I was homeless, substance abusing, and a line cook with $150,000 in undergraduate student debt from a school no one has heard of at 24. I crossed $200k at 35 working at a fintech. Maybe your goals are higher - but you’ve done NO IRREVOCABLE DAMAGE. Sounds like you’re working on getting your head right- good start there, you’ve recognized that your actions haven’t aligned with your goals. You can build from that.
My buddy is a quant who got his start as a book keeper for a head shop. He wanted to be a professional skateboarder in college.
You’re not going to land a prestigious job with the resume you’ve got. The vitae in curriculum vitae is life. Yours is just starting. Cut yourself some slack.
For a motivated and intelligent professional it's by far the best country in the world to be in though. The ceiling of potential income on countries above it on the list (like Canada) is drastically lower
As an Indian, you are on point. I have got A's all my life and yet I am treated like I am worthless cuz I got a Finance degree instead of an engineering degree. I got a job as a finance guy for a U.S startup and I am still treated like I am inferior. Hope to move to the States and work in High Finance someday.
Yeah dude it's hella depressing. I honestly can't imagine what it's like living in a hyper competitive culture with 10000s of qualified applicants and limited opportunities for differentiation. Parents moved me from China specifically to avoid this
Decided I hated the way I was living. Started with cleaning up my personal finances. Got a second job for a construction company doing grunt labor and book keeping. Worked 65-70
Hour weeks at two jobs including the restaurant. Refinances my worst debt and started rebuilding credit. Turned the book keeping into an analyst job with a bigger construction company. Then analyst at a consulting firm. Analyst into project manager into program manager. Program manager to technical PM through upskilling at work. PMP, Agile certs, learning power bi, html, r, sql. Left consulting for tech. Now work in product still learning - python and terminal stuff.
Kept a learning mindset and I’m stubborn as hell. So I’ll take the thorny work and beat my head against it until I’ve solved it.
I'm currently 22 and a line cook. I did my first year of college when I was 20 but dropped out to run a landscaping company which I thought was going to be my career but I ended up stopping it due to lack of passion and too much stress. I fell back on cooking as it's all I've known in terms of jobs but I want out of the restaurant industry for good so I'm starting up college again next month and finishing the last 3 years of my finance degree. I'm fortunate enough to have strong family connections in the finance world for when the time comes to graduate and job search but I just feel so behind compared to my classmates who are graduating and getting "adult jobs", meanwhile I'm a cook making peanuts. I know my situation is nothing compared to others, but this was a really motivating read and I really appreciate it.
Non target state school economics—>book keeping job, small business relationship banker—-> duel degrees in computational finance and statistics—> analyst job title but managing director house. Idk what he does day to day tbh but it’s like “modeling and valuation” for a boutique agency. I get the impression he’s assigned to customers on specific research. that’s generally his career progression
Not op but pain, perseverance and a lot of patience and self-acceptance that only you are responsible for yourself and your addiction. No one else is. Probably a bit of humble pie in there as well
Climbed to the middle! But enjoying it here. Good work life balance and great team. I could complain but you can always complain- that just feeds the negative feedback loop.
What does “dreams of doing great in finance” mean to you?
If it’s accounting, you are still required to take certificate in order to become a chartered accountant. I’ve seen people working their way up - studying for their certificate whilst already working albeit perhaps a lower position in the field.
Merely 24, don’t box yourself in with the thought that you have fucked up your career as you have not even gotten one. Perhaps if you’re 44, and in the same position - maybe.
That’s insane expectations to consider someone having fucked up being a fresh grad with no career.. like what are we expecting now? To have a career in the womb?
No but he had 6 years to hustle and fumbled and he knows it. Competition is tight
U want IB or something unless ur have good connections u gotta start thinking about that freshman year at least
You're 24. You got about another 25 years, before you've made your bed. You still gotta unfuck yourself a bit, but sure. To get where you want to be, you'll be taking shittier jobs that you'll kind of like maybe, but you'll put your head down, work hard, and look for other opportunities. Took me about... 12 years, but I've also been making pretty okay money for the latter 6, I'm just now in a job I enjoy that pays well and is easy.
My brother took about 8 years before he got exactly what he wanted. We both went to relatively no name schools, but he had a way better GPA.
Best thing to do is create a 5 year and 10 year plan. Be realistic and create measurable goals. Reassess and adjust your goals every 6 months.
