When I was recruiting for my internship at BCG, I probably told the usual story: “Well, I don’t really know what I want to do after college. I’m not sure what industry I want to work in; I’m not sure what I want to do, so here I am, thinking about consulting.” As it turns out, there was an omission in that statement. I was also thinking about product management. I studied engineering and business in college, and discovered that most roles targeting business students didn’t care about my engineering background and vice versa - so there I was, thinking about consulting and product management.
The day of the interview, I left the Houston office at 5pm and got in an Uber home. At 5:20pm, Will Nolen [1] called me and told me that I got the job… and at 5:30pm, I got my rejection email from Google. I got out at the resume stage. No phone screen, no interview, just (in much more HR-friendly language) “thanks but no thanks”. I thought about things for a few minutes, decided I hated recruiting, and as soon as my return flight touched down I signed my offer on an airport counter (not the last time I’d be doing consulting-related activities on a laptop at an airport).
As I look back on my time at BCG, the phrase College 2.0 comes to mind. “College” because it was a time of learning, a time surrounded by some very interesting friends (with whom I have trauma bonded quite thoroughly), and most importantly a time of growth. “2.0” because I now got paid and worked less [2]. Along the way, I learned new words (e.g., “tactically” and “align”), and had some incredible memories and “holy shit” moments - mechanical bulls in the office, fantastic Diwali and Holiday parties, summer retreats and A trips, sound room experiences, team dinners with good food and drink, MDP dinners with very good wine, 4 laps at Circuit of the Americas, a client “incident” at 1500… the list goes on and on [3].
The next chapter of my life, however, is not at BCG. My girlfriend and I have done long distance for several years now, and I’ll be closing the gap by moving to the Bay Area in June of this year. I’m also going to try my hand at product management, in case deciding the fate of 2.5 years of my career in the course of 2.5 seconds wasn’t a good move. Perhaps future chapters will bring me back - but until then, take care, and I love you all.
[1] Funny enough, Will Nolen was in product management before coming to BCG!
[2] On one hand, I avoided true burner projects throughout my 2.5 years; on the other I did study engineering in college.
[3] Pancake Night, sandwich cookoff, chili cookoff, Turkey Leg Hut, Friendsgiving (3 times, incl. the best turkey of my life), a couple of wedding celebrations (one in Cancun, two in Houston), a murder mystery party (two of them), Texas Games, poker nights, happy hours, an amazing trip to Banff, a beach day at Galveston, White Linen night, a type-II-fun weekend trip to Summit County, line dancing at Armadillo Palace, karaoke and dinner in Chinatown, several trips to the nearby cider bar, going to watch Nimesh Patel do standup comedy, happy hour at Eight Row Flint, a crawfish boil at Memorial Park, the usual going out on Washington, exploring some cistern in Houston, watching the most epic fireworks show at the River Oaks Country Club, hanging out at a partner’s lake house (at an artificial lake!), visiting Space Center Houston, watching a couple of Dynamo matches, hosting and attending housewarming parties, two-stepping, watching the World Cup, watching the Rockets beat the Cavs with incredible seats, jazz performances, Jess King (from Peloton) giving a 30-minute talk (which I wasn’t impressed by), volunteering at the Houston Food Bank, a muffin decorating class at Central Market, a visit to NYC for a conference (but that was quite disappointing, I’ll need to return to give it another shot), a training in Chicago, Manhattan Beach sunrises, cooking classes, Astros games, Barry’s Bootcamp classes (too loud - bring earplugs), the Greek festival, and virtual golf at the Four Seasons. This list is in addition to what’s listed above.