Have you thought about doing anything other than finance?
Have you ever asked yourself if my job didn't exist what else would I really enjoy doing career wise?
Or have any of you ever thought about pursuing other interests possibly post MBA or after you have some finance experience on your record?
The reason i posted this is because Ive been thinking if I want to return to the banking industry after I get my MBA. I've really been interested in Product Management for Google or Time Warner, I think I would really find joy in that. I just wanted to see if anybody else has had similar thoughts.
But then again I may be just blowing smoke lol.
I mean if your in CoprDev and your a rockstar (especially coming from a finance background) you can make it to high executive ranks and make bank.
if you're generally an intellectually curious person I'm sure there are other more fulfilling careers that you've thought about pursuing
personally, I would prefer a profession where I could add value in a more tangible/direct way i.e. a doctor, teacher, etc... Those are things you think about a 2 am when you're still up and wondering why you're modeling out the 15th scenario for a deal that you will never close...
that's true but I've met people who actually pulled the trigger or went from medicine to finance. Realistically? Consulting or accounting if you want less hours/pressure. I've always wanted to be a teacher (middle/high school) or a professor. Working for the government or think tank and directing public policy would be pretty cool too. Or fundraising / managing an endowment for a nonprofit. Personally, I've never seen myself as someone who would work on the street for more than 10-15 years max. The goal is to save some money and be liquid at around 1-2mm+. At that point, you have the freedom to pursue w/e you want as long as you live modestly at breakeven cash flow.
If I could work for the FBI/CIA I wouldn't care about pay.
Same here...The thought of working in secret service sounds like a nice dream. But why would they need us finance majors there?
I forget if it was FBI or CIA, but one of them recruited fairly heavily at my no-name undergrad. I remember them saying something like accounting majors are either the first or second most popular major that they hire. At the time (~5 years ago) they said white collar and financial crimes were their largest deficiencies.
I went to the presentation, I think most of the jobs are largely mundane. Somewhere in the area of 10-15% of the accounting grads they hire get jobs that involve any field activity (aka you need a gun). The others are all desk jockeys. It could be cool if you're investigating something/someone interesting, but I think largely boring.
The thing about working for the government is that your pay is limited (although not totally terrible), but there are tons of other benefits. I remember thinking my pay would probably cap in the low 6 figures, but full pension after 20 years. A guy in my parent's neighborhood did 21 years with FBI and another group (forget which one), also has been an alderman in our town for a while and helped out the local police department as a part time detective for a while. He is now ~55 collecting one full pension, and two partial pensions. The guys isn't a baller and does some part time consulting still, but he lives in a $500k house, walks his dog twice a day and by and large is living the good life.
The CIA recruits with radio advertisement because I've heard it like four times already. 'Must be elligible to work in the US and pass a polygraph test.'
tons wash out at the polygraph stage. Getting an offer isn't difficult. Passing poly and background is, even if you are fine considering poly is only 65-75% accurate.
Like I was reading about how the FBI busted that Russian guy who stole the algo code from Goldman and uploaded it to some server in Germany to cover his tracks...That would be sick.
Yeah that dude was sentenced to 8 YEARS!!! yesterday, when I read that I was wondering if Goldmans political power had any influence on that sentence because it seemed pretty steep, but that topic for another post lol.
i've thought about being a golf pro, teaching & playing. I think if I put in the hours to practice I actualyl have a shot.
But then i realized i can't stand dealing with idiots, and to be a teacher you need a special kind of patience which I do not possess.
What's your handicap?
Mine's a 10 but I feel like I could knock it down if I had time to practice...
always liked different types of buildings, skycrapers, bridges, and stadiums so probably an architect....
95% of the Secret Service is boring as shit.
For you guys who want to work in the CIA
https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities/analytical/economic-analyst.h…
I've looked at jobs at Start ups, it could be fun/exciting if you like what the company does, and have some equity.
I'd love be a sports analyst too. Build relationships with people inside sports teams and report back about potential trades, etc....That would be the life.
music producer
I've always wanted to be a chef...