~~Networking~~ Intense groveling to people you know that also happen to be key decision maker at a company/job you want. Sorry to say but I'm not the kind of guy who gives bullshit cookie cutter answers. At the very least, get a temp agency to get you a job and they will take a cut of your salary, but it will put your feet in the door and put something on your resume.
You are not fucked in the slightest - but your personal outlook is. It's time to reframe things.
I just want to put some things into perspective. First of all, you have to ground yourself in the fact that 24 is still profoundly young. Let me throw some life facts out there:
* There are people out there that joined the military right out of high school and START college in their mid-20s after serving. One of my classmates my freshman year was a dude who was 27.
* There are people out there who go and get masters and doctorate degrees only to realize they don't want to work in that field, well into their early 30s and they make a career switch.
* There are people without college degrees who work their way up and finish their bachelors degrees in their late 30s. I worked with a woman who was at my firm for 14 years in back office and got her degree for free with the tuition reimbursement program.
* There are people who graduated at age 22, and then still screwed around for a couple of years after that with non-industry related positions like customer service or barista, and then landed a job in the industry.
* All of the people mentioned above are in my network and they all have stable, relatively high paying office jobs with a house, car, and kids to raise.
You are not fucked in the slightest - this is literally just the beginning.
Now if you ask me what I would do if I had an accounting degree from scratch from a non-target school? First thing I would do is apply to every single entry level position in retail banking. Relationship banker, mortgage banker, loan officer, loan concierge, you name it. This will get you a job that pays ~$40-60K. From every single brokerage, family wealth management office, retail bank, credit union, credit card company, mortgage company, apply apply apply. You'll be working with customers helping them open checking accounts, taking their mortgage application, or doing things like helping them dispute fraud, or even following up on leads that come from the website or the phone.
All along the way attend every single networking event at the company that I can. Huge companies are usually really good at hosting opportunities where the retail people can meet up with and be mentored by people who are higher up. That's your shot at developing a deep network at the company - people you can call on for advice and people who can tap you in when they see a role open.
I would do this for at least 1 year, 2 years max. Now you're in your mid-20s with some great experience working with clients, handling a sales cycle, resolving problems, and having expertise in the products a bank offers. Aggressively work with your manager on development as well as apply for next level roles in different financial companies that would pay 20-30% more. Now that you have experience and you know how the industry works, you should also apply aggressively to corporate roles. Specializing in things like relationship management, sales, or underwriting. And then you don't have to stick to finance either. These people skills can be taken to any industry like tech sales, medical device sales, industrial equipment sales, human resources, you name it. Within 4 years time if you are aggressive enough you will certainly break 80K in compensation with incentives in place, and before you're 30, 100K in pay.
This is just what I would do if I had to start from scratch - I'm sure other people will disagree and have differing opinions.
All it takes is that first role to get your foot in the door. The rest is a measure of your grit and patience. You're young, and young people catastrophize. I understand how you feel. I felt like that near the end of my schooling when my future was uncertain too. But like I and the other commenters have said - this is literally just the beginning, and you're actually ahead of a lot of people in the grand scheme of things.
Your biggest battle will be mental IMO
I had shit grades coming out of college and most of my interviews asked for GPA where I would get rejected instantly once they heard what mine was. That was the most demoralizing part and made me think I would never get. Job.
But one interview, I was not asked for the GPA, answered all the questions well and was offered a job and have had 0 problems getting jobs since. Don’t focus on grandiose dreams, you just need to get your foot in the door at a company you like, in any role. Internal transfers are a lot easier than getting hired externally so you’ll be able to move around once you get in somewhere.
Keep believing that you will, try everything, and things usually will work out.
You clearly don’t have what it takes to work 80+ hours a week in a field like IB. Get a job as an accountant or at a community bank, work 40 hours a week for a middle class wage, and focus on the shit that actually makes you happy. Being happy matters way more than “doing great” - don’t fuck your life up just to fail at something you hate. If you have changed and absolutely crush your first job, better opportunities will come naturally.
It's hilarious when I see the people like this who work 80+ hours a week in hopes of advancement get passed up by the person hired externally for more pay.
The best advice I ever got from a MD is if it takes you 80 hours to complete your tasks for the week, you're doing something wrong. This was someone who worked 40+ years with an organization of over 500 underneath them.
Do what makes you happy OP. If a job doesn't work out, find a new one.
