netseeker09
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2011
- Messages
- 64
- Reaction score
- 5
Hello, My apologies in advance as this may be a bit of a long read.
I recently graduated from a Top 20 school earlier this year. I wanted to go into consulting but due to my laziness I didn't prep at all (too busy on this site lurking and Four Pins I suppose) and ended up being unemployed. I I ended up taking a job in consulting at local firm in Atlanta, (paid 38k + bonus of around 2k). Needless to say, out of my entitled ass (Generation Now) and my egotism I immediately started gaining some hard skills so I could get away from that company where the best and brightest of local state school kids went. Learning how to use Excel without a mouse, learning SAS and Stata.
After a month i started looking around at other places and found a position that was extremely lucrative (a boutique consulting firm that was completely comprised of Harvard alumni). I've had over 20 interviews for consulting before, this time I was gonna destroy the interview. Well I had the interview, and I got the position...sort of...they wanted me part time to see what I could do.
The next month or so I worked my Full- Time job (which eventually fired me because they found out I was looking elsewhere) the Part Time job at this firm, while interviewing at other places. I ended up getting an offer from an investment bank in New York, a semi-elite boutique, good gig ( 70k + 10k in bonus). I was deliriously happy. wooo! I made parents uber proud and I was like " to hell with the part time place...its been over a month, they don't wont me"
Well turns out they did, got the offer. 85k + around 35-50k in bonus ( yes I know how crazy this is for consulting)
So now I work here.....but I don't know where to go from here. I can't work here forever, but I'd rather avoid going to b-school. I've interviewed before at investment banks, PE firms, before so I have a good sense of what finance is "like". Although I've heard its uses are limited, given my lack of a finance background (I'm an econ major) I plan on at least taking the CFA Level 1.
So some thoughts that have been running through my head as a recent college grad kid:
- why is income tax so damn high?
- how much do I put in 401k?
- Should I be looking to lateral in finance immediately ( at probably a crazy paycut?) or should I wait a year (leaning towards this)
- HF? AM? PE? IB? ER? Continue with consulting? Industry?-_-; part of the reason I did not do as well as I wanted in interviews was because I applied for both IB and Consulting rather than focusing on one. I'd rather not make the same mistake again, but at the same time I don't know what I want to do yet.
- how do I network?
- how the heck do I invest all this money? ( or rather learn to how to invest? should I get a financial advisor?)
- where do I go from here ( to me, a job is just a means to money, I believe that an occupation shouldn't define who I am unless I am proud of it. I don't pride in saying " my name is joe, im a consultant/banker/ etc." I want to be defined on what I do off the clock, not on)
Forgive me if this sounds like an open ended question from a spoiled kid, but I feel that my position is a bit unique. I try networking with some friends of friends who graduated from some top b schools (chicago, Northwestern) and they make less than I do now ( I understand may be small sample size) so I am unsure if MBA would be best route for me.
Advice is appreciated,
Thanks from a long term SF lurker!
I recently graduated from a Top 20 school earlier this year. I wanted to go into consulting but due to my laziness I didn't prep at all (too busy on this site lurking and Four Pins I suppose) and ended up being unemployed. I I ended up taking a job in consulting at local firm in Atlanta, (paid 38k + bonus of around 2k). Needless to say, out of my entitled ass (Generation Now) and my egotism I immediately started gaining some hard skills so I could get away from that company where the best and brightest of local state school kids went. Learning how to use Excel without a mouse, learning SAS and Stata.
After a month i started looking around at other places and found a position that was extremely lucrative (a boutique consulting firm that was completely comprised of Harvard alumni). I've had over 20 interviews for consulting before, this time I was gonna destroy the interview. Well I had the interview, and I got the position...sort of...they wanted me part time to see what I could do.
The next month or so I worked my Full- Time job (which eventually fired me because they found out I was looking elsewhere) the Part Time job at this firm, while interviewing at other places. I ended up getting an offer from an investment bank in New York, a semi-elite boutique, good gig ( 70k + 10k in bonus). I was deliriously happy. wooo! I made parents uber proud and I was like " to hell with the part time place...its been over a month, they don't wont me"
Well turns out they did, got the offer. 85k + around 35-50k in bonus ( yes I know how crazy this is for consulting)
So now I work here.....but I don't know where to go from here. I can't work here forever, but I'd rather avoid going to b-school. I've interviewed before at investment banks, PE firms, before so I have a good sense of what finance is "like". Although I've heard its uses are limited, given my lack of a finance background (I'm an econ major) I plan on at least taking the CFA Level 1.
So some thoughts that have been running through my head as a recent college grad kid:
- why is income tax so damn high?
- how much do I put in 401k?
- Should I be looking to lateral in finance immediately ( at probably a crazy paycut?) or should I wait a year (leaning towards this)
- HF? AM? PE? IB? ER? Continue with consulting? Industry?-_-; part of the reason I did not do as well as I wanted in interviews was because I applied for both IB and Consulting rather than focusing on one. I'd rather not make the same mistake again, but at the same time I don't know what I want to do yet.
- how do I network?
- how the heck do I invest all this money? ( or rather learn to how to invest? should I get a financial advisor?)
- where do I go from here ( to me, a job is just a means to money, I believe that an occupation shouldn't define who I am unless I am proud of it. I don't pride in saying " my name is joe, im a consultant/banker/ etc." I want to be defined on what I do off the clock, not on)
Forgive me if this sounds like an open ended question from a spoiled kid, but I feel that my position is a bit unique. I try networking with some friends of friends who graduated from some top b schools (chicago, Northwestern) and they make less than I do now ( I understand may be small sample size) so I am unsure if MBA would be best route for me.
Advice is appreciated,
Thanks from a long term SF lurker!
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