Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Generation Y/Millennials Getting from College to Career Job Search Tips on October 5, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Will the economic downturn stop the best and the brightest from flocking to investment banking, management consulting and corporate law? I hope so.
During my freshman and sophomore years at Yale, I’d sit with friends for hours in the dining hall, loving the debates about politics and literature and history. It was exactly what I’d hoped college would be like. Sometimes I’d look around the table and feel as if I were peering into the future: I could easily see my smart, hardworking, well-rounded classmates becoming history professors, investigative journalists, human rights activists, entrepreneurs, museum curators and diplomats.
And then senior year rolled around and a strange thing happened. Instead of talking about Milton and Kant and Jefferson and Elizabeth I, everyone started talking about Goldman and Lehman and McKinsey and Harvard Law. The best and brightest people I knew suddenly considered no other career paths than investment banking, management consulting and corporate law.
I see this happening just as often today. As I travel around to college campuses, I meet smart, articulate, worldly and personable students. And, inevitably, the best and the brightest always ask me how to get jobs in investment banking, consulting and law (“not necessarily to be a lawyer,” they often say, “but using a law degree to do something else.”).
For the students who are fascinated by finance, business strategy and legal study, then these paths are excellent choices. But, in my observation, intellectual interest is rarely the reason that students select these post-college career paths.
Many students admit that the money is too good to pass up. (According to a recent New York Times article, Goldman Sachs employees earned an average of $600,000 last year — an average that considers secretaries as well as executives.)
And the perks are undoubtedly glamorous. (While my parents moved me out of my dorm in their suburban SUV, the kids who landed jobs at the top consulting firms had professional movers come to pack up their books and souvenir beer mugs.)
There’s also the perceived prestige. (Prestige that companies pay a lot to cultivate: investment banks and consulting firms spend more money than any other employers to market themselves to students at the top colleges and universities — what Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust has called the “all but irresistible recruiting juggernaut.”)
And, perhaps most appealing to top-tier students, there’s the fact that these careers feel like a continuation of college — working hard late into the night, surrounded by really smart people. (Although the work involves spreadsheets, not Shakespeare.)
I really do get the appeal of these careers — I even considered law school myself — but I can’t help but wonder if there’s something awry when a large percentage of our best and brightest flock to Wall Street, consulting and corporate law. And, while I have sympathy for entry- and mid-level employees of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Heller Ehrman and other firms that are caught up in the financial crisis, a secret hope is growing in me:
I hope that the Wall Street debacle and the resulting economic downtown affects the way college students (all college students, not just in the Ivy League) think about their desired careers. I hope that students who genuinely love finance, strategic business consulting and law continue to pursue those careers because those careers will really make them happy.
And I hope that everyone else — the young grads who pursued careers in the most lucrative and prestigious industries because they were the most lucrative and prestigious (and “safe,” so we thought) — will start to think more broadly. I hope that they pursue careers in government, education, publishing, research, general management, psychology, urban planning, technology, social services and any other fields that engage them and use the best of their skills.
Why do I have such strong feelings about this? Now that I’m 12 years out of college, I have some data. Almost all of my brilliant friends who took their first jobs in investment banking, consulting and corporate law are now doing something else. They all gained great experience, sure, but what did they lose?
Here’s what these friends have told me: Money loses its shine when you’re unhappy going to work every day. Perks lose their luster when you’re stressed out. Law school grads end up in jobs as — surprise! — lawyers. And prestige doesn’t stand a chance against something infinitely more appealing: personal fulfillment.
Note: For career advice related to this topic, see “Seeking a Detour Around Wall Street.”
I think a big part of the appeal was not only the compensation packages, but the time committment required and the exit options. When you took on a job at a top Ibank or MC firm, chances were that you’d only stay two years and then move onto something else – and that the chances that you could move onto something ideal for you (because of branding, network, etc.). In that way, taking a job at one of these companies was essentially delaying the transition between college and career, because you didn’t have to decide what you wanted to do but could still feel like your first step out of university was putting you on the path to something bigger and better (I’d say this ties into the “instant gratification” desires of our generation). Consider also that Teach for America, another temporary rotational program, was also very popular with elite college graduates.
Another thing is that these cushy jobs took people from any major and provided great training for you – something virtually no other employer did/does. I (personally) think the concept of the liberal arts education is slowly dying as more and more students specialize their disciplines earlier. For example, I specialized in energy politics with a few courses in economics. I wanted to apply to this management trainee program: http://www.eon-us.com/careers/graduate.asp, but was told that without finance as a major (strictly as a major) then I was ineligible. Granted, energy companies are pretty conservative everywhere, but I think it’s a good example of how most companies dont value a liberal arts education, and though my network from my elite LAC opened doors, there’s still a feeling of frustration leftover. In this way, for a bright, fresh college graduate, a start with investment banking was a great option because I could still study what I wanted (social science) and use my smarts for a career elsewhere. How I can transition my liberal arts degree to employers who are increasingly skeptical of the value of studying history or politics is a question that is, though not impossible, difficult to answer. And ultimately, one that made starting out in consulting and banking more attractive.