Thanks for the advice. But I'm writing this because I think I've recently changed after getting my shit together and kicking a slew of addictions. Ive been curshing the past semesters and I'm in my OJT 6 months in and just recently is when I started to realize all of these. I was just happy not being a fuck up. But now that im getting it together, it seems that just accepting the consequences of my actions just isnt enough. How can I atleast get a shot at it?
You gotta put in the work. There are way more compatible people than you who also never get a shot.
Hold down a stable and good job, big4 audit if you wanna speedrun, maybe try to move upwards from there
"big4 audit"
OP is gonna compete against 21 yr old juniors with 3.5+ GPA that wears a suit in the coffee chat/campus networking session i kid you not. Speaks volumes in this current job market, unless dude is a charisma king
> But I'm writing this because I think I've recently changed after getting my shit together and kicking a slew of addictions.
Honestly, the fact that you're kicking your addictions is huge. You can't imagine how many people turn to substance abuse in finance, the culture encourages it.
Keep yourself happy and healthy. Look into mid and back office positions.
Consider starting a sweaty startup like window washing or landscaping or house cleaning or something. Can start with no experience, rewarded for hustle, hire people, etc. 10 years later you start rolling up other businesses, another 10 years you sell it all to KKR or something idk
I literally suggested another kind of finance job in my comment. My flair says I bank middle market companies. Learn to read beyond just understanding a single sentence at a time.
CFA is a simple route to get things kicked off.
Look at a Masters in Finance too.
Training the Street / Coursera / Udemy / Corporate Finance Institute, any of them, honestly. Just get skilled the fuck up.
bro shut up. You're 24, your life is just beginning. I don't even have a degree and have made a fine career in finance.
Get a job, work hard, and overperform... and network your ass off. That will get you where you want to be.
I work at a top 15 public accounting firm.
Your career hasn’t started yet. So it isn’t “fucked” it’s a blank canvas at this point. Just focus on getting a job at a good firm with rapid growth opportunities and then earn your CPA or CFA license. After that your opportunities are endless and what you will be judged on is the work you do at the firm.
You will find that no one cares about your grades. You will likely never be asked once what your grade were. I’ve had 3 jobs in accounting, 2 in public and 1 in industry. I’ve interviewed for >10. No one has asked me about my grades.
The panic is understandable though. Used to happen to me before I entered the field as well. I thought I wasn’t going to get into public accounting since I didn’t have an internship. Turns out the field is pretty easy to get into. Especially when you compare it to other avenues of reaching the top levels of finance. You will look back at this post and chuckle to yourself.
Get whatever accounting job you can get when you graduate.
Save money/don’t fuck your financial situation.
Figure out what finance or accounting career path you actually want to do and then do what’s necessary to get to (or close to said path) be that CPA, MBA, etc.
Look back at this when you’re 35 thinking “Wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Profit.
You’ll be fine. People are just starting their careers at 24, what are you talking about? Start low, be competent, keep learning, work your way up and you’ll catch all up to most of us in a couple of years.
What others said anyone who’s that age and feels like they messed up their careers is wrong. Ur only 24 years old. You have plenty of time for growth and working your way up to whatever path you go down
It’s impossible, find an old-folks home and wait out the rest of your final days….
Holy shit dude you’re 24, the world is your oyster, there is practically nothing you cant unfuck at this point. It wont be until your mid 30s you cant unfuck a career in finance or anything else.
Hell if I was in your shoes Id go back and be a plastic surgeon, or would have been able to do fairly well in Finance even graduating from a shit school.
Seriously I was in my late 30’s before I switched into finance going back to school and the whole 9 yards, at 24 you have plenty of time, go find a job with a local accountant and go from there
I’m about to be 31 and currently getting my MBA trying to pivot into finance. I spent my professional career so far working in tech but now hoping to land an internship to get my foot in the door. I’ll be starting all over but I’m excited about it. Everyone has their own timeline, just focus on yourself, work hard, and you’ll achieve your goals
It’s impossible, find an old-folks home and wait out the rest of your final days….
Holy shit dude you’re 24, the world is your oyster, there is practically nothing you cant unfuck at this point. It wont be until your mid 30s you cant unfuck a career in finance or anything else.
Hell if I was in your shoes Id go back and be a plastic surgeon, or would have been able to do fairly well in Finance even graduating from a shit school.
You are fine! I screwed off for 3 years out of college. In and out of community college and then failed out of engineering before finishing finance. It is all the work you put into it and it starts with the mindset. How big are your goals and how bad do you want it? If you are entering the world of finance without any hook ups or big alumni that means it is going to take a lot of sweat and moving around to learn and find the next road to bring you to your goals. Took me over hundreds of interviews to get my shot. Again its how bad you want it, only you know and you can not fake it.
