WSO, They say not to give up and that you'll succeeded, but how much sh*t do you have to go through? How many times do you have to fail in order to succeed?
Need motivation monkeys, dont post YouTube videos of athletes or pornstars...I need real stories.
Mod (Andy) note: See great responses below by UFOinsider & rufiolove
| +89 | Zoomers are doing life wrong | 28 | 23m | |
| +52 | How to get rid of prestige obsession | 24 | 1d | |
| +44 | How to develop a thick skin? | 22 | 4d | |
| +36 | Analysts & Crying | 13 | 2d | |
| +34 | Insurance as High Finance? | 10 | 15h | |
| +30 | Framed Photo of CEO on desk. | 16 | 2h | |
| +30 | Would you rather live alone in an outer borough or with roommates in Manhattan? | 22 | 3h | |
| +25 | GF doesn’t care about her looks | 24 | 1h | |
| +23 | BO -> ??? | 14 | 3d | |
| +21 | Best habits/hacks to maximize limited free time as an analyst | 5 | 3h |
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Wish there was an easier answer but the truth is "as much as it takes." You only need one yes. Try reaching out to a few mentors for an honest assessment of what you are doing wrong. It is definitely a tough year and in a better year you might have been a shoe in for certain places you are getting rejected from now, but you'll appreciate breaking into the industry in a year like this a lot more than someone who is getting in on a favor.
Take a day off to have some fun, go get wasted and forget about this for a night... It isn't going to cost you anything and you could definitely benefit from a change of pace. I just did this last weekend... had been working on this monster deal (currently falling through which in and of itself is incredibly frustrating) and I took time to go meet up with some friends and get blasted. I took stock and realized I hadn't had any fun in a solid month and a half to two months. Some people might be hardcore and think that's what it takes for success but I disagree. What I found was that even though I was concentrating all my efforts and working my ass off, that I was suffering from a lack of perspective and I wasn't communicating effectively and would become unnecessarily defensive. After having a weekend to relax and do things I wanted to do, I realized that I was obsessing over things I couldn't control. It doesn't matter how badly I want the deal to go through or how many hours I work, if the client views it as a square peg - round hole situation, it simply isn't going to be. You can apply this to your situation. Maybe you are doing everything you can do and it's simply a timing issue. If that's the case, it is a numbers game and the more you interview the better your odds of success will become. If it's an inadequacy in your approach, the good news is that you can correct it.
I know it can be difficult to believe that success will come, but if you keep after it, someone is going to be willing to take a chance on you and then all you have to do is do what you've been doing and prove them right. Have some fun, don't lose sight of what is important and make sure that you realize that this "too shall pass."
Exit opp: motivational speaker
I wish the SB situation was working, I'd be up-repping rufio.
Nice advice rufio,,but im not in IB ..im just getting frustrated trying to leave my tech job and starting my own biz..yea man a day off really helps to unwind...once or twice in a month i hit the reset button
serious shit right there. thanks rufio.
"A year ago I would have stood up here and told you to do anything it takes to get what you want in life, even if it almost kills you. But, over the last year, I learned something. The thing about that is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. I can honestly say it was worth it. It sucks, but its worth it.' -Conan O'Brien
College: state school Major: Psychology, Ancient Religions GPA: 2.01 (out of 4, barely made it through) Internships: none Research: none Experience: bartender
Story:
Was contacted by top schools coming out of high school, including an ivy. Stayed local, for whatever reason, for better or for worse. Family tragedies, loss of parent, ensuing total failure of person during early 20's. Consider joining military b/c it was what straightened out all of the other knuckleheads in family for past four generations...plus it's cool. You get a fucking gun and get in shape. Downside...death. No biggie, better than this life, fuckit, always wanted to join anyway. It's also an honorable thing to do. Start talking to recruiters, running, and doing pushups and pullups.
THEN.......
