Am I Screwed? Feeling desperate in job search despite strong academic profile

I am currently a student-athlete at a large state (non-target) division-one university. I was a finance major at a large state university (non-target) where I was a student-athlete. I have always performed well academically (34 ACT in HS / 3.9 college GPA). However, I feel like I might be screwed as I am looking to enter the job force. I am beginning a master's degree this year while I use the final eligibility for my sport, but I have no internship experience because my sport requires me to stay on campus to train over the summer (essentially a full-time job)

I am very worried about my ability to find a well-paying job. With my academic success and work ethic, I feel like I would be a good fit in consulting / IB. However, I know that these fields are exceptionally competitive and my lack of internship experience will likely serve as an automatic disqualifier. On top of this, I have no idea if I would enjoy the work as a consultant or IB because I am reliant upon reading online stories rather than experiencing it first-hand in an internship.

How should I go about this job search? Is it a waste of time trying to break into IB/Consulting? Would I be better off looking for an internship for Summer '23 and trying to use that to earn a full-time offer? Should I take any job I can find, study for the GMAT, and try to go to a prestigious MBA program to overcome the lack of experience on my resume?

Any advice is appreciated. 

Thank you! 

2 Comments
 

Honestly I would start fishing for internships and drop the sport the second you get a decent paying offer. I understand that athletics are very important, but when some internships are paying 85k/year (prorated over the summer) you should at-least be thinking about it as an alternative. In my situation one 3 month internship would pay my tuition for the entire year with cash left over for housing. Thats just not an offer i’m willing to refuse. Without internships I imagine you’ll have a tough time breaking in without some other qualifications on your resume. Just my 2 cents though.

 
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