An Accountant, Consultant, I-Banker, and Entrepreneur walk into a bar…
Photo by Lucia Holme
When we were working on FD World, it seemed like everyone and their mom was building a virtual world. When we were building FD Career, it seemed like everyone and their mom was building a career development website (Nkd Guru and Razume). Now that I’m focused on blogging and entrepreneurship, it seems like everyone I meet has a blog as well.
So what does this mean? It means that when you immerse yourself into an industry, you instantly surround yourself with a group of people who have similar goals. Therefore, it is very easy to forget that the rest of the world is doing something completely different, oblivious to the fact that virtual worlds or blogs exist.
Today was a good wake-up call for me.
I presented at the DSP professional night along with 3 other panelists: Kristin Ige (Management Consultant), Ken Huang (Investment Banker), and Lawrence Chu (Accountant).
I have been preaching on and on about entrepreneurship, social media, and personal branding. I have been talking to people about how the corporate world blows and that sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day is the equivalent of sticking a needle in my eye. Many of you share my idea that the Y Generation doesn’t have to do grunt work anymore, that we can utilize the social media tools to elevate our personal brands and achieve careers that are fulfilling and challenging.
blah, blah, blah….
Social Media rocks for Entrepreneurship and other social media positions; it still won’t get you a job in accounting, consulting, or i-banking
There is so much hype about finding jobs on Twitter and through blogging. Well you know what, the majority of the positions you’re going to find through that are just other social media or Web 2.0 positions! Everyday a new recruiter or personal branding expert is talking about needing to use Twitter and blogs to build your personal brand to get a job this 2009. It’s the best way to secure a solid career!
I’ll tell you this, Bain is not going to hire you because you use Twitter; Barkleys Capital is not going to hire you because you have a blog; PWC is not going to hire you because you use Facebook strategically.
My friends love the grunt work
During our speaker panel, my friend just came out and said it: “We do the bottom of the bottom work. We slave over powerpoints and excel sheets and then give it to our managers so that they can present it to the clients and take all the credit. But you know what, in 2 years, I’ll be able to do the same to the entry level class.”
This statement goes against everything that I believe in. Gen Y doesn’t have to do Grunt work. We’re so powerful! But to the Investment Banker, the sacrifice of 100-hour work weeks is worth the prestige, challenges, and money that come with the job. To the Accountant, the stability of a secure job is worth the sacrifice of the cubicle and boring mundane job.
There is no “Perfect” career
I learned today that I-banking is no better than accounting; consulting is no better than entrepreneurship. It’s really all about being happy with the career that you are in. I honestly thought that every accountant hated their job, and along comes Lawrence who loves External Audit.
The moral of this story is obvious and everyone preaches it - do something you love for a living. Gosh, such generic advice. Sorry for that.
So should I write a “How to” on finding out what you love to do? Should I give you the good old advice that every other blog tells you to do:
- Start a blog and share your ideas
- Take on different internships in various industries
- Read books and blogs to learn about the careers of others
- I can go on and on…
People will read this advice, nod their head, and go back to doing the same thing they’re doing. I feel that behavior is extremely hard to change because it is engrained into your personality. You can tell a person 1,000 times to work part-time on their dream startup from 7pm - 2am when they get home from work, but unless the motivation comes from within, they’re never going to do it. Or maybe they’ll do it for a week and then lose the drive.
I love what I do
I love my company, my teammates, and all of the people that I have met as an entrepreneur. If you love what you do, please give a shout out in the comment section and tell us what your profession is as well. If you do NOT love what you do, give us a shout out in the comments section so that we can help you get to your dream career.
Trust me, my friends and I will do everything in our power to help you achieve your life goals!
That was almost spiritual! Enjoyed this post Jun
I love what I do. I hate the sacrifices but look forward to the outcomes.
I think the secret to happiness is not to do what you love, but to love what you do, whatever it is. Some people are happy whatever they do and do it with great enthusiasm. Also, sometimes they wanted to do A but ended up with B. Instead of moping with B, might as well enjoy B.
Life is good if you think of it as good. Believe in Woo-gwae.
I love my teammates too, but one always calls me a loser
Yu-kai Chou’s last blog post..The Crunchies 2008: Not that Great. Myspace Afterparty = Awesome. (Part 1)
Hey Dave, great seeing you yesterday. You were one of my inspirations to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
I definitely look forward to the outcomes as well. The road gets lonely, but I feel that you, Yu-kai, and I can be the three amigos that support each other on the road to success.
