Looking back, having worked for some major companies with recruiting departments, it was probably difficult to respond to a resume that arrived in the mail to the bank's general address. Major corporations get thousands of resumes for a variety of positions. Don't just send a resume. She helped me get in touch with a well regarded officer in the commercial bank, and I called him up and worked out an interview. Once I had a contact on the inside, it was easy to get an interview set up with the right people.
Major employers have entire departments dedicated to finding good people.
When a candidate is willing to fly their own way out for an interview in exchange for just one-hour of their time, they jump at it. It was a great experience, as I learned a lot about credit analysis, sales, and banking, met some terrific people, and got to know another part of the country. If you have to leave Oklahoma to get the skills you're after, then go for it. HBS was a terrific experience, and I would strongly encourage any OSU graduate to consider Harvard for post graduate work. I graduated from HBS in 1991 with an MBA, a great education, and world full of contacts.