Career advice (recent graduate)

[Volov]

Hi all,

I'd like advice, but first, a little (lot of, really) background:

I'm graduating halfway through the academic year (for Australia). I'm doing this because I've spent half my degree overseas studying in the US and Europe on exchanges. I took six months off in the middle to work (embedded systems programmer internship & construction labour) in order to synchronize myself to the northern hemisphere academic year. For my last year of studies, I worked in computer tech support, and I'm pretty sharp at LAMP stuff.

My GPA is high enough that I wouldn't have trouble getting into post-grad programs, but not so high that they're sending me personalized invitations. "Good enough", basically. I don't enjoy university much at all, and very much prefer to be achieving something practical while learning. I have reasonably fluent French, English, and elementary Mandarin. I majored in electrical engineering, and took entry level business courses for some electives.

Since before I started my degree 4.5 years ago, I knew that I didn't want to spend too long working in a technical field. I love programming and designing gadgets as a hobby, but not a profession. I'm not detail-oriented, but love big-picture thinking and strategy. I'm a Meyer-Briggs INTJ, and I've wanted my own business since mid-teens. As a fresh grad, I'm tragically unexperienced in real-world project management & business. I want to file for a patent soon, but realistically, patent + own business probably isn't the best thing for me right now if I want to make it a large success.

So my question: I have the idea & I have the motivation. Hell, thanks to generous scholarships, I'm even lucky enough to be able to put a decent bit of the required capital. What's going to be the best way forward from here?


My thoughts:

I've been thinking about interviewing at strategy consulting firms such as Bain, BCG, LEK etc, however that won't offer any engineering education. On the other hand, a purely technical grad program isn't going to give me the business education I'm after. Certain firms' grad programs must be excellent at giving their employees a great education in both - but which ones? Can anyone name some names?

As far as time frame goes, I want to have gained the education and done enough work on the side to be out on my own venture selling within 3 years, and have given the firm something of value during that time too.

I realise that all the above may come across as a little pushy/impatient compared to a "technical work when you're young, move in to management at middle age, and make partner at 55" timeline. But then, I don't want to prolong my goals longer than necessary. For the sake of brevity, the attitude is coming off very blunt; I hope it doesn't offend.

Once again: Which firms offer the fastest, best education that would suit my end?

 

[cry22]

Remember,
Employers look for individulas who will bring contributions to their firms, they are not in business for for peoples' carreer advancement.

You may want to tailor your search to that end, then things will fall into place.

 

[tickle]

Have you considered getting a job as a graduate and then undertaking a part time MBA?

I think that these courses (and some diplomas) require marketing project work. Try enterprise workshop as a shortcut way (

http://www.enterpriseworkshop.com.au)-

i note that the Sydney one has an open day on June 18th.

 

[Volov]

cry - as I said, I realise that the post comes across demanding. The point I was trying to make is that instead of high salary or other benefits, I want the employer to bring education to the table.

tickle - I've considered an MBA, yes, but I'm really keen on avoiding more universities at the moment. If I can gain the same sort of practical end another way, I'd like to avoid it. In that regard, that enterpriseworkshop link looks very promising from Google's cache. Unfortunately, the server isn't responding, so it's making navigation hard. How did you learn about it?

 

[jeffcivil2]

It's really great how you respect yourself enough to make sure you pick the right firm and do what you enjoy.

Some people have different ways of defining education. I personally didn't start my education or have any real teachers who cared until I left college. Be very weary of who you'll be working under. I made the mistake of taking my first job and was working under a couple of 30 something year olds who thought they knew it all. Things didn't work out (thankfully), and now I'm working under a 65 year old and now my past problems are just laughable memories.

This may not be the right career for you, I know it's not for me. I would prefer to be doing more artistic work where personality is rewarded, not punished like it seems to be in civil engineering.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I would add that high self confidence at your age tends to be seen as a negative in engineering* and a positive in business. So you might want to think about whether a compnay such as Bain (just an example) might be more receptive to your personal goals.

*I'm not saying it's right or wrong, not calling you arrogant, just describing a trend I see in the industry.

 

[ischgl99]

You will probably get the best education on the business/commerical end if you go into sales. You will get to see how the business world works and also get some technical exposure if you pick the right company, not to mention many contacts that could be useful later since you mention you want to start your own company. Some sales positions are treated like mushrooms, they want their sales people ignorant to some degree so that they can oversell, but other companies require a strong technical aptitude to be able to assist with the applications and engineering end. Applications engineering would give you more of the technical end, but also some sales experience since you will probably be the tehcnical expert dragged along on the sales calls to answer the customers questions the sales reps can't answer. Applications engineering is also a path into sales or product management at many companies.

If you take a technical position, even at many consulting companies, you might not get into the business end for some time, if ever, without changing companies. I would suggest interviewing at several different companies in different areas and talk with employees who have been there for some time to get an idea of what the advancement opportunities are without having to ask the hiring manager. The last thing a hiring manager wants to hear is you are using this as a springboard to a different position. We all like to think you will be ours until we move on to something different or retire

 

[JSFSWISS]

Maybe you should make a 3-5 yr plan for yourself. I know that's a long time but it gives you these years to get the business/sales/ and technical experience you need for your goals in the future.

I worked full time during the day and went to school full time at night for 5 years so I know anything is possible. Just have faith and be patient.

You can also look for a job that will pay for you to get your MBA and will let you go to school around your work schedule.

If are determined to have your own business you will! Trust me you can do it.

Thank You
JSF SWISS

 

[tickle]

Volov

I know about the enterprise workshop by knowing people who did it. And have also worked with a mentor / judge.