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  #1  
Old 11-15-2007, 12:49 AM
pmuir10 pmuir10 is offline
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Default Help me choose a job out of undergrad

Hi all,

I will be graduating from a top 30-40 undergrad business school in May. I am currently considering 3 possible jobs out of college. Some of my life goals I guess are to eventually get my MBA, end up in the Finance field doing venture capital or some other type of risk vs return work and to make a lot of money.

Option 1 Bank of America Credit Management Training Program (half training half on the job work, for 12 months. 40 people chosen for the program nationwide, 3 to my specific office location)
Overview
Offered by the Global Bank Debt organization, the Credit Management Development Program combines training, mentoring and hands-on experience to enhance the analyst's skills and knowledge. The Credit Products business drives our organization to make banking work in ways it never has before.
As an analyst in the Credit Management Development Program, you’ll gain exposure and experience in a variety of areas:
• Analysis of company performance and assessment of ongoing credit worthiness
• Commercial lending credit policies and procedures
• Financial analysis and cash flow models
• Sales and promotional techniques for commercial banking products
• Acclimation to the financial services industry and
Bank of America

Things I like about this position is that the training is general evaluation of companies, and I feel it it is a good starting point for a career in the Financial Services industry. Also as BoA is a huge company there is opportunity to move in other directions such as Risk Management, Treasury Services (investing and maintaining companies capital) or whatever else I find interesting while I'm there. Also the job is 9-5 and theres not a lot of overtime necessary. I received an offer (53k)

Option 2 Portfolio Administrator Bain Capital
This position is doing Operations work for Bain Capital (Boston based private equity and LBO company) It is in their high-yield debt division (Sankaty) and is a back-office position. The tasks will essentially be reconciliations of cash, processing trades, checking for compliance, tracking down missing interest payments. Its a support and accounting type role.

Good things about this position, is it is probably higher paying than BoA, their offices are absolutely amazing with views of all of Boston, good people and its a very prestigious private equity company (for the resume). I think I would like working for a small company (100ish people in this division). Things about this position I'm worried about is that I don't think the work will be as interesting because it seems like a lot of accounting/ fact checking type work. Also theres not much opportunity to move around and although I would love become a trader or actual analyst for them, its near impossible coming from Operations. Salary would probably be like 2-5k more than BoA (and bigger bonuses). I have not received offer yet but have final round interview tomorrow.


Option 3 Accenture Consulting Analyst Systems Integration
This is a technology consulting position, helping companies install new and more effective software to help them improve their business processes. I think it would be interesting, and it is a great consulting company with awesome training. I liked the people I met here the most. However I'm worried about straying to far from the Financial Industry as this job is basically all tech oriented. Also it would require a lot of overtime and long hours as well as a ton of travel. The salary will probably be in between the previous two (have not received offer yet, but I think I will after the final round on Friday)


Overall, I am leaning towards Bank of America partially because that is the only one where I actually have an offer, but also I think it would be an awesome stepping stone into the Financial Services industry. Bain is probably my next choice because I think it would be a sweet place to work and pay well, but I am worried about doing accounting all day and being stuck in the back office. I have final rounds for Bain tomorrow (Thursday) and for Accenture on Friday. However, Bank of America is only giving me a week to decide and needs a decision by Monday Nov 19th. So a lot of this is hypothetical assuming that I get offers from all three over the weekend.

Any advice, thoughts, comments, TLRs or ideas are much appreciated.
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  #2  
Old 11-15-2007, 01:11 AM
beardedwhale beardedwhale is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

It depends on what you mean by "a lot of money". If you want to get rich, you aren't going to do it in commercial banking.

Bain is a great company, but the job you're describing sounds basically like you're back office support staff. You'd want to know what sort of opportunities would be available down the road.

The Accenture job sounds pretty solid, depending on whether you can handle the travel. There are a sh*tload of consultants in MBA programs. That is basically the next step in their career track.
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Old 11-15-2007, 01:45 AM
Terrabon98 Terrabon98 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

I would take a real consulting gig at Accenture over a back office job at Bain Capital any day. I think you will get much more tangible, useful experience. Consulting, even IT/tech consulting, is a great stepping stone into a number of different jobs and industries. It is also a nice feeder into top MBA programs

Front office jobs >>>> back office jobs (at least for the jobs and purposes you outlined)
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  #4  
Old 11-15-2007, 10:43 AM
CrushinFelt CrushinFelt is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

Option 1 would probably have the most promise going forward. It's B of A (extremely solid name for future resume purposes), it's in credit (probably the hottest topic on the planet), and lateral movement (if very possible, and a very good question to ask your interviewer) within B of A would be amazingly valuable.

