Advice for Ivy League student. Internship at military defense contractor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you let your kid pursue a career that is enjoyable to them and pays decently instead of one that is "highly selective" and "lucrative?" That is the question you should be asking.

My son wants to make money. We are middle middle class.

It's a good stable decently paying job if he can get a clearance. What do you condor middle class? It pays per contract and it takes about 10 years to get enough experience.

[Anonymous]

Many of the defense contractors my husband knows live in $5M to $10M mansions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't believe this question. I have worked at Ivys/elite schools. No student would even think of defense contracting.

+1

It’s like 10 rungs below Google, GS, etc. It’s filled with a bunch of old, retired military dudes.


Not to mention, he would be making products that kill people.

Not my goal for my child, personally.
What about World Bank?

[Anonymous]

Is a State Dept. Internship helpful as a foundation for a lucrative career?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't your IVY LEAGUE kid figure this out for themselves?

Most middle class Ivy League students are book smart but have zero career exposure and no trusted mentors to turn to. Growing up, the only career I had exposure to where teacher, mechanic, and factory worker — I did have one friend whose dad was a doctor, but he trained overseas.

Sure he can google but I found career services pretty thin for actual “will I make enough money to be comfortable” and much more “how can you make the world a better place with fulfilling work”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the defense contractors my husband knows live in $5M to $10M mansions.

Those are usually Vets who start a “vet owned” business, where they are just figure heads, and then they hire actual employees and take a cut of every salary. It’s a volume game, basically a body shop with vet preferences.

Working as middle manger at Lockheed you aren’t buying a $5m house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the defense contractors my husband knows live in $5M to $10M mansions.

Sure they do.

[Anonymous]

My meche son works for a defense contractor. Starting salary was very decent. Not sure if it will be his career path but he is getting good experience and is self supporting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is home for break and mentioned interest in interning for a defense contractor. He is an economics major at an Ivy League college. Great GPA. His best friend is in ROTC with a long-term goal of becoming a contractor, so I think that’s what piqued my son’s interest.

His other friends are landing internships in consulting, banking, tech, politics and preparing for law or medical school. Are there highly selective and lucrative entry level positions in defense? As in similar to having Google, Facebook or Goldman Sachs experience on your resume, if that makes sense.

If your son has interest and an opportunity in defense contracting, he should give the internship strong consideration. If unhappy after 2 or 3 years of post-undergraduate work in this industry, he should consider earning an MBA degree at an M-7 MBA program (Harvard, Stanford, UPenn-Wharton, Northwestern, U Chicago, MIT, & Columbia) or at Dartmouth-Tuck. With this combination (Harvard undergrad degree, 3 years working for a defense contractor, and an M-7 MBA), neither money nor opportunities will be an issue.

The truth is that most wealth is accumulated over long periods of time. A highly intelligent, hard-working Ivy League graduate with reasonable people skills & good health should have no difficulty amassing significant wealth over a 25 year career.

When applying to elite MBA programs,work at a defense contractor will stand out as a positive factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is home for break and mentioned interest in interning for a defense contractor. He is an economics major at an Ivy League college. Great GPA. His best friend is in ROTC with a long-term goal of becoming a contractor, so I think that’s what piqued my son’s interest.

His other friends are landing internships in consulting, banking, tech, politics and preparing for law or medical school. Are there highly selective and lucrative entry level positions in defense? As in similar to having Google, Facebook or Goldman Sachs experience on your resume, if that makes sense.

If your son has interest and an opportunity in defense contracting, he should give the internship strong consideration. If unhappy after 2 or 3 years of post-undergraduate work in this industry, he should consider earning an MBA degree at an M-7 MBA program (Harvard, Stanford, UPenn-Wharton, Northwestern, U Chicago, MIT, & Columbia) or at Dartmouth-Tuck. With this combination (Harvard undergrad degree, 3 years working for a defense contractor, and an M-7 MBA), neither money nor opportunities will be an issue.

The truth is that most wealth is accumulated over long periods of time. A highly intelligent, hard-working Ivy League graduate with reasonable people skills & good health should have no difficulty amassing significant wealth over a 25 year career.

When applying to elite MBA programs,work at a defense contractor will stand out as a positive factor.

Continuing:

The best advice that one could give to one starting in the workplace is to give your employer 100% effort. Hard-work, intelligence, dedication, and loyalty are sure keys to a successful career.

