Evaluating Career Choices

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Larry Kao
Oxford
MBA Class of 2008

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And the term entrepreneurs, that's already been designated for longhaired programmers, socially awkward salesmen, or overly excited thinkers. But this radical career choice is now embraced at business schools like Said.

I-Banker or Consultant?

The first company presentation was by Morgan Stanley (MS), a day before school started. Yes, that's how early they start recruiting. I thought this place was supposed to be crawling with entrepreneurs.

I can understand the incredible draw of a high-paying banking job, but it has always perplexed me to study for an MBA to work in a bank. And consulting? Aren't these just a bunch of people who don't like working in one company, so to avoid this they work for five different companies a year? And yet, when I arrived at Oxford I started weighing my only two options, as if there were only two! I completely forgot the reason why I came to Said: I love business and I wanted to learn more about it.

I can't give enough thanks to the CEOs and entrepreneurs who soon came to present their industries and careers in the following weeks. Finally, there were more places to work than banking and consulting. George David, Neville Isdell, and Andrew McCollum of Facebook were brought in to appease the "rest" of us.

Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford

Nov. 19: a day that may turn out to be the most important of my young career. It was the day a dozen venture capitalists, startup Web developers, and other entrepreneurs came to Oxford. They each gave a different perspective and one common underlying message: Do what you love, and if that happens to be starting companies, then please join us in Silicon Valley. It was amazing to see a panel of experts ranging from the early 20s to near retirement age talking about the same passion—technology companies. Further, in some way shape or form, they were all connected through some sort of network. In essence, the interconnectedness of everyone on the panel is what makes Silicon Valley special. Why this day may end up influencing my entire career is because it really began to fire up my creative juices and presented tons of realistic career tracks. Entrepreneurship became not just a required exercise to graduate but an actual career choice.

I think what I'm trying to say is that the MBA is pretty hard. It's not astrophysics hard and it's not medieval English literature hard. It's just a confusing, challenging-the-way-you-view-business hard. Working in teams, juggling Type A personalities, and trying to find a way to make it down to your rowing practice takes careful planning and a balance of work and leisure. It's important to take a step back, think about why you came in the first place, and just enjoy the ride.

Larry Kao is an MBA Journal writer and a member of the MBA Class of 2008 at Oxford's Saïd Business School.