A Day in the Life  

Tony Baca

Hometown: San Diego, CA 
Where I lived and worked prior to Stern: In Sydney, Australia doing project management for Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. 
Summer internship: Investment banking for BIO-IB, a boutique investment bank focused on life sciences

6:45 a.m. I don’t always get up this early, but I am in Boston, and I have a final round interview with a top-tier consulting firm at 8:00 a.m. I hop in the shower and put on my best suit and favorite tie.

7:05 a.m. I grab my interview prep notes and head to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Over eggs and two cups of coffee, I recite the six stories I have prepared that best display my leadership skills, ability to influence others, and achievements. A couple Stern alumni from this firm have been helping me prepare, so today I just have to deliver without nervous stuttering.

7:40 a.m. I take a very short taxi ride to the hotel where the interviews are taking place. The other people in the waiting room are clearly brilliant, articulate, and personable, so I quietly start shaking on the inside while becoming my ideal self on the outside. Lots of smiles and handshakes, and then I wait…

8:00 a.m. My first interview. Each interview has behavioral questions and a case. I feel like I do great in the behavioral part, though I am not sure if I was able to convince the Australian interviewing me that an American like me is more appropriate for the Sydney office than the Australians they’ll be interviewing this morning. I whiz through the case though. Whew! One down.

9:00 a.m. My second interview is with an American partner in the Sydney office. This time I nail the behavioral part, but struggle on the math in the case. Fortunately though, I eventually work it out, and the partner says I cracked the case. Hallelujah. Two down.

10:00 a.m. I have really eased into the process, and I feel the most comfortable in the third interview. I have an Australian partner again, and again I think I do well on both the case and the behavioral part of the interview. However, I have thought I walked on water in interviews before and not got an offer. So there is no point in stressing now. Take three deep breaths, say a little prayer, and let my mind uncurl from the fetal position. Time to go!

11:30 a.m. I get to the airport just in time for a 12:00 flight back to New York. I have a group presentation today at 1:30 in Competitive Strategy in the Marketplace, so I spend the flight reviewing my notes and practicing my part of the presentation.

1:15 p.m. My group mates nervously call me to ask how far I am from school. I’m just getting into Manhattan. I was supposed to start the presentation, but I ask Miranda to please start it if I’m late.

1:40 p.m. I straighten my tie and walk into class. My team is already 10 minutes into the presentation. It’s a good thing we prepared so much, because I am able to start talking within seconds, and I start presenting from the next slide.

3:00 p.m. The hard part of the day is over. I walk home and change out of my suit, and then call a friend from school and get a quick bite to eat and an afternoon beer. After the second beer, I’m feeling very confident about the interviews this morning.

4:30 p.m. I make it over to a café near campus to meet some other members of OutClass, the club for gay Stern students. Several firms have offered sponsorship dollars, and we are discussing how we can best use the money. We all agree to call recruiting contacts we have met in our respective industries and see what kind of events they would be interested in sponsoring.

6:00 p.m. I use one of the computers on campus to send thank you emails to all of my interviewers this morning. You would be surprised at how long it takes to craft the perfect three sentences.

6:20 p.m. Every Thursday is Beer Blast on campus. I’m often busy, but since I have a couple free hours, I head on down. Besides, now that I’m in my second year, it’s the one chance I get to catch up with my block and team from first year.

8:00 p.m. My partner meets me and a couple friends at school to go to dinner in the East Village. I am thankful that he is there because otherwise my friends and I would talk about school and recruiting the whole time. He politely steers the conversation to less stressful things like everyone’s next vacation and the latest news on Brad and Angelina.

10:30 p.m. I unload my backpack and set out the books that I’ll be studying from tomorrow. I love Fridays because I can spend half the day studying at Starbucks, so I’m in a good mood right now. I check my emails, have some tea, and then watch some TV before heading to bed. I sure hope those interviewers call me tomorrow.