Should I Just Give Up

I work at a small financial services firm trying to get into finance/consulting. I had a 3.2 in college and 670 seems to be my limit on GMATS. Reading some of the stuff on here it seems like I should just give up. What do you guys think?

 
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I'm still a college student, so take everything I say with a grain of salt if you feel so inclined. But the first thing you need to realize is that this website is not a completely accurate representation of the industry, and many of the users are finance hardos that live their life chasing prestige and a perceived sense of "perfection". It can be easy to look at your past and feel dissuaded when you compare yourself to some of the posts on here, but you have to remember that not everyone who made it into the industry is some superstar student from HYP with 6 internships and 3.9 GPA.

If you are looking to go the MBA route and are struggling with the GMAT, give the GRE a shot, it's accepted at most top programs now. But even if you want to stick with the GMAT, you have to try and get out of the mindset of "I can't break past 670" or a mindset of giving up. You have to stay dedicated to studying and leveraging all the study resources available to you, but you also need to be in the right mental state to conquer the exam. Success isn't just a mixture of blind luck and skill, it's also about mental strength and fortitude. Once you begin doubting yourself, you are doomed to fail. You need to re-evaluate what it is you want to do, formulate a plan to get there, and establish realistic and stretch goals. If you want to break into Investment Banking, you shouldn't be hyper-focused on top BBs and EBs, or even BBs and EBs only. MM banks are a great platform and are often more receptive to less traditional backgrounds, especially the ones deemed as "tier-2 and below" by the users on here. If you don't get into an MBA business schools">M7 business school, you're not completely screwed. Some T15s and T25s still place very well, especially regionally, and even some T50s have strong pipelines that you can take advantage of to certain banks. You just have to be willing to not fall into the prestige-chasing rabbit hole.

If you are looking to lateral from your current role, you certainly face an uphill battle given current economic conditions, but there are definitely people that have lateraled into IB from other financial fields without an MBA at the analyst level. You will most likely lateral in at the 1st year level, but that's the price to pay. I don't know how common it is at BBs and EBs, but I have certainly seen people at MMs and local boutiques with backgrounds in niche consulting or commercial banking lateral in at the analyst level without an MBA.

This is a long post, but if there is anything you should take away from it is that you can't allow yourself to feel dissuaded or hopeless. You need to be patient and realize that sometimes things take time and you have to be creative in how you achieve certain goals, as well as realizing that you can't be hyper-focused on top firms only.

 

Good write up, much needed for prospects and even interns to get some fresh air with all the posters on this site comparing banks every week and making GS TMT out to be god's greatest gift.

 

Wow - this adds to my cripplingly severe depression, which I though was impossible at this point. I could've been a professional boxer and now I've completely wasted my life.

Also, I don't know who the narrator is, but a lot of guys got up after being knocked down by Tyson prior to Buster Douglas. A lot of those guys got knocked out in the same round, but they did get up at least once.

 

There are stories on here about non targets and community college transfers making it on here. It all comes down to how badly you want it. You need to prepare extensively if you want companies to even take a look at you.

 

I gave up. I was four years out of undergrad, I had tried on and off for five years to get a Front Office job of any kind. Over a thousand applications, 100+ cold calls. I had a low GPA from a state school, I was terrible at interviewing, I had little in the way of network. I was working at a corporate finance job I was stuck in and was applying to almost any job trying to get out. I felt really sorry for myself.

One day I decided to give it one last run, I spent hours on my resume and got it professionally reviewed on here. I thought through my strengths, wrote down a targeted list of Banks and teams I wanted to work and could add immediate value and started sending targeted cold emails. Not hundreds this time. 10. The 10 that I could add the most value to. One of them picked up my resume, he was an MD who had a tough run on the street but had bounced back to a BB. He gave me a chance.

Now im in my second year at a top Hedge Fund, my experience here and working for my former employer have been invaluable. My career is forever changed for the better. Im happier, more fulfilled and feel as if all the pain I went through was more than worth it. I love my job and im surrounded by those who love investing as much as I do. Its competitive and meritocratic, what you put in is what you get.

Dont worry though, you can give up. Its so easy. Trust me.

