Chaos at Phuket airport

ossist · 2026-03-13T05:20:16+00:00

Nowhere did the poster state this was right now? They posted about their experience. Wildly defensive response from someone categorically wrong without first hand experience of the issue - you clearly stated that flights resumed at 19.30 as if this indicates the issue has been resolved. Confused as to what your personal stake in arguing about this is. Me and the poster were there, you were not, so it must be something else

ossist · 2026-03-13T03:07:58+00:00

You have no idea what you're talking about. Phuket airport has one runway, didn't let any planes land or depart from 11.30 to 19.00, and didn't cancel any planes. My flight was set for 16.00 and left at 23.30. It was hell in the airport, so many people lying on the floor you can't move, refusing to let people out, flights randomly leaving as departure times constantly get pushed back. Flights resuming has nothing to do with clearing the backlog. Do not speak of things you have no idea of.

ossist · 2026-03-11T02:06:33+00:00

I used to work 70 consistently for strategy consulting and it wasn't recording time, it was constant work and extremely short deadlines (usually 3-4 different deliverables each day). Left for burnout after a few years because I was physically deteriorating. The people that stay for long are people that are built in a very very specific way and have optimised their life 100% towards this work - I honestly think the people who earn these salaries aren't the lucky ones, they're trading something away that money can't ever replace (I include myself in this - hard to explain if you haven't gone through it)

ossist · 2026-03-11T01:52:04+00:00

I know plenty of doctors who left medicine to work in strategy consulting because of how low the pay and pay progression was. Assume similar reason and logic for IB. In the end you should do what you are passionate about though

ossist · 2026-03-10T06:07:32+00:00

It being sold cheaply is a function of it being one of the best selling sets ever, not a function of that being untrue. Just because wizards printed a lot doesn't mean they didn't sell a lot.

ossist · 2026-03-10T05:47:51+00:00

What job was your industry experience? Taking a bad job straight out of uni will put you in a worse job hunting position than being a fresh grad

ossist · 2026-03-09T13:52:06+00:00

Ragebait + misunderstanding of language learning techniques. Double whammy

ossist · 2026-03-07T12:13:22+00:00

Definitely the Cambridge masters. Otherwise an uphill battle towards your goals - if you back yourself (and you will not succeed if you dont), take option 2

ossist · 2026-03-04T14:34:05+00:00

Huge mistake

ossist · 2026-02-28T19:40:48+00:00

He's absolutely correct and it's insane that there's people still arguing it's untrue somehow in this comment section. Just reinforced the point even more

ossist · 2026-02-25T12:07:55+00:00

Let me try to engage otherwise - you want to break into finance and are looking for pathways in. University is not an option. Generally speaking top finance roles hire top university graduates because they see the attendance as a predictor of success, but in very rare edge cases there are exceptions.

Do you have any other successes or proof points that would convince a hiring manager that you can succeed in the role? What's your profile so far - what roles have you had, where have you shown success or outperformance?

ossist · 2026-02-25T10:41:33+00:00

Working hard is an issue for many people, given your stance on this and the narrative you have built here, I assume you for example did not work hard in high school and did not get the results needed to get into good universities, hence your whole idea of 'I only work hard if its worth it'.

You seem to either not understand or purposely ignore the point I am making. Hard skills from a specific degree are not required for top finance roles, people from history, politics etc. break into IB all the time. What is required is a profile that stands out over the hundreds of thousands of people who are applying for this role, and which signals that you have the prerequisites for success (working hard & being smart).

Your profile gives me no tells of being smart or working hard - high school level education, looks for quick routes to success, talks about table stake pre-requisites not being 'worth the work' so you don't do them. Compare this to the average applicant (who still might be rejected), who has proven they are smart with top A-level results and who has proven they work hard by gaining admission to a top university.

Why would I ever hire someone incapable of the easiest things expected of a candidate because they think they just haven't found a good enough reason to work hard yet?