Option 2 seems like bull [censored] a C average accounting student should be doing. Also, the last thing that should be on your mind is the type of place you'll be working in and where that place is located.

Option 3 is probably not something you want to pursue. It is very beneficial to have IT skills on your resume because anywhere you go you're going to have to learn their systems and people will know your learning curve will not be steep. However, I don't think it serves its true purpose of leading to a solid financial career. Just make friends with your IT guys at whatever finance job you take so you can talk about those experiences in a future interview.
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  #5  
Old 11-15-2007, 11:06 AM
pmuir10 pmuir10 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

[ QUOTE ]
It depends on what you mean by "a lot of money". If you want to get rich, you aren't going to do it in commercial banking.

[/ QUOTE ]

I completely agree. I don't plan on becoming a lifelong commercial banker though.

I'm essentially viewing all of these jobs as a stepping stone to something much more high profile and higher paying in the finance industry such as venture capital work. Which would come after I hopefully get my MBA from a highly regarded B-school.
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  #6  
Old 11-15-2007, 11:10 AM
pmuir10 pmuir10 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

[ QUOTE ]
The Accenture job sounds pretty solid, depending on whether you can handle the travel. There are a sh*tload of consultants in MBA programs. That is basically the next step in their career track.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do think that I can handle the travel, even though I won't be compensated that much more for it.

I know its a great position and a solid track into a good MBA program, but I'm worried because it really is very tech oriented. I feel that having it as my pre MBA experience won't be helpful to me getting a good finance job after my MBA. I'm just concerned about straying from the financial industry. I mean what kind of exit opportunities are there from Accenture? More consulting? at some point I would need to stop traveling and settle down somewhere and have a family and all that.
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  #7  
Old 11-15-2007, 11:27 AM
mak15 mak15 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

fwiw, upon quick glance i think the accenture job is the "best" job and i also think it will pay at least 60k plus 5k relocation bonus (don't most consulting jobs pay 60+signing/relocation+end of year bonus?). but if you don't like IT stuff you probably won't get the job and shouldn't take it anyway. so i guess take boa, i'd keep looking a little though assuming your boa offer isn't due until december (i think that's when those types of offers generally expire, right?).

i did a million interviews for various finance jobs if you have any other questions. i have one interview left in trading and my favorite offer so far is trading, so that's what i ended up deciding on.
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Old 11-15-2007, 12:16 PM
pmuir10 pmuir10 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

I would probably agree with you that the Accenture position is the "best" out of the three. I think I will get it because its more of a problem-solving requirement than an IT requirement, but once you get in they teach and guide you into the technology of it.

I am just worried about getting pigeon holed into the technology consulting industry and away from finance. Its not that I don't like tech, it does interest me, but I would like to be doing finance down the road.

The other problem with all of it is the BOA offer expires this Monday Nov. 19th. This is because if I don't take it they want to fill the spot with someone else to get exactly 3 into the office. Also, I don't have any opportunities in trading or anything similar that will be available to me anytime soon. No good companies are recruiting at my school anymore and I don't have any solid contacts really. But I could maybe move laterally in BOA into perhaps trading or something similar.
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  #9  
Old 11-15-2007, 12:20 PM
pmuir10 pmuir10 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

[ QUOTE ]
IT/tech consulting, is a great stepping stone into a number of different jobs and industries.

[/ QUOTE ]

could you elaborate a bit more on this?

All: Thanks for the advice and thoughts so far, they are much appreciated.
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  #10  
Old 11-15-2007, 01:11 PM
Terrabon98 Terrabon98 is offline
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Default Re: Help me choose a job out of undergrad

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IT/tech consulting, is a great stepping stone into a number of different jobs and industries.

[/ QUOTE ]

could you elaborate a bit more on this?

All: Thanks for the advice and thoughts so far, they are much appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]


Consulting generally allows for a very broad career path. You make many connections with the clients you work for, you get exposure to a number of different industries, and you build a huge network of contacts.

I have friends who worked at Accenture, and while you certainly hone your technical skills, there are many opportunities to expand outside of the IT world once you leave. It's also a nice option to have that techie background, because regardless of what you do, it's never a skill set that people will look down on you for having. In fact, if you do enter an industry post-consulting, your background could be a great differentiating factor amongst your peers

Additionally, consulting also offers you the opportunity to go back for an MBA quite easily. Since many consultants spend a few years in the field and then head back to the classroom, schools recruit heavily at top consulting firms.

I am currently doing management consulting, so if you do have any questions for me, shoot me a PM and i'll be happy to answer
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