Hey guys,
I graduated from non-target college (Baruch College) last year majoring in Finance with Economics minor. I have a GPA just below 3.0. I enjoy finance industry, especially capital markets. It's been a year, yes, a full year since I've been applying for jobs. I used LinkedIn, Indeed, and applied directly. To some companies like BoA I've applied for 20 positions. I have gotten only 3 phone interviews from no name companies, and guess what? Even I couldn't get a job at companies that no one heard of.
That's not all. I've been living inside my Toyota Camry for 10 months. It's been exactly 10 months. I'm a 6'' tall guy sleeping on the backseat of Camry. Winter has been severe but summer is worse. I have lots of student loans, credit card debt, personal loan, car payments to make so I decided to cut on rent to save myself from bankruptcy. Shower at the gym everyday and workout. Lost 60 lbs and gained decent amount of muscle. That's pretty good. For work I've been delivering food with UberEats 7 days a week. It was making about 700-800 a week but it got slower lately. I guess people don't order food much during the summer. It got worse and I made 500-600 for 7 days of work.
It doesn't stop there. I've been parking at Vince Lombardi Service Area in New Jersey and sleeping in my car there. Nobody bothered me, a sheriff knocked on my window once but he understood. Yesterday 6/2 Vince Lombari service area was closed. Turns out they closed it for renovation and it's gonna open next summer. Now I don't have a safe place to sleep in my car.
I have read dozens of books about trading, economics, investments, algorithms and stuff in that spectrum. I love reading and am a self improvement freak. At first I was applying for trader roles only, after not successful attempts tried to apply for equity research analyst, then any kind of analyst (financial, credit, anything). Right now I'm lost. Is my resume bad? I don't have an experience in finance but how do I get an experience? Do I have to knock on the doors to ask for a job?
If anyone knows someone hiring in finance please help a hustler out. I'm good at math and numbers, enjoy doing research, solving puzzles, and have a quantitative mind. Can code on python little bit and enjoy anything that involves logic.
Message my inbox with your phone number and let me know when you're able to speak tonight between 8pm and 9pm.
This is awesome! I hope you guys got in touch and you were able provide some help to him.
Yes--we were able to connect yesterday and putting out a few feelers on behalf of him.
Guys, this is a great example of how good it feels to help someone when they need it. It's this super hero skill we all have to change a fucking life. We should all do it more. This isn't charity; unless the guy is lying he just needs someone to open a door for him. It's like the great joke from Chris Rock:
“I’d always end up broken down on the highway. When I stood there trying to flag someone down, nobody stopped. But when I pushed my own car, other drivers would get out and push with me. If you want help, help yourself – people like to see that.”
Love this post.
Best part - you never once said "poor me".
Not sure where you're located but I'd be happy to be of assistance if possible.
“...this is the kid, calls me 59 days in a row, wants to be a player. There ought to be a picture of you in the dictionary under persistence kid.”
OP, I love the hustle and ability suffer. You remind me of myself at the same age losing tons of weight trying to subsist on my ideals. But listen, Bud Fox, if you want to be a player you need to take that grit and grind down different obstacles. And learn some Tai Chi, not everything can be defeated with brute force.
Here's probably what it gets down to, Are you;
Solution #1 is (mostly) linear but it starts with a much better GPA at a much better school. It's linear but requires a tremendous amount of work and early maturity (something I never had).
Solution #2 is the fail-safe because everyone can apply and there are gobs and gobs and gobs of opportunity, and that's just in America. But the path is uncertain and unknown and non-linear.
There's an old saying that if you want to get hit by a car, you need to go play in traffic. Its true. You've got to get out of your own head and into someone else's.
Send me a PM with your (anonymous and detailed) personal balance sheet and I'll give you some advice on working out those debts.
Best of luck.
Army -> MBA ->IB/MBB and it will get your life back on track buddy
The below 3.0 GPA will ding you from most automated resume screeners...you will need a personal connection to get past that automated screener from almost every large company. However, people have solved how to do this.
