In this edition of New Year’s Q&A, we cover everything from the ever-persistent questions on pay and fashion to banking in different regions, business school, different strategies for breaking in, and even some more questions on the new interview guide.

Some of the interviews and other content planned for 2009 will address these questions in more detail, but hey, why not get started early and kick off the New Year with a bang?

Pay & Fashion

I’ve already said I don’t have a crystal ball, but that doesn’t stop readers from thinking I can predict the future when it comes to bonuses… and somehow I’m a fashion expert now?

1. I just graduated from my college. I would like to own my own mansion in downtown Manhattan, and have a net worth of at least 8 figures by the time I am 30. Is it better to join an existing finance firm to do this, or should I start a fund or business on my own?

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“Wait, so should I go to business school? Things will be better 2 years from now, right?”

“Should I join the Peace Corps and start my job search afterwards?”

“What if I become a ski bum temporarily and then take advantage of the next upturn in the market?”

No, no, no.

The market might be much worse 2 years from now. The world might go into a deep, 20-year depression that makes that Great Depression thing look like a minor blip.

Or maybe we’ll pull through this in under a year and get back to those attention-starved models and bottles.

But truthfully, I haven’t a clue as to what will happen and neither does anyone else - and trying to “time the market” is like spending all your spare cash on lottery tickets: time-consuming and expensive with no guarantee of a payoff.

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In this week’s edition of Q&A (we’ve had Rapid-Fire, Lightning, 100-Meter Dash and now Light Speed… suggestions for new names are welcome), I once again compress as much information as possible into as few words as possible.

Surprisingly, this week we cover some questions that aren’t related to economic collapse / the end of investment banking as we know it / other end-is-nigh scenarios.

And we start with a question relevant to everyone from kindergartners to seasoned pros: the sick day. Oh, and marriage, which I suppose is less relevant to kindergartners.

Sick Days, Marriage & Yerba Mate

1. I recently had a cold and took a day off from work. Can you take sick days as an investment banker? Or do you have to come to the office even if you’re dying?

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What is Investment Banking?: Ari Gold: What Bankers Actually Do, Why NOT Do Investment Banking

Investment Banking Lifestyle: A Day in the Life - Worst Day and Best Day, How to Stay Fit, Investment Banking Wardrobe for Men, Investment Banking Lingo Part 1 and Part 2, A Week in the Life (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Breaking into Finance: How to Get an Investment Banking Job, Networking into Investment Banking, Recruiting in a Tough Market, Breaking in from Engineering, Breaking in from Law, Breaking in from the Back Office

Investment Banking Resumes: How to Write an Investment Banking Resume, How Investment Bankers Read Resumes

Investment Banking Interviews: Investment Banking Interview Guide, The Interview Selection Process, How to Close Your Interviews

Summer Internships: Summer Intern Success Guide, How to Dominate Your Summer Internship, Tips from a Former Summer Analyst, What You Do as a Summer Analyst, 10 Summer Internship "Don't's", How Summer Interns Get Full-Time Offers

Investment Banking Salaries: Investment Banking Salaries vs. McDonald's, Why Investment Bankers Make So Much Money, 2008 Analyst Bonuses

Private Equity / Buyside Jobs: Private Equity Resumes, Private Equity Interviews, The Myth of the Buyside Job, Headhunters: Friend or Foe?

Specific Groups: UBS LA, Boutiques, Restructuring, The Back Office

Quitting Finance: The Conference Room: How You Get Fired, The Farewell Email, A Day in the Life of a Former Investment Banker