Career Advice #2

Here is the next installment in our Career Advice series.

On the Second Day of Christmas, my advice to you: Know what you want.

This is the most important -- and most frequently ignored -- advice for those just starting a job search. Forgot about titles, money, or the prestige of different firms. Decide how you want to spend your hours working for the man and then consider what jobs would be appropriate. Last week I had an undergraduate candidate tell me he wanted to be an M&A banker. When asked why, he said he wanted to be close to the stock market and loved working with clients. Thirty seconds after I reminded him that first year analysts are spreadsheet monkeys with no market impact who are deliberately kept away from clients he admitted he really didn't know what he wanted. To be fair, he was talking with me specifically to learn more about different Wall Street roles so this wasn’t a problem. When it's time to step up and make a case for why you should get a specific job, you'd better have conviction about your reasons. The best way to get that conviction is by choosing a job that will provide what you really want.

A friend of mine hates his job. That's not surprising in this business, but I care in his case because I helped hire him in 2004. While he's done great work, the position was never quite right for him, largely because he didn't know exactly what he was looking for. The job changed a little (in the wrong direction) and now he's miserable. The unfortunate part is that another offer he was considering in '04 would have given him more of what he probably wanted even if it wouldn't have been quite so good for his ego. To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat, "If you don't know where you want to get to, at least get out of my way you irritating pack of tourists. Manhattan sidewalks are crowded enough already."