'Cuse law vs. entry level Merrill Lynch?

[c5367]

Were I in your shoes, I'd take the spot at Merril. Then again, I love the markets and economics. My favorite TV show is "Mad Money"

But seriously, as far as money goes, I think the analyst position has the greatest potential. The question is, which would you be happier doing?

There's a saying: If you find a job you love, you will never work a day of your life.

[LawyersGunnersnMoney]

I personally would not settle for a job in sales.  But that being said u can make great money eventually and barely work 40 hours.  Analyst jobs are moderately hard to come by but there is a huge variance in them.  I would browse this site if u are really interested in being an analyst.  It is for kids who are interested in private equity / portfolio management.  good luck

analystforum.com

how do you register?  it wont take a hotmail/yahoo email and i dont want to use my work email as my boss reads my emails and might wonder why im signing up for such a forum

[LawyersGunnersnMoney]

Were I in your shoes, I'd take the spot at Merril. Then again, I love the markets and economics. My favorite TV show is "Mad Money"

But seriously, as far as money goes, I think the analyst position has the greatest potential. The question is, which would you be happier doing?

There's a saying: If you find a job you love, you will never work a day of your life.

clarify exactly what kind of 'analyst' you will be in the interview.  most of merrils regional positions are sales related and the advancement potential is to a sales position.  while markets and economics are interesting, retail brokers have more in common w/ vaccum salesmen than with economists.  if you like sales, it can be very lucrative and fun.  but if you dont and want the analytical side it will be miserable

[c5367]

clarify exactly what kind of 'analyst' you will be in the interview.  most of merrils regional positions are sales related and the advancement potential is to a sales position.  while markets and economics are interesting, retail brokers have more in common w/ vaccum salesmen than with economists.  if you like sales, it can be very lucrative and fun.  but if you dont and want the analytical side it will be miserable

Very good point! When I think of analysts, I think of slaving over bar charts, stochastics ratios, assorted technicals,  P/E ratios, margins, sector and industry trends. and other stuff like that. As wierd as it sounds, that sort of thing is fun to me. I'm not particulary good at it, as YTD I'm getting beaten by the SP500. (not by much though!) Makes me wish I majored in econ/accounting instead of polisci. Than again, I think I would've rather done anything instead of polisci

[mirror]

clarify exactly what kind of 'analyst' you will be in the interview.  most of merrils regional positions are sales related and the advancement potential is to a sales position.  while markets and economics are interesting, retail brokers have more in common w/ vaccum salesmen than with economists.  if you like sales, it can be very lucrative and fun.  but if you dont and want the analytical side it will be miserable

Very good point! When I think of analysts, I think of slaving over bar charts, stochastics ratios, assorted technicals,  P/E ratios, margins, sector and industry trends. and other stuff like that. As wierd as it sounds, that sort of thing is fun to me. I'm not particulary good at it, as YTD I'm getting beaten by the SP500. (not by much though!) Makes me wish I majored in econ/accounting instead of polisci. Than again, I think I would've rather done anything instead of polisci

i hear you both.  i would trade my lib arts major in if i could.  im currently working on the retail side and dont like it and am going to law school... part of me is curious as to what other finance jobs are out there in the southeast (charlotte preferably) though.  looking more for longshot jobs that would pay very well and make ls a more difficult choice.  any ideas?   

[FSUGeoff]

Let me clarify, it IS a sub headquarters, with most of the support and whatnot for the Southern "retail" locations of Merrill that you see in your town. It is second only to NYC, where more of the international and big time players are. I am unsure as to the job track I'm would enter, one interesting track seemed the "financial advisory" group, which is essentially being a broker (you need your 7 and 66) but the guy at the seminar said you didn't need to acquire clients, which seems counterintuitive, but I'm interested to know more. The growth potential seems good, but they kept telling us not to expect that 50 or 60K, but true numbers haven’t been discussed. I am only estimating the 35K as most entry level jobs are. I'm just worried about 'Cuse because of the financial burden its going to put on me, and potential job prospects after graduation. I'm just keeping all my options open. With all this said I think Law plays to my analytical strengths and I enjoy actually knowing what the @#!* I am saying, not plugging some *&^% into a computer program to tell me what to sell, or buy. I think I know Law school is for me, and I’m not doing it for the money, but I also want to be solvent when starting. I know if I’m good the money will come. Since when did life have to be so hard. Some of you engineers need to get to work on that crystal ball...

