This post is for the nonlinear career trotters - All the paper perfect ivys to IB or Consulting can skip this thread unless you have some value to provide.
But to the nonlinear career trotters, curious what your trajectories have looked like? Has anyone ever taking a job completely irrelevant to their path/experience just to get back in the game and make money?
On some bullshit right now. Built an APP in VBA, using SQL for Access, solid ad hoc analysis skills, learning OPs and contract negotiations, ecommerce, etc. Planning to beef all that up and learn coding outside of MS to build even more powerful APPs. Looking to find my way back into the finance track or something around smart people so I can build a network and have a valuable personal book.
But I'm honestly not energized about studying/taking the GMAT, even though I know it's going to be important for me to get T-10 B school. Not energized about doing the 2 years no pay, gambling to get some post-MBA spot in IB, just so I can be paid right.
Fuck life, man.
I think you got to have some perspective here. You're already in a situation that is more fortunate than 99% of the world. To even have the chance to be "paid right" (whatever that really means...nobody is entitled to be paid any given amount), be as it may with the caveat of having to go through MBA first, is already incredible. You'll be a lot happier in life being grateful for what you do have than being resentful for what you don't have.
Yeah I've got a great non-linear career path.
Started at a non-target studying Finance and Accounting. Graduated with no offers so going back to school. The end. I hope this helps.
just got mine on track:
Started community college in music. Got into top nonclassical performance school in world, turned it down for excess scholarship at strong regional program. Got a wrist injury my last year, and markets were a second passion, so I shifted focus. Turns out prestige schools in music have no overlap with finance; found myself at a nontarget, even though I was accomplished in a competitive area. Got into nearby nontarget MSF to get time for a couple internships. I start buy side hy/distressed FT next month. I imagine things will actually stay nonlinear for future goals.
Went to what has been described as a SUPER non target school on WSO. Came out and worked at ML in their investment management side. After a year and after I got all my licenses I applied to grad school (MBA) got into a top 40 program interned at a PE fund. Worked my butt off and the managing partner of the firm noticed. He took me under his wing promoted me to "lead intern" lame title but it meant I was in charge of the other interns. He put me on the deal team and thankfully was able to close a deal during my time there. Interned at a Big 4 in audit through school, literately had no interest in audit but it was well paying and by the end of the internship would give me enough money to pay for a full semester. Again worked as hard as I could and it was noticed. Went into my offer meeting and told them I wanted Deal and I felt audit wasn't challenging enough and kinda monotonous. Later found out that the managing partner of the office took notice to my hard work and personally called the head partner of Deal Advisory and told them to hire me. Ended up getting the offer in Deal, had a few other offers but chose to go with the Big 4. Along the way I networked as much as I could and would talk to anyone who could remotely give me advice. Learned a lot about myself and the industry and WSO was a huge help. Spent a lot of afternoons reading threads.
My path looks more straight and narrow on paper and in hindsight, but in reality it was all over the place getting to where I am today. I've applied to about 625 jobs during that time, went back to grad school, and sat for the CFA exams.
I came out of a non target school and ended up taking a wealth management position. This seriously set me back on my buy-side goals as I was pigeon-holed, and, quite frankly, there are no transferable hard skills. I quit the WM role after over a year to pursue the CFA program and any internships I could find for experience to get into asset management, equity research, or buy-side funds. During this period, the economy was entering into recovery and jobs were all for experienced hires. Everyone told me I was crazy and would never make it. I even had upper level people in well known IBs tell me I was wasting my time and that I don't deserve to be in the industry given the school I was from. Fast forward about a year through persistent networking, cold calls, cold walk-ins, CFA level 1 studies, and personal equity research projects, I took the GMAT and decided to go back to grad school. Unfortunately, with limited time and money I ended up going back to a non target school, but I did my best to make the most of it.
Upon graduating, I did not get a single buy-side offer and was actually continually being contacted for wealth management roles. I probably applied to 40 jobs and only had about 6 call backs. I even got a personal referral to a good friend of H. Kravis and a very successful silicon valley serial entrepreneur both of whom I spoke with and tried to grow that opportunity/network in whichever way possible. Nothing came of those, but it was encouraging. Shortly after, I got contacted for a brand new tech startup by someone close and I ended up joining that out of grad school to try and gain VC related experience. I drove 1.5 hours each way for the start up during the day, and worked at a deli at night. The startup was completely boot strapped by the founders and nobody was taking pay, including me. 1 year later, we had a product out but VCs did not want to fund the business and were only interested in the pending IP. The founders called it quits and a friend offered me an admin role at his textile company which I worked for a few months.
During that time, I kept my personal equity research and investing going and was applying for equity research and buy-side jobs. I would submit my own research reports and models with each job application for work samples. This landed me a couple interviews for an ER associate role and some family office investment analyst roles which I interviewed for. During the ER interviews, some guys from the IB team sat in on the panel and in the end they asked if I would be open to joining them. I joined the IB team to which I was let go in under a year due to macro economic forces working against me. Armed with a great recommendation letter and deep deal experience during the short stay at the IB, I cold called my way into a L/S equity hedge fund backed by a forbes listed billionaire. A key item that played into my hiring here was my personal research and modeling experience that I had learned and developed over the prior few years. It also helped, that my boss, having come from nothing, liked to root for the underdog.
3 years later, the fund needed to reorganize and I ended up getting recruited into a PE role for a family office focused on direct PE and Equity investments. I don't consider myself "successful", but I have come much further and much sooner than I had anticipated.
I never thought I'd leave such a write up on here, but hopefully this will encourage some of you out there that are grinding through the daily BS we non-targets face. Keep at it, put in the effort, continue to network and, sooner or later, it will pay off.
I started off moving to the west coast when I was 17 to surf and snowboard. At 18 went into spec ops training active duty, but didn’t make it, took E-3 and honorable discharge to go to military school at 19. Picked up two degrees and a minor there including studying abroad twice in Spain and China. Applied to Fulbright to China to research underemployment; accepted on US side, Chinese rejected it. Went into management consulting and corporate finance. Started in DC then NYC and left the corporate world to start my own company which taught me a lot of lessons but was ultimately a failure. In progress if you will. After that, went to Canada for a year with my church and had several roles in the forest there including collecting sap for maple syrup and also a lumberjack for two months (chain saw every day). This priest and two seminarians taught me how to play poker up there. I picked the game up quick and very well. I came down back to the US hoping to go pro - so studied a little more of the game and started playing simulation for six months and watching videos - then finally for money online and in various tournament venues live, but mostly online. I wasn’t doing bad, but was was off my circadian rhythm playing all night for weeks that I started to lose it and feel it is never wise to play 100% poker all the time. But, I built up a good base that year. Then after that I went into neuroscience analytics and automotive analytics to finally in 2018 when I started two more brands on paper. I’m working on about 5 possible income streams including some large art (2 5x7 foot panels, 10ft wide) and some projects that are in the very beginning stages. I was sidetracked a lot this year by so much cycling, but after an Ironman 140.6 finish last week in Colorado, I have a lot more time on my hands to work on potentially profitable projects.
I’m not really sure where I’ll be in a year or 5 years, but am pretty much game for anything.