When I Grow Up

My 3-year-old niece has a doll that, when you push a certain button, sings "When I grow up, I know what I want to be.  A firefighter - that's me!"  After much consultation with a variety of mentors, friends, and family, I have finally confirmed that someone forgot to install my career button properly before they sent me out into the world - sigh.  But the good news is that somebody invented business school a long time ago to help people like me figure it all out.  Or at least get started.

Getting started, for me, meant an internship this summer with Deutsche Bank Global Markets in London.  It's a rotational program - ideal for anyone trying to learn more about the sales & trading business.  I spent four weeks on an exotic equity options desk and four weeks on an emerging markets illiquid assets desk.  Add to that six speakers from DB's executive committee, three product area trainings, a couple of lunches with other groups, a sailing trip, go-karting night, and several dinners/cocktail hours later, and I managed to come away from the experience with a pretty good understanding of who does what and why at a global investment bank.  Not too shabby.

Now, I'm just faced with the task of finding the niche that would make the most sense for me.  I think of myself as a quantitative person and rely on math and economics to make sense of the world, but I realized this summer that math isn't exactly going to get me out of bed every day.  On the other hand, I know that what motivates me is the client service aspect of what I'm doing, but I don't want to feel tied to my phone line all day just to manage relationships for the bank.

Got any suggestions?  Please post a comment - I'll take all the advice I can get!

Comments

[Nafeesa]

I love the way you started this with the career button, lol. I feel the same way sometimes. I come from a family where I am the only one with a career and college degree so I looked to tv to figure out my future career. I didn't realize the options I had, or realized that there were people behind it all who ran the operations which was more impressived to me as I started my career in fashion design.

I currently took a position as a brand manager with in fashion and I enjoy every bit of it but I am lacking certain skills which I am going to need to succeed in this field such as finance, quantitative, and general managment skills.

I am sorry I do not have any suggestion for your future path, but would you consider something outside of banking but still dealing with numbers? Are you looking for something more laid back and flexible?