Was bartending as Lehman, AIG, everything exploded, had been working in restaurants for decade. Some regulars had worked in now dearly departed firms. They were drunk and sobbing, had to carry one guy home (on multiple occaisions)...dude had really nice house. Gave lots of drinks away at that time, felt really bad for them, listened to their life story OVER AND OVER. Learned that Wall Street isn't just for rich people: YOU CAN GET A JOB THERE AND MAKE THAT MONEY They all landed on their feet, were grateful for the kindness, advised me to go back to school and work in NYC.
Went back to school.
Networked balls off in last semster, graduated in fall of '09, landed three internships two weeks out of school (they assumed I was still a student) and took two * MM EQR * corpfin (F1000 company, had bad feeling, didn't accept, company went bankrupt three months later) * market research
Internships were crap pay, had to continue working behind bar while scheduling hours around other two jobs and one last class from vocational school (backup plan). Average of 6 hours of sleep for a year, worked seven days a week, sometimes had to travel from South NJ, to NYC, to Central NJ coast area, to central Jersey 20 miles inland.....sometimes all in one day. Help family + friends start small gold trading company while they're unemployed. Business makes small fortune, branches out into all sorts of stuff, I get credit for helping make it happen. Put +/- 35,000 miles on car that year.
Continued to network balls off.
Started reaching out to recruiters, started at Addeco, didn't know better. Discover linkedin, no one wants to talk to me, start pestering recruiters. Invite returned by recruiter from Linkedin in March 2009, got interviews for "entry level jobs" in branch banks, random corporate work, admin assistant in NYC, etc etc etc bullshit jobs. Went to interviews anyway to practice. Second recruiter from linkedin finally gets back to me in October, wants to meet. I go in. They tell me I need a suit.
Who knew?
Buy suit, stumble across M&I and finally get a clue. Get interview with MM AM product group in December 2009. Kill the interview: meh experience but a lot of it, GPA never comes up, they all want to know what commods markets are going to do. Wall Street VP asking me what I'd buy, quite a trip, avoid answering at all costs, learned to dance around topics while bartending. VP eating out of my hand, associate directors don't like me, MD hugs me. Strange, but good sign. NEVER LET ON HOW MUCH I WANT THIS. Hired to start first week of January 2010. Put in notice, work one more week, sleep for a week, walk in, hit ground running. Previous 'BS' internships actually prepared me very well for job, have interaction with people at former internship...and it is oh so sweet. Fuckers.
....two years later....
Automated my former job, now work on sales end, computer does some ops, I delegate the rest. Still on ops paygrade, below street rate, very bitter about this, dream of putting responsible party to death, MD doesn't like them, note to self. Current role puts me one degree of seperation from CEO on daily basis, still do shots of Jameson with the margins clerks. Now silent partner in small business, still bartend on weekends, figuring out how to start charity sometime this year. Work with kids from targets, some are cool, one is married, some never stop bitching and suck at life, it's just like any other group of people. Continue to network balls off, meet people, make friends, make some really good friends, KIT, all that good stuff and a bag of chips. Sponsored for 7,6, and whatever else I want to take, will get them all if I have time. Underestimated them, seriously understimated them, FAILED seven, feel like a dope, studying balls off, taking again in few weeks, will kill it. When passed, will assume management position here, maybe get paid enough to live like human being in NYC. MD is getting impatient. If so, will move across street from work.
Found WSO last year ....
....and everything changed. Learned that wso/">suits/clothing from K&G, Century 21, and Marshalls don't cut it. Learned how to do resume correctly, learned what C/V is. Bought a pair of Allen Edmonds, good God they're comfortable. Have met hundreds of people in finance, learned about jobs I didn't even know existed. Get lots of resumes from people looking for work, pass them on, build good karma. Learn that strong GMAT + experience + good essays + good interviewing skills + networking + good story can overcome GPA. HBS is out of question...maybe top 20? Still very embarassed by GPA. Was fucking A+ student entire life until college. Fucking academics, spreading bullshit to the youth.
