic I left buying what they were selling. Anyway, I networked a little bit, swapped business cards and am sending my CV off to them tomorrow.

Most of those who attended the presentation were this year's intake, about twenty or thirty in total and there were about ten from my year (who like me have finished and are looking for work). It was fascinating to see all the new fresh faces knowing what they were going to expect in the year to come, the trials and tribulations, the tears and the joy. We were worlds apart and nowhere was this more evident than in the questions that were directed to Boxwood.

At the beginning of the presentation one of the Boxwood directors asked the audience what they wanted out of the presentation, encouraging them to ask questions that they wanted answers to; one of the new intake put their hand up and asked "What can your company offer me as an MBA graduate?", I proceeded to choke on my own saliva and a few heads turned. I thought to myself in true New York mafioso style "The balls on this kid!!", here this guy was, on the cusp of a year of emotional and intellectual hardship and he'd already believed his own hype. The hype that befell many of us. Another future MBA asked "What is your unique market offering?", I chuckled to myself and thought "unique market offering my ass". I'm glad to see that a year of the MBA hasn't affected my cynicism.

But seriously, compare this to the kind of questions that my lot were asking, things like "Where do I apply?" and "What is the recruitment process?" and you get the idea. WE NEED FUCKING JOBS AND WILL BEND OVER BACKWARDS TO GET THEM!