Overwhelmed here, words of wisdom would help

Hey guys!

I graduated in December 2018. I worked at a small boutique IB that mainly specialized in ESOP. I had an offer but I did not want to go back because I have no interest in ESOP.

Since my graduation I have struggled with health issues and have been working on that. They were so bad that it took a toll on my mental health as well.

Here I am now.. a non-finance grad (Art History, honestly didn't have a choice with my major, long story) with finance experience, from a target school. I haven't really networked in months. At times I am a bit insecure about my major and I just don't know what to do.

As far as internship recruiting, I killed it at recruiting events, and phone interviews, I had multiple super days with some great firms, but I did not secure a summer analyst position and ended up at a small firm in Chicago.

Right now, I am feeling like there is no hope. Maybe I am being cynical... I need someone to kick my ass.

Any words of wisdom will help, please. I am a bit overwhelmed.

 
Most Helpful

You know what you need to do. Network! Call up your old classmates. Call up your coworkers. Call up career services at your school. Get a job that will let you lateral in, like something at Deloitte or a management consulting firm. Even working at Huron is better than sitting on your ass.

Give yourself a timeline, if you haven't found a job by x-date, call it quits and go do something else. Do that for 3-5 years, build a solid resume, and then get your MBA so you can come in as an associate.

Remember, you always have a choice. A lot of your story involves things being thrown at you - health issues, mental health issues, your major, the firm you eventually landed at. From the way you write, you've been a passive actor in your own story. Stop that and take charge.

 
Funniest

How severe were your health issues? Say you were recovering. Maybe you were pursuing a passion project? We had a guy leave my Chicago firm to go play drums in a semi-well known band, but he came back. Maybe you were exploring other careers, like putting that art history major to work and comparing Magritte to Bosch.

As long as you can say you were doing something other than sitting in your basement, alternating between WSO and Pornhub, you're fine.

 

Don't have time to feel sorry for yourself. Embrace the grind. Get back on the horse. Don't accept defeat.

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tacking onto what was already said here by others, Best thing to do when feeling overwhelmed, prioritize and then execute. and do it on paper. writing it down really does make a difference. Prioritize what it is you want to do, if its a job, find out what jobs you might like to do, figure out companies where you would like to work and could do it and then execute by applying applying applying. . I graduated in dec 2017 and filled out over 120 applications before getting a job and one that i love. it can def take time and require patience but good things happen to those who put in the work and can wait. And if you would rather go back and get an MBA then do the same thing for studying for GMAT and lining up schools.

 

I was in a similar situation at one point. Just looked around and was so confused and worried about what was going on in my life. Here's what I did:

  1. Sat down and listed out all of my worries on a piece of paper. The act of simply putting them down on a handwritten note made them seem so petty/trivial and able to be overcome
  2. Wrote a page or two about what I truly wanted out of a career
  3. Wrote out why I wanted the things in number 2. It turned out almost all of my decisions were based on fear. Fear of failure, not obtaining what I felt I was capable of, fear of making a decision, etc.
  4. Once that was done, it was easier to make a plan and execute on it.
  5. I had a lucky opportunity present itself, but since then I've learned that making sure to actually budget out time to do things (physically writing them into a calendar/agenda) and not becoming complacent in a situation like that, is very powerful. Having a bias towards action is almost always the right path forward.

Just put in the effort, and you'll get through it.

 

It seems like a lot of the other posters here have covered the inspiration aspect of the post (which, really, is the most important element. First step is realizing how incredibly achievable what you're trying to do is), so let me try to offer something more tangible.

I think one thing that could be helpful, given that you no longer have the on-campus recruiting to leverage, is a platform like . I remember how isolated I felt from my university after graduation, and, if I were in a similar situation, I would've wanted to find something like that to help me figure out how to get back in the game

 

Yeah, it's a paid service, but relatively cheap ~$50-60. If you have friends that can give you mock interviews/know their backs recruiting timelines and want to help you, then that's great! Not everybody is so lucky, so I wanted to share it in case it could be helpful to you, since I know it would've helped me

 

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