The WTF are u doing with your life thread

[xerrox]

Since there's a lot of business talk...

Studying my ass off for a corporate valuation midterm that's going to destroy me. Everyone in this computer lab is studying for it and appear to be as lost as I am.

My finance courses are making me reconsider if I want to go down the i-banking route. It's par for my school but holy hell financial statements are going to drive me crazy. This deferred tax asset/liability reconciliation of provision for income taxes with cash taxes paid etc etc is incomprehensible.

Maybe I'll try to do management consulting or something :S

[Guest glasses]

investment consulting is better

[goat]

you guys are super helpful ill probably major in applied math since I do really enjoy math and statistics.

I know this was a week ago, but I just want to say that applied math / stats on their own will limit you because you'll lack the acumen of whatever field you end up in (unless, of course, you want to be a statistician or a prof).

I notice you said above you thought about actuarial sciences. If that doesn't interest you, have you considered Financial Engineering? Basically applied math models for the financial sector. That coupled with an MBA will open a lot of doors because that is a very specialized and practical field.

@xerrox - keep in mind that IB will require you to work 80+ hr weeks. And that doesn't go down as time goes on. Make sure you love it if you're going to go that route.

Management consulting is just as demanding, especially if you end up with a consulting firm like Mckinsey or BCG (if you end up with the Big 4 to consult, the pay is a bit less, but so are the hours)

@glasses - that's completely subjective. That's like saying a criminal lawyer is better than a corporate lawyer.

Generally speaking, as cliche as it sounds, do what you love before you go for the money. If you're educated, the money will come. From my own experience, everybody that went down the CA route (myself included) HATED audit. Yet we all went into it because it was the thing to do. I'm glad I switched out of it. It's the same with so many professions. My $0.02.

[xerrox]

Yeah, I've mentioned this in previous posts but I'm at Penn. I don't even know what there is out there besides MC/IB/S&T which accounts for like 90% of grads - and S&T is NOT the place to be right now.

I don't think I'd want to be a career banker unless it was at one of the awesome boutiques like Greenhill/Centerview/Qatalyst, but I think I could slog it out for two years and hopefully move to PE or a hedge fund.

The material is interesting on a more abstract level, and I like the idea of the career progression going from technical to more relationship based. Hopefully I'll have a better sense of things when junior OCR starts next semester.

[goat]

I didn't even consider MC until I started my masters. Now it's definitely in my list of jobs that I would like doing.

IB is still a big "hell no" for me

[gettoasty]

hey goat do you have anymore info. regarding MFE programs?

i have a degree in finance + statistics and looked at some general schools. the computer science aspect scares me. damn i hated C++

only reason i may consider that is is because it seems like a field i would enjoy holistically. either that, or get a CFA/CFP and get into consulting and/or investment management.

[Quiver]

applying to be a field engineer so i can work on an oil rig to rape the earth and make 6 figures out of college

which company? let us know how you go and where you end up. anyone else in oil & gas here?

[shufon]

gettoasty, if you hated C++, don't go into an FE program. Programming is a major aspect of FE. FE programs are usually within OR programs in a lot of universities, and OR is less programming intense, so you may want to look into that instead.

[OCEANSECT]

is it even worth it to get a BA in computer science?

my other option im considering is getting a BS in cognitive science, but idk why coz I don't even want to be a cognitive scientist.

though I don't want to be a programmer either so. just kind of like learning about computers. the works hard as hell tho (actually not really its just that I have no motivation to program....)

programming is actually kind of easy so far? i just put stuff off so much and the professors are crazy so its kind of hard if i don't catch on immediately. but then a lot of the time i do and get proud of myself for thinking up elegant solutions to things....

but yeah no desire to be a programmer. i have two years left in school i need to pick a major pls advise.

and maybe a minor in Astronomy just coz its interesting.

still kind of want to just major in art.

and no fucking way i'm hopping on engineering and staying here for an extra year i really just want to graduate... thats why i'm considering a BA in computer science.

i guess really i should just go with computer science since thats i guess the most interesting for me...

also i hate doing all my school work in front of a computer...

and it means the next quarter or two i basically am going to take just math classes so i can take cmps 101a...

[Concerned Parent]

I'm a junior at some college studying some humanities and I have no idea what I'm doing now, and no idea what I want to do in future.

[Stacks]

^ take the lsat and if you get above a 168 go to law school.

that's all I got for you.

[boy better know]

applying to be a field engineer so i can work on an oil rig to rape the earth and make 6 figures out of college

which company? let us know how you go and where you end up. anyone else in oil & gas here?

a du i know graduated in mining engineering, graduating class of only 5 students and now he's ballin' although he has to work +9 months in bumfuck northern canada

[redX]

that's still 9 months of no pussy and all burly sweaty dudes looking for a warm place to stick it

[gramps]

Northern Canada, specifically northern Alberta and the NTW, are as close to a frontier as the first world has. Between the sex trade, itinerant workers, violence, and guys with monthly payoffs trying to blow it all in a weekend before heading back to a diamond mine or oil refinery, it's basically the wild west. Shitty as it may be, it's not a locker room, it's a a kind of place that is hard to really imagine if you're from Europe, hell, if you're not from that part of the country.