 

Don’t give up. I worked as a trader for a shit firm for 2 years with shit pay until I jumped. It’s all worth it in the end, one person gives you a chance and you take the baton and run with it. I even moved to a different country for that first opportunity to break in... it will all be worth it in 5 years

 

NEVER GIVE UP. if this is something you want, don’t let anything deter you. if anything, think of your shitty background as an opportunity to write an awesome success story to inspire others. I’ve got a 2.2 major gpa and a overall 3.34. not much better than u Not that I’ve succeeded yet or anything, but I’m never gonna give up and it’s a thought that you should never consider. what’s more impressive: Wharton hardo with 4.0 gpa and all extracurriculars getting into GS, or community college kid getting into GS

 

if you quit you know what the outcome will be. if you put in the extra effort and maintain the mentality that it’s all in your control then you become unstoppable.

there’s been times when my co was weeks away from shutting down. Instead of throwing in the towel i doubled down, put up my car as collateral on a loan to get me by, and grinded my ass off 24/7 for weeks. It paid dividends. I was able to cover the loan in 16 days and got investors excited about the story and opportunity. they saw that I wasn’t fucking around and that I believed in myself and the value of what I was building.

when you quit doors close. some people can accept that and I respect it. but if you really want something you have to go to all ends to get it or die trying.

"Out the garage is how you end up in charge It's how you end up in penthouses, end up in cars, it's how you Start off a curb servin', end up a boss"
 

Actually, a lot of the advice here is quite bad. Instead of looking for an emotional pump-up you should decide for yourself what is rational. Do you want to work in "finance or consulting" or do you want to make a decent living and be respected by members of your community? If the latter, there are many possible ways to succeed in this, often much better than beating a dead horse. I don't know about your specific situation and if the horse is actually dead but I wouldn't get influenced too much by a forum dominated by characterless college students.

 

Everybody has goals and dreams, some larger than others. Some of these dreams, though can never be achieved People keep talking about underdog stories, but for every underdog there are several who don't get in. There comes a point in life, however, when you should move on and try to carve out a different path for yourself. It's not wrong to try, but if you dedicate your whole life to this, you will miss out on the joys that come with your career now. The fact you are making this post shows some doubt as to whether it is worth the effort anymore. If you don't think it's worth it anymore, don't force yourself to continue. Sure there might be more money/prestige in high finance and consulting, but you have to work far longer, will have very few hobbies, and you would have to leave all your current friends. Don't underestimate the things you already have. The grass may not be greener on the other side.

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perhaps try to diagnose what parts of the gmat are troubling you. also, think deeply why you want to do IB or consulting - which one do you want to do (they are extremely different, and each requires a very different way to prepare), do you want to be a career banker/consultant or do you have other plans down the line/this is simply a stepping stone. in the former case, why do you want to be a career banker/consultant? for the money/prestige? then that is probably the wrong reason, because the sell-side (yes consulting is a service, let's be real, you're selling) actually doesn't pay that well compared to many other paths you could have. the fact that you can't decide between consulting and banking means that you probably don't have any real passion or even understanding of either, so it doesn't make sense to say that you want to be a career banker/consultan because it's actually what you want to do. so, let's say you want to use this as a launching pad. then you should think deeply about what exactly you want to do after a few years of banking/consulting. in fact, in might be easier to find a job directly in the field you're targeting (or it may be possible to pivot to that field from something other than banking/consulting), as opposed to going from IB/consulting. diagnose and analyze your problem, your goals, and design a way to get there. don't get hung up on banking/consulting just because they seem to offer many exit opportunities., otherwise in a few years you'll become confused again/feel like you made the wrong career decision even if you get a banking/consulting offer now.

 

Then what? Stay in a job you don't seem to like and eat pizza on the couch after work every night? Especially if you're in good physical and mental health you should certainly not give up, at least not because you read "some of the stuff" written by a bunch of kids in a much worse position than you're in.

 

If that is truly the attitude you have than 100% give up, you won't make it. If you want more attention from people, then demand it, stop being a pussy. If you want to whine and doubt yourself, than you deserve no attention. People in way worse situations didn't give up, why would you? Because it's the easy thing right now?

 

I cannot even fathom how anyone can just "give up" on anything, especially not something so important as a career. If it isn't what you really want to do, of course I get that, but if it IS what you want, how could you even imagine giving up? I just can't process that concept. NO YOU DON"T GIVE UP! Go listen to David Goggins and man the f- up.

 

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