Hit me up the next time you’re in SoCal!
- Jun
Jun Loayza’s last blog post..Future Delivery TV: Episode 20 - How to be an online Vlogging start w/ Casey Mckinnon
Yu-kai, tell me who’s making fun of you and I’ll beat him up. I might have to beat up myself huh? hahahah….
The difference between doing what you love and loving what you do… hmmm, that sounds like an amazing blog post. I think I will write it soon.
You and Dave were the sources of my inspiration to become an entrepreneur.
Much Love
Jun - thanks for your comment and reference to this post. Always good to meet other entrepreneurs. Keep up the good work!
Kevin’s last blog post..Top 10 cover letter tips for management consulting applications
Hi Jun, good article. I do think any form of personal branding could go a long way in helping someone getting their first job out of college.
I can’t speak for i-banks because I never applied to any. But consulting/accounting firms (at least the ones I interviewed at) just want to know that you’re interesting, clever and do useful things with your time. A good blog could set you miles apart from every other joe looking for work.
Nice article pic - bankers, accountants and consultants sure are looking fashionable these days
Hey Jeff, I will agree that blogs are a plus, but they definitely aren’t something that is required. A blog won’t save subpar grades or no previous internships. A person with a 3.7 gpa will get the interview, while the person with a 3.3 gpa and a blog will not.
They are starting to dress nice nowadays, huh? hahaha
Jun Loayza’s last blog post..Future Delivery TV: Episode 20 - How to be an online Vlogging Star w/ Casey Mckinnon
Hey Jun!
Really weird but I was reading an article on a consulting website when I saw a link to this article. Small world. Nice thoughts. = )
Hey Danielle, tis a very tiny world out there. I share as much knowledge that my little brain can handle. If you ever need any advice about consulting, you know who to reach out to.
- Jun
Jun Loayza’s last blog post..Future Delivery TV: Episode 20 - How to be an online Vlogging Star w/ Casey Mckinnon
Hello webmaster
I would like to share with you a link to your site
write me here preonrelt@mail.ru
Were did you find these informations?
Hey Jun Loayza, thanks for sharing the information.
I been working as a electronics, mechanical engineering consultant in Indian aerospace and defense sector for 2.5 years. I dont really do deals, or selling as i been reading what a typical mba consultant does, but more of core responsibilities like performing the analysis on the aerospace, defense products, equipment, gathering data and creating reports which will be used by the designer to improve the product.
I am planning on taking up mba “to get more pay and better position”.
I have clearly no idea of how the consulting thing works in big companies as i have been reading everywhere like Bain, Boston Consultancy, Mckensey are big in consulting. But clearly dont have an idea of the inner workings.
But i travel a lot, 80% of the work is at client site for like 2 weeks or sometimes if its a really large project.
I also worked on software for data management, creating client websites using Oracle, asp.net for almost 1 year after doing my Masters.
I have been reading that in IB you need to do quite a lot of 100hr/week work, which really i believe i am not cut out for it as i get fed up sitting at the same place for so much time. But it pays a lot of money.
I feel consulting is better compared to it as it involves movement, not a stagnant job, you get to travel to places, meet people, even though as a consultant you might be forgotten quite soon.
But it pays less comparatively.
I dont really want to work in a software industry i.e. in a hi tech/internet company.
I am only aware that in mba or even after you complete it you have 2 main option everybody opts Investment Banking, Consulting.
Your absolutely right, we cannot know what our future holds but making a planned decision is better than none.
So i was hoping, if you could be kind enough to let me know what are the addition fields that we can opt while studying mba or after compelting mba.
It would also be great if you could probably put this information in your blog so that many people, who come across and read your blog would get valuable insight.
I found your blog through http://www.managementconsulted.com
Thanks and carry on with your good work.
LA GK.
Thanks for the reply.
Just posting it here so that others can also get the answer if they have similar question.
Possible career choices that you can look into after an MBA:
1. Venture Capital
2. Private Equity
3. Brand Management
4. Project Management at an Engineering firm
Management Consulting is a great career path. Bain, McKinsey, and BCG are very prestigious; at the same time, they are very competitive and difficult to enter.
I-Banking pays a lot of money, but they’ll work you into the ground. After banking though, you can pretty much go anywhere.
Good luck!
u are the man