[GwenK]

I think the biggest question is - what do you want to do with your life? I'm 34 and have been in a career for 14 years - now making more than six figures. But, I could care less about my job. That's why I'm going to law school. It's something I've been passionate about since undergrad, but circumstances moved me in a different directions. I'm finally taking the plunge in what I really want to do in my life!

So, the question is: what is it that you want? Do you want to start making cash now? If so, go for Merrill. But, if you're passionate about law, bite the bullet. It's only three years and, if it will make you happier in the long run, go for it. The problem here is that only you can decide. Don't listen to what other people would do. No one else knows what it is you really want and don't want. At the end of the day, if you're still not sure - pick one and try it out. The thing is you could be miserable in a crap Merril job or with 150K in loans. In the end, if you're doing what you want to do, then the rest just falls into place.

[mirror]

Let me clarify, it IS a sub headquarters, with most of the support and whatnot for the Southern "retail" locations of Merrill that you see in your town. It is second only to NYC, where more of the international and big time players are. I am unsure as to the job track I'm would enter, one interesting track seemed the "financial advisory" group, which is essentially being a broker (you need your 7 and 66) but the guy at the seminar said you didn't need to acquire clients, which seems counterintuitive, but I'm interested to know more. The growth potential seems good, but they kept telling us not to expect that 50 or 60K, but true numbers haven’t been discussed. I am only estimating the 35K as most entry level jobs are. I'm just worried about 'Cuse because of the financial burden its going to put on me, and potential job prospects after graduation. I'm just keeping all my options open. With all this said I think Law plays to my analytical strengths and I enjoy actually knowing what the @#!* I am saying, not plugging some sh*t into a computer program to tell me what to sell, or buy. I think I know Law school is for me, and I’m not doing it for the money, but I also want to be solvent when starting. I know if I’m good the money will come. Since when did life have to be so hard. Some of you engineers need to get to work on that crystal ball...

first of all let me say i feel your pain.  im in a somehwat similar situation. im a financial advisor for one of merrils competitors. 

if you go the fa track, let me tell you it can be tough.  i dont know if they truly do have clients waiting for you (all of merrils clients under $100k are handled by call centers), but at some point if you want to make $$$ you have to bring in clients.  and lots of them.  they may give you some clients but you will never get paid well in an fa postions unless you ring the register yourself. if you have a lot of connections or really like selling it could be a great job. once youre established, youre your own boss and can make a killing.  but regionally, theres not any broker support positions that have growth potential

[FSUGeoff]

Let me thank you all for your replies, and I know in the end I need to call the shots. It just seems like at 22 its hard to choose what’s right for me, and more importantly I don’t know what I really want to do myself. I know what being in finance involves, and while I may have aptitude, I am a pretty moral person in some regards and I don’t know that I could lie to people, and it seems that to achieve success as a FA, initially at least, you need to do that to a certain degree. If I had gotten great grades and LSAT and my Law choices were slam dunks, I’d obviously be less worried about it. Since going to a lower tier 2 its more of a craps shoot again like most anybody I’m having doubt. Anyhow I’m flying up to ‘Cuse tomorrow morning(Way too early) and will have a much better grasp on thing when I return. Thanks again everyone, and anybody else feel free to chime in.

[GwenK]

One last thought: you were accepted to two very solid schools. Sure, they're not Yale, Harvard, etc., but let me tell you - it doesn't matter to the majority. When I went to undergrad, I went to a no-name private school in upstate NY. I thought no one would hire me. Today, I'm the head of PR for a Fortune 500 company. When I was interviewed, no one gave a crap about where I went to school. You've got two brand name schools, Syracuse and Michigan, and if you do well then you will have no problem succeeding in the end.

The thing that frustrates me the most about these boards is that it seems like there's this perception that you need to get into a T1 school or be damned. Again, if you get good grades and pass the bar - you're just as much a lawyer as someone who went Ivy.  One of my best friends is a Harvard Law grad, in the top 2% of his class and was on law review AND he also couldn't find his way out of a paper bag.

So, if you want to go into law - do it. Don't worry about all the "keeping up with the Jones'" that goes on here. Lastly, you're 22. You don't need to know what you want to do with your life. But, you certainly shouldn't do something that you KNOW you don't want to do just because it will bring you some short term cash.

Best of luck.