Does Anyone Remember the Tortoise?

Disclaimer: This obnoxiously long post isn't meant to be specific advice, and it probably won't apply to 95% of those read it. I just thought it'd be worth sharing in case the right person stumbled upon it. I also don't intend to sound condescending in any way when sharing the following story:

Working in the city where I attended undergrad, I get a lot of LinkedIn invitations from current students and recent graduates from my school inviting me to coffee / drinks to network. I genuinely enjoy meeting the majority of these people and do what I can to help them. However, I've noticed an odd trend recently:

Recent graduate (class of '13) was unable to land an offer in his desired industry, but ended up with a job at a executive recruiting firm as a data/research analyst. As part of his job, the firm will pay for any continuing education classes he wants, and he rarely works past 6pm. When we met, he told me about his plan to take the $ he can currently save each month and trade with it, because his ultimate goal is, in his words, to work at a hedge fund or in Asset Management. He figures that he can build up a record managing his own money and use that to help him land the job he wants, or with especially good performance start his own hedge fund someday.

First - I think it's awesome that this kid has a goal and is working towards it. Plenty of people simply give up as soon as they hit a snag.

Second - It came out during our conversation that he hadn't even considered doing any of the following:
A. Take the CFA. His firm would pay for the classes and he has more than enough time to study with his hours. In a couple years he could even get an MBA on their dime if he wanted.
B. Use some of his savings for books on investing, rather than just jumping right in.
C. Put 150% effort into his current job, using it to build strong relationships with his superiors, who know almost everyone in his target industry and who after a couple years would probably be more than happy to make introductions on his behalf.

In the media, it's easy to find the stories of people who have made a fortune relatively quickly whether it be through brains, good luck, or both. You seldom see stories of people who took a look at their situation, used the tools available to them, and slowly but steadily worked hard to get where they wanted to be.

Perhaps this makes sense to some of you (if anyone has read this far). In the tech-fueled fast-paced society we live in today, maybe it's possible that slow and steady can still win the race.