My thoughts about “breaking into” finance

Hi I m Gem... been working in investment banking field for almost 4 years. My degree is not related to finance and I m not from the so-called Ivy League or top tier school. My first job was a sales rep for a global research firm then through some connection, I got my second job as a IBD analyst without any accounting or finance training. Many people thought breaking into finance would make you feel more accomplished or may even boost your ego. That was how I felt only in the first month ... such feeling will eventually fade away as you got burnt out by your work because of the hours, politics, and worst of all, horrible bosses who give you nightmare for some minor mistakes or allocate **** projects that are obvious dead ends to you ...

My point is breaking into finance won’t necessarily make life easier or you happier ...

I mean everyone really needs to think about the core values that drive you to pursue an MBA or a finance job.

To me, getting an MBA is not an ego thing but a must given my background. All of my bosses who are running the department are from stronger academic background and they do possess the much needed finance skills to make sound judgements and recommendations to our clients. Since I m sure I won’t be doing anything other than finance in the near term (5-10 years) and an MBA would open me to more job options in finance, such as PE which is something I have always wanted to do. And I m also hoping this could give me the confidence I lack in managing the juniors ... I have some juniors working under me but I do not think I m much better than they are to manage them yet.

Some friends who are also in finance advises me that getting an mba is unnecessary for me since I’m already in the industry but I know deep down being in it is not enough. I have to get the degree to give me more edge in getting my dream job and reaching the level i aim at professionally. I know that won’t necessarily lead to happiness ... it’s not about happiness it’s about finding meaningful goals that I m willing to suffer for.

Just abit of my thoughts ...

Posted from GMAT ToolKit