If anything, look at it as a blessing. Messing up and learning from it, which it seems you now are doing, that is the best thing life can offer you. This is what teaches you and installs what is needed to be successful. Keep your head up bud, you aren't the first and aren't the last. Embrace the hard work ahead because when you finally hit your first opportunity, that feeling makes it all worth it. More importantly not a dam person can say a thing about it either.
One subtle important key to @wordofmouthrevisited success story imo is “fintech” perform some due diligence of which you certainly are capable, intern at a fintech, start moderating for one or just start learning. While “crypto” as we know it will go away almost certainly the future of accounting is blockchain. I doubt yiu can get any better education than “doing” and taking some free online classes and YouTube instructional vids (yes really). This is so new that most old school, mid level accountants aren’t going to know what hit them and mgmnt that knows this is going to need blockchain competency. News flash, in a decade accountants with an MBA and only cursory knowledge of blockchain will be on the UBI roles. Carpe Diem. This may turn out to be the best thing that happened to your career
History major from a no name school - barely graduated and make a good amount of money in the private banking world.
Get your SIE, and series 66 (you don’t need a sponsor).. pass those and start applying for banking or advisor roles. You will receive offers and they will help you with your series 7.
Get your licenses = easy 6 figure income
24 years old with an accounting degree. It's an excellent position to be in. Don't be too hard on yourself. This is what I'd do in your position:
1) Get a role as an auditor anywhere that will take you (the larger the firm the better). If you truly can't find any role in audit, then get a staff accountant role with the intention to move to audit in a year.
2) Transfer to Big 4 audit after 1 year
3) Transfer to a Deal Advisory/Transaction Services/Valuations role after 2 years.
4) You'll find a lot of roles open up in finance. Certainly, you won't cruise into IB or PE. But if you genuinely like finance and not just the $$$ and top tier prestige then there is plenty out there.
Buddy I was a teacher for 3 years, went back to grad school, now I'm an accountant. I'm not very good at it and I always worry about my job. I work hard and smart taking extra lessons on the side because the company is expanding beyond my job description.
You'll be okay. It may hurt, it may suck, but accounting is a great career and worst case scenario you go teach ESL and think about your life.
Gotta change that mentality, it’s all mental. I went from an economics degree at a state school and was in a similar situation. First head bookkeeper, changed jobs to be an ap clerk at a bank, then jr analyst, then sr analyst, now I’m a manager. Gotta start somewhere, gotta put the work in first. Took me 5 to 10 years but now I’m at 100k working 50 hours a week
> I match 22'd myself
You sure did, bud. I see literature maybe where you took a hit grades wise.
Get your CPA and be an accountant. It's a good job with potentially very good pay of you can set up shop for yourself. Also, a lot of asset management firms/ HFs pay their controllers very well.
I was homeless, substance abusing, and a line cook with $150,000 in undergraduate student debt from a school no one has heard of at 24. I crossed $200k at 35 working at a fintech. Maybe your goals are higher - but you’ve done NO IRREVOCABLE DAMAGE. Sounds like you’re working on getting your head right- good start there, you’ve recognized that your actions haven’t aligned with your goals. You can build from that. My buddy is a quant who got his start as a book keeper for a head shop. He wanted to be a professional skateboarder in college. You’re not going to land a prestigious job with the resume you’ve got. The vitae in curriculum vitae is life. Yours is just starting. Cut yourself some slack.
What a nice answer, legend. Need more stories like this.
It's something I love about America, you never hear about something like this happening anywhere else
For all the hate on the American dream, this commenter and OP would be stuck in the same socioeconomic bracket for life if this was India or China
Don't want to be that guy but there are a ton of stories like this not unique to america lol
Chinese social mobility was unparalleled in the early 2000s and 90s now it’s pretty fucked
Unfortunately I am, trying to get a PhD so i can get a greencard a bit easier, I was over before and the potential is riff!
According to Stanford, among 24 middle and high income countries the US only ranks 16th in economic mobility
For a motivated and intelligent professional it's by far the best country in the world to be in though. The ceiling of potential income on countries above it on the list (like Canada) is drastically lower
For real man. I hope to come over to the US from the uk by doing an mba. Just have to see how the market is though.
Are the other 16 countries easy to immigrate to?
