I feel like giving up with IB

I haven't even begun spring days applications and I just feel like quitting this whole thing. 

I'm a boring person, so I have nothing to talk about. I don't have good extracurriculars, so I don't have any experience I can rely on. I have decent grades and will attend a target here in the UK, but so does everyone else. And the cherry on top is that it seems like everyone is looking for someone who is not white, male, straight, or in a finance related course. 

I'm about ready to throw in the towel and go for accounting and pray that some day I can come back to the US and make half of what my dad makes. It's depressing.

Maybe it's for the best because if I can't handle this then what makes me think I can handle a 100 hour workweek where everyone hates my guts.

30 Comments
 

I was trying to be realistic. The vast majority of people you'd meet in an office are truly... average? Which isn't a bad thing at all. Most are married /w partner and kids. they may have a hobby or two, but mostly they do the rat race during the week and end up on vacation where most people go.

OPs post kind of hints at the fact he is not interesting "enough" - I was trying to say he actually is not more boring than others.Sometimes being average is a good thing. You can stand out with your performance and work ethic, you don't have to be an avid skydiver or sing karaoke every weekend.

 
Controversial

If you are already blaming your rejections on being a white male, before you have even applied, then clearly you are not going to be successful.

You have no WE/EC - perhaps finding some motivation + fixing this would be a good place to start… 

 

I'm not blaming my future rejections on my race and other identities, that stuff is just on top of everything else that I lack (the personality, good ECs, experience, etc.).

 

Well this is not really an unfixable problem.

You are at a target school, so are fine on the academics front. For WE look at insight days, part-time internships, summer internships at random boutiques etc. For ECs look at volunteering/sport/similar. 

If you actively look for these kinds of things, then in 1 year’s time your CV will be quite good when applying to SA (or springs if you switch to a 4-year course). So I would not say there is a case to be demotivated at this stage.

 

This is all getting ridiculous. It’s just a job!! There is no feel like quitting before you have even worked. If you think it’s not for you then simple-don’t do it!

 Look into other jobs-coming and posting here just to me seems an indictment of the times-again I have news for you all prospects-it’s just a job. Banking is not going to make you happy beyond your wildest dreams

 

>boring person

>nothing to talk about

>no work experience

>no extracurricular activities

>low confidence 

>quitter attitude 

So what do you bring to the table then? Why would someone want to hire you? Work on yourself before worrying about trying to break into a highly competitive industry, and dont blame your problems on being a white male because you have a dozen others that are your fault.

Not trying to be a dick but you gotta be realistic and realize what the problem is. You’re not going to get a job out of pity. I mean, would you even hire yourself?

 

I know. That's why I mentioned all of them before the identity parts. I am a deficient person and that's the big issue. I have decent grades, like everyone else does, and that's it. The identity stuff is the cherry on top.

I realize exactly what the problem is.

 

Sounds like you'd fit right in with being a big-4 accountant 

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
 

My parents aren't rich, but they are upper middle class. My dad makes an upper middle class salary and my mom doesn't work. I have other siblings. I'm worried that I can't make what he does and that there won't be a way for me to give back to him for all that he's put into me or, even worse, that if I have kids that I won't be able to do for them what he has done for me. I'm not rich, though I am privileged, but I really fear I won't be able to keep it up.

 

My dad makes between 200 and 300 a year and my mom doesn't work.

Ok not rich

 

Nice insight but it's not helpful. I wouldn't have used that word but I figured out something similar before making this post.

 

Well, since when even a white male from a target school started to complain?

Imagine being an asian male applying for IB positions in London.

I know tons of talented Chinese Oxbridge/LSE/HEC boys who have never even got an interview from a BB (they still can find something in Hong Kong/Mainland China though, but that's another story), while their female peers received multiple offers

 

I understand it's tiring, but really, just push through and have a backup plan. It doesn't hurt you by trying while also looking for less competitive internships. Also, you're already at a target school. In my opinion, that's a much bigger leg up than diversity applicants from non-targets. Feel free to pm me. I'm from the US, but we can encourage each other through this recruiting process! 

 

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