This year, starting Jan 1;
Have come to conclusion that 'finding yourself' is bullshit: study hard, work hard, play hard, be good person, reconcile with family, dream big dreams, go out and do them, hope that afterlife is kind to me....whatever it is. Met some girls, had some fun, got feelings hurt, met more, got hurt again, met one who is really cool, hope it works out, realize I'm family type person...all three current jobs are family owned and/or managed. Also learn that bschool opens a lot of doors, is now focus of my existence. Hope that decent bschool takes me. Wandered into Columbia a little while back, then Rutgers and NYU, started meeting people, kept in touch, will be meeting more people tonight.
Just realized I do this, thanks rufio:
^ figuring out what to do about this. Hopefully get a rest soon, body is tired, eyes are bloodshot, have lost 25 pounds of muscle. Have quit smoking but still drink gallons of coffee, it's not really even working anymore. This pace isn't sustainable, can't even imagine what IBD is like, fuckit, gunning for IBD assoc after MBA, will sleep when dead. If fail, then fuckit, go corporate, its still better than being a bartender in a small town.Still doing pullups/pushups/running, still meet old regulars from bar on PATH, will meet soon for drinks at Ohara's. I do sympathize but fail to see why anyone with half a brain and a decent education can't find a job, change jobs, or start a small business in their basement. Definition of 'decent education', 'job', and 'small business' open to interpretation. It's just a matter of what you want to do with your time.
YOU CAN FUCKING DO IT, NOW GET TO WORK
SB for you man. I love reading these stories about people defying the odds and working their way up.
If anyone else gets motivated and wants to write about how they got where they are today, I've got more SBs waiting.
Wow UFO my respect for you was high before, but now I salute to you, you bring hope into my life!!! +1
YOU CAN FUCKING DO IT, NOW GET TO WORK
Heck yeah!! I totally agree. I came from a similar situation where stuff wasn't going well. Then I said, screw this stuff, totally did a 180, and now things are like one big adventure story.
UFOinsider thanks a lot for the heartfelt reply man...i can sense that its coming from a kind place and i am humbled.
Yea man..its hard to keep on gunning...although i said no youtube shit videos but i love the speech sly gives in rocky 5 (see it if you haven't), it gives me goosebumps whenever i watch it. 99% of people want security over risk and I can clearly see why..because taking risk is worse than death..you dont know the outcome and you dont know if you can ever succeed. Your family turns against you because they think you're a fucking failure, your friends bail on you when they see you struggling and society gives you a middle finger when you no longer have prestige. Your self esteem is fucked and its seems the whole world is against you even you.
I am grateful you shared your story today. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you kill it. Hopefully in 5-10 yrs time, I can invite everyone on WSO whose been kind to me and throw a party which would make the devil ashamed.
SB for you UFO. Way to go man.
Not trying to be an ass, but that's what you can't be thinking. If you know where you want to be, work your ass of until you get there. I mean, not everyone can be Michael Jordan, but anyone can get into finance or quit his job and start his own tech company as it's the case. If you work hard enough you will survive, and even if you fail so what?? You work your ass off again and be an employee again. You just need to want it bad enough so you'll be willing to put the effort.
UFO, you are hott
UFO. Great story, I feel your pain. But, it is motivational and inspiring.
UFO, you are the man. Keep grinding
UFO i didnt know all that about you... good on you sir!
Thanks for the SBs...Patrick is set to charge back the 400+/- that I jacked the other day :D
Definitely great advice UFO... here's some love from me as well +1
Damn, shit just got real.
Fucking hell, are we talking about getting a job in finance or curing cancer whilst scaling the north face....a little bit of perspective monkeys!!!
Samoan bottom ... I think every gets that. Upward mobility and the opportunity to better yourself is kindofa big deal, and what makes this country great. Plus someone has to pay the taxes to support Medicare for all the future cancer drugs.
+1 ufo, inspirational.
heh
Holy fucking shit UFO. You are a god damn champion.