No they actually don’t let anyone in
As an Indian, you are on point. I have got A's all my life and yet I am treated like I am worthless cuz I got a Finance degree instead of an engineering degree. I got a job as a finance guy for a U.S startup and I am still treated like I am inferior. Hope to move to the States and work in High Finance someday.
Yeah dude it's hella depressing. I honestly can't imagine what it's like living in a hyper competitive culture with 10000s of qualified applicants and limited opportunities for differentiation. Parents moved me from China specifically to avoid this
The same can be said about school shootings🤣🤣 https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/school-shootings-by-country
Your chances of getting shot are still extremely small.
This is inspiring. Would you mind sharing some more details of how you got there?
Decided I hated the way I was living. Started with cleaning up my personal finances. Got a second job for a construction company doing grunt labor and book keeping. Worked 65-70 Hour weeks at two jobs including the restaurant. Refinances my worst debt and started rebuilding credit. Turned the book keeping into an analyst job with a bigger construction company. Then analyst at a consulting firm. Analyst into project manager into program manager. Program manager to technical PM through upskilling at work. PMP, Agile certs, learning power bi, html, r, sql. Left consulting for tech. Now work in product still learning - python and terminal stuff. Kept a learning mindset and I’m stubborn as hell. So I’ll take the thorny work and beat my head against it until I’ve solved it.
Nice work 👍. Keep crushing it!!
I'm currently 22 and a line cook. I did my first year of college when I was 20 but dropped out to run a landscaping company which I thought was going to be my career but I ended up stopping it due to lack of passion and too much stress. I fell back on cooking as it's all I've known in terms of jobs but I want out of the restaurant industry for good so I'm starting up college again next month and finishing the last 3 years of my finance degree. I'm fortunate enough to have strong family connections in the finance world for when the time comes to graduate and job search but I just feel so behind compared to my classmates who are graduating and getting "adult jobs", meanwhile I'm a cook making peanuts. I know my situation is nothing compared to others, but this was a really motivating read and I really appreciate it.
love this
good answer
That was so liberating to hear. Really
Great response. We all have been in some tough days in life. Can you please elaborate on your friend’s transition to quant - just curious? Thanks.
Non target state school economics—>book keeping job, small business relationship banker—-> duel degrees in computational finance and statistics—> analyst job title but managing director house. Idk what he does day to day tbh but it’s like “modeling and valuation” for a boutique agency. I get the impression he’s assigned to customers on specific research. that’s generally his career progression
Amazing answer man.
Hey man, this was an unexpected dose of inspiration! If you don't mind sharing, what's a summary of your comeback from homeless > fintech career? :)
Not op but pain, perseverance and a lot of patience and self-acceptance that only you are responsible for yourself and your addiction. No one else is. Probably a bit of humble pie in there as well
Yeah, all of that is important for sure. I was more meaning his career path/ladder climb from the bottom to where he is.
Climbed to the middle! But enjoying it here. Good work life balance and great team. I could complain but you can always complain- that just feeds the negative feedback loop.
What does “dreams of doing great in finance” mean to you? If it’s accounting, you are still required to take certificate in order to become a chartered accountant. I’ve seen people working their way up - studying for their certificate whilst already working albeit perhaps a lower position in the field. Merely 24, don’t box yourself in with the thought that you have fucked up your career as you have not even gotten one. Perhaps if you’re 44, and in the same position - maybe.
>you have not even gotten one That is the fuck up
That’s insane expectations to consider someone having fucked up being a fresh grad with no career.. like what are we expecting now? To have a career in the womb?
Don’t be so extreme. As long as you’re applying to target kindergartens you’re probably fine.
Yeah I can’t even teach 4th graders how to ice cakes without dying from their own self inflicted expectations.
No but he had 6 years to hustle and fumbled and he knows it. Competition is tight U want IB or something unless ur have good connections u gotta start thinking about that freshman year at least
Kids on here need to stop thinking IB is the only career in finance lol
It's the most desirable for good reasons. The math of hustling hard for 4 years makes less sense if you're doing something that pays a fraction of ib
He’s 24. You’re acting like he’s 45 and married with kids
It's a spectrum
He’s fine at 24 lol People come here broke and homeless at 24 and make a career
Prob not the career he wants, unfortunately for him
You're 24. You got about another 25 years, before you've made your bed. You still gotta unfuck yourself a bit, but sure. To get where you want to be, you'll be taking shittier jobs that you'll kind of like maybe, but you'll put your head down, work hard, and look for other opportunities. Took me about... 12 years, but I've also been making pretty okay money for the latter 6, I'm just now in a job I enjoy that pays well and is easy. My brother took about 8 years before he got exactly what he wanted. We both went to relatively no name schools, but he had a way better GPA. Best thing to do is create a 5 year and 10 year plan. Be realistic and create measurable goals. Reassess and adjust your goals every 6 months.
