HELP! I don't know what concentration to pick!

Discussion in 'Finance, Investing & Economy' started by snsj4, Sep 9, 2006.

  1. snsj4

    snsj4 New Member

    Oct 3, 2001
    O.C. ,California
    i am a 1st year at my university(cal state fullerton). i am going to major in business administration, and i don't know what concentration to pick! what i want to do in the future is to become a CEO of some coporate company or some kind of executive or officer for some coporate company in a high-rise building in New York, NY or some other metro area. i have to make lots of money, like 70 grand or more per year.
     
  2. spaceranger

    spaceranger New Member

    Sep 9, 2006
    finance possibly? i have no idea. someone please help this guy.
     
  3. wcharriscpa

    wcharriscpa Member

    Arsenal FC
    Dec 26, 2000
    Austin
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Accounting is "the language of business." So there's that...

    :)
     
  4. Sachin

    Sachin New Member

    Jan 14, 2000
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    If you're serious.... go find out what industry you want to work in. Then go study the bios of top executives in that industry and find out what path they took to the top. Odds are few if any of them have undergraduate business degrees.

    The easiest way for you to be CEO of a company is to start one yourself and grow it to Fortune 500-size. Find an idea that no one else has had, start a business, watch it fail, start another, make it a modest success, sell it, start another business, make it a success, merge with a larger company, lather, rinse, repeat.

    If you're serious, the following steps will help you get started, but don't guarantee success:

    1. Go major in math, physics, engineering, or something like that and minor in finance or take a couple of classes. BTW, if your first thought is, "I'm not a numbers guy (or girl)," then you're going to have to become one. No if, ands, or buts about it. An undergraduate business administration degree is about as useful as the toilet paper I flushed this morning.

    2. Get a 4.0 GPA. Let ABSOLUTELY nothing distract you from this goal. You go to Cal State Fullerton, which may be a fine school, but it not Harvard or Stanford or even Berkley. You must go to a top 5 buisiness school (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, UVa, Chicago) if you expect to have any chance of rising to the top of a major corporation.

    3. Keep yourself in peak physical condition at all times. Business is a 24-hour global game. You have to be in shape to play. Concurrently, learn to play golf. Business deals get done on the golf course all the time. A number of major corporation interview officer candidates on the golf course, just to see how they handle pressure.

    4. Read the front section and the Marketplace section of Wall Street Journal every day. Basically, it's like BigSoccer for the business world. Glance at the personal journal. Also, find the main professional journal for your industry of choice. Keep up with that too.

    5. Use every contact you have to get an interenship with a major consulting firm (McKinsey, BCG), Big 4 public accounting firm or Fortune 500 firm this summer. Start by talking to your professors, but don't overlook your classmates. Odds are someone's parents work for one of those firms. Check out the career center as well. If you can't do that, get a job selling something, anything. Every good executive is a great salesman.

    6. Join clubs, and not just the math club or the accounting club. Be social and engaged on campus. Strive toward leaderhship roles.

    7. Learn not to sleep. :)

    8. Good luck, especially with the 4.0. You're going to need it. Remember, you're not just competing with the guy next to you in class. You're competing with some kid in Banglore who was born in a village without electricity, some girl in China who has had the resources of her parents and her grandparents poured into her education, something she will never forget, some guy in Buenos Aires who remembers his grandfather eating a pound of steak for breakfast every morning and wants to the same, and so on.

    Sachin
     
  5. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO

    I remember reading a similar post almost identical to this one awhile back, and checked to see your posting history, and found out you asked the same exact thing last november. (I checked b/c it rang a bell, and stood out.)

    Anyway, the fact you got great advice back then, and people explained how you were going about things with the wrong attitude/outlook. You are asking the same question now.
    This shows, either you didnt like the truth when it was laid out to you previously, or you are hoping for a shortcut to magically fall into your lap.

    I am not trying to be hard on you, but there is no magical "system" or concentration of study to end up in a highrise corner office. Besides having well connected parents to get you a great job, there are no shortcuts.

    Do/find/study something you enjoy. Many of the most successfull people/executives had majors totally different from where they ended up. (history, education, psychology, science, etc)
     
  6. Sachin

    Sachin New Member

    Jan 14, 2000
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Why do I have a feeling that 10 years from now, we're going to read a similar post from him asking why he can't get beyond the Verizon sales kiosk.

    Sachin
     
  7. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Is 70 grand per year "lots of money"? Doesn't seem like it. Try following Sachin's advice. I don't know that I agree with all of it, but it's not going to hurt you to follow it. Keep in mind, grades DO count initially. After that, it's based on work experience, but if you want to get your foot in the door, grades are the first cut-off most employers use when recruiting students.


    As for a "concentration", what are your interests? Goals (besides CEO)? Expectations?
     
  8. Sachin

    Sachin New Member

    Jan 14, 2000
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    One other piece of advice: Guard your credit rating with your life. No company will give you a job handling money if you don't have a good credit rating.

    I'm interested to know FP, what don't you agree with?

    Thanks,

    Sachin
     
  9. Wingtips1

    Wingtips1 Member+

    May 3, 2004
    02116
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    this just in: of the all the new hires by Goldman Sachs this year, 50% of them were liberal arts majors (humanities, english, history, art, etc). 25% were economics majors. the other 25% were business, science, engineering and other majors.

    if you want to get yourself into the Big 4, you must take accounting: financial, managerial, tax, intermediate 1 & 2 at the minimum (with others such as cost, auditing, advanced all possibilities, too). but beware, it is hard to break out of the internal auditor/financial reporting roles that are reserved for Big 4 alums at just about ever major corporation in america.

    but as has been said, a degree in something such as chemistry (along with some research experience and a MBA) will better allow you to lead a pharmaceutical company than a degree in business.

    you don't need a 4.0, but you need to keep above a 3.2 GPA. the minimum used to be 3.0, but competition for the top spots keeps pushing it higher.
     