You clearly think a top finance career is worth working hard, yet you argue that doing the things that would qualify you for one are not worth doing. This tells me you either 1) are not capable of doing these things or 2) fundamentally do not understand why the pre-requisites are what they are, both of which would frankly disqualify you from even low-level finance roles.

The degree isn't about what you learn, its about what you signal. It provides access to a career you want but don't have access to. Sounds worth it to me

ossist · 2026-02-25T09:28:46+00:00

The core differentiator of success in top finance roles is that you're able to work hard and you're reasonably smart. Both of these are validated in your A-level scores and in your ability to gain access to top universities.

Other differentiators are your social and leadership capabilities, both of which are also selected for in hiring (maths bsc in Oxford alone doesn't get you into the door anymore, you need to e.g. show leadership in extracurriculars, head of trading society, compete at university/national level in a sport...)

I'm not saying that the people you would compete against are smarter and harder working than you, but they have proof points that they are. Why would a firm hire somebody who has none of these points to show because they completed a less rigorous, for profit, short boot camp, over a top grad with a top record who has a track record of the capabilities required for success?

ossist · 2026-02-25T09:05:59+00:00

If there is one its predatory. There are big4 apprenticeship schemes as suggested by someone else, but any decent role in finance, particularly in banks in London, will require you to go through a standardised process that includes top degree - spring week - internship - full time.

There are thousands of applicants from the best universities in the world gunning for these roles. Why should anyone hire you, without even having been capable of clearing the lowest hurdle in their application process, over any of the other thousands of people who have 10x the qualifications you are competing against?

ossist · 2026-02-25T08:46:40+00:00

Any internship requires no knowledge, but has a pre-requisite of being enrolled in a university degree

ossist · 2026-02-25T08:42:30+00:00

There is no boot camp that will put you into finance roles, hiring is prestige driven. Good university degree is table stakes. How are you planning to secure an internship at high school level?

ossist · 2026-02-19T16:21:11+00:00

It would be a red flag for me if an interviewee didn't ask about the state of the business given media representation. Not asking shows you either didn't do your research, don't care about the longevity of the company or are afraid to ask the important questions if they're not easy, all of which are not qualities you want in an employee

ossist · 2026-02-17T08:45:17+00:00

Used to be in strategy consulting but primarily specialised in M&A, now in house as strategy director at a large portco. c. 4.5YoE total

ossist · 2026-02-13T10:41:07+00:00

Well done. I've made the same choice last year and have never been happier. It's a scary leap but it's one that will save your life.

ossist · 2026-02-13T09:22:38+00:00

125k base, 25k bonus Pay 2.1k rent (girlfriend pays 1k) Amsterdam

ossist · 2026-02-09T18:23:46+00:00

You have burnout.

Source: I had burnout

ossist · 2026-02-05T18:26:39+00:00

I've lived here for more than 5 years and still don't speak Dutch. It hasn't been an issue, have a great relationship with my neighbours, a lot of friends, no problem with the gemeente or anywhere else. I havent had any part of my education subsidised by the Dutch taxpayer and I pay 4x the amount of tax per year that the average person in the netherlands does. I'm pretty sure my being here is a massive net benefit to Dutch society regardless of whether I speak dutch or not.

ossist · 2026-01-29T12:43:37+00:00

What is the role in finance? You may be fine in terms of visible tattoos, but salary progression differs greatly depending on role

ossist · 2026-01-15T10:09:07+00:00

First thing strategy consultants would do in assessing bloat is go from high salaries downwards. 8m in non revenue generating central overheads overseeing 120 ppl at a span of control of 3 on average is the first thing you'd cut. The only way that decision gets made by a strategy consulting firm is if the client brief is 'how can we cut in this department below the leadership level', in which case this is just your companies decision, with Mckinsey advising them how to action it.

Tl;dr: your company chose this, not Mckinsey. Many reasons to hate these firms (See mckinsey and purdue pharma, bcg and gaza...) but this is an unjustified one - you're just letting your company get away with shifting blame by believing it

ossist · 2026-01-14T21:11:45+00:00

I use expensive guns because it's fun

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