All is not lost...this is where networking comes into play. There is a great networking post on this site that describes how to go about the coffee chat to network your way into a job.
Go read https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/want-to-get-me-on-the-phone-here…</a">This Post About Networking
It goes basically like this 1) use linked-in to find mid level people (associate/VP and above) to reach out to and ask to have a coffee chat about their career and for some advice. Reach out to hundreds of people this way (1 per firm at first...you want to avoid appearing to be a spammer) 2) most will ignore your request, at the coffee chat...but some will accept. Try to keep it to around 10 minutes...and in that 10 minutes, ask about what they do on an avg day, what skills and abilities they think makes for a good member of their team, and where they see the need for more people in that part of the industry. 3) thank them for their time, and ask them if they can think of someone else you should talk to who is in a position where they need more people, to get another perspective on the industry. (this is the ask, you are essentially asking for a referral)
4) contact the referral, and tell them so and so suggested you reach out to talk about the industry, and would they have time to sit down for a chat over coffee.
This 2nd referral is where you ask similar questions to the 1st, but because you came in from a personal referral (psychological pressure), you can then ask at the end if they know of a need for junior members on a team, could he/she help you get an interview / introduction to that team.
While the 1st time you do this might not yield fruit...with 10+ of these types of networking attempts, you most likely will find people you mesh well with, who will push for you to get a slot for an interview.
The more openings for the type of role you are looking for, the easier this will be. There aren't many openings for junior trader roles, so this does not seem like a great idea for you to be pursuing. However, IB analysts quit every year to pursue other roles (IB for 1-2 years --> hedgefund / PE analyst/associate seems to be the typical route...which means IB analysts are always leaving...so there is a pipeline of constant hiring). You might not be able to get into GS or JPM this way...but the middle market should be a reasonable path....and will still pay 90k+ per year to start...with much higher pay as you get beyond the 1st year analyst.
i would also suggest searching for jobs in tech companies like Twitter, Amazon, etc. They are not all hardcore C++ programmers....tech companies need sales reps, and all sorts of other roles that you have never heard of...and tech pays better then most industries (my friend who does marketing used to make 80k/year working for NYTimes at 28 yrs old, and then got a job doing the same exact thing at twitter, but got paid 200k)
I'd bet serious money on you. Right now may suck, but it's clear you have another level of determination. Once you get your break in, you'll be wildly successful.
I'm rooting for you!
Have you thought about reading the Bible? Give God a chance, since you've tried almost everything else.
That said, you have a compelling story. What's your total debt balance? You should consider applying to a pre-experience, graduate business school (MSF/MIM). They'll appreciate your adversity and it will give you another shot at improving your profile and at recruiting.
Good luck!
Have I consideree Bible? Or course within 10 months of living in a car I’ve considered nearly all religions but I knew that wouldn’t help. It’d only help spiritually/mentally.
Instead of that I started eating one meal a day (mostly canned food, spend about $5 a day for 2000 calorie meal) but enough nutrition and fasting for 23 hours. It helped me to lose lots of weight and get into shape (even building muscle now). Also fasting is super good for mental health. That shit keeps me positive and sharp. On top of that add gym everyday. That endorphine rush after workout makes you feel undestructable.
Instead of Bible I’d suggest anyone to read Peak Performance. It gives an equation: Stress + Rest = Growth. I think religion is good but to keep it real we all need to improve both physically and mentally.
Little bit of grind and hustle is all what we need.
while i know many people will look down on this...if you have not already, you should goto a govt benefits office and get an EBT (food stamps) card.
we all pay taxes so that people in your situation will have a safety net...its not meant to forever..but until you get on your feet..and there is no shame...this is why we pay taxes...to help people in your situation get out of that situation.
Dont do this. Admission of defeat. Keep struggling. You'll breakthrough and have the best "when I was your age" story to share in later life.
Being humble (and mature) enough to ask for help is far from "admitting defeat." Actually, it's a leadership quality. How can you lead, or move upward, if you're hiding under pride.
