Friday, June 19, 2009

In San Francisco

After Egypt I went back to BCN for three days. Just long enough for their futbol (soccer) team to win the 3rd of 3 big matches which set the town off and had people partying all night long. I proceeded with selling all the crap that wouldn't fit in 2-70 pound checked bags and 2 carry-ons. I won't go into the fiasco at the airport but suffice it to say that things were not as smooth as they could have been. The flight was fine and I spent a week in Arizona getting my house in order. I spent a good deal of time with Tessa and got to see my dad, mom, chris, andrew, ethan, matthew and many of the friends like chad/marquita, ryan/nidhi, matt and his huge cranium, sal/erica, anthony/kelly, bill, pam, jody and more. It was really nice to see everyone but very rushed. That was the way I planned it though since I decided that I would move to San Francisco and find a job, I knew that if I didn't force a short trip, I could easily has spent way more time in AZ.

Jacob from IESE picked me up from the airport in SF and showed me around his city a bit. The next day I stayed with the friend of another person who went to IESE and by the third day I found a place to sublet in an area of town called the Mission. Its a very cool place to live; gritty but with a lot of character. During the almost two weeks since I've been here I've been applying to jobs and spending time almost every day attending events and networking with people. Today I had lunch with an LBS alum and as their alumni are much more numerous, I feel very lucky that I did an exchange in London. The job search is going as expected. I figure it will take 2-3 months to find the right role. I passed on an opportunity to do data analysis for a 1 year contract as that would be mind-numbingly boring. I had an interview yesterday with a startup but the company seems a bit too early stage, at this point its still in the idea phase. I'm looking for a startup or small business that already has some traction. Its enough of a risk to move all the way over here with no job and hardly any contacts, its something entirely different to take a low paying or possibly non paying role at a startup that has a very low chance of success. Does this mean I have job clarity??? Not quite, but I'm getting there.

Meanwhile, the city is absolutely awesome! The people are way nicer than I expected. I really forgot how friendly people on the west coast (except for LA) are and especially after living in Barcelona where people never talk with you, SF is a really great change of pace.

1 comment:

Adam Rose said...

My name is Adam. I am an American, from Philadelphia, and looking to apply to MBA programs. I was interested in IESE for three primary reasons: reputation, location, and bilingual program. However, I do have concerns about what the career prospects would be for me upon graduation. Might you be able to provide me with a little perspective?
Thanks for your time.