Over the past 2 years, I've read only a handful of "success stories" on here about non-target kids breaking into Front Office roles straight out of school, and I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one; I've read some of them several times for motivation. About a year ago I promised myself that the day I got my offer, I too would post my story.
I was offered a full-time position at a decent sized ($1B+) AM/Hedge Fund last Friday. I verbally accepted but I am waiting for 2 other places: BB IBanking at a regional office (off-cycle recruiting), and a top 5 global macroeconomic research firm. I am absolutely excited and grateful that after two years of hard work, lots of networking, and sleepless nights, that I not only have an offer but the possibility of being fortunate enough to pick from 3.
Whenever I had a question, or wanted a good laugh, or just needed to vent my frustration at not being able to land a job, WSO was there for me. I'd like to believe this community played a role in my development over the past 2 years, and has in many ways helped me in landing my offer. So, I have here a sincere "thank you" to WSO, Patrick, and all the other members.
Can't wait to see that golden star next to my name!
And before anyone asks:
3.6 GPA, Canadian non-target, graduating in 1.5 months
Not much experience, part-time internship at a small investment firm
Some leadership/campus activities and ECs, good athletic background
congratulations, especially since I'm from a Canadian non-target as well.
Congrats, very nice to hear man
congrats
congrats, man! And good luck on the new job!
Congrats man especially in this environment.
......I love you
congrats... and dipset, why was i expecting something odd from you as soon i read your name while scrolling down?
Thanks guys.
And I love you too. Just not sure why?
Mez,
Shut up, just take it for what it is...................i love you HUGS Im also changing my username to giggles.
That's great news man, congratulations, and good luck.
congrats, keep up the good work
Congrats man
Good luck.
wow, love all around even from Dipset?
congrats Mez -- as a member for almost 2 years you were probably still around when we were iBO? awesome to hear, especially in this market. you must have worked hard to get those offers.
-Patrick
-- Invite People Here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/invite $9 WSO Guides: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/page/wall-street-interview-guide-page
CONgrats congrats congrats .
congrats on ur job , but u have another job now buddy.... from advice taker here on wso u would now transit in the role of advice giver.
wso is like a family just like when some prople are deserted on an oasis, they do live like a family. we fight here , quarrel argue debate and above all have an undefined love for each other.
I am not sayin all this to get free guides from KIng kong although i wont mind if there is such an offer ahahhhaha.
Mez would you like to give a detailed academic background of urself.I wana know what it takes academically to get offers like u did.
lalalalalalalaalalalala shaka lakaka booom
Mez, congrats. Once you get through the mess, you find a lot of people here know what they are talking about. It's just a matter of digging deeper.
Now you should just turn around and start dispensing the advice as you get knowledgeable.
Well done Mez..great going. Time to start sharing the war stories now.
Dude its just a job. It's like you are a giddy little boy about to go on his first date. Once you get in banking you realize that it is the same as most jobs (office politics, small talk, coffee breaks), but you work twice as much.
Congrats on the job, but relax.
Shut the fuck up.
Thanks again everyone. I'll be sure to start dispensing whatever advice I have, as soon as I start learning something :P
Patrick, that's correct, I signed up when it was IBO. Its come a long way.
afz, my academic background is by no means that great. By the time I wanted to get a job in finance (2 years into uni), my GPA was only a 3.3. I busted my ass for the next one and half years to pull it up to a 3.6. My finance GPA is a 3.95 though.
Big props on getting the job, you're keeping hope alive!
@ MoneyKingdom, don't you know what Diddy said about jealousy? If you think working for a hf is your typical office job, you are quite deluded.
See were kind of like the government, so just respect my conglomerate!
I appreciate the effort the op put in getting a job. But its just a job. I went to a target, had good ec's and grades, and work in the M&A group of a prestigious BB bank, but I can get fired at anytime, so what it comes down to is..this is just a job!
As far as HF goes, the job security is even less than banking, and it is very difficult to lateral over to other funds (not to mention the avg. fund life is 4 years). I wish the op luck,
To Goodbread, keep up the hope one day you may get a chance to back-office your way into my bank.
you sir, are a jackass
congrats dude....it really is a good feeling to get an offer (ft or SA), so def go celebrate with a few beers or something (or many beers)
Way to go! My story was similar, so I am always pleased to see others have the same determination. Great job!
Congratulations, Mez. Have fun during the rest of the semester. You will feel less pressure in your interviews for the other positions now that you have the first offer in your pocket.
Good luck at the new job. I look forward to making a similar post on here once I move to the buyside (hopefully sooner rather than later, it's been a longer process than I was expecting).
congrats. keep interviewing with other firms though. JUST IN CASE.