[caid]

^ I've been to Fort Mac once for work and it was a trip. It's crazy when you think of how much of a frozen hell hole it is there (most of the time) and then realize how much further north people are actually living. That place is only half way up the damn map.

[redX]

yeah i was making a bad joke...

[evisu 2000]

the mac, she's a cruel mistress

[travisio]

doing a 2-year stint in louisiana and saving up to open a food cart in boston or hartford

[koala]

that's awesome man, what kind of food?

[boy better know]

i'm stressing out, i graduate in 6 months and i can't find any banking / finance internships or entry-level jobs and if there are it's the mcgill or ivey kids that get them all

i have relatives that work for a big 5 in canada but they're in the back office and most of my contacts and friends are in law or accounting so i don't know if they can do anything for me

grad school seems the only way out, i got the grades to get in and it's also almost dirt cheap in canada

google's CFO graduated from my school so there's hope i think

wahhhh

[rapdancin]

i'm stressing out, i graduate in 6 months and i can't find any banking / finance internships or entry-level jobs and if there are it's the mcgill or ivey kids that get them all

i have relatives that work for a big 5 in canada but they're in the back office and most of my contacts and friends are in law or accounting so i don't know if they can do anything for me

grad school seems the only way out, i got the grades to get in and it's also almost dirt cheap in canada

google's CFO graduated from my school so there's hope i think

wahhhh

welcome to a global recession

[gettoasty]

seriously ffff...

edit:

started internship today. learning the company CRM/money management cloud systems was good. A lot to know. Had to make a lot of phone calls to different companies regarding the products we sell. Essentially the major part of financial planning/consulting is being the middle man between your client and vendors. usually i would be tripping balls, calling random people up that i do not know. more so, i am "required" to say my name followed a long name of the company, super awkward IMO.

but i manned the fuck up and dialed numbers all day today, learning a lot while I'm at it, and came to realize that "they" probably get these calls everyday. you can really tell the difference between people who like what they do vs. those that are there just for a job.

i also realized why not peoples desk are so damn messy. you literally have to be looking for scratch paper and taking notes whether through the phone or from your supervisors. i am pretty organized, but it seems i have to develop a system to take notes more fluidly.

really like the people at my company too.

oh, why the hell does all my mom's friend keep saying it's easy to find a job in finance.

typical conversation:

"he graduated with finance"

"OHHH, that should be easy then"

WUT, that is literally every response I hear. lol

off-topic kind of, but sufu/sf have ruined me. i want a paid job so bad so i can keep on kopping. need to find that part-time job in concession.

[yooneunhye38]

i'm stressing out, i graduate in 6 months and i can't find any banking / finance internships or entry-level jobs and if there are it's the mcgill or ivey kids that get them all

i have relatives that work for a big 5 in canada but they're in the back office and most of my contacts and friends are in law or accounting so i don't know if they can do anything for me

grad school seems the only way out, i got the grades to get in and it's also almost dirt cheap in canada

google's CFO graduated from my school so there's hope i think

wahhhh

same boat buddy. i got about 4 more realistic opportunities with alums who might be able to help me out.

If i fuck those up..... damn...

[OkayOkay]

just realized how dope every job title is these days. Gonna re-join the workforce eventually, hoping to be a "customer care specialist" or "internal documentation analysis expert" in something.

[lmk1995]

i'm stressing out, i graduate in 6 months and i can't find any banking / finance internships or entry-level jobs and if there are it's the mcgill or ivey kids that get them all

i have relatives that work for a big 5 in canada but they're in the back office and most of my contacts and friends are in law or accounting so i don't know if they can do anything for me

grad school seems the only way out, i got the grades to get in and it's also almost dirt cheap in canada

google's CFO graduated from my school so there's hope i think

wahhhh

go to school for the rest of your life concept.

that's my plan at least.

[jackg]

i just worked out today that instead of having another full year of uni (8 subjects) to finish my double degree, i only have 2 subjects to go and am freaking out!!!

Don't think i am ready for the real world just yet.

[lak]

graduated, running all alcohol accounts/running the entire bar at my work, been told i'll be running the nyc store when it opens in a couple years but going back to school before then maybe...and yet i still want to work retail for the discount. cheapass concept.

[kvc06]

Just applied to my first internship, definitely not my last application, although that would be nice..

[mdam]

Graduated with my BS in mechanical engineering back in May, now I'm part of a small, highly specialized energy firm working in the area of thermodynamics and heat transfer.

Since we have such a niche market, we've been expanding at a faster rate than ever despite this time of economic uncertainty. I'm only 21 but I'm managing projects from the bay area all the way out to Taiwan.

You guys should try working at small firms, much less bureaucracy and often times more benefits and perks than large corporations, not to mention the pride you have knowing that you are responsible for almost every aspect of your project. Feels gr8 man.

[OkayOkay]

might be major life path switch... My Dad has FTP Dementia, and he's turning the corner to becoming too much for my Mom to handle. I think I'm gonna move on to becoming a caretaker for him to take the pressure off her. I'm a pretty patient and tolerant person, I can just forsee TONS of dramatic encounters...sweet.