<p>I'm really having trouble deciding what I want to do after I graduate. Right now I'm at Purdue University going for my M.S.F. I earned my B.S. in Economics in 2007 from Purdue as well. I applied for the MSF program after I was laid off from my job as a claims adjuster last January, and somehow got in. </p>
<p>Why did I choose to do graduate work in finance? Well, I started following the markets and economy in general during college (and subsequently began to invest when I actually had some money after school haha). Anyway, began reading websites and watching CNBC just about every day, just for the fun of it mostly. I just liked seeing how all the different mechanisms of the economy and market worked together, and liked to try to predict what it was going to do based on different ideas. I really became involved when crude began its run 2-3 years ago. I've always been interested in the potential effects of peak oil and the 'energy crunch' on the economy, and human society at large. Then, of course, when everything went crazy at this time last year I was watching 3-4 hours of CNBC per day. It was better drama than anything else on TV!</p>
<p>So anyway, long story short, I ended up back at Purdue. I had no idea what I wanted to DO with my MSF, just that I like stuff that involves economics and finance and going for this degree would make more sense than just living w/ my brother in a small apartment living off of unemployment haha</p>
<p>Well after a couple of months (we started July 20th), I've figured out a few things. First, I'm not that bad at all this. I only got in like the 55th percentile on my GMAT Quant score so I was worried that my quantitative skills were lacking compared to my classmates. However, they're average or even slightly better than theirs (Purdue is known for its quant. and 70% of my MSF classmates are from Taiwan/China...they know their quant. trust me). I'm not getting straight As, but I'm looking at a 3.3 - 3.5 GPA with a third of the credit hours completed (finals are the second week of October, a lot depends on that haha). Second, I STILL really don't know what I want to do and I'm worried about it. There are parts of finance I really like and parts that are kinda boring and tedious in my mind. If I can't figure out what jobs match with what I like and what I'm good at, I might get stuck in one I hate. I'm just gonna list some things about what I like/don't like/etc.:</p>
<p>I know I hate accounting. I think it's boring and tedious. I understand you have to know how to come up with the numbers so that you can understand what they mean and how to use them, but the last thing I want to be is an accountant. I want to USE the numbers not punch em. I also understand that as entry-level, you gotta put in your work and do the tedious number crunching and stuff. That's OK for the short-term, but I dunno if I'd want to do that for more than 3-5 years.</p>
<p>I'm not a huge fan of Net Present Value. Of course it's important and I do like using NPV/etc. in analysis of certain things, but if my job ever has to do with maximizing NPV ad nausem I think it'd be kinda boring too. </p>
<p>I don't like working 70 hours a week. I never have, but I know I'd hate it. I worked in a high-stress job for 40-50 hours a week for 2 years, and that's about as far as I'll go. If I gotta stay late a couple nights a week or come in on a Saturday once a month for a few hours, that's cool. I'll work the 9-5, plus more if necessary, but I don't wanna be working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (or worse). I'm 24 and single...I wanna have some time to go out and have fun...find a wife or somethin haha you know, not be in the office all day every day. I know that won't make me millions on Wall Street or something, but I don't care haha</p>
<p>I do like economics. I didn't really want to go the research or academic route, so I didn't ever consider a Master's in Economics. However, I really think that Finance and Economics can complement each other greatly in the right setting. I don't know what setting that is really though. Government?? </p>
<p>I do like all things stock market, but I'm pretty inexperienced. My options class is really cool, and we FINALLY get into portfolio management in Mid-October. Still, I don't know if I'd be good at this or not because I haven't really done too much of it. Options seems pretty natural to me so far, Black-Scholes aint nothin haha but still, I dunno. This is pretty much what brought me to the MSF program. However, since I'm stuck in the Midwest, pretty much all recruiters around here are for Corporate Finance, with a little bit of Commercial Banking. Also, the problem with this is A) The recession just destroyed this industry, so how am I to compete with all the people who just got laid off and have tons of experience at hedge funds, etc. etc.? and B) Is my only option New York City? Never been there...not sure if I'd like it or not, I've heard mixed opinions and I'm kinda a country boy haha</p>
<p>I guess long story short, I like politics/stock market/economy and how they all interact, I'm decent at quant but certainly not a financial engineer, I work hard and don't mind high-stress but won't work more than 50 hours a week, and I'll relocate almost anywhere but I'm not 100% sure about New York. Oh yea, I also love to write and think I'm pretty good at it. Don't take what I've written here as evidence though, I didn't really try haha My dream job would be to be the next Jim Cramer or write for the Wall Street Journal...but those are pipe dreams haha ANYWAY THANKS A LOT :)</p>
Anyone?</p>