What was your big break?

I was in the exact same spot not too long ago.

I got myself a couple of professional certifications and got a new job to boot.

However, this new job is whooping ****** and I am now wondering if I made the right move. On paper I did, but honestly, easy cushy jobs are underrated.

I wouldn't say Ive always muddled through life slightly below average. I rocked high school, but that was just cause it was easy - i was lucky that i got accepted to the school i went to based on the fact i didn't play any sports and wasn't involved in any clubs (bullshit like that). When i got to college i got frustrated with my school because i realized that 90% of my classes were impossibly hard just to be hard. I didn't accept the trade off of studying for countless hours just to do a little better, and with that free time and mentality came a, much different lifestyle The reason why I am thinking about my career kinda harshly from the start is that I have never thought about it before. i was always in the mentality of go to college, get a job. i did that, i got a job, it just feels wrong that i don't have a next step of planned action and the sooner i come up with something and know where i want to be headed, the less likely i would be one of those million people of mediocrity. Also, a smart man once told me engineering is too much work for the pay, which i didn't want to believe when he told me it, but i am definitely starting to see it. I would still like to get an MBA eventually, it is just seeming less realistic. I would be ecstatic if I could go back to the school i took my undergrad at for a MBA (a top 10 B school as well or up there considering what type you want...) but that probably wont happen I've just always felt a pressure from my parents and family to succeed, which to them means make money. Although being an engineer and topping out at 100-120 a year, salary, isn't bad. My dad likes to remind me i could be doing better, i could be making more, on a daily basis. Even though my parents and all my aunts and uncles immigrated here and don't have an education, and out of my cousins and siblings I am the youngest one who went to the best school who is already doing better than most of them. i don't want to sound like i only care because of my dad, he just does a great job of satisfying the annoyance role, i am doing it mostly for myself. i guess i am not very familiar with the whole career path, corporate America scene because i have never been exposed to it by family or people i know, just like college i am forced to figure it all out myself with little guidance on reality. i don't want to sound like im whining by saying that, there were just a lot of things about college that would of made a big difference if i knew them coming in, not figuring them out 2-3 years after i started, so i am trying to soak up as much information as i can right now for i can reduce the possibility of feeling the same way about my career.

You're a grown adult, it's none of your parent's damn business what you make unless you still owe them money.

Be ambitious if you desire to do so, OR be lost and lackadaisical if it means you're happier doing such. Do as you choose for your life.

Your family should help support you, not help make you insignificant about your life... But keep in mind if you don't really desire to do well for yourself, odds are you won't.

Originally Posted by therussian

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I am the youngest one who went to the best school who is already doing better than most of them.

Your comparing mentality is what's inhibiting your growth. I know because I do the same and am trying to grow out of it.

My sister was always the one that did well in school, so naturally I would compare myself. The moment I was doing better in work, I stopped trying harder, which really hurt me more than anyone else. All those cliches you hear in life are hitting me like a ton of bricks.

Originally Posted by therussian

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Hey, I'm new to the forum. I've been lurking for a while from time to time and thought this would be a good place to post this.

First let me tell you about myself. I'm a recent grad, went to a great school for mechanical engineering, I got lucky. Discovered alcohol and women - never looked back, started to absolutely hate the actually school part of college. Did not take advantage of anything my school offered me. However, I did graduated in 4 years, did slightly below average, but I am definitely not of below average intelligence. It is disgusting how little effort I put into my studies. Finding a job was extremely difficult, the only thing appealing about me was the school I went to, and when you are competing with everyone else that went to your school, you got nothing. Anyways, I got lucky again, and weaseled my way into a job with one of the big 3 auto companies. Got a pretty crap deal but I had nothing else. Turns out it is a really great job though, especially for a first job, some program management, engineering work, dealing with suppliers and plants - I hit the jackpot in that sense. I am fully responsible for a sub system that is utilizing new technology that the company plans to extend to many of its vehicles.

The reason for this post is I am absolutely terrified that I am not going to get anywhere with my career. What I mean by this is, I work with engineers who have 10-15 years experience and they essentially have the same job I have right now. I do NOT want to be doing this in 10 years. I kinda went through the motions of school, and for my career, I do not want to just sit back and go through the motions again. I have changed a lot, my life has changed a lot in the past few years, but now I am back living with my parents to save up money in my boring home town. I like change, I welcome it, I encourage it, but now I feel like the potential for change has diminished in the near future.

I believe that things may just happen, but to be successful you need to make them happen - something I have not been doing. So, to those of you who got a big break in your careers. What was it and what did you do to make sure it happened? How did you progress from your first job?

I want to be somewhere else in 5-7 years, and the only thing I can think of is getting experience and trying to go back to school for a MBA at a good school. But i feel like that is a very generic/overplayed plan. And if I don't have the right connections, I may just become an overqualified engineer.

good luck to you man, you sound ambitious and you seem to have a good head on your shoulder. much better than others out there who write and ponder about how to get a hand-out and fast track to a jackpot of some sort w the least amt of effort

more commonly everyone gets seasoned in the work field/real life and gets a bit jaded and just basically settle for whatever is decent is out there in terms of money.
but it's always a good start to have the ambition like you from the beginning, as you never know, that you may be the one in a few dozen that actually gets to do something really purposeful while making tons of money.

and to be stuck doing stuff like the typical guy next to you like while it sounds in concept a bad thing (to ambitious young minds fresh into the work place), it actually is not really bad. life is what you make of it. not what others say.


basically, my point is, it is not the mba path or what not that is the generic/overplayed plan. it's the change in attitude and character going through it and coming out of it that washes out your results at the end. i dont care what path you go through, if you have continual ambition and passion for it, you'll come out on top whatever you choose.

