I told this story to a few MBA interns and will repeat it here. In high school, I was an academic superstar and was fortunately accepted by my dream college. I did well there, worked in finance afterwards, and then returned to my alma mater to get my MBA. I had hoped to transition into private equity or hedge funds after my MBA. I interned at a big hedge fund during the summer after my first year, but unfortunately, the fund chose not to extend any full-time offers. So my second year began, and I hit the pavement hard, networking and hustling. I interviewed at a lot of the prestigious firms: KKR, Bain Capital, Blackstone, Apollo, Citadel, Coatue, Lone Pine, Viking. But none of them panned out despite my best efforts. With graduation a few months away, I still did not have any offers. I desperately tried to get interviews with MBB consulting and top investment banks, but they already hired their MBA class. In this moment of desperation, trying to figure out what to do, I saw a job posting from Amazon on my school's job board. The role sounded sort of interesting, but no one in my class wanted to work at Amazon. My ego bristled at the thought of joining Amazon, but due to the desperation, I applied. After several interviews I got an offer. My manager was confused as to why I wanted to come here. He asked me multiple times whether I was "absolutely sure about moving to Seattle as a single man with an elite pedigree." I of course lied my ass off because I needed a job badly. Working at Amazon and living in Seattle has been one of the most depressing and humiliating experiences of my life. But as I told the MBA interns, life is about overcoming adversity, making lemonade out of lemons. Like the tribes of Israel wandering in the desert before entering the promised land, I know that I will soon leave Amazon and Seattle for greener pastures. To all those also suffering, stay strong.
What's next for you? It's hard to get back into consulting or finance after missing out on MBA recruiting (not saying it can't be done, but definitely takes effort)
What’s wrong with Seattle? 😕
Where did you grow up and go to school? Just tryna see what you're comparing.
Without getting too specific, I grew up in a working class area and went to one of Harvard/Stanford/MIT.
There’s plenty of people from those schools working at Amazon so, we’ll, get off your high horse.
I don’t know man. Sounds like you peaked in HS. This is your life now.
Explains why all the MBAs here have been so shit. Gotta work with losers like you.
Glory days... how they pass you by...
Well there’s no guarantee that prestige degree will guarantee success. If none of the hedge fund you interviewed extended an offer, you’ve got to think why and how to improve. This world is changing very fast only the most fit and capable to adapt will survive.
Can you be more specific? What exactly you didn't like at Amazon?
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Wait. Is any of this sarc? Does it really suck that badly?
I'm 100% serious. Amazon and Seattle have been worse than my worst nightmares. Keep in mind though that I'm a single straight man.
Do you have any self awareness to realize how entitled you sound at this moment? This is not struggling. This is your ego getting shattered.