In my early 30s with no direction
I wanted to reach out to this community to possibly help me get better situated with my current position. I am so lost at this point and would really appreciate some feedback from the more successful individuals from this community. I have recently discovered the WSO website and it has been a great source of material to read through but to be honest it has made me even more depressed.
Where do I begin. I am in my very early 30’s and wasted my 20s away. I could have gone to school and completed my degree but I had no desire or motivation to finish. Now in my 30s I decided that better late than never so I enrolled in a program. I will be done soon and am on track to graduate spring next year with a very high GPA. The program that I am doing right now is from a California state university and it’s a BS in business administration with a finance concentration, but I have no clue as to what I can do as a career. I feel as if I am way too old to do an internship at this level, would they even consider someone my age. I have worked in retail banking before, tried to sell insurance but was not very successful and the job that I had prior to this program was an entry level position at a law firm.
I would welcome an opportunity to do some type of a rotational program that spans over 2 or 3 years but opportunities are very limited and I need a job ASAP. I also have a lot of debt that has been eating at me for some time so getting a job soon is something that I really need to do.
I have been reading on here that software sales pay good money and to be honest good money to me is anything above 75k at this point. I would love to work in wealth management or private equity but I feel like I am just something that they are not looking for. I just feel lost and hopeless. I wanted to complete a degree to help me better my future and the future of my family but I just think that I waited too long.
The more I think about my options the more it comes back to some type of a sales role. I don’t think I would mind doing sales as long as it’s for a good company that pays well and has some sort of a lead system. Cold approaching is not something that I want to do day in and day out but I would really like to know what my options are before hanging up the towel and just taking a regular job.
I read posts from individuals complaining about making 150k a year and think to myself that I would switch with them in a heartbeat. It just doesn’t feel good at all to see that and wonder if I will ever get to that level. What recommendations do you guys have, I would love to hear any feedback!
Let me be honest then offer some words of advice. IB, PE, AM etc. rewards those people who were not wasting their 20s. You are undoubtedly facing an uphill battle and your chances of entering wealth management or PE is about 0 unless you can sell yourself extremely well through networking. I think you will be happier if you come to the realization that a job won't make you happy in an of itself. Right now I would say this: utilize whatever networking you schooling/program has, have your resume reviewed on here, reach out to people who have gotten jobs you are interested in and are from an atypical background like yourself if you can find anyone, and most importantly be persistent.
Have you considered commercial banking? It is much easier to break into than IBD and the pay is decent. Over the long-term, it would provide you with very interesting advancement and salary opportunities while maintaining a good work-life balance.
I do agree with the comments above that it will be much harder for you to break into finance at such a late age. But it does not mean it's impossible. Work on your resume (make it clean, concise, efficient, and centered around your strengths and experiences) and start to develop your network and try to connect with mid-level commercial bankers (or whatever profession you decide to choose) through Linkedin. Look into possible recruiting events and try to make meaningful connections with people. Try to show off your age as a signal of your life experience and maturity. And use your high GPA to your advantage in your resume.
Do not forget that it's all about marketing yourself. You do have weaknesses (namely the fact that you are older than standard candidates), but try to turn them into strengths as much as possible. Good luck with everything!
I'll piggy back on Bill here - if you haven't, I'd strongly consider Commercial Banking. While it varies from bank to bank, at it's heart it's generally the same. You help companies (mostly private or the public companies that probably should be private) with working capital loans, treasury management, and other finance issues.
Don't be so hard on yourself. I have a similar story to yours - I spent a few years in college right after high school, mainly drinking and smoking. To my surprise, they kicked me out for that - the nerve! I went into the military and long story short, I didn't finish my undergrad until I was 30. Like you, IB, PE, HF all have an allure that would have been nice to know about when I was young and dumb. While cold calling MD's, I was introduced to a commercial banker and found out that it was a really good fit. At my particular bank (a BB), I'll spend 2ish years in an analyst training program and then it's off to pursue a path on either the credit or sales side.
Being older gives you certain advantages that the fresh college grads don't have. For one, you can relate better to managers and will likely have a stronger relationship with the people that make the bonus and promotion decisions. Secondly, and probably more importantly if you want to go the sales route (called a relationship manager for commercial banking), you can relate better to clients. CFOs and Directors of companies don't want to trust $50 million decisions to a 25 year old kid. Being 30-35 at this point gives you a level of authenticity that is valued by companies, even if you have the same finance experience as that 25 year old kid.
If you decide that commercial banking is something you want to explore, the best advice I have is to connect with a commercial bank near your location. Get a lunch meeting where you can learn more about what they do.
Feel free to PM for more info. Good luck.