What did you want to do when you first got to college?
Were you one of those people who aimed for Wall Street right off the bat? or did you shift your career interest at some point in your undergrad years?
I'm still in school and financial services was definitely not my first interest. Come to think of it, I didn't really know what I wanted to do back in freshman year. It wasn't until I got to my sophomore year that I became interested in banking.
What about you?
Portfolio Manager
Started off pre-med!
No thank you chemistry :)
Pre-med
No thank you biomedical engineering
Started off in computer science, and even had internships after freshman and sophomore year. My second was at an asset manager and that's how I got exposed to finance.
My immediate reaction upon learning about bonus season: "fuck computers."
Ping pong champion.
player of the month
employee of the month
I've wanted to do banking since 8th grade...and now I'm doing it. Success?
I wanted to be a programmer. I have since realized it makes a much better hobby than a career.
I was premed. It was boring.
I would be willing to bet that swagon is white and possibly jewish
Counseling Psychology. My parents were strongly against it. I guess they were right.
Economist
Economist.
Wanted to become a car salesman or do something with cars.
Finished my Electrical Engineering degree, then did my masters and ended up in Finance/FS/Banking.
My parents wanted me to be a doctor in HS. Although I was getting good grades, I knew that I wasn't smart enough (for science) to go to medical school. Nor did I want to be a doctor (always thought it was boring).
I thought finance would be interesting. My parents were totally against it. They thought finance was like gambling (unstable). But I majored in it anyways.
Premed, then I realized that doctors make mediocre money (by wall street standards) starting around age 30
...did everybody's parents want them to become doctors? Do they realize that doctors are generally not ultra affluent?
And my family's reaction to finance was more along the lines of "Why?" To them, banker = teller or loan officer. Then the crisis hit, and I was suddenly going into something immoral. When I tried to explain that I was considering hedge funds long-term, they took the "finance is gambling" stance.
Join the club. Parents said there are two options in life: doctor or lawyer. They told me to go with doctor. Then I decided I was too smart to be a doctor, didn't want to be in school for that long because school sucks major balls, and it's nowhere near worth the amount you have to pay for school considering pay is relatively low even at the most senior levels.
At least my parents were supportive of the immorality thing. They all the sudden completely changed their tune and were all like "oh Wall Street is demonized when they do so much good, just look at all the good you're doing you're not bad you're good!" and now it's even more annoying than when they thought it was wrong.
I try to tell everyone back home that I'm a teller at a bank so they don't annoy me about being a "Wall Streeter," but the hilarious part is they think that being a teller at a bank constitutes Wall Street, and so I'm the bad guy anyway. Ignorance is a mildly fantastic phenomenon.
CPA
sky diving instructor
Frat Star
Pornstar
It was not a matter of what, but who I wanted to do when I first got to college. Good times...
In with pre-med
Electrical engineer.
I wanted to be an amazing white robed wizard but instead I decided to team up with Sauron and try to kill the forces led by the OP. Then I became too ambitious and try to make a name for myself. In the end things didn't work out too well for me
I wanted to be this guy.
http://cdn1.hark.com/images/000/017/663/17663/original.0
I'm starting school right now with Wall Street as my goal. We'll see if that sticks or not, but I can't really imagine doing anything else.
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