<p>This will be my first post here (at least on this account)- I actually haven’t browsed this site for about 4 years (when I was applying to colleges/depressed about it), but in the past I have received good advice and helpful support, and so here I am again.</p>
<p>Just some background information- I’m a recent college graduate from a good school, a decent GPA, and strong extracurriculars/internships. Over the summer, during an internship at an investment bank- one that I fought very hard to obtain- a multitude of factors (some really sketchy) resulted in me not receiving a return offer. In other words, back to the unemployment pool.</p>
<p>Frustratingly, it now seems that I’m not really a “good fit” for anything- my GPA (x<3.5) will be too low for any reputable law or grad school, consulting firms will similarly ding me for my subpar GPA, breaking into finance will be near impossible now, and others have told me that I am “overqualified” for other jobs and that my past work experience in finance implies I will jump ship at soonest opportunity. I’ve even tried looking for similar jobs in Asia, but that isn’t panning out either due to my Western pedigree and non-native (though decent) Mandarin. I now realize that I have a dangerous tendency to overcommit and “try to do everything”, but unfortunately, I have burnt quite a few bridges before I realized this.</p>
<p>In short, it isn’t immediately apparent what I should be doing with my life at this point. Since I’ve returned from my internship I’ve degenerated into a couch potato- too burnt out to do anything but play video games and try to forget about all of this. Perhaps I’m too idealistic, but I shouldn’t feel like a “has been” at the age of 22. But I do.</p>
<p>Has anyone here gotten through slump and lived to tell the tale? I’ve spoken to my parents, but amazingly, they don’t believe me. Counseling at my college was a joke and my friends are either happily employed, or not as ambitious and therefore unable to sympathize.</p>
<p>You should view this as a positive development. This may simply be the world’s way of telling you that you’re not a good fit with finance. Far better to find that out at 22 than when you’re 42!</p>
<p>I would advise you to examine the options you have available to you, instead of listing the ones you feel foreclosed from. Do you want to go to law school or grad school? If so, instead of worrying about whether the ones you can get admitted to are “reputable” consider how you might find opportunities to excel in them. I have a niece who attended the very lowest rated ABA approved law school in California - seriously, dead last - and she’s been employed in law ever since she passed the bar. She was even able to dump the first area of law she went into, which is why she thought she wanted to become a lawyer, after she discovered that she really hated it. She since has gone into an entirely different field and is doing well and enjoying life. </p>
<p>I’ve encountered many very successful business people in a variety of fields who did not attend prestigious Universities.</p>
<p>This is your life. It looks pretty good to me - go out and take advantage of your youth, your intelligence, and your open-ended opportunities. Find something you think you’d like to do and go after it.</p>
<p>This is an important and very accurate observation. If you feel you ‘have to’ attend a certain level of grad or law school, then you are probably going to be disappointed. If you can wrap your mind around the fact that it’s not so much the school you go to but how you conduct yourself in the business world that makes the most difference, you will see you have a ton of opportunities available to you.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have learned an important life lesson…now go use it.</p>
<p>I don’t see why people would think you are over qualified or you would jump ship just because you were an intern at an IB. Why not tell your potential employers that IB just wasn’t for you after you did a summer internship. I think most people could understand that. As mentioned by Kluge, it is better to find out now rather than 10-20 years later.</p>
<p>I am not sure if you should go to law school or get additional education if you don’t know what you want to do. Could you talk to a career counselor to see what kind of career would be a good fit for you? What are you doing now?</p>
<p>A relative, upon graduating from college with no immediate job prospects, went to China and taught English for a year or two (can’t remember exact length of time). With your Mandarin language skills you might enjoy something like that? Would get you off the coach and back into the world!</p>
<p>Kluge and Momlive- I agree that I will ultimately be defined by myself and not the school I attend. Nevertheless, I just feel, on some level, that a school needs to be of a certain caliber to warrant the exorbitant tuition fees. I’m fortunate enough to have my parents’ financial backing on this one, and I already feel guilty about having them help me finance my time in college which has, so far, yielded no job.</p>
<p>Oldfort- I’m not sure if a career counselor would be of help… I may have to develop my own niche. When did you guys figure out what you “wanted to do”. I’ll be honest- I have no idea, just instincts. Forcing this question upon myself only makes me more aggravated… </p>
<p>College_query, I am actually using the money I made during my past internship to finance a year of intensive Mandarin study in China- I’m sure I’ll have a great time, and that I’ll be significantly more marketable with enhanced language skills… but I still need to figure out what I’ll do afterwards.</p>