  10. Matt in the Hat

    Matt in the Hat Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 21, 2002
    Brooklyn
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Try this. If you are confused as to which field to persue, work for an executive temp agency in a larger city (For you I would guess it would be downtown LA) and give a whole bunch of industries a try. I did it for a year after school to gain some business experience, something which is in short supply at a fine arts school. Now I have my own business.

    In a way, executive temping is better than interning as it provides both flexability and a respectable paycheck. you also can meet with business leaders on a more equal level, understand the culture of each specific industry and possibly secure yourself a position with a ton of mobility before you even graduate.
     
  11. Th4119

    Th4119 Member

    Jul 26, 2001
    Annandale, VA
    Sachin are you saying my degree in Finance is going to be worthless? Where were you three years ago?!

    :eek: ;)
     
  12. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA

    I think he was referring to a general business administration/management degree. (or I could let him answer for himself ;) )
     
  13. Th4119

    Th4119 Member

    Jul 26, 2001
    Annandale, VA
    Well that's some good news! Glad I checked this out before I went and changed majors.
     
  14. Sachin

    Sachin New Member

    Jan 14, 2000
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Oh no... your degree is certainly worth pursuing. It's the general business degree that FP referred to that is worthless.

    Sachin
     
  15. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO

    I have to weigh in here and say IMO nothing is "worthless." How many people do you see in the workforce where major is closely related to their job description/title?

    Save for Medicine or Law, not many.

    What is important is 2 things, getting good enough grades to get your foot in the door for a face to face interview, and having connections/effective networking to help stack the odds of landing a job in your favor, and getting an interview.

    As far as connections go, many people are glad to help if they sense you are serious about what you want. They are just afraid of sticking their neck out to help and have you not represent them well. If you know someone is a hard worker and is serious about something, I am very apt to help them get in front of who they need to be in front of.

    And it isnt always someone who is "involved" in your field that can help. Often, totally unrelated friends have family members or aquaintances who they can out you in touch with. So dont just assume they cant help. Bring up your goals in casual conversationto everyone and sooner or later you will get help.

    I am not in human resources, but I cant imagine an employess tossing out an otherwise attractive resume just b/c he was a "Business Management" major.
     
  16. StrikerCW

    StrikerCW Member

    Jul 10, 2001
    Perth, WA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Engineering. ;)
     
  17. snsj4

    snsj4 New Member

    Oct 3, 2001
    O.C. ,California
    i'm back! just finished my first year at uni, i've sorta made my mind. i am leaning more towards finance as my concentration. i am not really aiming towards CEO just a high enough position to make decent amount of money like CFO or financial analyst, how are those positions anyways and how much do they pay? i am looking to make at least 60-70k range starting out. i still want to work in a high rise building in manhattan's financial district. how are finance guy's lifestyle anyways, is it as hectic as the CEO?
     
  18. bojendyk

    bojendyk New Member

    Jan 4, 2002
    South Loop, Chicago
    It's good to know that you've made your goals more reasonable and will settle for being a mere CFO.

    For me, I realize that I don't need to play as well as Maradona. It will be enough to merely play as well as Zidane.

    Re: financial analysis, from what my wife tells me (a) you'll want an MBA or some other graduate degree, and (b) $70,000 is pretty much a starting salary.
     
  19. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    Didnt we go over this? :rolleyes:

    I dont mean to be rude, but you really sound naive about your expectations on your future..

    I cant tell if you are joking or are serious.

    Congrats on your first year. Just bust your ass and make sure you are near the top 10% of your class for now. Enjoy what you are studying and all of those things you are envisioning will eventualy take care of themselves.

    Dont put the cart b/4 the horse. ;)

    Do this: Set short term goals regarding grades, etc each semester rather than worrying about which high rise you want ot work in. Breaking down such lofty expectations into manageable, smaller goals can help you get to where you want to be regardless of what type of career it is.
     
  20. snsj4

    snsj4 New Member

    Oct 3, 2001
    O.C. ,California
    i have some other questions, i want to work in london and tokyo for atleast for one-year in those city's. how difficult would it be to get to there?


    do i have to get a MBA to get the 70k starting salary? lol. what other jobs can a finance major do?
     
  21. bojendyk

    bojendyk New Member

    Jan 4, 2002
    South Loop, Chicago
    Her coworkers all either have MBAs, are pursuing MBAs, or have advanced degrees (usually PhDs in the humanities). Some are pursuing CFAs, too, which really help them advance up the ranks. However, this is just one department in one particular firm.
     
  22. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    I'd give this thread 7 stars if I could.
    At least 70K? In the world of finace? I dunno.............
     
  23. bojendyk

    bojendyk New Member

    Jan 4, 2002
    South Loop, Chicago
    If he's interested in making 70K in Manhattan, he could always just empty garbage cans on the subway or perhaps walk dogs on the Upper East Side.
     
  24. Th4119

    Th4119 Member

    Jul 26, 2001
    Annandale, VA
    On your resume, use similar grammar to that of your posts here. It will help.
     
  25. Footer Phooter

    Jul 23, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    He doesn't have time for grammar. He's too busy trying to figure out how to make "at least in the 60k to 70k" range while working in a skyscraper in Manhattan. That takes a lot of work. :D
     

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