If after a few years of working for a defense contractor your son is unhappy, elite management consulting firms, elite MBA programs, and elite law schools will welcome him with open arms. Your son is not bypassing opportunities in consulting, investment banking, or in any other career for which he is properly educated, he is creating opportunities.

As a family, our biggest regret is turning down the opportunity to attend US service academy in favor of a top 10 university. Help your son to see a vision beyond immediate big bucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. He should just join ROTC. It is respectable and will get him into contracting if that is what he wants to do.

What? How? Unless he actually becomes an officer for a few years, no one will care that he was in ROTC….lol


-signed,
Former ROTC cadet and mil officer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is home for break and mentioned interest in interning for a defense contractor. He is an economics major at an Ivy League college. Great GPA. His best friend is in ROTC with a long-term goal of becoming a contractor, so I think that’s what piqued my son’s interest.

His other friends are landing internships in consulting, banking, tech, politics and preparing for law or medical school. Are there highly selective and lucrative entry level positions in defense? As in similar to having Google, Facebook or Goldman Sachs experience on your resume, if that makes sense.

If your son has interest and an opportunity in defense contracting, he should give the internship strong consideration. If unhappy after 2 or 3 years of post-undergraduate work in this industry, he should consider earning an MBA degree at an M-7 MBA program (Harvard, Stanford, UPenn-Wharton, Northwestern, U Chicago, MIT, & Columbia) or at Dartmouth-Tuck. With this combination (Harvard undergrad degree, 3 years working for a defense contractor, and an M-7 MBA), neither money nor opportunities will be an issue.

The truth is that most wealth is accumulated over long periods of time. A highly intelligent, hard-working Ivy League graduate with reasonable people skills & good health should have no difficulty amassing significant wealth over a 25 year career.

When applying to elite MBA programs,work at a defense contractor will stand out as a positive factor.

Continuing:

The best advice that one could give to one starting in the workplace is to give your employer 100% effort. Hard-work, intelligence, dedication, and loyalty are sure keys to a successful career.

If after a few years of working for a defense contractor your son is unhappy, elite management consulting firms, elite MBA programs, and elite law schools will welcome him with open arms. Your son is not bypassing opportunities in consulting, investment banking, or in any other career for which he is properly educated, he is creating opportunities.

As a family, our biggest regret is turning down the opportunity to attend US service academy in favor of a top 10 university. Help your son to see a vision beyond immediate big bucks.

Uh no. OP’s kid will be throwing away many opportunities if he heads into defense contracting for a few years.

Defense contracting will always be there is other opportunities don’t work out. The opposite is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think as a middle class student at an Ivy, he sees all the advantages his peers have at getting into connected jobs in banking and tech (private school classmates already working there, family connections, prestige job parents, even on sports teams like lacrosse (search for IB banker lacrosse poster, his brick headed son got IB job with terrible GPA through a teammates dad).

He may be worried he doesn’t have the connections or aptitude to succeed in the competitive world of BigTech and finance — and the stability and relative well paid work at a govt contractor (and probably better work life balance a Gen z staple) may be what is attracting him. He doesn’t have a fall back plan to work for his dads firm or what not, so probably looking at the long view.

I would tell him the gov contracting job will always be there, he has the degree to lateral in at any time even as a finance wash out. But it maybe an experience he may want to avoid and already feels out of place as middle class at an Ivy with 40% private school admittance.

An example job in BigTech that may align with his interests. https://www.salary.com/job/amazon-com-services-inc/aws-economic-research-development-manager-aws-public-policy-economic-develop/j202311031951112958890

Eight years’ experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is a State Dept. Internship helpful as a foundation for a lucrative career?

vast majority of those already closed for this coming summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is home for break and mentioned interest in interning for a defense contractor. He is an economics major at an Ivy League college. Great GPA. His best friend is in ROTC with a long-term goal of becoming a contractor, so I think that’s what piqued my son’s interest.

His other friends are landing internships in consulting, banking, tech, politics and preparing for law or medical school. Are there highly selective and lucrative entry level positions in defense? As in similar to having Google, Facebook or Goldman Sachs experience on your resume, if that makes sense.

Anduril

Palantir

I don’t think they’re looking for Econ students. Tech, physics, engr