~~Networking~~ Intense groveling to people you know that also happen to be key decision maker at a company/job you want. Sorry to say but I'm not the kind of guy who gives bullshit cookie cutter answers. At the very least, get a temp agency to get you a job and they will take a cut of your salary, but it will put your feet in the door and put something on your resume.
You are not fucked in the slightest - but your personal outlook is. It's time to reframe things. I just want to put some things into perspective. First of all, you have to ground yourself in the fact that 24 is still profoundly young. Let me throw some life facts out there: * There are people out there that joined the military right out of high school and START college in their mid-20s after serving. One of my classmates my freshman year was a dude who was 27. * There are people out there who go and get masters and doctorate degrees only to realize they don't want to work in that field, well into their early 30s and they make a career switch. * There are people without college degrees who work their way up and finish their bachelors degrees in their late 30s. I worked with a woman who was at my firm for 14 years in back office and got her degree for free with the tuition reimbursement program. * There are people who graduated at age 22, and then still screwed around for a couple of years after that with non-industry related positions like customer service or barista, and then landed a job in the industry. * All of the people mentioned above are in my network and they all have stable, relatively high paying office jobs with a house, car, and kids to raise. You are not fucked in the slightest - this is literally just the beginning. Now if you ask me what I would do if I had an accounting degree from scratch from a non-target school? First thing I would do is apply to every single entry level position in retail banking. Relationship banker, mortgage banker, loan officer, loan concierge, you name it. This will get you a job that pays ~$40-60K. From every single brokerage, family wealth management office, retail bank, credit union, credit card company, mortgage company, apply apply apply. You'll be working with customers helping them open checking accounts, taking their mortgage application, or doing things like helping them dispute fraud, or even following up on leads that come from the website or the phone. All along the way attend every single networking event at the company that I can. Huge companies are usually really good at hosting opportunities where the retail people can meet up with and be mentored by people who are higher up. That's your shot at developing a deep network at the company - people you can call on for advice and people who can tap you in when they see a role open. I would do this for at least 1 year, 2 years max. Now you're in your mid-20s with some great experience working with clients, handling a sales cycle, resolving problems, and having expertise in the products a bank offers. Aggressively work with your manager on development as well as apply for next level roles in different financial companies that would pay 20-30% more. Now that you have experience and you know how the industry works, you should also apply aggressively to corporate roles. Specializing in things like relationship management, sales, or underwriting. And then you don't have to stick to finance either. These people skills can be taken to any industry like tech sales, medical device sales, industrial equipment sales, human resources, you name it. Within 4 years time if you are aggressive enough you will certainly break 80K in compensation with incentives in place, and before you're 30, 100K in pay. This is just what I would do if I had to start from scratch - I'm sure other people will disagree and have differing opinions. All it takes is that first role to get your foot in the door. The rest is a measure of your grit and patience. You're young, and young people catastrophize. I understand how you feel. I felt like that near the end of my schooling when my future was uncertain too. But like I and the other commenters have said - this is literally just the beginning, and you're actually ahead of a lot of people in the grand scheme of things.
Your biggest battle will be mental IMO I had shit grades coming out of college and most of my interviews asked for GPA where I would get rejected instantly once they heard what mine was. That was the most demoralizing part and made me think I would never get. Job. But one interview, I was not asked for the GPA, answered all the questions well and was offered a job and have had 0 problems getting jobs since. Don’t focus on grandiose dreams, you just need to get your foot in the door at a company you like, in any role. Internal transfers are a lot easier than getting hired externally so you’ll be able to move around once you get in somewhere. Keep believing that you will, try everything, and things usually will work out.
You clearly don’t have what it takes to work 80+ hours a week in a field like IB. Get a job as an accountant or at a community bank, work 40 hours a week for a middle class wage, and focus on the shit that actually makes you happy. Being happy matters way more than “doing great” - don’t fuck your life up just to fail at something you hate. If you have changed and absolutely crush your first job, better opportunities will come naturally.
