Switching Careers
I keep thinking about whether to switch from Technology to Finance when I go to b-school. On the one hand, I think I would enjoy leaving the technology arena, while entering a field that would let me leverage my technology experience. At the same time, it's somewhat intimidating to think about practicing in a field that I know so comparatively little about. I'm reading a bunch of books (hedge fund stuff, trading, 'My Life as a Quant' even though I don't want to do quant analysis. etc) in the hope that I can gradually get more up to speed.
On the other hand, I know that I could be successful if I simply kept climbing the corporate ladder in technology. I feel confident that by the time I'm in my forties or fifties, I could reach the executive level of a major technology corporation. But would I feel successful if I did so? Despite the number of times we've all heard the advice to 'do what you enjoy', what I fundamentally enjoy is not software, but the feeling of winning and the pride that comes from successfully achieving something difficult -- both of which I happen to get from developing software and from managing other developers. Would I get that same enjoyment out of a financial career? It's difficult for me to speculate.
But if I don't want to switch careers, why invest in business school at all? With a combined direct cost plus oppotunity cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's an expensive investment. It's certainly possible that I simply want the prestige of having an MBA, and my idea of switching to finance is just a post-hoc rationalization.
Accurate introspection is difficult.
On the other hand, I know that I could be successful if I simply kept climbing the corporate ladder in technology. I feel confident that by the time I'm in my forties or fifties, I could reach the executive level of a major technology corporation. But would I feel successful if I did so? Despite the number of times we've all heard the advice to 'do what you enjoy', what I fundamentally enjoy is not software, but the feeling of winning and the pride that comes from successfully achieving something difficult -- both of which I happen to get from developing software and from managing other developers. Would I get that same enjoyment out of a financial career? It's difficult for me to speculate.
But if I don't want to switch careers, why invest in business school at all? With a combined direct cost plus oppotunity cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's an expensive investment. It's certainly possible that I simply want the prestige of having an MBA, and my idea of switching to finance is just a post-hoc rationalization.
Accurate introspection is difficult.
posted by Thomas at 6:56 PM
4 Comments:
Many people do an MBA and keep the technology track. The reason for that is that the higher you get, more business you will talk and less tech.
Anyway, I am afraid only 1% go to technology after the MBA.
You don't really have to make that decision yet. Wait until you take a few Finance classes in school and then figure it out. Parts of Finance are intertwined in all aspects of executive/managerial positions but a pure Finance role is often too numbers driven without much business operations feel to it.
have you given a thought on why you want to pursue finance, why finance appeals to you? What exactly in finance appeals to you?
I sort of understand where you are coming from. While I enjoy "figuring things out," I'm not sure if this means I really belong in technology either... I'm also not sure how it may appear to adcom to be a career switcher...does that appear inconsistent to them I wonder?
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