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Really great post. My 2cent is that I would go for the path of least resistance. Try recruiting for everything, be open to other finance roles (trading/AM/sales/etc.) to just get yourself in the door. You're fighting an uphill battle already. Sales might be the best bet. From your post, I think you have the drive to really excel. Its one of those careers where you can be very well rewarded without crazy pedigree to break in.
Since you're long term plays are not concentrated in climbing the corporate ladder, it's helpful to generate some cash flow to fill your bags while you explore other ideas on the side.
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You seemed like a bright guy. Honestly, if you're driven and you got the skills to pitch, even a pure sales career will set you up well. Find something expensive to sell (B2B tech/ real estate/ etc.) and work your way up. I don't think there's a high barrier of entry if you can sell yourself in the interview. Maybe look into startups, they're always looking for someone who can sell.
Whether or not you want to go back to school is up to you but I feel like school is overrated anyways unless you want to break into IB/Consulting/etc. It will set up you back time, unless you can find a way to multitask in a meaningful way.
Looking into the future, not having a degree might hold you back because some people care about it and they might be in a position of power. So I might try to frame it as you tried to do something entrepreneurial so you dropped out.
and if you're feeling frustrated, I would suggest reading the book "A guide to rational living."
Huge red flag if you don't know where and when you'll graduate in terms of many firms hiring process and the fact that the story really doesn't add up given what you have said. Be more honest with yourself and you won't come off as arrogant too.
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You're telling me NEPSACs aren't accommodating? You're right though, you have an advantage working now and strong past experience (curious about the breakdown between family connections or self-sourced for the roles), but just from what I've read I can tell you the three inconsistencies that I would see:
a) You went to a top high school (where I know they take college placement seriousoly) and had presumably good scores/grades, but no follow-through in college. I know you were "forced out" but did offers get rescinded and why didn't you transfer after your guy trading currencies left. You knew this changed your situation. If you chose your school based off finances or very important personal/family reasons, that's one thing, but many people including myself take out debt to go to a better school, simple case of ROI.
b) You said yourself that you were more interested in trading than HW, again good. But if you're not doing your work in college, how does someone in a position to hire you think you're a better candidate to work long hours and get their stuff done than a student who can prioritize? This is the more salient point. It raises a lot of questions when an otherwise bright person can't get their stuff done.
c) you now have a track record of being unable to finish at two schools, its a very fair point to question if you really have everything together or if it is a ticking clock before the same "bad luck" flares again.
Pm if you have questions, know very well the type of school you went to
Just as a note: you sound very cocky and aloof. I am sure you're smart and capable, but no need to go an extra mile and talk about correcting profs, how good of a trader you are (if you had money from that, why not spend it on school?), trust fund, etc.
Interesting story, ya, you're going to have to go back to school because you're not going to get any legit looks as a college dropout unless you just get really really lucky. You have to realize, the people you'll be interviewing with largely went to really good schools and made really good grades and worked pretty hard to get there. When you come along and come off as arrogant and like you're quite literally too cool for school, that's not going to be a good impression. Especially as a junior guy, most firms are looking for folks who will come in, work hard, learn a ton, and be humble. The try hards and kids that come in and try and step over each typically don't get return offers.
I'm sure you've got great ideas and if the above work experience is legit then you have great w/e, but an arrogant college dropout far outweighs the pluses. A humble college dropout would be much better but still a major red flag. Go back to school, make good grades, be humble, and you'll have some job opportunities.
Changing the subject some, no one is currently writing swaps on SLABS and I doubt anyone ever really will because it would be a political nightmare. Think about this scenario. Goldman syndicates a bunch of student loans in a security and then writes a swap and sells it hedge funds. Goldman is now actively selling the opportunity to bet AGAINST education. You think that'll play well to investors/literally anyone? People have tried to get swaps and the answers has been effectively no way in hell.
Ya believe me I'd rather have a normal story than my fucked up interesting one. Kills me every day and I hold my fam largely responsible.
Anyway, when I do talk to ppl I keep the arrogance at bay. This is anon so I vent. Tx for not ripping me a new one.