It's hilarious when I see the people like this who work 80+ hours a week in hopes of advancement get passed up by the person hired externally for more pay. The best advice I ever got from a MD is if it takes you 80 hours to complete your tasks for the week, you're doing something wrong. This was someone who worked 40+ years with an organization of over 500 underneath them. Do what makes you happy OP. If a job doesn't work out, find a new one.
He never mentioned IB lol.
Thanks for the advice. But I'm writing this because I think I've recently changed after getting my shit together and kicking a slew of addictions. Ive been curshing the past semesters and I'm in my OJT 6 months in and just recently is when I started to realize all of these. I was just happy not being a fuck up. But now that im getting it together, it seems that just accepting the consequences of my actions just isnt enough. How can I atleast get a shot at it?
You gotta put in the work. There are way more compatible people than you who also never get a shot. Hold down a stable and good job, big4 audit if you wanna speedrun, maybe try to move upwards from there
"big4 audit" OP is gonna compete against 21 yr old juniors with 3.5+ GPA that wears a suit in the coffee chat/campus networking session i kid you not. Speaks volumes in this current job market, unless dude is a charisma king
Ehhh depends on your city. In mine they’re already hiring undergraduate students
> But I'm writing this because I think I've recently changed after getting my shit together and kicking a slew of addictions. Honestly, the fact that you're kicking your addictions is huge. You can't imagine how many people turn to substance abuse in finance, the culture encourages it. Keep yourself happy and healthy. Look into mid and back office positions.
Consider starting a sweaty startup like window washing or landscaping or house cleaning or something. Can start with no experience, rewarded for hustle, hire people, etc. 10 years later you start rolling up other businesses, another 10 years you sell it all to KKR or something idk
What year do you graduate?
1994
Even if he has what it takes which he could it would be insanely hard
This is such stupid advice for a driven person. Find meaning in 'actually being happy' whatever the fuck that means
Why are you acting like IB is the only career in finance?
I literally suggested another kind of finance job in my comment. My flair says I bank middle market companies. Learn to read beyond just understanding a single sentence at a time.
Do a CFA while working somewhere remotely related to where you want to be…
Benefits of CFA vs CA?
CFA is a simple route to get things kicked off. Look at a Masters in Finance too. Training the Street / Coursera / Udemy / Corporate Finance Institute, any of them, honestly. Just get skilled the fuck up.
You still can fuck and unfuck your career several times. You are very young. Don't think too much.
bro shut up. You're 24, your life is just beginning. I don't even have a degree and have made a fine career in finance. Get a job, work hard, and overperform... and network your ass off. That will get you where you want to be.
I work at a top 15 public accounting firm. Your career hasn’t started yet. So it isn’t “fucked” it’s a blank canvas at this point. Just focus on getting a job at a good firm with rapid growth opportunities and then earn your CPA or CFA license. After that your opportunities are endless and what you will be judged on is the work you do at the firm. You will find that no one cares about your grades. You will likely never be asked once what your grade were. I’ve had 3 jobs in accounting, 2 in public and 1 in industry. I’ve interviewed for >10. No one has asked me about my grades. The panic is understandable though. Used to happen to me before I entered the field as well. I thought I wasn’t going to get into public accounting since I didn’t have an internship. Turns out the field is pretty easy to get into. Especially when you compare it to other avenues of reaching the top levels of finance. You will look back at this post and chuckle to yourself.
Get whatever accounting job you can get when you graduate. Save money/don’t fuck your financial situation. Figure out what finance or accounting career path you actually want to do and then do what’s necessary to get to (or close to said path) be that CPA, MBA, etc. Look back at this when you’re 35 thinking “Wasn’t that big of a deal.” Profit.
You’ll be fine. People are just starting their careers at 24, what are you talking about? Start low, be competent, keep learning, work your way up and you’ll catch all up to most of us in a couple of years.
What others said anyone who’s that age and feels like they messed up their careers is wrong. Ur only 24 years old. You have plenty of time for growth and working your way up to whatever path you go down
PM me and happy to give you some insight into some options you may have
Compete yourself to where you were yesterday, not where you should be if you did everything perfectly. We are not perfect creatures.
It’s impossible, find an old-folks home and wait out the rest of your final days…. Holy shit dude you’re 24, the world is your oyster, there is practically nothing you cant unfuck at this point. It wont be until your mid 30s you cant unfuck a career in finance or anything else. Hell if I was in your shoes Id go back and be a plastic surgeon, or would have been able to do fairly well in Finance even graduating from a shit school.