<p>My daughter (arts/writing major) is about to go to Thailand to teach English for a year. She’s taking a course to certify her to teach English as a second language so that she will be able to get a job anywhere in the world, even though that’s not what she really wants to do with her life. But it will make her marketable and give her a way to earn a living. She is really excited.</p>
<p>I still think a career counselor is a good idea. You can get some suggestions of the types of fields that might appeal to you. And you can still find your own niche – maybe in a “seam” between two fields you like (as a liason or someone with dual knowledge that can help bridge between them). That can be a lucrative career approach (take it from me, I did it).</p>
<p>As a graduate of your college, you should still be entitled to use its online recruiting system. </p>
<p>Some employers will specifically be looking for graduates and others will be willing to consider them.</p>
<p>This is a resource that the average job-seeker does not have, and you may want to take advantage of it. Of course, you should also be networking with everyone you can think of (including your employed friends who may know of openings at their firms) and answering ads on job boards and newspaper sites as well.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone outside of IB will react negatively to the fact that you discovered that IB was not a good fit for you. If they know anything about IB, they will be able to think of at least a dozen reasons why a person might not like it. It would be a good idea, though, to have a brief explanation prepared about why you didn’t like it. Interviewers are likely to ask.</p>
<p>Can you elaborate more on how effective career counselors actually are? I would be honestly amazed if there was a career counselor that could give me some real insight. I’ve always been predisposed towards expatriate-style jobs in the Asia-Pacific region (IBD, for example), but I don’t feel that this question can be answered because there really is no precedent for the job I’m looking for. I’ve found many people here stateside are incredibly misinformed regarding employment opportunities overseas; I must even take the opinions of expatriates already out there with a grain of salt because most of them arrived prior to the rapid globalization of recent years, or before the financial crisis. I think I might just be too picky.</p>
<p>I’ve heard similar sentiments about the oversupply of lawyers, and your suggestion poses a question I’ve been meaning to ask- should I choose a profession because its “my passion” or because “it’s the most logical thing to do right now and it would be the easiest industry to break into”? In your case, it sounds like my decision should be made on the grounds of economics (supply v. demand), rather than whether or not law is something I actually want to do</p>
<p>It seems like the vast majority of people I didn’t really consider the professions they are entering- some of my friends entering law school are doing so because their parents are lawyers, and from my perspective, it seems that is a decision based on pragmatism rather than sincere passion. They haven’t considered anything else, haven’t bothered to try to break into any other industry, and aren’t really entering the profession for any other reason than that they were born with the most amount of connections in it. Others are doing so because they have no choice- unmarketable major, no internships, no skills, etc. Maybe its pride, maybe its just sheer indecision, but I don’t want to end up like that.</p>
<p>Thanks, and I’m certainly tapping whatever career resources that my school offers. Unfortunately, those resources are simply a ragtag group of overseas alumni that I’ve known since my sophomore year of college- they aren’t in a position to help. Re: on-campus recruiting, I won’t physically be in the United States this upcoming year and there wasn’t really any to begin with as I went to a liberal arts school that, while certainly reputable, is far too small to attract any of the large corporations/banks for recruitment purposes. Most kids with my major (a humanities major) are either going to law school, doing random/crazy things abroad that I respect, but wouldn’t be able to get with, or are simply doing nothing.</p>
<p>Since the beginning of the summer I’ve been aggressively cold-emailing people via Linkedin, with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific Region. Everyone from entry-level analysts to even CEOs of international banks (the CEO responded, but briefly and only to show that he forwarded me to HR). I’d consider myself a skilled cold-caller, but I can’t just call everybody.</p>
<p>My view is that a career counselor would not “give” you insight. Rather, the counselor would help you to discover or come to insights of your own.</p>
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<p>Good for you! I would think that an entire year of intensive study in China will be of significant help to you in figuring out your next step.</p>
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<p>I believe that personal contacts are far better than cold calling in finding a job. In your next year, you are going to have the opportunity to meet a lot of people. My suggestion is to ask them, as many as you possibly can that might be at all relevant, for their advice on finding a job that would put your growing Mandarin skills to good use. For example:</p>
<p>I’m looking for a job in Asia for the fall of 2012. Would you be able to offer me any help or advice?</p>