Good stuff UFO. Today's one of those days I need extra motivation.
I always thought UFOinsider was kind of a tool because of his gay screenname, his gay avatar, and his habit of needlessly commenting in every thread to rack up points, but I've gotta say he seems like a great guy.
This thread inspires me like no other.
+1 to rufio now that SBs are back.
Great thread guys :).
I've also learned that a ba~d GPA isnt the worse thing in the world and can overcome it. Great stuff UFO!
Live it up!
Great stuff UFO, very inspiring. If you don't mind, how old are you? Also when do you plan on getting back to B. School? Your story is fuckin good, hopefully you get into a M7..
Depends on how hard you have to push - some people are more apt to work hard in high school, and that hard work pays off by leading to a fairly straight forward path that is challenging but less humbling compared to, say, what a person who graduated college then decided they wanted to go in to finance, who had no experience and who may have gone a year plus of taking unpaid internships might be. Someone who may use the money they've saved, and who may work on the side to be able to take unpaid internships in the industry. Who might be betrayed and screwed over by a boss who for instance might promise a full time job after a set period of time, who then, after several months in to the work, ends up firing all the (full time) unpaid interns including the top performers (who someone may be) who had been busting their ass to just work there.
This, while taking on more unpaid internships in the field, and while getting rejection after rejection from interviews, because in no small part of things wildly out of your control, with so many people are on the market who had lost their jobs. Or when you're fighting those who made better choices and went to better schools, or who are looking to switch or whatever, and you sometimes just lie in your bed staring off in to space, having no desire to do anything but lie there, feeling like something is just grabbing your heart and squeezing.
And such a person may feel like the room they're in is closing in on them,, and they have no money, and they are in debt from your school loans, a year or more after having started working for free, because they want it and have dreams and shit even though they have every reason to think they have no greater chance to succeed in the future than they have already. And they have already given up on hope and looking back, knew it was foolish to have hope after having killed the last interview for which you had directly applicable experience with and which you knew you could succeed in, which you could hit the ground running at, having gotten a rejection email from them earlier in the day.
So its at that point of just being so jaded and cynical about people, your place in the world, and think that you have little reason to keep pushing, you just say "fuck my sadness, and fuck all my emotions" and you keep on plugging, a little more hollow on the inside and with no small amount of regret, and you just keep on going. This while you watch your friends advance and have good lives, and you're still stuck in a rut and you see people who are accomplishing a lot than you.
And still thats having it easy compared to all the people in china, india, n. korea and all those other shitty countries where youd get chewed up and spit out even harder. That is how much shit you have to go through, all while pushing yourself to go on while having/pushing yourself to have no hope so you won't be so disappointed when you get rejected after killing the next interview, so you can spend less time fantasizing how great it would be to not work for free anymore and so that you can spend more time working and applying to jobs so you actually have a shot at making your dreams in to reality.
UFO, to say you have giant balls of steel is to say nothing. I admire people who live their dreams and do what they feel right. Wish you best of luck in future, you truly deserve it
Yea man, I can say that I agree with you 100%.
I go to a non-target ( I am a Frosh) and every fucking second, for some reason, I think about Wall Street, how should I get my leg up in the game? Who should I email? Even when I am on a date or at the club or something else fun it is ALWAYS on my mind.
I honestly think I am fucking insane, but I feel like if I don't think about it then I wont have the pressure to do well in school ( since I have to work really hard to get A's). I wont stop thinking about it until I get that BB internship offer, and I have 3 fucking years for that. I am trying to get into leadership programs but those are for sophomores.
I am guessing all you have had this sort of stress too when you were in college. I feel like every homework assignment I turn in will either make me or break my chances of getting on the street.
Any of of feel this way? Its sickening ( like I have headaches), only way to feel better is sex, drinks, and working out.
I just need to get in a fight, that will put this all in perspective lol
You sound like Brady.
