Urgent help - 24, need direction.
Been lurking here for quite a while now, and thought I'd reach out and ask you all for some advice / share your experiences and plans. A bit of background about myself:
Moved to the UK on my own at 16 to pursue my dreams of professional football on scholarship. Diagnosed with arthritis and a bunch of shit at 18, moved to Cali (practically ran away as I couldn't handle the fact the only thing I'd worked on all day, every day for 6 years just got wiped out), went to a community college there and found out I love business and started trying a bunch of ideas (none of which worked, but were really fun nonetheless) and enrolled for my undergrad at an average UK university for Business Management (little did I know it was a pointless degree), graduated with an Upper 2:1 / 3.7/4 and went back to my home country to help with family issues and took up a job as a Marketing Manager for an Agrochemical company, where I'm now set for my transition into Operations / Exports to various countries in a new product category, which also is somewhat interesting compared to Marketing (which I'm not a fan of in this industry).
My only thing in the beginning was having tried a few ideas and them not working, it would be best to get experience in banking / pe and learn the ropes a bit and most importantly, learning how to work (if that makes sense), but now I'm unsure. I never really knew about career paths much as all my early years were spent in high-level sports and sometimes I now think if I'd taken the coaching job at a club (premier league) that was offered to me back then would've been a better route: less pay, but definitely interesting.
How could I break into the Finance industry after moving back to the UK? Is it too late to apply to the target uni's for an MSc Finance?
Any advice on where I should go? What should I do as an international student? What other career avenues exist beyond investment banking / PE that can pay me enough to live in London comfortably (don't need anything crazy) and where I could actually learn, and have my free time after work to continue working on ideas? As an international I can't just move to London once more without a good masters and a good job that'll sponsor me. Hell, do routes exist that could land me into a sponsored role at a professional football club in a management role??
Any help would be really, really appreciated. Extremely lost and losing hope with where I could go and what steps to take next.
No absolutely not and you have a more interesting story than 90% of candidates. Just get a good GRE score and you'll get top unis (LBS/LSE/Imperial).
Hi!
Thank you so much for your response! So an Upper 2:1 in Business Management, 2 failed ideas, 1 YOE as a Marketing Manager in Agrochemicals coupled with sports in extracurriculars should be fine for those schools? I'm looking at MSc Finance, Accounting and Finance and MSc Investment and Wealth Management. Is there something in particular I should shed light on? Could you perhaps help with having a look at my personal statement?
There is a lot to unpack so I am going to give you my honest opinion:
1) You are not old at all, in fact, it is quite common to do a MiF around that age - even older. Your story seems quite interesting too, so with good scores you have an attractive profile imo
2) Forget about the past (“i’d wish I had taken x y job”). You won’t change that and it will only torment you. Only the present and future matter
3) In this regard, I would recommend you to understand what you want before you commit to a MiF/ moving to London. You mention a few ideas (running a business, IB/PE, living comfortably in London, sports management…). These are all different goals, so you need to ask yourself what you really want. Do you want IB for the pay? For the learning experience? Those things are not necessarily exclusive to this industry. Heck, there is even a chance you are assigned to a super specific vertical such as FIG whose learnings may not apply to a more traditional business
For the points above I am not looking for an answer, I just want you to think of where you want to go before you commit to something that may not necessarily take you where you really want to be.
Hi!
Thank you so much for your response. It certainly feels like time is running around but that could also just be due to how I used to think throughout sports as there is a genuine timeframe after which it is too late.
As far as running a business goes, I feel I need to give it some time before I try my luck again. As for reasons for looking at IB / Real Estate / PE / Consulting, (considering I have zero relevant experience in either), it isn't the pay or prestige as much as it is being able to learn, explore new industries, meet new people, and also get accustomed to being able to work the tiring hours (something that's been missing from my life since I stopped playing - I just miss being busy with a purpose). My other important reason for these industries is they're more likely to sponsor my visa as an international student.
I am open to any sectors and industries so long as - 1. Visa Sponsorship 2. Pay is enough to sustain living in London 3. Great place to learn and grow professionally. Ideally involved somewhere where I'm exposed to tech businesses / or maybe Real Estate (at the risk of sounding silly, those are the two things I could definitely read about without getting bored).
My 1 YOE working for an agrochemical company in India probably isn't going to do me favors with the industry. What path should I look at and what are the steps I can do to ensure a job post-MSc. Would it be beneficial to work for another year and start Masters next year considering UK economy isn't going to be great this year? I really lack technical knowledge and that worries me the most. I could talk about different topics for days just due to my curiosity for reading about various things I find interesting however I lack zero technical knowledge and that's my reasoning for doing masters.
Also, I often get told I have an interesting story, yet I am never able to secure an interview (literally after applying to hundreds, not even a first round) - perhaps my CV or Cover Letters are not great? Is there a platform I could use to get it checked?
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