Summary: I graduated with a bachelor's degree in China and a master's degree in the United States. I work as an programmer and associate in an American investment bank. How to plan for the next career development? Listen to Teacher Wei in detail.
Today I would like to share with you a career planning case analysis of a friend. He told me:
"I am 33 years old, an unmarried single male, a bachelor's degree from a 211 university in China, a master's degree from a top 50 university in the eastern United States, majoring in computer science.
Currently Working as a programmer in an investment bank in a large city in the eastern United States, the annual salary before tax is about 300,000 US dollars. This job is relatively stable, working from 9 to 5, but the room for improvement is not very big.
is a bit similar. Domestic civil servants are certainly not guaranteed for life, but they are relatively stable compared to many domestic Internet companies that are suddenly getting rich or laying off employees.
I thought about it myself and made three preparations:
1. In the past year, I started a small technology company with my friends, and it currently has less than 10 people. It is still in its infancy, and is still far from being profitable. Fortunately, the other founder and I are more diligent, and after more than half a year, we have a product. I have already started working on my project, and I have some potential customers. I just don’t know what the subsequent financing and development will look like. After all, starting a business is a near-death experience.
2. I applied for EMBA (Executive Master of Business Administration, Executive Master of Business Administration) from several prestigious schools. ), the main purposes are as follows:
Firstly, I want to improve my knowledge reserve, because after all, I am currently working in an investment bank. In the future, even if I do not work in a pure business position such as a fund manager, I can also do quantification and other Fintech position;
Secondly, it is to improve leadership and broaden contacts. This may seem a bit unreal, but the circle in this city is not large. I think it will be beneficial to me to work full-time or start a business;
Thirdly, it is me. I also try my best to fulfill my dream of going to a world-famous university, and I want to complete this dream while I still have time and ability. I have no choice but to choose the cheapest public school . Now I finally have a chance to realize my dream.
3. I have also been receiving interview opportunities from other financial and technology companies, and they all earn more than I do now. I can probably get there. It’s about 500,000 before tax, but I’m definitely busier than now.
I think in terms of personal career development, people’s pursuits are essentially the same, either to go to a high position in a large company, or to start a new business on their own.
My first question is now. I am a little hesitant to study. Although the EMBA is taught in my spare time, I can still continue to work and even continue to pursue my entrepreneurial attempts, but after all, the costs are not low, and my family background is very ordinary, so I will spend all my money on studying after that. It’s all the hard-earned money I’ve earned over the past few years, and it will take me most of my weekends for three years.
The second question is that considering my age and future development, if I can only choose two of these three options, I would prefer 1 and 2. I don’t know which one is more worth my time. ”
Today, I will take the opportunity to reply to this friend to share with you some of my opinions and ideas for the reference of other friends in similar situations.
Let me start with the conclusion: I still recommend you to keep your current job. Move on, start a business seriously, and build your own small technology company. I don’t recommend you to spend high tuition to study EMBA, let alone switch to other companies.
First, you need to understand the ultimate purpose and meaning of education. Think clearly.
In fact, the answers to your ultimate doubts were already given in my serial videos last year (August 6, 7, and 8) (you can search for "deep thinking" on my homepage "You can see), the transcripts of these three videos are actually a long answer I gave on Zhihu (June 23, 2021, titled: I don’t know the purpose and meaning of education, but I accept it What is the meaning of education?). The main content is an in-depth analysis of the ultimate meaning of education. I suggest you read it carefully.
Because the ultimate goal of receiving education (or learning) is actually to live better in society, and work is for life, not life for work. This is not an excuse for laziness, but a calm state of mind that must be maintained in the contemporary materialistic social environment.
If it is just to fulfill the dream of a prestigious university, I think the price is a bit too high. After all, you have said it yourself, if you continue to study, you will spend a lot of your hard-earned money.
The purpose of education is to work, and the purpose of work is to live. There are many ways and channels to obtain education, and it does not necessarily have to be through attending a prestigious school.
Second, don’t change your existing job easily. Since it is relatively stable, continue to work hard.
If your current job is indeed stable in the short term (for example, within 10 years), then don't change jobs easily. There is an old saying that goes well: "It is better to stay in one place than to walk in one place." There is a certain truth to it.
You must believe that gains and losses are conserved at any time. Not only are the quality and energy of nature conserved, but so are the gains and losses of people in their lives.
When you change a job, you have to adapt to a new environment and a new circle of people. Maybe your current salary will be higher, but at the same time you will also lose a lot, such as time, energy, previous contacts, etc. . Because there is never such a thing as pie in the sky. The extra hundreds of thousands in annual salary will definitely not be given to you in vain, and you will definitely pay more for it.
I also have several classmates or friends in the United States, so I still know some things about the United States. You get 300,000 yuan before tax, which means you get about 200,000 yuan after tax, which is equivalent to the income of a small middle class. With this income, you can already live a good life in your city, as long as you don't live in a particularly prosperous area with very expensive rent. Because I know that rents in your city have skyrocketed a lot this year.
The U.S. economy is not optimistic now, so I suggest that you maintain the strategy of making progress while maintaining stability during the economic downturn, which is more reliable. Even if you start a business, you must clearly understand the situation and stop losses in time. If you don't have a good opportunity, don't hold on.
Third, it is not easy for first-generation immigrants to take root in the United States.
Although the United States is an open country for immigrants, and you may get better job opportunities by studying an EMBA from a prestigious school, you are still the first generation of immigrants working hard in the United States and do not have a lot of material wealth or connections. These accumulations often take several generations to complete. This principle is common to any country in the world.
Many good jobs in the United States also require referrals from acquaintances. I know this. Since you are a first-generation immigrant, no matter how highly educated you are, you can only work in some non-core positions in large companies and earn some hard money.
In the future society, social interactions between people will be value-based social interactions. Depending on your personal situation, it is unrealistic to rely on your education from a prestigious school to obtain higher-value connections. Especially in a capitalist country like the United States, people pay more attention to the value exchange type of social interaction in a realistic sense.
You must know that new money is a lower class than old money. I think you should know this truth. You are obviously just new money. I don't mean to look down on you, I just want to tell you some realities and don't want you to be too idealistic and be particularly disappointed in the future.
(Explanation of terms:
new money: generally refers to the money earned by the hard work of the first generation. It implies that the original family background is average, and the previous generation did not have much accumulation of material wealth.
old money: generally refers to the inherited wealth. implies The native family background is superior, and the previous generation or generations have accumulated more material wealth)
Therefore, I ultimately recommend that you keep your current job, give up the EMBA from a prestigious school, and make good use of your spare time in the process of starting a business. , reflect and make progress through work practice, and further improve personal comprehensive abilities.
Because, learning itself has nothing to do with going to school or reading. The mechanism behind learning is just reflection. I also explained the principle of in depth in the two issues on February 17th and 18th this year (you can see it by searching for "it doesn't matter much" on my homepage). I suggest you try to rewatch it and reflect on it.
Even if you don’t have to go to university to study full-time, not to mention the high cost, the time cost of studying EMBA is also very high, which is actually not very cost-effective.
Moreover, your energy is limited. It may be difficult to balance work, entrepreneurship and further study at the same time. In fact, in work practice, it is the most efficient way to reflect and learn in a targeted manner according to the needs of the work.
OK, today’s content is shared with you here. If you have any other questions, please feel free to interact with me. Your collection, likes, forwarding and following are my greatest support. I am Teacher Wei, see you next time.
