Three Jobs That Can Be Terrible for Young People

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I turned 36 last week.

I’ve been working since I left university at 22. In the last three weeks I’ve been asked to sit down with a few nearly-grads to have a chat about what career options are out there.

I’ve had a wide range of friends and colleagues go into different roles and have heard many stories over the years.

I always give a word of warning on these three jobs. It’s not that they’re not good career starters, but everyone should go in eyes wide open.

Big Four Accounting Firms

These places are graduate farms. They will take on hundreds of new grads each year. You are one of a very large pool and it’s exceedingly difficult to get noticed.

The work can be interesting; audit, finance, consulting, there is no doubt. However, be warned, it takes a long, long time before you get to do much of the fun stuff.

Even if you are good enough, they are so ridged and hierarchical with their titles and roles, it could take years before you get to do what you are capable of.

Whilst the project you are on may be fascinating, your role could be so mundane. Like, sorting through a huge data room of documents and cataloging things in a spreadsheet. Maybe it takes you a whole week working to 10pm every night.

The most likely outcome here, is the senior people will take your work and present the insights to their client without even letting you in the room. All that effort and you don’t even get to learn how it’s used.

There is also pay. Don’t get me wrong, if you make it to partner, you get paid a lot. You can also move out of these companies into more lucrative roles in-house at large corporates. However, while you are in the trenches working your way up, the pay is really low. You don’t get paid well along the way, especially not for the effort invested.

So, is it a good career move, absolutely…but you are deferring cash and experiences while you are young to have a shot at something very special and lucrative later in life. Nothing wrong with that…but go in eyes wide open!

Big Law

It might not surprise you that a career in a big law firm might also have a bit of a pyramid scheme vibe.

Again, you get to work on some awesome things, but for years and years your role might be the most mundane and menial part of delivering something for a client.

The John Grisham novel where the graduate lawyer accidentally finds themselves in court winning a major case is fiction for a reason.

You spend years as a graduate, then years as an associate, then years as a senior associate, then you have a 2% chance of becoming a partner.

Again, if you are one of the lucky 2%, it’s a really prestigious job. It pays a fortune and you get to work with some hugely capable and impressive clients and solve some really important problems. Think, major acquisitions or divestment, big litigation etc.

It’s a long slog to get there though, and the work along the way can be pretty boring. They also work really hard, lots of overtime and very little control of their schedules or busy periods.

From what I can tell, they do pay a bit better that the accounting firms along the way. A senior associate actually makes a decent salary, but a fraction of what a partner makes.

Investment Banking

This one isn’t about the money, the money is there right the way through. From day one you’re earning more than all your peers from school or university, but the work is brutal.

When a deal is on, it’s on, and there is no reprieve. My best friend went into investment baking. At 25 he was pulling 18 hour days, he slept in the office multiple nights a week when a deal was on.

It’s also a mixed bag on culture, some have decent working environments but some can be pretty rough and toxic. It really depends on the team you land in.

He would tell me that a lot of the folks there would retire around 35–40 (not bad!) and go do not-for-profit work or just volunteer 3 days a week. If you’ve lasted until you’re 35…you’re pretty rich already.

It starts to become really incompatible with life when you get a family. It’s hard to do that kind of work and be really present at home. Even if you are there in person, the phone is on and pinging all the time.

Anyway, if you’re at university and looking at a professional services career, thought these insights might be of interest.

None of these are bad careers in the long run…but they can suck while you are young!