Selecting and Securing the Right Extracurricular Activities

Name: Eli Nofzinger

School: NYU Stern

Year: 2015

Post-Graduation Plans: McKinsey & Co.

Here’s what you need to know

Eli

Business school, particularly at the outset, can be overwhelming. Many students feel pressure (both internally and externally) to fully immerse themselves and succeed in all aspects of MBA life: academic, career, and social. Adding extracurriculars on top of everything else can either be a recipe for sleep deprivation or an excellent method of supplementing your efforts on all fronts, depending on how you approach the process.

As Winnie Tran mentioned in her earlier blog post, being intentional about your involvement is crucial. Think carefully about the skills and experiences you hope to develop, as well as the unique strengths you bring to the table. I entered school with an eye on a management consulting job. I knew a board position with our consulting club would give me incredible contacts, both among second year students and at my target firms, who could all guide me through the recruiting process. Although I didn’t have case interview experience or contacts in the industry, I knew I could leverage the fundraising skills from my nonprofit background to help the club secure sponsorships. By highlighting this unique asset, I secured a position that provided the knowledge and connections I needed for my career hunt.

Conversely, I knew my LGBT identity was already well established on my resume through my gay football league and undergrad activity. Therefore, I remained only a participant in this club’s activities, taking advantage of many of the social aspects without the time commitment required of the club’s organizers. Even so, I was still able to  give back to this community as an MBA2 by leveraging my roles as President of the Management Consulting Association and Alumni Chair of Student Government.

Advice:

Think about how these pairings could work for you. Could you use your tech background to gain a technical position on the marketing club board to beef up your marketing resume, or vice versa? Could involvement the international business club help with classes for that daunting major you have your eye on? Maybe you could make friends through the culture club with people you might not meet through your classes and recruiting events?

 

Once you’ve figured out how your involvement could bolster, rather than detract from, the other areas of your B-school life, flip on all those recruiting skills your career office drills into you! Attend club kick-off events and be sure to meet people in the position you hope to attain. Send emails to let them know of your interest and request a quick chat to learn more about what they do. Find out what they are looking for in candidates and be sure to emphasize those traits in your applications and interviews. Be mindful that MBA2s are quite busy and may not have time for your questions; there is a fine line between an eager go-getter and a needy pest.

Club positions, particularly in the highest leadership roles and for professional clubs, can be extremely competitive, so be sure to put in enough applications that you end up with enough options to meet your goals. However, be careful not to apply for too many positions within the same club unless you can clearly articulate why you are a good fit for each role. You want to send the message that you are perfect for this specific position, not that you’ll take anything they can give you. Most clubs will reach out to rejected candidates regardless if they still have open positions at the end of interviews.

Finally, look holistically at all of your commitments when deciding on your involvement each term. I knew I’d be swamped with recruiting the first months of my second year, so I frontloaded my extracurricular work that summer, took a lighter course-load, and told first-years I couldn’t help them with interview prep just yet. After receiving my offer in late October, I doubled down on classes I’d fallen behind in and spent dozens and dozens of hours giving cases to first years with upcoming interviews. My club roles wrapped up in the spring, so I took the harder courses I’d been putting off, picked up a new activity running our class gift campaign, and spent as much time as possible socializing with classmates before graduation. Managing this ebb and flow of recruiting, academics, and social life is integral to making the most of your short two years of business school. Find the extracurriculars that will help and not harm this balance and pursue them with thoughtfulness and dedication!