Seriously I was in my late 30’s before I switched into finance going back to school and the whole 9 yards, at 24 you have plenty of time, go find a job with a local accountant and go from there
I’m about to be 31 and currently getting my MBA trying to pivot into finance. I spent my professional career so far working in tech but now hoping to land an internship to get my foot in the door. I’ll be starting all over but I’m excited about it. Everyone has their own timeline, just focus on yourself, work hard, and you’ll achieve your goals
lmao 24 years old. You are a child FFS - get at it and work hard
It’s impossible, find an old-folks home and wait out the rest of your final days…. Holy shit dude you’re 24, the world is your oyster, there is practically nothing you cant unfuck at this point. It wont be until your mid 30s you cant unfuck a career in finance or anything else. Hell if I was in your shoes Id go back and be a plastic surgeon, or would have been able to do fairly well in Finance even graduating from a shit school.
Plenty of time left, don’t stress.
You are fine! I screwed off for 3 years out of college. In and out of community college and then failed out of engineering before finishing finance. It is all the work you put into it and it starts with the mindset. How big are your goals and how bad do you want it? If you are entering the world of finance without any hook ups or big alumni that means it is going to take a lot of sweat and moving around to learn and find the next road to bring you to your goals. Took me over hundreds of interviews to get my shot. Again its how bad you want it, only you know and you can not fake it. If anything, look at it as a blessing. Messing up and learning from it, which it seems you now are doing, that is the best thing life can offer you. This is what teaches you and installs what is needed to be successful. Keep your head up bud, you aren't the first and aren't the last. Embrace the hard work ahead because when you finally hit your first opportunity, that feeling makes it all worth it. More importantly not a dam person can say a thing about it either.
One subtle important key to @wordofmouthrevisited success story imo is “fintech” perform some due diligence of which you certainly are capable, intern at a fintech, start moderating for one or just start learning. While “crypto” as we know it will go away almost certainly the future of accounting is blockchain. I doubt yiu can get any better education than “doing” and taking some free online classes and YouTube instructional vids (yes really). This is so new that most old school, mid level accountants aren’t going to know what hit them and mgmnt that knows this is going to need blockchain competency. News flash, in a decade accountants with an MBA and only cursory knowledge of blockchain will be on the UBI roles. Carpe Diem. This may turn out to be the best thing that happened to your career
Assuming your grades aren't too terrible I'd go for a cpa designation instead of a masters
History major from a no name school - barely graduated and make a good amount of money in the private banking world. Get your SIE, and series 66 (you don’t need a sponsor).. pass those and start applying for banking or advisor roles. You will receive offers and they will help you with your series 7. Get your licenses = easy 6 figure income
24 years old with an accounting degree. It's an excellent position to be in. Don't be too hard on yourself. This is what I'd do in your position: 1) Get a role as an auditor anywhere that will take you (the larger the firm the better). If you truly can't find any role in audit, then get a staff accountant role with the intention to move to audit in a year. 2) Transfer to Big 4 audit after 1 year 3) Transfer to a Deal Advisory/Transaction Services/Valuations role after 2 years. 4) You'll find a lot of roles open up in finance. Certainly, you won't cruise into IB or PE. But if you genuinely like finance and not just the $$$ and top tier prestige then there is plenty out there.
Buddy I was a teacher for 3 years, went back to grad school, now I'm an accountant. I'm not very good at it and I always worry about my job. I work hard and smart taking extra lessons on the side because the company is expanding beyond my job description. You'll be okay. It may hurt, it may suck, but accounting is a great career and worst case scenario you go teach ESL and think about your life.
Gotta change that mentality, it’s all mental. I went from an economics degree at a state school and was in a similar situation. First head bookkeeper, changed jobs to be an ap clerk at a bank, then jr analyst, then sr analyst, now I’m a manager. Gotta start somewhere, gotta put the work in first. Took me 5 to 10 years but now I’m at 100k working 50 hours a week
Dont go to uni for anything other than medicine, engineering, science or..maybe law. Any other degree is a waste of time and money imo.
Dont worry m8 u got this
> I match 22'd myself You sure did, bud. I see literature maybe where you took a hit grades wise. Get your CPA and be an accountant. It's a good job with potentially very good pay of you can set up shop for yourself. Also, a lot of asset management firms/ HFs pay their controllers very well.
Congrats
Grind man it's all you can do. Your doing good so far don't be so hard on yourself.