I'd quite like to be Prime Minister
I second the chef idea, cooking is the shit
I would pick a High-Major college basketball head coach in a beautiful place. (USC,Stanford ect) Couple mil a year salary and job for life if you win games.
yeah and I pick NBA shooting guard
good one
Lol, yeah the post was intended to mean jobs that you can go and do right now. I mean I don't know your background so its very possible you can be a coach.
anything other than finance would be better than finance
Own a successful club or just own a sports team
Always wanted to work in finance. Every job since graduation has been in banking/finance. Miserable existence, but pays well.
I'd like to earn some money and then do something music-related like own a recording studio, or a bar with independent music or something. Nothing wildly lucrative, just something music-related.
think about it all the time...
foreign legion teacher
I worked as an engineering consultant for 4 months, not too far from finance since i did project evaluation, but didn't have any fun with it ...
+finance is better ...
if I werent set on IB i'd be studying physics/math and perhaps move into trading for a HF from there if I coudnt get a job at a decent institute for theoretical physics or CERN.. other option i've considered are fashion, law, philosophy.. pretty much all over the place.
being a small-scale entrepreneur in Bali.
crack dealer, duh
Salsa singer.
College drop-out.
Most likely doing outsider trading.
At one point when I had to drop out of school for various reasons I had the free time to take up photography more often. While I only ever did it for fun and for personal wall decorations I had considered opening a photography studio. People often asked me to shoot weddings or portraits but I always declined because I knew that people that want to hire photographers want to capture a memory as they imagine it so if my artistic vision didn't match they'd stress and then I'd stress from the fallout.
Wanted to work in fashion or the arts and decided it wasn't for me.
I think most people who work in finance have thought about this at some point or another. However most careers that people then start dreaming about require going back to university (medical related stuff for instance). Hence people either just stick around or try to find the least painful version of what they are doing. Some people also just say f it and go back to school and stay in academia as professors.
Should I even bother with the finance profession or should I retrain? (Originally Posted: 06/18/2013)
I graduated with a BCom in finance and wrote the CFA lvl I this June but I have had 0 luck with finding a job. I know it's still early I suppose but I'm feeling quite discouraged, especially after the phone call I had today.
Today I got off the phone with the GM of a big five (I'm in Canada) bank in charge of hiring for financial advisors who contacted me after I got a recommendation from a branch manager and another friend of mine who worked at the bank handed the GM my resume. I thought for sure I'd get something, given that I had a branch manager recommending me and another employee at the same bank. Instead she told me I wasn't close to qualified as she was getting applicants with CFA level 3s, MBAs, and 20 years of experience for a financial advisor position (which should be an entry-level job as far I'm concerned, maybe my attitude and expectations are all wrong but then I really don't want to be here in this profession if you need 20 years of experience for a financial advisor at a retail bank making $48k/yr). I asked about a personal banker job (the guys who open chequing accounts), to which apparently I still am not qualified for. Instead she told me to apply as a teller.
I graduated in April but I have been applying to jobs including internships for the last 2 years. I have had 2 interviews for a finance job in that time frame but did not get either job. If you're curious I graduated with a 3.4CGPA and a 3.7GPA in Finance courses, which I took every single one my school offered (more than what was required for my major). It's also a top 100 in world school, top 10 in Canada.
I guess I can keep trying but I also have the ability to make about $80k/yr doing manual labour. Now I can do this for a little while, save a bunch of money and pay off debts then I could go back to school. I could go to law school or retrain for engineering or something. Do you think I should even bother with the financial profession, which I've found is mostly just a popularity game of who you know (I'm no good at this game). I mean at this rate I will end up as a teller, work that for a year then maybe get a personal banker job if I'm lucky... after a few years I'll have no money saved because these jobs pay terrible and then what? Pay $100k to try for an MBA and possibly be back in the same spot as I was before. It seems like a waste to me.
Do you think I should stick it out, keep working at it and in 5 years maybe I'll finally "make it" in the finance profession, or do you think I should just jump ship, work a couple years making tons of money in the oil field then retrain as something else? I mean I don't really see working as a teller as being good experience for an MBA anyways. What should I do?