Hey douchecakes, I don't care what target you went to, what ec's you did, the BB you work for.. You're a miserable prick.
The op just got a buyside job in the toughest job market in anybody here's memory. At his age, job security should be the last thing on his mind. And as far as back-officing my way into your bank, I'm not interested in taking sloppy seconds on the dicks you sucked to become an analyst.
Miserable prick? Wow, I haven't been insulted like this since I broke up with my high school girlfreind. I must agree with you though, suckin dick to become an analyst is not really worth it. In fact, I use this website as my daily laughter so I don't go crazy at 2am here at work.
I just find it somewhat humorous that the ops' story has the dramatic effect of a special kid winning the olympics or of a cancer reversal miracle. When in fact, he just got a job.
I have a year left of being a bitch, but at least I get to go home and open the journal and read about a deal that I modeled. Makes it all worth it, when you know that a $12B merger that closes has your valuation. That's when you should get a hard-on. When someone asks you so did you hear about X company buying Y company..."Yeah I pitched that shit."
The whole shit about a 'buyside job'. Please. You buy shit that our bank researches and that we advise on.
MoneyKingdom:
Despite the creativity GoodBread's insult lacked, the sentiments are shared by all of us. Please shut the fuck up. Let him be happy without trying to hijack his thread for your miserable pity party. You modeled a buyout? Sweeeeet. We all think you're cool.
Getting a job this year, especially from a non-target, is tough work. So let him enjoy his first date, and the jitters that go with it, and get back to work.
Let's keep the petty squabbling to a minimum, shall we?
WSO needs more of a hedge fund scene, although Pink Money is doin' a good thing with his thread. Other than that, thumbs up
"I'm a fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary."
Awesome Job Man
Congratulations.
What is your actual job description at the HF?
MoneyKingdom got owned. For someone who's valuation's stamp of approval is on a $12b deal, you sure sound like the sorry kid who was never picked to be on the team. Or let me guess - when you got your offer at the prestigious BB you mention, you showed no excitement or gratitude because you already knew how amazing you are and that you obviously deserved it. I think not. Let the kid enjoy his moment - he deserves it. Congratulations man.
You know, everything was fine until youngmoney decided to say something. Haha, I mean this is probably the most intellectually-challenged member of this board. I really tried to hold it in, but you know it gets OUT OF HAND when youngmoney responds. Let me show you a couple of things this idiot wrote -
"by youngmoney (Orangutan, 328 Points) on 12/14/08 at 11:23am I will be joining the restructuring group of a well regarded boutique in the summer. However, I just finished school and have nothing all that important to do with my time until then. I was thinking of getting either CPA or CFA certified (I am eligible for both).
Ummm? This post above proves his STUPIDITY. CFA certified? Wow. First of all, it is a CFA Charter, and you never get 'chartered' you become a member (if you pass all three) or a candidate if you are enrolled but haven't completed it.
"by youngmoney (Orangutan, 328 Points) on 11/24/08 at 1:46pm studentx - I went to a semi-target at best. I paid half the tuition you did, but I busted my ass and didn't sit on the glory of some school name to land me a job. Now you're going to end up in ops at a struggling bank that is firing people left and right, while others like myself, the people you call not too hard to surpass, are getting much better jobs at much better companies"
This above post shows his MEDIOCRITY. It is clear he always wanted to be recognized, he "didn't sit on glory" haha. It's no wonder he bashes accomplished people of society who work their ass off in h.s./college.
Enough. Cut the squabbling, children.
And since I forgot to say this earlier:
Congratulations Mez. It's a great feeling. Enjoy it.
haha that's your comeback? You're so pathetically bitter it's really funny... but you make it way too easy. If my stupidity rests in the semantics of chartered vs certified, then by all means you got me. However, if not, then you just proved my point about being the fat kid who never got picked to play. Your reaction was way out of line, most likely stemming from all those repressed feelings of being so lame. Pathetic. With respect to your other so called evidence, it's easy to take things out of context. The OP of that post was saying something related to how he was so much better than state school kids simply because he went to a target. If, again, that is true in itself, then you got me a second time. But since it's not... i just can't help getting over the image of that last kid... so bitter... so sad... so pathetic... so... you. Now move on and if you can't stand that someone achieved something and is being praised for it, click on next post, as someone was mentioning earlier.
Congrats Mez; I love these threads, they bring back that warm fuzzy feeling of getting the offer. We don't have enough of these on WSO.
