UK
I spent the whole of last week working on my bailout application. No, not the one where I convert myself into a bank holding company, blame everyone but myself for my problems, and claim a piece of the trillion dollar bailout pie. My bailout application was simple – a plea to the bank which gave me my education loan to defer repayment for another six months. Don’t ask me what gives me the confidence that things will be any better in six months! In my current life, postponing the problem is as good as solving it.
I am, however, the perfect bailout candidate, and I have plenty of things other than myself to blame. Specifically, these are:
· Lehman, for going bankrupt.
· The US government, for failing to bail out Lehman.
· The banks – see below.
Why the banks are to blame for my predicament
I blame the banks for my precariously leveraged position. They readily offered unsecured debt at attractive terms to fund my business school expenses. They also encouraged me to benchmark my loan against the Euribor, which continued rising while all around me (think GDP, S&P, interest rates) was falling.
It helped that the top business schools around the world have (or, should I say, had) guaranteed loan programmes.
These were designed to attract the best international talent. The loans didn’t require co-signors or lien against property. They were unsecured and based solely on your admission to the business school.
In my school, the bank giving the loan insisted that all international students take out an insurance policy covering them in case of any ‘unforeseen’ events. The exorbitant insurance cost (almost 10% of the tuition fee) was conveniently added to the principal. Given that I had limited funding options in my home country, my arms were tied. The only way I could get into the school was by taking the student loan and swallowing the terms of the insurance policy.
The insurance illusion
The policy and the unsecured nature of the loan gave me the false confidence that I would be relatively safe even if the headwinds became rough. Little did I know!
After being made redundant at Lehman, I wrote to the insurance company and asked them to cover my loan repayments until I found another job. Much to my surprise, they quoted fine print in the policy which stated that I had to claim unemployment benefits in my country of work to claim insurance. However, UK unemployment benefit is accessible only to people who have worked for over two consecutive years in the country. I could feel the train wreck hitting me head on.
After negotiating with the bank for over two months, we have finally come to an agreement: I can defer principal repayments for six months. For now, my contract job helps me pay the bills. But if things do get worse, me and my friends from FIG might buy an almost bankrupt US bank (idea courtesy of Aegon) and join the real bailout circus.
Boring …… Sarah, we are tiring of the bleating of these industry “virgins” experiencing their first set back in life – let’s have some experienced voices back. Will someone please shut the nursery door !
Personally i think this is an interesting story. Well done to the author for taking the initiative and not just awaiting the worst.. I can hardly be called a “virgin” with some 23 years under my belt, although my start( no degree, no languages, no experience) would seem to be a million miles away from the authors, i can empathise. I have not experienced a jobs market like this. Unfortunately it looks as though it will get colder before we see the bottom of the market.. I have enjoyed my career but cannot in all honesty see myself talking up the City to my offspring who are fast approaching decision time with regards to jobs.The money is the only real saving grace, putting that one side i can see so much more in the way of rewarding roles in the workplace.
Look hard its all out there, there is no need to work excessive hours doing often very mundane roles just for the money
i bet the author “anonymous” is from either India or China or another similar developing country. He is loath o go back to his home country becuase there is NO unemployment benefit there. Hence the long explanation about insurance / benefits. He wants the easy life in a well paid job in the relatively rich UK. Just because he went to a top business school does he seriously think he is top talent? I have worked with people with no Ivy league MBA but are much, much more hungrier for it than this guy.
Bla bla bleating. Caveat emptor. Your choice, your risk. The lesson: always have a plan B, don’t over leverage and READ THE SMALL PRINT. If business school didnt teach you common sense what was the point? Fact is you took the risk , you didn’t have a plan B and you ddn’t read the small print and now youre paying the price – what makes you different from people who overleveraged to pay their mortgage? Maybe you’re writing this online in order to elicit sympathy in the hope that it will stop you wanting to kick yourself. Well kick yourself then go out, get a job – whatever job you need to cover your repayments and pay the loan off. Chalk this up to experience, deal with it and move on
Now come on, let’s talk sense M&A Banker. Assuming you’re correct about this guy’s background – do you honestly think a qualified hard-working foreigner with the initiative to leave his homeland to make a better life for himself abroad would want to stay in the costs of London so that he can get a paltry 60.50 per week? That would only just cover the cost of his Oyster ticket and a couple of pints…
M&A Banker, what is wrong with you? You should know better than making such stereotypical remarks as these? You are probably a grown up, else I would have told you quite frankly to GROW UP!
Anyway on a downturn, you would expect losses to be made and thus you can not make an omelette before cracking some eggs.
I think the author is right to take the bull by the horns. It’s natural to look for someone to blame and it is a difficult thing to go through what many of us are experiencing. As the reality is dawning that banking will be different after this only makes it more difficult as time goes on. There will be fewer jobs in banking and smaller bonuses. Being dumped on the job market at this time is tough and many other MBAs are in the same boat. And there will be that many more MBAs a year from now, but probably only fewer jobs.
My advice, put your MBA to real use. Go out and start your own company. It will be the craziest thing you’ll ever do, but you’ll be your own boss.
M&A Banker is just some loser who thinks so many Indians and Chinese should not work in the city. If those blokes got into top business schools coming from third world countries.. then sure as hell they are smart
Also…. re unemployment benefit – it does require long explanation because it is very tricky and most ex bankers don’t qualify. I tried this when I took a sabbatical – there are two routes and one is cut off if you earned too much and the other is cut off if you haven’t been in employment for ‘x’ amount fo time… so these actually sound like UK rules the person is referring to.
type is too small to read..not me..onlt this efinancial careers do this!
You borrowed money without thinking too hard whether you could pay it back. What use an MBA if you don’t understand that simple issue. You and everyone like you are as much to blame as the banks for the current mess. We should not be expected to bail you out, directly, through taxes or through our investments in banks. Your degree should be repossessed!
The first rule of business my learned friend is READ THE SMALL PRINT. Its good to see you put that MBA you “paid” thousands of pound for to good use. I don’t like to sound negative but you put yourself in this predicament and now you want to blame everyone else, apart from your MBA educated self. I do feel sorry for you but that ain’t going to help you in anyway. You either shape up or ship out. .
Another poor wee me story – get a bleeding grip !
How useless is our generation that people think they “deserve” and are “entitled” to things.
Are eFinancial actually capable of finding an interesting story about a guy who can inspire others ??
Why is everyone giving this person a hard time? It’s not like s/he is begging for sympathy and looking for a handout at every corner. To me, it read like a humorous anecdote of his situation and how he’s trying to overcome his problems.
attempted reader – hold CRTL and scroll up with your mouse
You can only blame yourself for anything.
** New Trend **
UK labour economy is a mess = UK families moving to the Middle (Dubai, Kuwait) for work
Should they just ‘go home’ as well?
M&A Banker: Discuss.
Moron.