Serious Question

You seem to care way too much about what others think of you. You will live a miserable life if you simply pursue what you think is prestigious.

Do what makes you happy. Simple as that.

I'd, hands-down, take whatever job I absolutely love...

I always hear about people getting into a job already assuming that they're going to be miserable doing it. It takes a lot of hard work to get into Investment Banking and some people say it's always about the money. If you put as much work into a job that you love, you'd be making a pretty good amount of money and enjoying every minute of it.

If smart young college kids stopped caring what people thought of them, MBB and BB recruiting would fall apart overnight. Fact.

^^ Truth. Deep down inside, all of the prospectives and kids with SA/FT offers for this year know that to some extent or another, prestige is part of the root of their drive. Everyone wants to be the one fuck during senior year sitting back all quiet with a smirk on his face while everyone else gripes about job hunting or signing into some low-paying career until it's his turn to be asked and just name-drop a BB firm.

Many smart people don't make the most of their intelligence during their best years. It's all a rat-race until you wake up and realize there's no cheese and decide to get out, at which point you actually begin doing something for yourself.

I think the problem is that many young people simply don't have any idea what they would like to do with their life and they end up pursuing things they aren't really passionate about for the 'wrong' reasons ("prestige", money, what their parents/friends say and so on). Do you notice how none of these things relate to what THAT PERSON truly wants to do and how much of these relate to what others think he should do? The problem is that we only realize that 10,20 and sometimes 30 years into our careers and by then we try to convince us that it's already too late to make the switch. I believe thats one of the reasons most people are miserable.

There is no magic pill, there is no rout to money success and happiness. People here don't understand that in order to get rich and successful you need to be the one giving the orders, not just filling them. You don't get rich by doing what other people are telling you to do, you get rich by doing things by your own, by making decisions, by being creative. Schwarzman and Kravis didn't get rich by following orders, they got rich by finding a way to make money and pursuing that route (which they also enjoy). By being a monkey you maybe get a chance to learn the industry inside out, but you don't learn how to think, be creative, or make money - this is up to you.

Searching the outside world for that perfect answer is doomed to fail because the answers are within you, and it's up to you (and only you) to find them.

And just to add one more thing, I honestly think none of us really know what we like, we only assume what we like to narrow down the endless options but honestly we have no idea, and when we actually find something we enjoy we start to convince ourselves that it's actually everything we've been dreaming about. It's like when you meet a girl, hang out with her and start to like her. You can't like her as soon as you meet her (and if you do it's based on her looks only so it doesn't count imo) because you don't know her, but as you get to know her you start to like her based (!) on what you know about her, as in the different things she's doing/saying. I know this can be quite tricky but I honestly believe it's true to everything regarding out life, women, jobs, friends etc - we convince ourselves why what we've got is good and learn to like it, and I'm sure there is a good psychological explanation for that.

Thanks to those who gave great input. And to clarify to those who asked me to stop thinking about what others think, I believe you misunderstood me and thought that I was a young, insecure college junior thinking it was GS/BX or die. I've got a great job i enjoy, but I would like to perhaps better describe the point I was trying to make.

There is not one person in this forum who can honestly say that they give no thought to what others think of them and have decided to get into finance because they have been passionate about it since exiting the womb.

It's difficult graduating college and being faced with the decision of taking the risk of doing something one loves and is passionate about. When I graduated, I didn't choose to pursue something I was truly passionate about based on the fear of failure, the appeal of a good paycheck, the fact that I had decent experience in the financial industry that I had genuinely enjoyed, the chance to learn a ton I could apply to a number of different later careers if I decided finance wasn't for me, and (shoot me for being honest) the allure of prestige and the ability to say what I do. (Maybe I didn't have big enough balls to take the road less traveled, but then again so few of us do). I believe the world misses out on too many great ideas because of the young brilliant minds that end up in banking without taking the opportunity to test the waters on their own, with their own ideas, for they fear failure and the fact that a year or two out of college it's nearly impossible to get into banking without having attended a top 10 business school. (Do you know of anybody who got into a top 10 having been a diving instructor for two years?)

I believe that in a perfect world, the analyst position should begin two years after college so that seniors can graduate, pursue something they find interesting, and then later join the banking machine if they so decide. So much young talent is drawn into the banking industry who are smart enough to be entrepreneurs, innovators, and perhaps pioneers of the next 'big thing'. Think facebook.

I realize the system is already in place, will never be changed and I will never see my perfect world in practice. Anybody ever had these same thoughts?

There are way too many issues to take into consideration. The aforementioned issues are definitely relevant but not the end all. I'd rather be brewing my own beer but I have student loans. I have to pay them off. I, for the most part enjoy my job and lead a relatively fulfilling life. I mean shit, you can't have a perfect gig that pays six figures and also makes you wake up banging your fucking head in the morning cuz you're so excited to go to work.

People comprimise, it's what normal people do. Some for a lack of knowledge others because it supports an obligation or is the means to an end. Not saying finance is butterflies and rainbows but unless you absolutely detest the field, I honeslty believe the pros far outweigh the cons.