5 worst career advices that I have received in my life
Here are 5 worst career advices that I have received to date
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
In theory, this can’t be wrong. But who can diversify (i.e., get free lunch) and still make money? This is not a good advice for those who want to make money. I will always thank the business school professors for teaching me the theory of diversification and different types of risk, but this belongs to the domain of finance textbook. portfolio management to me is a discipline where a good percentage of portfolio managers make only a few bets (in a year!) while holding an index portfolio.
- Life is too short.
Yes, if you are at your death bed, this statement couldn’t be truer. I think the baby boomer generation(s) remind us constantly that life is too short. In my personal view, they were the lucky ones, chosen ones with the right retirement packages and ownership of houses. We, on the other hand, are faced with extremely uncertain future. For most of us with 20 – 40 years work life ahead, this statement is meaningless. I say life is long so you have to find what you are passionate about and develop your career in it. If you like what you do, you can get through some tough times. It is perfectly normal for our modern generations to go through a number of redundancies and failed businesses. You can get through most of these tough times if you truly love what you do. Life is long.
- You have to be really smart to work in banking.
Yes, to an extent. But you cannot be too smart in my view. Also you have to be conventionally smart. You cannot be going to a community college if you have the capabilities to go to Harvard. Put differently, if you are one of those people who are really smart but fail to get into a smart college (or does not have the right credentials), you will struggle. “Good Will Hunting” is a sad story of a man who is smarter than 99% of people on this planet but does not have the credentials to back up his “smartness.” I think Matt Damon captures this beautifully. Banking is an extremely conservative industry and likes to take people who are moderately smart and come with good brand name colleges. Just like Singaporeans.
- There is no racism in work place any more. Just do what you want to do.
Every time someone says “this is the 21st century and there is no more racism at office,” I get annoyed. This statement is untrue on so many different levels. I am always curious to see who makes this bold statement. Is it a white person saying this? Is it a 20-something woman saying this?
- You can do anything you set your mind to.
Yes, it would be ideal if we lived in such a world. But 99% of us know that we don’t. It comes down to your age, capabilities, ethnicities, races, educational background, social standing etc. I sometimes find that people who say this (and believe in this) don’t follow through. For example, a recruiter who says “you are still in your 20s (or 30s), you should explore different career options and find what you like” seldom gives a chance to candidates with non-traditional background (for example, a candidate in the 30s applying for an analyst position).
You actually can't be this stupid...
1) Name me ONE fund that isn't diversified across multiple holdings. Right, you can't. Also in life, its important to have a Plan B. Everyone knows this.
2) Have you talked to anyone ever? I can think of 100 people off the top of my head who wish they went out more when they were young. Now that they have kids they're stuck at home.
3) Yes you have to be smart. Banks typically don't hire idiots (like yourself). However, every recruiter puts work ethic above intelligence since that's what they need most. Once again, nothing new here.
4) Racism is so small nowadays its pretty much irrelevant. I'm also a minority so don't pull out the shitty rhetoric of "you're white, you won't understand." With today's AA and quotas, white people can actually get discriminated against too (still incredibly insignificant though).
5) 100% true. You just think you put in 100% when you barely put in 10.
TL:DR Stop using shitty rhetoric, and anecdotal evidence doesn't count as real evidence.
your post history indicates you're either a bored & misguided college student, or you're an unsuccessful blogger.
diversification is key, absolutely key. you can be diversified and still be all stocks, you run a much smaller risk of blowups. whereas if you put all your money in homebuilders in 06, CSCO & MSFT in 99, MLPs in 2008, etc etc etc, you CAN blow yourself up. my advice: pick a global equity fund, dollar cost average into it, and call me when you're in your 40's and worth a few million and need some advanced planning.
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