The final appeal of these jobs was that you didn’t have to start at the bottom. Instant gratification, I know. Why should I take a standard job out of college planning events for people when I could take a job that would virtually guarantee that I would be one of the people for whom events are planned? I turned down an otherwise ideal job as an events planner (I use this example because it’s very standard post-college work, esp. in Washington, DC) becuase I wasn’t sure if as a woman I would be pigeonholed into always being the girl setting up the podium rather than speaking at it. For sure, a lot would depend on my own initiative and drive, but at the same time I know a lot of employers value “substantive” work (research, idea generation, etc.) and the transition from “a typical” entry-level job to an outstanding one down the road is much more clear in a springboard field like banking or consulting, wheras it wasn’t with politics.
More colleges and universities need to include those case studies about non-profit and entrepreneurial management. Communities and economies will only be able to thrive if our best and brightest follow those paths. That being said, our communities need to then support non-profits and entrepreneurs, both from the financial standpoint as well as mentoring those leaders.
Lindsey, I definitely identify with the “hope growing in me” which you describe is – there seems to be a confluence of factors which are likely to reshape the way we see work. I think this current economic crisis is acting as a catalyst to this change.
I think there is and has been a growing discontentment with the “cubicle farm” life. Really bright grads coming out of school and going into these large banks and law firms often just become cogs in a big wheel, and lose a lot of their ability to be creative and explore interesting ideas. There is a change afoot, and the current generation seems to be less enamored with money than personal fulfillment.
The other factor I which I think is reshaping work, and the number of people starting to consider entrepreneurship as a real path is the internet, and specifically web 2.0. The barriers to entry which required a fair amount of start-up capital in most new ventures are no longer there. Sure, some more extravagant ventures need outside capital, but we can now create, publish, market and sell our own books, music, clothing, photos, advice/ expertise online for little to no cost. Industries which were the domain of large corporates have now been opened up to everybody with a good brain and an internet connection.
It is quite plausible, that, in as little as ten years we will see many more people choosing entrepreneurship as their “career path”. Very exciting days ahead…
Love your perspective Lindsey. I was blinded by the money in my first career out of college. I thought that if I could make a living financially that would suit my needs. I could buy whatever I needed to make me happy. And unfortunately most people I worked with felt and acted the same way. Many told me that if work was meant to be fun, they wouldn’t call it work.
Since that time my perspective on career happiness and how I make a living have changed dramatically. I now have work I love and make a great salary. It’s happening in many areas of the economy. For examples just check out Fast Company’s Social Capitalist awards.
Making money and loving what you do are no longer polar opposites. I’m an example and you too are a great example Lindsey!
Lindsey- I witnessed the same thing my senior year of college (May 08). With a degree in business and finance all of my peers focused on banking and big names. I felt very alone wanting to apply my degree to smaller, less corporate types of companies and thinking about even dabble in marketing (not finance). I graduated without a job since I realized the financial analyst and banking positions I was being offered were not for me. I am so glad I was able to push my uneasiness aside and find something I was much more interested in than banking. Your article has so many great points! It seems students have tons of interests as Freshmen and sure they change, but there are tons of opportunities in the business world that do not focus solely on banking and other financial services.
@ Miriam – I love your suggestion that we may see a spike in entrepreneurship. Will keep my eye out for such a trend. So glad you are doing what you love!
@Marcie – Great points, too. Interesting to think about how B schools will change according to the new financial universe.
@Carol – Thanks for your comments. Maybe that is the silver lining in this crisis — prioritizing one’s satisfaction above compensation.
Lindsey – I couldn’t agree more; people have to prioritize what is important to them. Simply taking the job that offers the biggest compensation package without considering whether you will actually like the work you do is a recipe for an unhappy career. And, since the satisfaction level one has with the work one does is inextricably linked to overall happiness, it’s a huge price to pay.
Good points Lindsey. No question that Top B School students within a 500 mile radius of Wall Street have had their eyes on lower Manhattan for years. Just like the west coast students had their eyes on Silicon Valley during the tech boom.
I have been lucky to be working in career centers in California during the tech boom and bust and now working with college grads on the east coast during this Wall Street boom and bust.
Much of what you say is true. I do believe, however, that many college grads learn quickly and and parlay their networks and new knowledge into careers beyond Wall Street.
Many of these students are influenced greatly also by professors who push investment banking as the be all and end all.
Trust me, in Finance or Accounting 101, you will not get any case studies about managing a non-profit organization. I imagine that for the next several years they will still be talking about Wall Street and what went wrong. Except now, college seniors will be encouraged to go to a good grad B school and then go fix it.
I think that’s bad advice, but I think that is what they will hear in the classroom.
Blogs like yours really gets the reality out there and that is a good thing.
Marcie
Lindsey – I think this will happen by default – as there are fewer firms hiring entry level workers on Wall Street and consulting firms trim their recruiting efforts, those graduates must inevitably find somewhere else to focus their talents. I wonder if we will look back and see a huge bubble of young entrepreneurs as a result of this economic situation.
I was a new grad who went to Wall Street, although in my case, it wasn’t by design. Luckily, I recognized that it wasn’t a life I wanted years BEFORE my department (and then my firm) was swallowed up. I concur that money is nice, but having a life (and a job I love) is nicer!
The fact is, we know that no job is really “safe.” Hopefully, students who were relying on on-campus recruiting for opportunities have taken some time to learn about how to get jobs that aren’t waiting on a platter. Students who know what they have to offer, how to properly network and market themselves will do well. No matter how high their grades, those who aren’t willing or able to get out there and hit the ground running may be left behind.
@ Carmen – thanks! Hope all is well.
- Lindsey
Great points, Lindsey!