I appreciate the honest suggestion of taking the L. As said, I will return. The only question is once I'm there and get this stupid book published, will I stay?
You gotta understand, the way things have gone for me, to eat humble pie would be to swallow poison - it would validate all the messed up stuff I've had to go through. I mean, I'd rather let my bombastic personality - a product of this non-linear background - open other doors and if the Street won't invite me from perspective of employment, then I will just have to set up my fund. Because good investment theses are good investment theses; returns are returns, and I know I'll attract at least some capital (and yea I was semi-joking about SLABS since I looked into it, spoke to my neighbor who's a structured products partner in big law, and know it's impractical...but just to give an idea of where I think along the lines of).
Most here will assume you can't raise a penny without having 10yrs buyside under your belt. Not true. My FX guy was a music major-turned bullshit fin advisor (like, below Edward Jones) and he averaged commitments of 1mm...bc he traded 18 hrs/day quadrupling principal.
There's unreal cognitive dissonance for me here but what I will take from your response is to strive for humility; you can see though how Martin Shkreli is a hero to me.
Yeah, like the poster above said. Finish school. Should never have dropped out for the reason given. Just should have resolved to go into a bit of debt with govt loans. Especially with two years debt free already completed, it wouldn't be as bad as others have it. If you have high earning potential post school that can be wiped away quickly.
Eh. This is why I practically need to write a book to explain.
I DID take out loans. My family is off the grid, meaning I qualify for loans/aid of all kind even if I'm living in the upper crust (lol jail me). Uncle was against idea of college (he's an old school Greek) to begin with, only put up the difference between whatever I owed post-loans. So I have loans right now. At the time of departure, I couldn't take out anymore. Let's not act like college is a complete meritocracy - it's a business.
I repeat: out of my control. Could I have immediately then looked into community colleges and raised the finger to my family? Yes, but I dare you to be 19, have a good analyst job, and put this newfound blessing at risk by enrolling in CC (further a fall from grace when you went to top-tier prep schools growing up). I guarantee you that you wouldn't.
But alas, I am returning to school. But just know that even I weren't, I'd still soar.
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If I'm being completely honest, you and your family sound like scumbags.
What the fuck did I just read
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I don’t think you’re really looking for opinions, just validation. You know everyone is going to say go back to school, so you sort of head that off at the pass. Just go back to school (as you say you are) and actually finish it this time.
The thing that’s interesting is that you know that you come off as arrogant but ask readers to ignore that....why would we? The arrogance oozing from this post was overwhelming everything else in it. You say you are unlucky and then go on to talk about your trust fund and all of the ways you benefited from nepotism and family money. Most people would call that lucky. People in much worse family circumstances than you are in better spots career wise because they are taking responsibility for their decisions. You seem to be blaming your family instead.
So, if you’re looking for advice that will help further your career, this is all I can give you: Start to take responsibility for your own decisions. Stop blaming external forces. You seem overconfident without any accomplishments of note, which will rub most people the wrong way.
Stop being a whiny little bitch, in other words.
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Damn dude, you are a straight coconut-head.
thought this was an April Fools post before I saw the date
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Presumably a troll wouldn't go through the effort of humorlessly referencing other posts, so I suppose this could warrant a reply...
What I said was that it realistically wasn't going to cut it. I'm a big believer in there being many routes to success, but it's perfectly fair to say that their best chance was to transfer to a reputable university if at all possible (which I recognize isn't always the case). Regardless, it's much, much harder (i.e. possible but not realistic) to break in with only an online degree
More directly to your situation...
I wouldn't typically make use of what could be construed of as an ad hominem, but seeing as your unpleasantness will almost certainly impact your career (and you are asking for career advice after all) it seems charitable to suggest that you dial it back a bit (a lot). And while I wouldn't disagree with DickFuld's "whiny little bitch" comment, you've somehow managed to simultaneously exhibit a level of arrogance and general tooliness that's far more distasteful
tl;dr- I may be vanilla, but at least I'm not a whiny little bitch
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