Why you need a career plan even before starting university

If you're like most students, one of the reasons for your starting studying at KTH was that you thought that KTH would provide you with a good education and, by implication, a solid chance of landing a good job at the day of graduation. And, if you are indeed like most students, you have been studying fairly hard, getting good grades and pursued extra-curricular activities. If so, I'll tell you what to expect: you're going to continue to get good results, you're going to go continue to get good grades and during your last semester, you will take what you have learned and start browsing around various firms' websites, trying to find an interesting job. Eventually, you will even get around polishing your out-of-date CV and sending the various HR Departments your application. And, finally, when you receive the polite “No thank you” emails, you will be startled why your applications are being so flatly and straightforwardly refused.

Above represents an almost romantic view: you study hard and, when nearing graduation, you start looking for a job. The problem with this view, which is, alas, still extremely widespread on campus despite this being the 21th century, is that it is completely out-of-touch with how reality works. Thus, far more KTH students find themselves trapped in the dreadful fate of being weeks from graduation lacking full-time employment instead of making sure they can cruise through their last year, having secured full-time employment long since.

Let's begin by stating a very inconvenient truth: your education at KTH will have a marginal effect on your chance of being successful in life. You may, well, at least in theory, have become academic smart but you will not have been taught anything about how the real world actually works, i.e. "street-smartness". At best, your time at KTH is nothing but a diploma, showing that you are at least somewhat smart and somewhat ambitious; at worst, it is a complete waste of time. The discussion could go on, but instead of copying the maestros, I would like to strongly urge you to read The Education of Millionaires - http://www.amazon.com/Education-Millionaires-What-Think-Portfolio/dp/159... - to learn from the true success stories of our time.

That said, let's look at what an education at KTH could actually bring - that is, a statement that you are somewhat bright / somewhat ambitious. Many prestigious firms won't hire folks without a solid university degree so congratulate yourself that the world at least in some parts is as old-fashioned as yourself. It is extremely unlikely to break into Management Consulting or Investment Banking lacking a degree from a prestigious university - and that may be your only advantage in life.

However, this is a mere prerequisite and far from enough. Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company receive literally thousands of applications each year. A KTH degree can only get you so far. Thus, if you want to break into these industries - and let's focus now on Banking as there are multiple differences between how banking and consulting work like - you've got to look at how these firms think when recruiting and adapt yourself to their mindset.

The first thing you must know is this: recruiting is costly and, more importantly, extremely risky business. Recruiting the wrong candidate to the wrong position can cost extremely much in both money as well as time. Moreover, there is an acute shortage of talent. Yes, Goldman Sachs may receive thousands of applications but you wouldn't believe how many are downright mediocre. As important it is to never underestimate competition, a far more likely and equally risky strategy is to overestimate competition which, alas, is much more common. Never overestimate competition. People generally suck.

Considering these two facts, banks try to form relationship with talented students as soon as possible and conclude their hiring process as soon as feasible. In the perfect world - at least in the view of the numerous HR Departments - banks welcome the brightest 1st-year students (or 3rd-year students should you be on a 5-year, i.e. Master's, Program) to their Spring Week Programs. There, a number of bright students will be noticed and fast-tracked to internship interviews. Hopefully, they'll do well and before even having completed one year in university having landed an internship. One year later, the bank hopes to give the whole internship class full-time offers and thus be allowed to skip trying to find candidates for their full-time programs. More often than not they succeed: this year, you cannot apply for any full-time programs at JP Morgan - what little head count they had was quickly covered by interns.

This means that if you want to break into the industry, you need to have done an internship. An easy - or, at least, more easy - way to get an internship interview is to have done a Spring Week Program. And, this is the best part, getting accepted to a Spring Week Program is, as a matter of fact, a fairly easy process should you have developed at least a somewhat comprehensive view about how the industry works.

This gives us two pieces of news, one good and one bad: if you're graduating in, say, 2014, well, go for it! This is prime time to start networking, learning more about the industry and, in a couple of months from now, sending applications to all banks hosting Spring Week Programs.

The bad news is that if you're graduating within the next year without having done an internship, it is extremely unlikely your first working days will be spent as an analyst at one of the global Investment Banks. Thus, it is simply not good enough to start being concerned about jobs when merely months remain at school - this is something you should be acutely aware of years before graduation. Years! And you have got have a comprehensive plan what you should do to land a job the first day of university.

Yet do you have a comprehensive plan? Are you on the right track? Have you, if you're graduating in 2013, landed an internship yet? If not, why? Time is running out. KTH is but something to put on the resume - nothing less. Thus, it is time for you to start doing what actually matters. Not next week, not tomorrow - now.