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What Types of Jobs to Apply to?

The best advice that many speakers who come speak at Kellogg tell us is that we should find a job that we love. After that, the money won’t be important, and in many cases it will eventually come falling in our laps because we’ll be more successful in our jobs.  Most of us admire the people that say this, especially when they take their own advice. On the other hand, most of us will also apply to more typical jobs, not only for the summer but also for full time employment after graduation.

As the quarter goes on, you see that a large number of students who over time lose sight of their personal passions and start interviewing and recruiting for the typical types of roles – investment banking, consulting, and brand management. In fact, I recently an email from Bain & Company saying that they received a record number of applications this year.  It’s not to say that people don’t want to do these professions. After all, working in any of those industries can give you strong training and can be a great launching pad for your career. So people are preparing intensely for their interviews there.

On the other hand, it’s clear that a lot of my classmates who have applied also have other interests. Many prefer to work in the technology space or in the media industry. Others prefer to work at non profit organizations or have an interest in public finance. And others are excited by the idea of joining a start-ups and or helping to grow an emerging company. But in the end, many of them see value in working in a more traditional job or industry in the short term, so for now, they are putting their interests to the side.

Is this the right move? Well, I’m not sure there’s a single answer to that.  And it’s likely that the answer is different for everyone. Either way, during my time at Kellogg, I’ve learned that achieving the right balance between passion and profession is hard and will never cease to be difficult.

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