CIO — When we met them last year, the students in the class of 2001 at MIT?s Sloan School of Management, one of the nation?s leading-edge business schools, had already earned the reputation for being the most wired class ever on the Cambridge, Mass.-based campus (see ?Sitting on Top of the World,? May 15, 2000). They were the first MBA class anywhere to get their applications off the Web rather than in the mail. They established a community site on the Internet long before they set foot on campus. They Web-enabled student life with a host of online services such as a student photo directory and a calendar of events. They were idealistic first year students, enthusiastic for change and convinced of technology?s promise. They dreamed of leading companies down the path to eternal profitability, crunching numbers on Wall Street or working as a partner with a high-powered consultancy. Now they?re seasoned. They?ve returned to campus from summer internships with respected companies, such as Accenture and Cisco Systems, and are about to graduate. Last year?before the economy slowed to a crawl?CIO profiled five of the students to find out their goals, dreams and views on business in the new economy. Now, in light of massive layoffs, dotcoms closing their virtual doors and stocks dropping, CIO is looking back on how these hopes for the future may have been affected.
It turns out, the students? attitudes toward technology and the business world haven?t altered too much since we first met them. In the first place, these students were never enamored of Internet pure-plays and always tempered their excitement about technology with a healthy dose of sobriety.
But the fact that Internet startups no longer pose a viable employment option does render the job hunt more stressful than in previous years because:
- Students don?t have as many options to pursue.
- Recruiters have fewer jobs to fill since many companies have announced hiring freezes.
- The fresh crop of MBAs now have to compete with people who have been laid off from dotcoms.
Face The Music
| Sandeep Swadia | |
| 32 | |
| Hometown: | |
| Bombay, India | |
| Major: | |
| New products and venture development | |
| New job: | |
