Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Reality

Well, I have lots to share about the past month. But for the moment I just wanted to confess that I am feeling very worried about what I'm going to do post-MBA that will allow me to have a life with my children. It's hard to feel like there are meaningful, exciting jobs out there that don't require crazy hours. (And when am I supposed to exercise anyway?) Normally I try to stay positive and feel that I'll figure it out, but after yesterday's Career Immersion program, I'm feeling disheartened. Well, I have lots of research to do. I am also trying to start a Mothers in Business group at the GSB which will help give me some support and be a good way to find out how other alums do it. My general feeling is that I really should be able to do whatever my male counterparts with children can do, I can certainly hire good childcare. I don't feel that I need to be there for my children's every moment. But I don't want to be largely absent from their lives. I am not willing to do that. And I don't know of a lot of 40 hour a week jobs that I want to do ...

Then I think, well, this is where I am forced to start my own business. But that's also a ton of work and I can't think of a business to start that I'd enjoy. I'm not exactly in the position to start my own hedge fund at the moment.

Then, I think I just need to have patience. Maybe I have to compromise a bit while the babies are young and can really pour myself into my work once they start school. I just have to be patient. But it's so hard. I've worked so hard and made so many sacrifices to make myself uber employable ... I don't want to wait anymore.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Were you in the marketing panel? They sure seemed to be lifestyle focused. Similarly, the corp strategy people or business development people (with the exception of the guy from citi) all seemed "reasonable"...

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have been following your blog with great interest. I am the father of a 6-month old applying to the GSB and intending to switch to Investment Management post-MBA. Work-life balance is a huge issue for my wife(a doctor) and me and its one of the reasons I am not even considering Investment Banking.

So far my perecption was that Investment management is comparatively less heavy on the hours. So your post certainly worries me a bit. I hope you find something that helps you meet your goals. And please share it when you do because its going to be extremely useful for many of us with similar objectives.