Non-traditional student in finance

Just wondering how non-traditional students/graduates are seen in the finance world. I'm considering an opportunity to enter Special Forces for a short stint before entering college; I think I might enjoy it and desu it pays pretty well.

However, this would mean that I only enroll into college at 23. How will I be perceived when I get out there? I'm more of a business guy, and hope to get into the Big 4 consulting firms while starting my own ventures along the side. Will my time with Special Forces prove to be a detriment to my long-term goals?

nah u should be good senpai

>I'm considering an opportunity to join SF.

Worry about preparing for that first, then worry about finance and other stuff.

You really think so kouhai?

I'm in really good shape currently, so the I'll probably handle the physical demanding aspects of the job quite well. I don't want this short stint to detriment my other goals though.

I think you will be fine. You are pretty much only restricted to not going in to IB because they are pretensious cunts, and even then, you should be fine because you are only 4 years oldr than other grads so maybe not.

Umm, I worked at a finance place and they had olympians which didnt go to uni until 21-22. Point being, you will be fine. Also, if someone with military experience walked in to my office askin for a job I would look upon them favorably for risking their life for my country. Some employers won't like that, some will love it and give you a job just because of that. Especially if one of them is a vet themselves.

tldr; you will be fine. You won't have any issues, and it will increase your chances with certain employers. You could also use it as a way to talk up your skillset (works well under pressure, communication skills, teamwork and unity, etc etc).

Thanks - can you elaborate more about what you said regarding IB? Do they like to hire younger candidates?

Bump. Would appreciate a perspective of how people in business/finance/consultancy see people in a situation similar to mine.

I'm in white shoe law and it seems like there's at least one SF guy at every big firm. (Law might be different because it's typical to take a few years off between college and law school, so there's a bigger age range of new graduates.) It always seemed to me like the SF guys looked out for each other and gave each other a leg up in hiring and mentorship. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same in white shoe accounting. And there are going to be lots of clients with a military background who you can bond with. Plus, Christ, doesn't DOD outsource its own auditing to one of the Big Four? (Or am I thinking of DOJ?) Go speak military to them or whatever.

Wow, really? That was really unexpected. I'd be really glad if this situation is commonplace in the business/finance sector as well.

Thanks for sharing bro, I feel a lot better about this decision now.

If anyone else could verify that there's something similar in the biz/fin sectors as well that'd be fantastic.

Lets say i completely fucked up and wont start school till im 25. If I get good stock performance till then (have 5 investopedia accounts with 5 games each, whichever does well show), will i be slightly less fucked?

I can only speak from a personal experience which is far different from yours.

I'm going to be 26 when I graduate. I've flunked out of school twice, but I'm already finically independent while still working on my degree.

In the past 8 years, rather than burying my head in the library and keeping my nose clean (quite literally), I've been exploring who I am and I believe I am a much more rounded person than my peers as a result. The experiences I've had, on my non-traditional route, have led me to meet a wide variety of people and accumulate a wide array of knowledge that cannot be attained in school. I can converse with people on a litany of different subjects and interests. In addition, from this I've gained a great many contacts in different industries and situations in life.

I make an effort to remember every person I talk to and to get them to remember me. I find that the sheer amount of opportunities availabe to me are greater than those of people like my younger sister who finished her degree before me, but is now in a job with only mediocre outlooks.

You would think that having flunked out of school should make me a failure right? Yet, the place I am finishing my degree has given me just short of a full ride, and I have the option to continue being funded for my master's degree if I pursue it there.

Tl;dr the most valuable assets you can have are 1) being sociable and really learning about and from other people, 2) being self-aware enough to make use of your life experiences in ways that make you grow as a person

>going SF
>on 18x

You know the minimum commitment is, I think, 6 years for SOF, not 4, right? They train you for around 2 years then deploy you on and off for four.

How short of a stint? The Q course alone is 12 months. That isnt including time at the unit.

>I'm in really good shape currently
Physical shape is one part, dealing with the course is another. People say it's hard, and it's moreso depressing than anything. You'll have to do a lot of pointless repetitive tasks over and over before you get to do anything cool. Also you better hope the people you're stuck with don't suck. If they do, it's going to make it that much more miserable.
I don't know how user will do, but the fact that he's more worried about finance after he leaves, rather than serving is kinda odd to me. This is a big commitment.

Yeah basically. I wouldn't worry about it anyway. They only hire the top 0.01% of people graduate with a finance degree. They work insane hours and you would not want to work for them anyway. So many people flock to them. Who are they going to hire out of a 27 year old fresh grad who potentially wants to get serious with kids and a family very shortly or are they going to hire a 22 year old who has alot less chance of bailing on them because of family stuff.

No, you're an idiot. Unless you go to a prop firm or something like that, and even then they will want to see real money being traded under their management to make sure you arent lying.

Branch of special forces primarily dealing with domestic terrorism; no overseas deployment.

You're right, but for some reason I can just choose to... switch off? I don't quite know how to explain it, but I'm not worried about it. I'm thinking more in the long-term, you know? Special forces isn't something I'd wanna do for the long-term.

>They only hire the top 0.01% of people graduate with a finance degree.

Not what others in the industry tell me... Actually I was in Banking for a while, that's why I'm asking about the long-term effects. What I heard is that they hire primarily from target schools, even those without finance degrees.

Being financially independent at this age with little to no debt must feel great. Thanks for telling us your story.

>In the past 8 years... I've been exploring who I am and I believe I am a much more rounded person

Wanna tell us what you've been doing? Surely it wasn't much of a surprise that your experiences were looked upon favorably if you were working with a start-up/volunteering or something along those lines.

>even those without finance degrees

Absolutely true. Engineers, math, cs, finance, accounting, law. Even some of the more artsy ones (rarely) are possible.

>primarily from target schools

Yes, also absolutely true

No long term effects because of your age IF you get in. The effect is getting in because you will be graduating years after and obviously age plays a factor in no work life balance industries like IB.

I was exaggerating about the 0.01%. Target school, non retard degree, a GPA that makes you says "wow", solid related work experience and lots of good extra curricular.

Then you get an internship with an IB and they teach you and you work for them over a summer and winter and maybe even 1-2 days a week.

Then you will be offered a graduate position for a year down the track.

>Branch of special forces primarily dealing with domestic terrorism; no overseas deployment.
>Special forces
>Primarily dealing with domestic terrorism
>Special forces
>No overseas deployment

Faggot you don't even know what special forces are. Eat a dick you no-serve fucking monkey.

Not everyone is based in the US you donkey

Special forces means something very specific. You're looking for SOF, special operations forces.

>You're right, but for some reason I can just choose to... switch off? I don't quite know how to explain it, but I'm not worried about it. I'm thinking more in the long-term, you know? Special forces isn't something I'd wanna do for the long-term.

Stop embarrassing yourself.

Do you really think that I'd be making a mistake at this point? I'm from a small neutral country that's facing threats from ISIS. This branch of special forces was created just to combat terrorism. May come as a shocker, but military forces differ from place to place.

Yes, hilarity. Thanks for contributing to the thread

Yeah, you might be uncomfortable being in some lecture halls with people 5 years younger than you. But, its not a bad deal considering the free or relatively low tuition fees and college pussy you could easily slay.

In college I met several post military guys that assimilated really well the college lifestyle. Just know, you're postponing some years you could have been making money.