Haha well I deserve this stress since I didnt accept my admission to NYU Stern cuz I didnt want my dad to commit suicide trying to help me pay for it so I (like UFO) decided to stay locally, I think I may have made a mistake.
exactly how I feel actually. Now I am a college sophomore, but I break it down. I tell myself I am working for first semester of junior year because that is when recruiting starts, and I should have a summer offer = FT offer.
That mindset made me go insane and breakdown a couple times, but honestly it has put me into a great position. It got me a boutique offer for my freshman summer, and pulled my GPA up from below a 1.7 to a 3+ in a matter of two semesters. I am retaking some classes now, so I should have above a 3.46 by the end of this semester which I could round up to a 3.5.
feelsgoodman.jpg
You work towards recruiting season...not until the end of college - you can hold steady once you get an offer
Gratz bro thats an amazing jump GJ with the fight, I actually am apply to SEO and I have a M&A internship at a startup, but still in fucking head I am thinking that I need more even though I know I cant. I guess I am just fed up with learning pointless shit... I hate how college tries to make you all-rounded....... If someone offered me a Stock brokerage training program, I honestly would just drop out of school now.....haha.
Thats the other thing, Its like I like little aspects out of ER, IBD, and S&T and would be willing to do either lol.
I agree with you on the breaking down part I agree.... I guess this is why I love WSO so much I can relate with people, my roomates all are fine with working a 9-5 job at Abercrombie and Fitch ( which isn't a bad thing) I just personally could not live with a 9-5 job like that. I want to be one with the markets, the global events, politics and make investment choices based on that. That's why I think I would enjoy FX trading, but then again I hear traders are getting fired like nothing. So then I go back to IBD because I feel like modeling could be interesting too.
Ugh the confusion
I understand you bro, being a freshman also i think about it a lot. aside from the part about being out at the club thinking about it and what not lol.
I understand you 100% bro. I think a lot of my motivations comes from just wanting to break in early on during my college years, getting a soph. internships that will lead into a jr yr internship and hopefully a full time. As far as the comment you made regarding your roommates being cool with working a 9-5 at abercrombie, funny thing is, that's how my roommate is lol.
Honestly before joining this site, i was the kid that would have been content with a 3.2/3.3, after joining I saw the importance of trying to get above 3.5 and coming from a non target a 3.7+ is what i'm aiming for.
but man i try not to stress myself about it, i know i want it real bad but i still want to have fun. Bang a lot of these freshman girls that are spending their first time away from home, and making my way up to some sophomores lol. I don't want to be too tight on myself, but i am still chasing a dream and during my journey i'm enjoying myself.
I just stumbled upon this website like 2-3 years ago, and learned everything here. I just need above a 3.5 to get into IB but my dream is 3.7+ (as you mentioned). I have a 4 now but its only my first quarter.
GL to you I honestly hope to meet you on the street man. I so do. I like your thinking and I honestly wish I could think that way, but when I am fucking my GF that and when I am with her in general is the only time when money is not on my mind lol. Its really a sickness. I also find it relaxing to go to my student organization meetings.
My mentor told me something that I follow my life on. Awake, Arise, and sleep not until you reach your goals.
.
Ohh and the fact that nobody will hire a trader from OSU,
Thank you this helped a lot
rufio's story was inspiring.
I've been a longtime lurker and thought there were a bunch of lulz trolls here, but apparently, there are actually some good-hearted, helpful people here.
Kudos.
And just a word of advice to the freshmen in here, use your school's Career Center. Get alumni e-mails and send them out in a frenzy.
I did this to 100+ alumni and you won't believe how many detailed replies I got back. It was really surprising and humbling at the same point.
If I had known about this^ earlier, I probably wouldn't have to be sh*tting bricks the way I am now about that much coveted junior year summer internship.
