With recruiting winding down or virtually over and the recent influx of posts from people who are down on luck I've decided to write a story of two people in my family who "made it" from an extremely unlikely place. The purpose of this post is to encourage people to keep trying.
Person 1: No college education, 4 kids, age 40. This person decides to go back to college to get their business degree at a local college, which is a complete nontarget. This person worked their ass off and made the right connections in school and got an analyst, yes analyst, job at around 43. This person continued to work hard and made MD by 50. A few years later this person sits on the board of directors of a few major companies.
Person 2: Nontarget college, worked in ops from age 20 to about age 30. During this time this person got married and had a few children. This person was determined to get into a front office position from the beginning, but no one ever gave him a chance. Eventually a seat opened up on a trading desk and because of his persistence the firm gave him a shot. This person killed it and went from a mid-level guy on the desk to head of desk within 5 years.
Both of these people still live in the same house they originally bought and raised their children in. Both of these people live modest lives, at least relative to their income; they don't indulge on many things. I will eventually write my story, which is probably a little more applicable to the average WSO reader. The point of this is that if you want it bad enough you will get it. Whether you want to work at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, or wherever. Admittedly, I am an extreme optimist, but getting a job at Goldman Sachs isn't an insurmountable task. You aren't trying to become the starting forward for the Heat or anything here. You may be lost and unsure of what to do next, but take a step back and breath. Don't look at life from such a black and white perspective. Anything worth accomplishing will take hard work, dedication, and time. Formulate a plan and get it done.
Thanks for the post Vi, as a non-target grad whose trying to break into the buy-side posts like this can offer some much needed encouragement.
Great stories. It's always good to hear about outliers like those guys to keep you hungry no matter what stage you are in your professional career. 1 in a million stories coming true gives anyone hope that his/her 1 in 1000 chance to simply move to the BS or move from VP to D/MD can/will happen with hard work.
There are very few things that the average person cannot accomplish with enough hard work, unfortunately a lot of people have there spirit broken before they see there dreams become a reality..
I too can invent feel good stories.
There are a few people on this board who know my identity. I don't post anything inflammatory; I'm on this board to help people, not to troll. WSO has been a great resource for me over the past 4-5 years and I'm trying to contribute what I can in return.
I don't doubt that you have an interesting story but I would rather have person 1 and person 2 tell their story. What went through their head, what tactics they used, what obstacles they overcame etc etc. That's where the real story is. Anyone who's been on WSO for any decent period of time knows anything is within limit.
If you know your shit, work your ass off, make a good impression, and persevere like no other I'd like to think that some day, somewhere, someone will take notice.
Unfortunately, there's a fine line between being gung ho and being practical. Bills need to be paid. Kids need to be fed. Recessions hit. Just expect that things will happen out of your control to screw up your timetable, so that you're not completely demoralized in due time.
I know a guy like #1...no college...navy for like 25 years, came out and went into a local school, went into trading, became a PM.
1 is a straight baller
Always love these inspirational stories.
The average person can't make this happen. You're going to have to be above-average in intelligence AND work your ass off. It's definitely not impossible, but you better have the AV "impossible is nothing" attitude without the bullshit :-p
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