<p>Well, I'm pretty sure no one is going to be able to help me much with this one, but I just thought I'd ask. To give a little background, I'm a college sophomore at ASU (here on a national merit scholarship) who has over 100 credits and no idea what I want to do. In high school I always thought I was going to be a doctor, but I'm just not sure I have a passion for it. I'm currently a Classics major, but not sure I have what it takes to be a full-fledged academic. I've considered law, but I think I only consider because I don't know the details of the career. In short, I was wondering if I gave y'all a little background, if you might be able to at least suggest a certain path. I do well in all my classes, never have had to work hard in them, and I'm interested in almost every one (this semester i'm taking O Chem, 2 Latin classes, a history class, Bible as Lit ((its not a joke class, i promise))) I'll be honest, I like going out, I like playing golf, soccer (I was supposed to go to college on a soccer scholarship, but broke my leg senior year)....and I'm going to want to have a comfortable lifestyle. Some concrete stats, my GPA is a 3.94, my SATS were a 1520. I just have no idea of what I actually want to do...is this common? Anyway, if anyone has suggestions, please just let them all fly. I've had this love for sports since i was a kid, so kinda always wanted to do something like be an agent or something, but I've never been crazy about finance/econ classes. Anyway, any responses would be awesome. Thanks....</p>
<p>Have you though about becoming a consultant. Consulting firms hire a wide array of people that come together to form solutions to business problems. Great pay plus a great way to start off a career if you can get hired by the "strategic" consulting firms Bain, BCG, or Mckinsey. You must like to travel though.</p>
<p>you seem to be multi-faceted; maybe a career path in international affairs/relations would work for you; CIA agent?</p>
<p>Both of these seem like pretty interesting ideas. When I hear the term "consulting", it seems incredibly broad. How would one become involved in a company like this, or in the industry in general? I should say I am posting this before going to look at the websites of the companies you posted, so I hope to get a somewhat better foundation than I have now. Any info you could give me would be great, such as what kind of students they look for, etc....</p>
<p>As for something in international relations, I've always been interested, and have really considered work in the state dept and elsewhere, but I'm not really sure why I've never followed through. I've done Latin and Ancient Greek, and from what I know the State Dept does not require any modern language training upon entry into the foreign service, but I feel like the CIA and other agencies do list it as a prereq....is this mostly true?</p>
<p>If you are doing great in Organic Chemistry and to you, it's easy to grasp--then by all means, Investment Banking.</p>
<p>It seems that you need a challenge as well as money. It's admirable to serve the country as well.. but CIA usually accept people with background in 2 contemporary languages. Ibanking will test your stamina, mental aptitude, and everything you have learned thus far. </p>
<p>I took about 3 years of Latin by the way too.</p>
<p>All I ever hear around here is investment banking....hah I sit in on an Econ class this semester because I've never wanted to take one, and it all seems just a bit dry to me...Plus, from what I hear (and i hate to sound like a defeatist) I doubt investment banking firms would be eager to recruit a classics major from a non-target school list ASU....maybe its an inferiority complex....But in truth, I feel like I would be able to perform any number of jobs sufficiently and better than most if given the opportunity....It's just getting my foot in the door that I think I have a hard time with.</p>
<p>You'd be surprised to hear that in the 80's Goldman Sachs chairman Gus Levy I believe--had high school kids come in during lunch to play against him in Bridge. If they won, they became traders. The school's usually the barrier if it's not target, but as long as you have the mental capacity, you can excel in any job.</p>
<p>ASU is that Arizona State University? It's not a bad school but not anything to trump UVA/Colorado State no doubt. As long as you have job experience, you can do ibanking.</p>
<p>Also, many bankers were History, Philosophy, and English majors before law school or business school. And I'm talking about the CEO's and Chairman/Vice Chairpersons.</p>
<p>I am a 40something Energy Professional (Geologist). I wanted to offer some advice, and also a more general comment, which I believe OP in post #6 touched on. This whole "be an I-banker" sort of drives me crazy, since I suspect many of you may not have the talent or aptitude, never mind the opportunity to work as an "I-banker". TO me it is sort of like saying "be an NBA basketball player they make a lot of money"</p>
<p>I have worked in Russia/Middle East/ Alaska/Califonia/Texas. Made good money and had a blast. MAybe eneryg is not for you .. but there are many/many 'businesses ' out there.</p>
<p>First, I will say getting a technical degree will probably be your best entree into a career..... as opposed to classics..</p>
<p>___mor later</p>
<p>So. YOu inidcated you wanted to be comfortable. So you really want to look at industry. It really is a good way to go, you have to look outside of the academia walls to know there is good/meaningful/ work going on..... As a test go to monster.com and type in 'chemist' many many jobs... one example below. While I think latin/classics is interesting and good for life ... you are unlikely to use it DIRECTLY to get a job..... Questions?</p>
<p>Environmental Chemist
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . </p>
<p>Job Description:
We have a position open for a degreed candidate with experience working as a Chemist in the environmental field. In this role, you will work for a stable, long-established environmental consulting firm to perform data analysis and review. Essentially, you will take environmental data and help to translate it into readable form/reports, etc. For additional information, please contact David Schwarzenbek at 858-550-1663 or via email at
A B.S. or M.S. degree and experience working as a Chemist in the environmental field. A B.S. degree in Chemistry or an applicable Life Science is preferred, but non-degreed candidates with experience will be considered. You must have hands-on environmental chemistry experience and previous experience with GC/MS.</p>
<p>There is a link to 9 day in the life for consultants. Not to get your hopes down or anything but any of the "Top tier" consulting companies are VERY VERY selective, especially if you are coming from ASU (no offense). Mckinsey only offers internship for the top 10 B-schools, They actually just added Ross this year, so I have shot for an internship next year</p>