Alsatian I agree with you, but I have heard from some kids at my school who work at GS that if you use that alumni early on its hard to maintain that relationship and if you fuck up then it less of a string to pull. They tell me to wait until my sophomore year for that. For now I am guess I am satisfied with my internship this year, but its just that I want to get into a sophomore rotational program so I am starting some networking with alumni in the next couple months. One of the GS guys also tells me that IB recruiting is marathon not a sprint..... the problem is that I played Football and tennis in high school and I prefer sprints a lot better... ugh its just being patient which really pisses me off because I would love to network insanely, but they too much isnt good because people you next now with may leave the firm in 2 years so no point.
In short, a least five years worth. You asked for some stories. Here's mine.
Undergrad: CUNY school, 2006 Student debt upon graduation: $17k GPA: 3.5 Major: humanities Internships: none. Had to work my ass off waiting tables to pay rent
Wanted to go to law school and applied for an ops position at a middle market bank to bide time and study for the lsat. It was before the market shit the bed so jobs were still Plentiful. Got hired, started in jersey city and worked for about 1 yr doing some truly horrible, mind melting shit. Started getting interested in commodities markets, learned the bank has a structured commodity finance group in the NY office. In year in, in my annual review I told my bug eyed ops boss that I wanted to be a banker. He laughed and said people from ops don't make it into banking- fk you I thought, I'm doing it, watch me.
So I keep my eyes peeled for a spot in the NY office. ANY spot. Networked my ass off and met the office manager for PWM relationship assistants. Got an interview with a PWM RM. Pure luck, she was from Germany- I happen to speak German, we hit it off, she hired me. Started in NYC in July 2007 - to this day, my comp password is "nycday1"... I was so fucking amped to have "made it" - even if it was from one peon job to another. I was in NY... My foot was in the door, now I just had to open it. So I booked wires, got sponsored for my 7 and passed with a 97%
That got me noticed. People start taking interest in the kid from CUNY who destroyed the 7. Maybe he's not a shit wad, they think. Maybe. But I still have to prove it.
So I learn the firm is closing an office in Dallas. All the client accounts under 5MM have to get the boot, everything else comes to NY for servicing. I put up my hand- shit job, but I'll do it. I coordinated the transfer/closing of about 200 accounts, and didn't fuck up. now the German lady loves me, wants me to succeed, makes me her "project".
Take note - find someone to put you under their umbrella - you can't MAKE anyone move you along - you can make them WANT to move you along. Why? So they feel appreciated- so they feel important. It's a base human desire next to food, sleep, water, and sex- the need to feel important- to feel appreciated.
Ok, I digress. So, where are we- the German SVP, she has it in her head that I can really be something. So, I prove her right.
I network with the person running the firms banking/credit training program. It's not open it internals, she says. Fuck, now what.... More networking. I invite as many people on the training programs "committee" to lunch as possible. I somehow convince them that the whole firm will be better off ifntheybaccept internals into this training program. And I apply. So did 200 other people.
I got in, with 5 other internals. Training program lasts for 4 months, followed by a year of rotations. Commodities banking still in my sights, but still far away. I drop hints about where I want to end up, but always end by saying "but I'll go wherever the firm needs me."
Turns out the firm needed a muni credit analyst. I didn't want to do muni credit... I wanted commods. But I accepted the offer (duh) and went to munis. Spent the yr in munis learning credit and networking with bankers. As luck would have it, a spot opened up in banking... And I got it.
I'm now an AVP and manage a 250MM loan portfolio, generating about 4mm in revenues for the firm. I just brought in a $50MM client to our investment management business. I'm married, have a kid, own a home,and am fucking killing it.
I did it. So can you.
Go.
Nice
great posts UFO & rufio!!!
AVPGuerilla thanks for sharing....now send a turd mail to your previous ops boss
AVP Guerilla great post, I hope the best for you! Thanks for the encouragement
Great post AVP!
You said no YouTube, but I really like this advice so I'm posting a link anyway:
You said no YouTube, but I really like this advice so I'm posting a link anyway:
]
all good brah
First, I want to say that the stories posted by Rufio, UFO, and AVP were amazing. Impressive. I enjoyed reading them and I'm glad you shared your experiences. I SBed each one. With that said, I think I'm going to be the contrarian in this thread and ask you: Are you looking for a means to continue what you're doing? Or are you simply looking for a reason?
