Job Search Experience

My name is Matt Pesch and I am a graduating senior at the
SGML majoring in Global Business with a concentration in Financial
Management. I have recently accepted a
job offer to work as a financial analyst in the financial consulting group at
CB Richard Ellis here in Phoenix. Ursula Scheren has asked me to write a blog
detailing my experiences which led up to the job offer; so that is the purpose
of this blog.

How Did I Find Out
About The Job Opportunity?

About once a month, for the past few months, I spent
approximately an hour or so on ASU Career Link (http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/career/)
searching for job openings that appealed to me.
It requires time because there are so many jobs posted; however, taking
advantage of the search engine makes it a little bit more manageable. When I found jobs that interested me, I would
add them to my favorites and research those particular companies as my schedule
allowed me to. I
found the job posted by CB Richard Ellis, and after further research I
discovered that I was really interested in the company. I did not possess all of the desired
qualifications that the job description asked for, but I tailored my resume
towards the position and company and submitted it anyways.

The Wait

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait
long to hear back from the company. The
managing director for the financial consulting group called me the next day and
told me he would be interested in interviewing me. He asked me a few questions over the phone to
gauge my interest in the industry, and after being satisfied with my answers we
scheduled an interview for the next day.
After hanging up with him, I took the directions and drove down to the
office just to make sure I knew how to get there and how much time it would
take. I spent the rest of the evening
memorizing CB Richard Ellis's financial data, values, and mission as well as
researching every interview question I could find and preparing answers to each
one.

Interview 1

I arrived approximately fifteen
minutes early, with my suit and tie on, and spent my time waiting in the lobby
chatting with the receptionist. After the managing director came down to get
me, we went into a meeting room that overlooks all of Phoenix.
It was kind of intimidating; however I felt that I was prepared. The interview turned out being pretty casual. He (the managing director) basically told me
what I would be doing, how I would fit into the larger organization, and asked
how my past experiences would allow me to succeed in that particular environment. He asked about my financial background and
experience with Excel, when I was able to provide him with a portfolio
consisting of some financial analysis and detailed spreadsheets I had created
at my internship the previous summer. To
conclude the interview, he asked if I would like to come back and meet with
some other members of the consulting team and if I would be willing to complete
a financial skills test that takes approximately 2-3 hours! I agreed.

Interview 2

Before my second interview, I spent
the better part of two days in the library trying to retain everything and
anything that related to financial analysis.
I even visited one of my professor's during his office hours to get a
better explanation on a couple topics that were unclear to me.

When I arrived for my second
interview, I was introduced to a couple of the senior consultants who sat me
down and asked me a few interview questions.
Most of the time, however, was just spent talking about my life,
interests, attitude, etc to see if I would be a good fit with the culture.

They left and gave me my test
which consisted of 40 questions including topics such as NPV, IRR, loan
amortization, financial ratio analysis, economic analysis, lease vs. buy
analysis, accounting principles, and general logic questions. The test was easier than I expected and I was
told that I would receive a call in a couple days to find out if my analytical
and quantitative skills were strong enough to fulfill the position.

Two days later I got a call and
found out that I did very well on the test and the national director would be
in town that Friday and wanted to interview me.

Interview 3

The national director and I met
for approximately an hour and a half where he asked me questions relating to my
character, make-up, and overall direction in life. Some of the questions he asked were along the
lines of "What kind of environments to you thrive in" and "How do you measure
success". He also noted that they were
impressed with how well I did on the financial skills test, and that they
didn't expect me to do as well as I did since I don't have a pure finance
background. He asked how I did so well
on the test and noted that he was impressed at my initiative when I told him
that I spent many hours in the library studying. To conclude the interview, I asked him if he
had any questions about me being the right fit for the position. He said he was a little concerned about me
being a finance concentration instead of a pure finance major. I admitted that I would be a little behind
the curve compared to a true finance major, but assured him that my desire to
succeed, learn, and overall passion for the industry would provide a short
learning curve and high levels of achievement.
They told me I would hear back by the middle of the next week.

Waiting......

I was very confident after the
interviews. I felt that I did a good job
of really letting them know who I was, what my capabilities were, and where I
wanted to go. If they decided that I
wasn't the right fit for the position, then they were probably right since I
was honest and transparent in all of my interviews. However, that didn't make waiting any
easier. By the time Wednesday of that
week rolled around, I couldn't wait any longer so I picked up the phone and
called the managing director. He told me
that they were still making their decision but they wanted to take me out to
lunch on Friday of that week. I was
happy to hear that I hadn't been ruled out, but I must admit that I was
starting to get impatient.

Lunch

I had no idea what to expect out
of the lunch. I read up on table
etiquette and researched starting salaries incase I got an offer. I have to thank Ursula for all of her assistance
in helping me determine how much I was worth.
I showed up for lunch and the national director, regional managing
director, and two senior consultants took me to Houston's.
It turned out that my research on table etiquette was a waste of time as
it was a casual and laidback atmosphere.
I ordered some sort rodeo burger after it came with strong
recommendations from the consultants and I some how managed to keep barbeque
stains off of my tie. The lunch talk had
nothing to do with the job or company and I really got to know everybody on a
more personal level. After lunch, the managing
director took me up to his office where he made me an official offer. I had told myself ahead of time that I would
not accept an offer on the spot because I knew I would have a lot of emotion,
and could potentially act on that emotion while neglecting to ask important
questions regarding the offer. Even
though the offer exceeded my expectations, I still asked him for the weekend to
think it over and determine if there were any questions that I was forgetting
to ask. He agreed. I called Monday and accepted the offer.

Key Lessons

In retrospect, I feel that there
were a few things that really separated me from other candidates. I believe that my research on the company
truly helped me out. When I was able to
tell them that I would be a good fit for the company because my values were in
line with the company's values, and then I actually recited the company's
values, they were impressed. Also, having some sort of portfolio of my work was
necessary. Instead of just telling them
what I could do, I showed them. Any
questions of me being dishonest about my abilities were immediately eliminated.
Also, I had relevant and compelling experiences that directly transferred into
this position and I was successfully able to explain how. Finally, I persistently and confidently told
them that I wanted the position, that I would be successful in it, and that
they would not regret it.

I hope a reflection on my
experiences will help you in your endeavors.
If there are any questions that you might have for me, I would be happy
to chat. Best of luck to everybody in
their job search.

-Matt Pesch