Thursday, December 08, 2005

The rise of the Libran

Gosh! Am I confused!! It is said that one of the greatest weaknesses of a Libran is that he cannot make his mind up very easily when confronted with two or more options. In my case this ranges from the simple ("Should I have tea or coffee?"; "Should I travel by a bus or a taxi?") to the very complex ("Should I date the hot blonde or the sweet babe next door?").

Ok ok, I haven't been as lucky to have the latter debate with myself, but I take it for granted that you've understood the general dilemma that I face at times.

Well, here is one decision that will influence my career.

Should I opt for Marketing or Finance as a major specialisation?

Well, I have a good 3-4 months before I enter my second year, but the decision must be taken now since I must accordingly choose the company for summer placements. I have had numerous lengthy discussions with myself and my peers (I'm just returning from a hour long meeting with a senior regarding this very subject). Most tell me that I should opt for Marketing, because that is what suits my personality. And I must admit that I really like Marketing, but I haven't been particularly excited with what I've seen of Marketing thus far in my MBA course.

Now for Finance. Numbers hasn't been a strong point for me since school. All my mathematical competence seemed to vanish once I entered college. I can bet with my eyes closed that this was just due to neglect of studies, and given due dedication, I can easily do well in this too.

Plus, the Financial Management (FM) class today on market securities and portfolio management REALLY REALLY excited me (when I repeat 'really', and that too in caps, please understand that I, a guy who usually falls asleep in an FM class, was not only wide awake in a securities & exchange class but was also predicting correctly what the prof. was about to say next!!).

Another little thing which is tickling my funnybone is the fact that I just so wanna get into McKinsey, the consultancy major. The problem: McKinsey hasn't come on campus...ever. Although it is expected to come next year, the only major consultancy firm that is expected is Ernst & Young. Plus, consultancy firms usually prefer people with Finance majors.

*Sigh* Am I anywhere closer?

2 comments:

NRS said...

I faced the same dilema a few years ago.Just focus on what you are good at. A wise man once said--have a job you like and you will never have to work a single day of your life.

Shekhar said...

Hey Nani, thanks for the advice. I must say that it surely helped to soothe quite a few nerves that were so excited that they just refused to sit down quietly. I would be walking round and round in circles in my room every 2 minutes wondering what to do.

Thankfully, that phase is over.