Career Dilemma
happiness or money
“The best measure of your success is your happiness, not how much money you make.”
What the executive leader at my internship said made me think a lot about how many people pursue jobs for money instead of personal fulfillment. His career advice struck me as being spot on. On the surface, what he said sounded like common sense, something that many professionals have told college students like me. Of course you should do what makes you happy! Despite this, I have trouble following this piece of advice, which has resulted in a lot of cognitive dissonance this past month.
A month ago, I received an email from a campus recruiter saying that I got accepted into their company’s Boston office summer series program. The program consisted of five Zoom events to learn more about the company, which specialized in management consulting, and the recruiting process. My reaction was mixed: I was happy that I got selected, but I also felt hesitant about applying. But if I didn’t feel strongly about applying for a full-time job there, then why did I even apply for the company’s insights program?
I applied because all I had to do was submit a resume and take their problem solving game; I didn’t expect anything out of it. When I first got into the program, I thought that I could just attend the events, and decide on whether to apply near the deadline. After attending the online events and talking to my consultant mentor, however, I had a hunch that the program wanted students like me to have a leg up in the recruiting process. As a result, I decided to apply for the company and other consulting firms, adding their deadlines to my calendar.
A year ago, I told myself that I wouldn’t go into consulting. My prediction was wrong. What changed my mind was coming to the realization that consulting might be one of my few options if I want a high-paying job. I still feel reluctant at times about my decision, but I don’t think I can go back.
I have asked myself many times why I am doing this when it feels like I am selling out. My underlying motivations come from the fact that deep down, I want a comfortable life of living in a nice apartment and having financial security. I know that money can’t make up for stress and burnout, common problems in the consulting industry. But it’s so hard to break away from this desire. My mind is simply stubborn.
Sometimes, I think about whether life would turn out fine if I pursued a job based on what I cared about despite the lower pay, like journalism. But after I did some research on how much it costs to live in cities like Boston or New York after graduation, I stopped considering journalism as a career path.
While I may not need a high-paying job to enjoy life, I find it so easy and tempting to use money as a metric for success. If I don’t get a job that pays well, did I make the most out of my MIT education? Sometimes, I wonder if this belief is narrow-minded and judgmental, but I can’t shake off this way of thinking. Perhaps this outlook comes from the pressure of wanting to prove to my parents that my MIT education was a good investment, considering that they are paying for my entire tuition. My parents never explicitly told me that I need to secure a high-paying job after graduation, but I don’t want to disappoint them. Or myself.
I know that this realization sounds depressing, as if I don’t have a lot of career choices. But the concern feels real. I can work in the biotech industry given that I am a Course 6-7, but I would need a PhD to make six figures in biotech. Six years of additional schooling is long, and I honestly don’t know whether I love research enough to do a PhD. Software engineering sounds cool, but 6.101 was a nightmare for me, so I don’t know if that is a viable option. I don’t have the technical skills for quant. I am open to data science because it is more feasible for me, but I haven’t taken enough math and computer science classes. Also, I need more experience.
On the other hand, consulting companies recruit across all majors, regardless of their experience with finance. Case interviews are business problems, but these skills can be developed over time through intensive practice. Not only that, but talking to my consultant mentor who also graduated from MIT and transitioned from research to consulting convinced me to consider consulting as a potential career path.
I still believe that the executive leader’s advice holds, but I have a hard time convincing myself to choose happiness over money as a measure of career satisfaction and success. I see pursuing a high-paying job as a practical and common choice. On the other hand, doing something that I really like requires some idealism and willingness to take risks, traits that I lack.
This is a cynical view to have, as if I have accepted the path of entering the corporate world. Maybe I will finally follow his advice when I enter my quarter-life crisis five to ten years later. But for now, I will continue reading case books and learning business concepts to prepare for the interviews.