Assuming you've exhausted your network, maybe work a bit save up and move to a different city/country? We don't have much going on for us with the exception of natural resources (fellow Canadian here). You could try making some connections in the oil/gas/mining industry if you decide to do some labour work.
And regarding the point about popularity, unfortunately when you get to the senior level in any profession, all it matters is "who you know". I transferred out from a great engineering programs in Canada despite having great connections because I knew I wasn't going to excel in it. Get used to finding connections. The world's a small place.
I've been applying to jobs in different cities and countries too with no luck. I suppose it would probably help if I lived in the city, but that's a bit of a gamble. I was thinking of moving back to Vancouver and living with my mom and her BF, since I could save money on living expenses. However Vancouver isn't really a great city for jobs, especially finance ones either. I move to Toronto and I'm competing against eastern educated folk with my western education, with no work experience. I don't really see much better opportunity there, I mean realistically the good finance jobs in Toronto hire in September and they will hire people across Canada, it seems like I'd just be moving to try and what... get another teller job in a different city?
At least with law or engineering given that it's a profession once I get a job doing law or engineering I'm doing law or engineering. Perhaps not law at a prestigious firm or engineering on cutting-edge development but at least I won't be a teller. With finance, I could spend my whole life trying to get a job in the segment of finance I want to be in without any luck. That's kind of how I feel anyhow. And when I read sites like this and/or any sites giving out finance advice it seems like if you're not successful in the first 5 years in the finance field, you never will be.
I know how you feel...right now to you it seems like Finance is only open to those people who've known they wanted to work in Finance since they were 12 and thus have been interning ever since, went to the best and most expensive school on earth and graduated with a 4.0. Obviously I'm exaggerating a bit here, but you get what I mean. To be honest with you, any career that is lucrative seems like this when you're on the outside looking in. So what I'm saying is that switching careers won't necessarily make the climb any easier. Besides, you've already put in the work for CFA Lvl 1...don't throw that time and money away. I agree with the other poster, location is important. If I were you I would 1)keep working on the CFA 2)Try to find a job that will pay you enough where you can save and move to the nearest major financial center. This isn't that hard to do as long as you are disciplined and willing to forgo lots of hanging out in order to have a shot at your dream. I recommend saving enough for about 4 months of bills in that city. If you can't find anything in Finance, at least find a job that will allow you to continue living in that city so that you can network. 3) Make sure everyone around you knows your goal. You never know who may happen to know someone. 4) Aside from the CFA, do as much as you can to show your interest and capability in the industry(classes, certificates, independent research etc.). I'm still trying to break into Finance myself so take my advice as will, but this is basically what everyone in Finance tells me.
Illum eum vero non possimus non aut mollitia. Amet ex blanditiis et explicabo aperiam non.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ea enim debitis magni repellat qui distinctio optio. Impedit fugiat incidunt ipsum aut aspernatur.
Hic repellendus eaque assumenda qui optio qui. Molestiae facilis expedita dolores maxime ullam. Culpa enim non id omnis nobis vel qui. Sed cum non voluptas aut est possimus optio omnis.
Nihil occaecati sed quos et. Vitae enim id officiis hic dolores eius est. Tenetur suscipit saepe nihil.
Ut molestiae aut sit eos. Est et molestiae eveniet non et quia aut dolorum. Et officiis ut ut porro nisi corrupti soluta eum. Ex sunt quis veritatis dolores numquam. Autem recusandae at ipsa rerum libero fugit. Officiis asperiores et placeat dicta suscipit. Hic perspiciatis suscipit itaque voluptas modi est eveniet in.
Labore quos fugiat provident enim asperiores a quia. Voluptate consequatur est molestiae qui. Cumque aspernatur ipsum sunt aut iure. Officiis dolor incidunt ab nesciunt.
Ex doloribus labore earum. Perferendis tempore nisi aliquid repudiandae optio cum. Voluptatibus deleniti cupiditate et dolor. Velit doloremque quis aut sed enim recusandae. Maxime maiores quis temporibus est quas pariatur enim. Nostrum ratione asperiores dignissimos animi eum dolorem ea dolor. Ullam consectetur vitae et vitae quo.