Originally Posted by therussian

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The reason why I am thinking about my career kinda harshly from the start is that I have never thought about it before. i was always in the mentality of go to college, get a job. i did that, i got a job, it just feels wrong that i don't have a next step of planned action and the sooner i come up with something and know where i want to be headed, the less likely i would be one of those million people of mediocrity.

You're on the right track. Keep thinking about what you want in life, then decide a career path that will provide you the necessary knowledge to get there. Don't let your career dictate your future. Rather, let your desired future dictate your career.

Originally Posted by newinny

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SF Rule #234: If you don't accept your current role in life, you're a self-entitled complainer. Our lives suck and so should yours.
Says the guy who wants to start a private equity fund out of thin air once he graduates from business school. The OP wanted real advice and he's getting some. If you have anything substantial to add, please feel free to do so.

Originally Posted by therussian

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I wouldn't say Ive always muddled through life slightly below average. I rocked high school, but that was just cause it was easy - i was lucky that i got accepted to the school i went to based on the fact i didn't play any sports and wasn't involved in any clubs (bullshit like that).

When i got to college i got frustrated with my school because i realized that 90% of my classes were impossibly hard just to be hard. I didn't accept the trade off of studying for countless hours just to do a little better, and with that free time and mentality came a, much different lifestyle

The reason why I am thinking about my career kinda harshly from the start is that I have never thought about it before. i was always in the mentality of go to college, get a job. i did that, i got a job, it just feels wrong that i don't have a next step of planned action and the sooner i come up with something and know where i want to be headed, the less likely i would be one of those million people of mediocrity. Also, a smart man once told me engineering is too much work for the pay, which i didn't want to believe when he told me it, but i am definitely starting to see it.

I would still like to get an MBA eventually, it is just seeming less realistic. I would be ecstatic if I could go back to the school i took my undergrad at for a MBA (a top 10 B school as well or up there considering what type you want...) but that probably wont happen

I've just always felt a pressure from my parents and family to succeed, which to them means make money. Although being an engineer and topping out at 100-120 a year, salary, isn't bad. My dad likes to remind me i could be doing better, i could be making more, on a daily basis. Even though my parents and all my aunts and uncles immigrated here and don't have an education, and out of my cousins and siblings I am the youngest one who went to the best school who is already doing better than most of them. i don't want to sound like i only care because of my dad, he just does a great job of satisfying the annoyance role, i am doing it mostly for myself.

i guess i am not very familiar with the whole career path, corporate America scene because i have never been exposed to it by family or people i know, just like college i am forced to figure it all out myself with little guidance on reality. i don't want to sound like im whining by saying that, there were just a lot of things about college that would of made a big difference if i knew them coming in, not figuring them out 2-3 years after i started, so i am trying to soak up as much information as i can right now for i can reduce the possibility of feeling the same way about my career.

SF is full of educated people who are living in quiet agony because they feel that they should be doing more/earning more/living more than they currently are. It's a depressing current that runs through these forums but it really does go with the demographic. SF is populated by mostly successful and smart people and these are the types who are rarely happy with their lot in life.

My best advice would be to continue to strive for achievement in your professional life but try as hard as possible to figure out what success is for you. Success shouldn't be about pleasing your parents or swinging ********* around at your next high school reunion. I think for most people true success is a mix of professional achievement, personal satisfaction and time to pursue hobbies and interests. If that's not you, then I can't help you. But most people, when they really forget about external pressures like pleasing their parents and keeping up with the Jones's, often come back to a definition of success that is about balance.

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Originally Posted by newinny

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Bark bark bark. Shut the f*ck up. You ruin these forums with your negativity. The post your referring to was a curious question about how people start PE funds in emerging markets and there was a brief discussion = the point of online forums. What's your incredible business background that allows you to crap on every business/MBA thread?
******* balls, loser. You criticize me for being negative after I give this guy what any normal human being would probably recognize as pretty sound, realistic, and sympathetic advice. If you want to keep beating off in the mirror over your high flying dreams of capital, be my guest. But quit coming into threads and crapping on anyone who is trying to give level headed advice. I still can't believe you actually started a thread on a fashion forum about how to raise a PE fund and you're coming in here like you know ****. Moron.

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Originally Posted by newinny

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Ah the ol' why create an intelligent thread on a fashion forum chestnut. Must be zingers like that that got you in your sh*tty business school. If you value this site so little, get lost.

Business school? What the hell are you even talking about, twat?

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Originally Posted by newinny

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Given the volumes of advice you've given about MBA's I assumed you've gone. Given the quality of that advice, I assumed it was terrible.

You're all over the place, man. Quit embarrassing yourself.

Originally Posted by Eason

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To answer the OP, my big break was finding a mentor who changed the way I approached my career and is directly responsible for my current success.
Huh