How many business ventures have failed due to one or an entire team of people afraid of admitting defeat? Please. Pride over progess is a fucking epidemic. While I get the overall message in the post, this ideology is exactly why so many people have festering resentment that bleeds over into their career, personal life and health. Need help? Ask. Defeat is a mindset. Forward mobility requires action and that is what OP is doing--taking action. If gov't assistance is part of that equation, so be it. More money saved that can go toward things necessary for those upcoming interviews.
That said...
OP, we salute you. As someone who has been down and stared off that cliff of hopelessness, I commend you. Do your thing. Great things are turning. As long as you keep the mindset I've seen in this post, it will work out swimmingly for you. Probably better than you imagine.
If you’re open to other industries, as someone already mentioned, definitely start applying to tech/startups. Several of them don’t really care about your GPA as long as you can show you can contribute and have a logical mind. And especially for the non-engineering jobs, if you’re a hustler (evidently) that’s a positive sign! I’m currently at a FAANG; shoot me a message if you’d like a referral
I went to Baruch, class of 2018. One year out just like you. PM me I’m here to help, if it wasn’t for people helping me out I’d be in rough spot myself, I’ll help you anyway I can. #Baruch
Technically I’m employed - I deliver food and get 1099-misc. Make peasant wage.
About being homeless. I dont think I am. I have a car and I choose to sleep in it. Is it comfortable? - no, but it’s worth to sacrifice my comfort to protect myself from bankruptcy. I too want to maintain a good credit and buy a house someday. I’m too leveraged at this point and can’t afford to pay a rent. Maybe getting a car wasn’t the best decision since car payment and insurance costs same as rent. But since I have it I decided to use it as my home (temp).
So when it all comes together I’m just someone who’s hustling and trying to save the sinking ship. I think life is fair, we fuck up few things here and there and pay the price later. Life ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, you should know it better. Overall my experience is positive. I’ve learned a lot so far, developed a lot of grit, resilience, and became much stornger (physically and mentally). Remember: Stress + Rest = Growth WSO is not allowing me to send PM’s. I think the limit is 1 or 2 per day. I’ll try to PM you when I’ll be able to.
Maybe it's because I'm not an American that I lack a romantic view of your struggle. To be frank, the fact that you are delivering food for a living, and sleeping in a car, after graduating from college doesn't really impress me. Why don't you just get a job, any job, to build some work experience on your resume and get into the normal 9-5 routine. There seems to be this idea that it's finance work experience or bust on this forum. I worked a boring sales job in my first year out of college and studied for CFA level 1 at night. I dreamed of being an equity analyst and it all seemed a million miles away from cold calling weak sales leads. But, that work experience added to my CV and showed a future employer that I could thrive and survive in the corporate world. My advice is to give up this romantic idea of struggling and get a real job in any industry you can. There are 24 hours in a day and if you don't waste 6 of them watching TV like the average American does, you can learn or study for whatever you want whilst puting a roof over your head. Good luck.
BTW I second the idea of just taking a feed-me job in the interim. I graduated top 2% in my class from Berkeley - honor roll, leader scholarships, etc. I thought as a kid getting into a good school and crushing it would be a cinch to a good job. Nope. Economy collapsed and I was dead broke, negative cash in bank. I wanted to be in consulting or IBD, but couldn't get the offer. I ended up working at nights at a casino, so that my days were still free to do interviews and networking. It was not as bad as I had thought. I got health insurance, a comped meal, and was paid decently ($15/hr when min wage was $6). Working at the casino was one of the most fun jobs I've had to-date, and taught me people skills. And hustling during the day was invigorating (except for the lack of sleep). Get yourself a feed-me job though, so that you're not sleeping in your car for pity's sake. Don't look down on the feed-me job. There's honorable ways of making a living out there, and they don't preclude you from going after your dream job. There's plenty of waiters, baristas, and night-shift workers that make it eventually. In my case, night shift was key, as it kept daytime free to interview. And don't give up on your dreams! Ever!