A Q&A Interview: Recruiting, Bonus Bucket Placement, And Starting A Business

What’s up guys and gals! Ben from Charisma On Command here, and today I’ve got a fun Q&A interview to share with you. Why? Because I had a reader email me recently with a bunch of thoughtful questions about starting a career in finance.

And rather than answer them just for him, I thought it’d be fun to record the conversation and share it.

He agreed, so here we are :-)

Topics covered include:

  • Tips to making a great impression early
  • How to get top bucket bonus placement
  • Good and bad reasons to go into investment banking / private equity, and why I ultimately left finance altogether

I know that different folks will be interested in different topics, so I wanted to make this a bit of a choose your own adventure experience.

So I’ve broken the conversation down into individual questions so you only have to listen to the things that interest you!

Question 1:

Why did you go into investment banking in the first place? (And how to tell if YOU are going into it for the right reasons…)

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-1

Question 2:

You had finally gotten your dream job in private equity - why did you leave?

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-2

Question 3:

How did what you learned in PE translate over to running your own business?

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-3

Question 4:

If you’re in investment banking or private equity, how can you use charisma to your advantage when it comes to both getting the job and getting the promotion?

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-4

Question 5:

The three elements for making a great first impression in your first few months on the job

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-5

Question 6:

What were the commonalities between the analysts / associates that couldn't really hang or keep up and didn't end up liked at the firm?

(Important if you want to avoid being that person!)

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-6

Question 7:

What's the best way to make the most of my limited free time in NYC on the rare weekend I'm not working?

Embed code:

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/charisma-on-command/andrew-convo-part-7

One last thing, I need your advice (please :-)

Patrick and Andy have asked me to put something cool together for Wall Street Oasis. So in a few weeks, I’m going to be creating a presentation specifically for you!

It’s 100% free and will be available on the WSO homepage.

So if you’ve enjoyed this post or any of the others I have up on WSO, I have a question for you and I would suuuuuper appreciate your opinion.

My question is, what do you want me to talk about?

I can speak to my time in finance, promotions and bonus buckets, office politics, forming good relationships with your bosses, recruiting for multiple offers and getting your pick of whatever jobs you want, entrepreneurship, or anything else that you want.

Just let me know in the comments! Whatever the most popular topics are, that’s what I’ll write about :-)

 

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