thinking

Over the past few weeks, I talked to many banking senior managers. The things they say made me think long and hard about the career choices I am about to take. One thing for sure, I am not going to pursue a career in academics. Academia thrives in the name of integrity which it assumes its members to possess. Unfortunately, peer review as a form of self regulation is not as effective and transparent as one may think. It may well be subjected to peer pressure. So if not academia then what?

IT seems like a solid career, as technology now runs the live of many people. There's always an avenue to use technology, thus generating an persistent demand for technologists. My resume, education and internship experiences have boxed me me. If I were in HR, I would love to hire someone like me for IT as a developer. But do I want to be doing development for the first 6 years of my life? Given the pay, I won't mind. But I would rather do something else.

One of the most engaging conversation I had was actually with director of prime services IT. He told me the evolution of career goes through 3 phrases. The execution phrase, the management phrase and the strategic planning phrase. So does that naturally makes me want to focus on becoming a management consultant? Yes. But. Management consulting is probably a murkier industry than academia.

Here is where I will slip in the practical advice which I had been consistently hearing for the past few weeks. If you are not able to decide on your career now, why not just join the financial services and draw the attractive salary while you decide? If you are just planning to work very hard and put in long hours anyway; regardless of the kind of work you do. Why not join the financial services and draw a better pay than you can get else where? Many people do not enjoy the work they do, so why not draw a high pay while you are at it? Bottom line. As long as you are undecided, you should just join the financial services.

I'm currently still undecided.