Of course, the squabbling children are a constant here...
congrats mez. always feels good to read stories like these especially considering the hellstorm we find ourselves in.
and monkeykingdom, be a little less of an attention whore, let your ego go for maybe 10 min., realize no one gives a shit, and stop trying to hijack this thread. if you need helping making your own post i can pm you step by step instructions
Thanks again everyone.
Congrats....but now your going to experience the real shit hole of a world.
Congratulations but seriously, this is pathetic. Are you going to get emotional like this with every accomplishment you have? This is condensending on yourself and on people from non-targets. The reason I'm knocking on this post is because I come from a extreme non-target but ended up at a top investment bank as well through a rigoruous and stressful recruiting process. The difference is I didn't get all sappy as it's in my nature to be competitive, ambitious, and ultimately a winner, and I see the situation as only one obstacle of many to come. It's cool to celebrate but this is just soft.
On a constructive note and to prevent a bunch of sensitive rebuttle's... good job as I know too that it can be extremely challenging coming from a non-target. Good luck and don't consider yourself lucky but instead a motivated and hard worker
if its in your nature to be a winner way do u come off as a huge loser?
MEZ i was not askin abt ur gpas basicaaly i am interested in tht how much math study is required to get the hf job you got , or jusst the math we study in finance books is ok/?
wow darkhorse you're an ass. and you can't even spell "condescending"
Another cool success story:
http://lifeofasummerintern.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-story.html
[quote=bkm125]Another cool success story:
http://lifeofasummerintern.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-story.html[/quote]
Is it wrong that I want to continuously punch the shit out of this kid??? My friend came up with this same idea for this summer, and I swear, it will not be as gay as this. BTW he will be in a BB internship program.
Before I forget, Congrats Mez from a fellow SUPER non-target! To all the people hating on him, I understand it is just a job, but it is still a huge accomplishment. So just say congrats, and keep the negativity to yourself!
Edit: WTF.. bkm125, this is your blog.... dude... wtf is wrong with you... Mez is a successes story, you on the other hand, are not.
Lol...I got exactly the replies I expected, it wouldn't be WSO otherwise. I didn't get soft, emotional, or started jumping up and down when I got the offer. Heck, I was even more stressed after getting the job. But I can see the point your making; it just doesn't apply to me =/
But thanks for the compliments.
Darkhorse,
I don't mean to be condensending, but you are an imbecile.
I don't believe for a moment that you are a college graduate (I'm struggling to believe that you're even a high school graduate) and I don't think anyone here believes that you work at an investment bank in any other capacity than the guy that empties the trash cans at night.
If you're going to flame someone, learn how to spell.
Fucking retard.
Wow. With the following that MEZ has, he could start a religion. Jesus people, stop jackin him off jeez. It's a fuckin job, I came from a target that had almost a third of my graduating class go into IBD. Who gives a fuck.
OK ill give you a hint, click on "New Post"
a thread as funny as this one is the only reason why i read WSO.
in any event, Mez -- congrats. I also landed a S&T job at a BB, which i starting working at recently. due to all the naysayers and critics anticipating my failure, it felt THAT much better when i hit my mark. fyi, i went to a non-target.
you should be proud. hell, you should be emotional if you want. there are entirely way too many haters on this site.
I liked CompBanker's story better. And Coldplay's as well.
Congrats Mez, but MoneyKingdom and his online dopplegangers stole the show.
The world has changed. And we must change with it.
Sweet! And I thought with all of these people breaking into banking these days my story would be a distant memory.
On a serious notes, congratulations on your success Mez. Trust me, I was in your shoes two years back, and it is a great accomplishment. I personally believe that your first job out of college is one of the most important, not the least. This is the job that sets the stage for all future career moves, with the sole exception potentially being obtaining an MBA. Well done, now to survive your two years!
~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker
I understand all credibility is lost with my spelling error, I can't argue that it wasn't a stupid mistake. Edmundo, quit being so volatile and get over yourself. High school graduate? Trash man capacity? Pretty ineffective insults. I'm not concerned with my spelling as it had nothing to do with my point and is irrelevant. Now I'm all paranoid of making an error in fear of violent reactions from the board!
irrelevant effectively means "had nothing to do with". so saying and doesnt reinforce your point, it just furthers your reputation
sorry i had to ;]
Puddin'
I have been pretty volatile today.
Too much blood in my alcohol stream.
You didn't capitalize the s in so after the period... to be honest I thought I'd see more reactions to my first post saying this was an emotional thread given that there was so much enthusiastic support. I should have known my post would have been edited being read by bankers, my bad.
darkhorse is a superstar
Lab, I'll expose you :)
Not an easy feat. Grats bud!
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