Career advice for a college student

A college student sent me the following email:

I am a college student at *** in *** who is majoring in Accounting, Finance, and Management. I stumbled on your blog recently via carnival of capitalists and I though I would ask your advice regarding careers. I am at a critical stage in my education where I am being forced to choose what career path I want to pursue, at least upon graduation (typically, the best students intern at the company they plan on working for the summer before their senior year and get job offers that August). ... The thing that I have always wanted to do is run a company or at least a profit center (I guess you have to start small). The problem is that obviously, no one hires senior management right out of college. That is why I will inevitably end up heading into the finance field, either in public accounting, investment banking, consulting, or private accounting/finance (depending on what the company calls it). What I would like to know is how does a person transition into upper management? Where do companies get their COO's from? I know that the "old" way is to have someone who worked up through the ranks, from the assembly line to the top, but that does not seem to be the case anymore. ... Finally, what advice do you have for someone who will be graduating from college in a few years (I'm graduating in 2007)? How can I be sure to get noticed and put on the "fast track"?

First off, I commend you for being interested in senior management. So many kids these days have impractical ideas about becoming actors or artists. I'm glad to see your head is grounded in the realities of our economy.

But giving career advice is always a dangerous proposition because I don't want to steer anyone the wrong way. There is no simple answer to any of these questions. In all cases, the answer is "it depends."

It is not true that people no longer move up through the ranks. In fact, moving up the ranks is the surest path to a senior management position, and this is especially true for the COO position that you ask about. The COO needs to know about the industry in order to effectively manage the company's operations.

Don't overlook starting out in sales. Sales is very important to most companies, and it's quite common for the CEO to have a sales background.

If you start out in public accounting or finance you will be headed towards the path of being a CFO rather than a COO. People who start out in consulting or investment banking commonly stay in those industries their whole life.

Is there a "fast track"? Yes and no. Certainly many people wind up derailing from the track somewhere along their career and get stuck underneath a ceiling that they never rise above.

One warning I need to give you is to not expect things to come easy. No one will hire you just because you have a college degree and no one will promote you just because you put in your two years. (There's an exception: if you have top grades from a school like Harvard then certain companies will hire you just because of your academics.)

One tactic you may want to consider is positioning yourself now to get an MBA from one of the top business schools. It has to be from one of the top schools, because otherwise MBAs are a dime a dozen. An MBA from a top school is a big career booster, but remember, it's still not a guarantee of anything. There are COOs without college degrees at all, and there are MBAs who are driving taxicabs.

Comments

[David Foster]

I would strongly support your suggestion about working in sales....experience in this area tends to give people both added maturity and added credibility. And the range of personality types that can succeed in sales is much broader than often assumed.

Also, a company that is in multiple lines of business, with multiple profit centers, will generally be better for career development than a single-market/single-product company.

Product marketing/product management jobs can represent good career steps for those interested in P&L jobs, because they involve comprehensive responsibility for a product (even if the authority is not completely there and the P&L measurement is missing or loose) often at a relatively young age.

[Rob]

I agree on sales. Like it or not it is a skill you have to learn, and great experience. But I would also add that most good people eventually rise to the top no matter what path they take. Some sooner, some later, but eventually good talent is always recognized.

[Piyush]

Hi i would like to know more about ur perception of IB people. I am planning to go into IB , But 5-7 years down the line i would like to be Venture capitalist.I believe the line will be able to give me a better understanding of more companies from different backgrounds. Also working in the primary market will give me more info on heavy topics like M&a, Company valuations, Tips & tricksetc. Hope you reply