My Career Plan Exploration

Entering business school in a foreign environment is like a whirlwind. My first month out of geographic and psychological comfort-zone has changed my mind about many aspects of life. Before being admitted to Business School, I was determined to continue working in equity research field. However, after taking the Career Leader test, I now plan to start off in Investment Banking and switch to Venture Capital firm.

The most important thing I learned from American class and culture is confidence. Chinese way of parenting and teaching is criticizing you when you make mistakes, while American way is complimenting you when you achieve something. This is the root of my self-doubt. I am too modest about my abilities, and constantly comparing my shortcomings to others’ strongpoints. Since Investment Banking is a prestigious career, I have never dreamed nor thought about entering JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. But by participating more in class, I realized that I didn’t know less than my peers. In fact, I can answer questions better than they do because I have sufficient professional knowledge and fast learning skill. All my American friends and professors are always smiling and telling their life stories because they feel good about themselves. Confidence is the crucial element of American society. If one believes in him/herself and then keep working toward the goal, he/she will eventually achieve it. Seeing what I have overcome and being influenced by American peers, I have stronger confidence now. I will succeed in career starting as an Investment banker.

My top two interests from Career Leader report are quantitative analysis and managing people and teams. The report also states that, ‘Your interests, not your abilities, are your long-term competitive advantage, and they’re the ‘energy’ that powers your career.’ I have made the same mistake for my previous career planning. I planned to continue doing equity research because I had the same kind of internship. However, analyzing huge amount of financial data and writing pages of investment reports will not keep me interested in front of desk. Half of my interest is communicating with people and presenting my ideas. One part of investment bank is maintaining client relationship. Venture capital involves huge amount of effort in speaking and negotiating with entrepreneurs, and influencing them to take your strategic advice. In addition, my motivation from working in a prestigious place with top-tier colleagues also demonstrates my fit with Investment banking. I am aware that workload of Investment banking is surprisingly heavy. Rafael, a second-year who interned and will work full-time in JP Morgan, told me that his interests kept him excited at work and energized from two-hour sleep. This is true for all careers: work is part of life and we need to enjoy it.

Only being interested in work is not enough. Passion together with skills will make job hunting more successful. For example, there are overwhelming applications for Investment Banking, but they are only taking very few candidates. The ‘My Skills’ part of Career Leader Report are useful in assessing my confidence of skill sets and reflecting upon areas I need to work on.

Starting from the highest score, I am significantly more confident in Sociability than others. Communication is a very important skill that American employers expect for. Meanwhile, being in a foreign country doesn’t exhibit my full potential in sociability. English as a second language and being unfamiliar with western society are difficulties I need to