Perhaps the most consistent use of my time and mental capacity over the last few weeks has been searching for a job. I planned on working at the start-up I had been working with for the past few months, but a few weeks ago it became clear that that wasn't going to happen, for lots of reasons. So I set out to find a great summer job.
I knew I wanted to work at a start-up, preferably in Boston or San Francisco. At first, that was all I did to narrow it down. Kind of a mistake. All of these different start-ups around the area sounded interesting, so I took a "shotgun" approach and applied to as many as I could. I have always been interested in a variety of things, so I could have been happy doing a lot of things. But I had trouble navigating the interviews. I found myself having trouble "selling" myself, given that I didn't really know what I wanted to do. It was becoming the end of May, and the time window to find a job was dwindling fast. Although I had a lot in the pipeline, I didn't have an offer, and was starting to get a bit nervous.
Fortunately, this is grad school, and we are all here to learn. So I used it as an opportunity to learn a little something about myself. I started telling everyone who would listen about my situation. I would tell them that I didn't yet have a job, and didn't exactly know what I wanted to do. I couldn't believe how many of them wanted to take time out of their day to help me out. After numerous conversations with classmates, my fiancee, and new friends (in particular MIT professor Joost Bonsen), I learned a lot about what I want, and what I am good at. I decided that I wanted to work for an internet software company (preferably in some sort of social media), and work with data to help drive management decisions.
Then, along came a start-up called Currensee, who have created a social platform for FOREX trading online. I applied and was given an interview. I liked the project they proposed, and loved meeting the people there. It is a 25 person team in the North End of Boston, with VC funding from Northbridge.
After a few interviews, on May 5th I found out I was offered the job. I also found out that I was awarded a Feld Scholarship (courtesy of MIT Alumni and huge supporter of entrepreneurship, Brad Feld). It is an amazing honor to receive this, and I can't wait for the summer experience! Will keep you posted.
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