Advisors

Advisors are there to help. But because of their limited resources, they often find themselves shorthanded and tend to give varying degrees of help to different students.

Is this fair? Of course not, but advisors are human beings and it is normal that they may lobby more for some than others.

Recruiters and headhunters on the lookout for talent often contact advisors. But whom these advisors recommend has little to do with the best fit. Usually it is a matter of giving preferential treatment to a protégé. While such behavior is indicative of poor human resources management, it presents a perfect challenge for the aspiring business student. In other words not everyone will be your fan, fewer yet will root for you, but it will not be the last time. So prove everyone wrong by overcoming the odds.

The scenario is akin to when the flashy Internet executive (advisor protégé) was a darling of the stock market when performance did not really count (in school). Yet the same executive was seen as irrelevant when profits mattered (in business). In this analogy, advisor support replaces the venture capitalist's financing.

When the protégé graduates, the tide turns as he is left to work on his own. Only then will everyone – including employers – see that they are swimming naked.

A greater problem arises when advisors serve as stumbling blocks for less fortunate students. You may have some wishes and aspirations, but some advisors may send you to interviews to fill their slots even if the position is not the best one for you. After all, they are doing you a favor by sending you to interview with Procter & Gamble, but is it really a favor if you wanted to go interview at Kimberly Clark? Throughout history, Procter & Gamble has been a favorite of marketing students. This begs the following tip: make sure you know why you wish to work for a firm. Just because the masses want something does not mean that you should too. Warren Buffett referred to this as the ''institutional imperative.'' Everyone else calls it being a sheep.