Take Stock Of Your Options

Here's a case study question for you: if investment banking and management consulting didn't exist, how would Harvard students interested in business start their careers? Your answers have to provide for high-paying jobs which demand the kind of analytical skills Harvard students possess. You have half an hour.

For most business-minded students here, there are three categories of jobs in the real world: I-banking, consulting and other ("Hi, I'm concentrating in economics and--when I graduate--would like to pursue a career in other"). While I'm not denigrating I-banking and consulting, they are considerably more risk-averse and hierarchical than some of us would like. What's more, they are just plain easy--easy to obtain since so many of them recruit on campus, and easy to carry out, since the requirements of I-banking and consulting entry level jobs are well within the intellectual capacity of any Harvard student. Also, the lifestyle tradeoffs--the long hours, the surly co-workers--are just intolerable to some. For the business-minded students who are looking for a bit more of a challenge, or for those who prefer to travel a less beaten path, consider the following alternatives.

1. Screw around for a year or a decade.

Thomas J. Watson Jr., a wealthy playboy, spent years working cushy jobs a his father's company, IBM. When not working--which was most of the time--he threw parties, dated models and traveled the world. After several years of this, Watson got serious, and once he rose to the position of CEO, Watson transformed the company from an office machine maker into the world's most important computer manufacturer. Alan Greenspan studied music at Juilliard for two years, then dropped out to play for a jazz quartet for a year before starting business school and then getting into finance in 1948. Even then, he didn't finish his Ph.D until 1977.

2. Work at a corporation that actually makes things.

One of the drawbacks to I-banking and consulting is that they don't sell a product besides the intellects of their employees. At the most basic level, they're in the business of solving other people's problems. But when you work for a company that actually makes things, you've got to solve your own problems every day, an endeavor which is, to my mind, much more rewarding. In big companies, some of the most interesting work is in business development, the part of the company that is concerned with strategy. When a company "partners" with another firm, buys another firm, or decides to enter a new market, it's often the biz-dev people who lead the way. These jobs pay well too, and often lead to senior managerial positions. And you might even have a life.

3. Go into sales.

Pull a Willy Loman and see how well-liked you are. Nothing clarifies like sales--too many great CEO's and business leaders have started out in sales than can be mentioned here. Sell big-ticket items, like business computer hardware or construction equipment, and see how personable you really are ("You tell the most wonderful jokes, Mr. Young. Now how many web servers would you like to buy?"). Every smile, every gesture, every call matters, and for you to get to yes, you've got to develop skills that will serve you well in whatever career you eventually choose. And you thought case interviews were hard.

4. Start your own company.

Sure, the days of the dotcom billionaires are now past, but that doesn't mean you can't start or buy your own business. Get a bank loan and open a franchise restaurant in your home town. Find some cheap, nostalgic piece of clothing you can have mass-produced in Asia, then take out a sumptuously-worded romantic ad in The New Yorker and sell the things for an 800 percent markup (if you think I'm kidding, that's how the J. Peterman catalog was started). Or, best of all, find a couple of electrical engineers who have hit on The New New Thing in computing, tell them you'll help them relate to the non-geeks of the world, then take them public and reap your fortune.

The best thing about starting your own company is that it's a no-lose proposition. If you're right about your idea and you execute well, you're going to make a lot of money doing something you truly love. If you're wrong, you'll gain experience for next time, and companies will actually hire you over less-experienced but more "successful" people. There used to be a stigma to business failure; now it's a badge of honor.

It's a dark secret that none of the campus recruiters or the Office of Career Services staff will tell you, but if you want to be a titan of the business world one day, you certainly don't need to spend your early twenties locked on the 38th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper, running spreadsheets for 14 hours a day. Business, at its core, is a creative enterprise--so why not exercise a little creativity in finding your first job in the business world?

Alex F. Rubalcava '02 is a government concentrator in Eliot House. His column appears on alternate Mondays.