[Advice Needed] Confused and no idea what to do - Simple and real

WSO forum, I need your help.
I'll keep this post as simple and real as I can.

About myself:
I am a freshman at an Eastern European country. Major: International Economics and Finance.
Between school and university, I spent 3 years working in villages helping in innovation management, plus leading a large student organization and a start-up of my own.

Personal:
I am more sort-of a person who is willing to go for international travel etc.

Problem:

I am looking for Summer gigs this coming year - internships etc. Hoping to work in United States and/or Europe in the long term. (Personally prefer Europe more but its not an issue)
I can say I am pretty good at: research work, public speaking/presentation, both Excel and PowerPoint, general finance and economics etc.
I always thought I have interest in both Consulting and Banking sphere, but I cannot point out exactly what/where.
My uni, unfortunately, has no dedicated career office. and I don't have too many people to ask.

I find WSO forum to be such a gem, but all the talk here makes me confused: S&T, Hedge fund, Buy-side/Sell-side, Venture Capital etc. I read what these terms mean and sort-of understand but still it makes me very confused as to what exactly to choose in terms of career.
This could be detrimental since I am at a critical stage where I must know what to do and which door to choose.

In short - kindly help me understand the clear differences between such terms like: IB/Hedge Fund/Consulting etc.

Also, your personal opinion based on my post as to what you think might be a good fit for me.
(This can be a starting point for me as to research further)

Kindly help, I am very very confused here.

Thanks!

14 Comments
 
Archduke5

WSO forum, I need your help.
I have a girlfriend, and I am keen on having a job which is not too much into traveling. (Or if I travel, then I can do so with my girl, and more like international travel - but it sounds like a fantasy thought maybe?).
Additionally, I do not prefer long working hours - at least, not in the long-term.

Not to bust your balls, but that mentality will get you nowhere in any of industries you listed below. Why the hell would anyone want to hire you when there's thousands of people at more prestigious schools willing to give up their girlfriend, half a nut sack, and their souls to chase their careers?
 

Thanks @"Sav". I'm all for 'busting balls' - just edited my post slightly, it sounded too much of a 'pussy' there. Well, you are right on point. I, for one, have been sort of person who has been quite motivated and dedicated etc for working on his career - 3 yrs stint after school could prove not so bad when it comes to 'storytelling' for an MBA in the future or maybe for a job. Here is the glitch: at this point suddenly I feel confused as to what I must pursue. Like I mentioned above, I thought consulting/banking both to be my interests, but when it comes to narrowing down stuffs, I can't - not now.

That's why I added something extra now: What, in your personal opinion, could be a good fit for me? (based on my description etc.) This could hopefully be a good starting point to look into that field.

 

You sound like a kid who has no idea what he wants to do, heard about IB/Consulting and preceded to nut himself over the prestige. How about you figure out what the fuck you want instead of having everyone else tell you what to do? Seriously, use the search button its not hard, you're not the first lazy over achiever that wants people to tell him what to do.

Also creating 5 threads saying the same thing is a nice way to look like an annoying dick.

 

@"cibo", Thanks mate for your words. I am not gonna lie, I don't have an idea. In fact, precisely this is what the post is about. Thought its not about prestige etc. Its about just being more able to understand where to head on.

Taking others opinion into accounts versus listening completely to others are two different things.

Additionally, I am not some lazy lurker. I flipped through several posts for a week already. Finally, decided to post this question to get some credible responses.

 
Best Response

Since you want someone to tell you what to do with your life, I will.

  1. Dump your girlfriend. You're 18/19 and you sound pussy whipped already. The overwhelming odds are that you won't even be dating her before you graduate and you're damaging your college experience by not experiencing a number of different women.

  2. Go into commercial paper trading.

 

Thanks @"DickFuld" and @"zeroblued" 1. I know that sounded like pussy, that's why edited the post + mentioned it later on. I gotta set my priorities right, and some girl is not going to come ahead of my career. 2. As strange as it might sound, I am hearing 'Commercial Paper Trading' for the first time in my life. I am gonna look up into this. In the meanwhile can you please elaborate on why commercial paper trading so that I can have a better idea why you suggested it?

 

My two cents:

1) I'd avoid taking relationship advice from random people on a finance internet forum. Certainly hope you don't dump her because some random jerkoff told you to.

2) You clearly have no clue about any of this stuff. That's okay, especially when you're just a college freshman. I think it's hilarious and cute that you think that you're "at a critical stage where I must know what to do and which door to choose". Nobody knows what they want to do with their life when they're 18. Again, that's okay.

3) With that said, what's not okay is expecting the answers to come to you. With the internet at your fingertips, there's no excuse for not knowing the difference between investment banking and management consulting or between a hedge fund and a venture capital fund. Posting in forums is great when you have more specific questions that aren't as easy to search for, but you should be able to find all this basic info on your own. If you can't develop this basic skill, you'll never succeed in any of these type of jobs.

 

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