Based on my experiences dealing with hardship, when you really want something bad, you don't really care how much effort the endeavor takes; you don't really care what other people think; in fact, you don't really think at all, you just do. I've come to realize that there is no such thing as hard or easy; rather, you're either doing something you want to do, or something that you don't. How often do you hear people complaining about how much effort that had to exert when sleeping with a hot chick they met at the party last night. Didn't think so.
If you're feeling burntout and/or disillusioned (and I'm not insinuating that's the case with you; rather, I'm pre-emptively writing this in case someone that is actually unsure about the profession reads this thread), I would recommend re-evaluating why exactly you are doing what you are doing instead of looking for others for encouragement. Otherwise, you run the risk of "wanting" something because you heard stories about how bad other people wanted it, which is downright dangerous.
BTW, thanks for the SB, I'd give you one but I have a slight account debit at the moment (see profile, it will make sense). Pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today? :D
Haha don't worry UFO ill hook him up :P
Incredible advice in an amazing thread. SB'd. I felt burnout several times, but I never wanted anything this bad before and the re-evaluation just reinforced my belief - I am willing to do ANYTHING to get it. Glad to see I am not alone.
What's interesting is that sometimes you think you want something really bad, get it, and then realize that you don't want it at all. In my opinion though, you can never really know what you'll like, so it's best to just work like hell towards your goals, and then readjust later (if need be).
This a million times over.
I have to confess: this topic is my go-to inspiration primarily because I haven't heard back from any places I've applied to for summer internships at all.
Damn. Congrats to all of you have already started first-round/final interviews.
It truly is a rough environment out there. The old ways of getting a job through a combination of high GPA, nice resume, OCR are all neccessary, but not sufficient. You just have to learn the rules of the game and how to hustle and take what is rightfully yours. It is 100% true when people say that you are not given anything in life. You have to know what you want and know how to get it.
born in hell, forged from suffering, hardened by pain.
Figured I would post on this thread, hopefully a different perspective will help someone trying to break in...
WSO is an unbelievable resource of information but you have to realize that it is not reality. So many cliche responses, ideas, and opinions are regurgitated over and over that people start to accept them as set-in-stone fact.
Common schools of thought that are plastered all over WSO threads: 1) Once you start in PWM it is impossible to get out of. You will be forever pigeonholed. You won't learn anything or gain any valuable skills. 2) MSFs are a waste of money. They are only for undergrad underachievers who couldn't get a job. 3) IBD is the end-all-be-all.
Its a good thing I decided not listen because: 1) I started in PWM after undergrad. Yes - I did not do any modeling or learn in depth technical skills, but that environment boosted my people/communication/presentation skills, confidence, etc. to a ridiculous level.
2) I am currently in an MSF. I have been learning a ton and gaining plenty of technical and modeling skills. Just went through recruiting season and I was blown away by how comfortable I was at networking events, info sessions, interviews, and superdays (mostly because how much I matured through my prior WE in PWM). I had a few interviewers outright tell me at the end of interviews what a relief it was to interview someone relaxed and personable because everyone else interviewing was either acting extremely proper/not-relaxed or stressed out and nervous. 3) I received multiple FO offers (these aren't BB but very solid shops) and guess what? ... I actually turned down an IBD offer (gasp!) for similar but different FO non-IBD role.
Moral of the story = Blaze your own path... and limit the amount of time you spend on WSO. Get out in the real world and experience things.
I wish I didn't have to take the long way to get to where I am but I am definitely better for it. Be true to yourself, develop your goals, determine different paths to reach them, prepare prepare prepare, and then just put in the time, effort, and hard work.
UFOinsider +1 its stories like that that make myself feel like I have a easy route. Your story is truly motivational and quite inspiring to keep monkeys like me on the grind. I appreciate it brother.
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