Q&A: Went from Community College & Fast Food with a 2.8 GPA to one of the most active PE funds in the world within 3 years.
Happy to answer any questions.
Message me personally if you'd like 1 on 1 help.
Trending Content
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
April 30, 2024
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
Dude! Congrats! Your story is incredibly inspirational. I share your passion for leadership, as I rose through the ranks of a military-affiliated organization and am at the top, just like you did at your school. Great read man!
My Questions are : 1) Do you feel as if cutting people who weren't going anywhere was because you didn't want to be influenced by them or because you felt as if they would have nothing to give. 2) What do you mean you botched it in the follow-up e-mail? 3) What was the best strategy that helped you concentrate on working so hard in both school, the organization, and recruiting all at the same time?
Thanks so much for this article, definitely shows a lot of us the light at the end of the tunnel! Congrats on the role, and kick some ass for us, will ya?
1) I actually spent a lot of time, months perhaps, trying to help people better themselves and join me on my path. I don't like to leave anyone behind. However, I soon found that it was too hard to help people, often taking around ~2 years per person. I didn't want to be influenced by them negatively, which will ALWAYS happen no matter how disciplined you are. I chose the people I absolutely loved (GF/sister) who did have some bad habits, and these were the few people that i kept close although they had bad habits.
2) I Think I botched the e-mail by seeming a little too enthusiastic in the wrong direction. Emphasized my leadership traits, and may have sounded a little corny. Should have stayed been more conservative about it.
3) Well, #1 always put people first. This means learning everything you can about how to interact with them better (persuasion, charm, psychology, emotional intelligence). #2 Focus all your energy most important things to your success first. You must walk before you can run. Getting an Internship (Adding Bullet points to resume)>Competitions>GPA=Leadership in Student Organizations>everything else. If something cannot materially benefit your future or add bullet points to your resume, you need to stop doing it and spend your time on something else. Both these rules will help you out immensely. An example of #2 not being followed is a student who is spending all his in 3-4 organizations with a 3.5 GPA and an okay internship. He needs to focus on getting his GPA offset it by winning competitions before thinking about anything else. Student organizations should all be dropped at this point, except 1 and it should be highly pertinent to career or development. Can elaborate further on this point if needed.
Thanks so much for the detailed reply! Makes a lot of sense. I had similar experience with some "friends" and currently haven't been around the best people to succeed with so I was curious.
No need to elaborate further, it was crystal clear! Thanks again for the response, and go get em.
whenever I see these threads my go-to question is: when did you get your Adderall scrip?
this post definitely read like he was cracked out
Ouch, sorry for the poor readability.
Edit: I don't use Adderall and definitely do not believe it can help anyone's performance improve. I don't even drink coffee because I don't like the way it affects my mind. Drugs can't fix laziness.
For this guy it looks like beginning of sophmore year right around when he read Freakonomics...
Wait, so all that and now you're not interested in PE or IB or consulting? lol I admire all of the hard work you have put in and congratulate you on the very good PE internship, but why quit now? If you know the PE firm only hires ex-bankers then talk to your co-workers who are ex-bankers, if you're such a stellar guy then I'm sure they can get you interviews at their old firms. You're afraid of the hours? I thought you put in hundreds or thousands of hours into work, school, ec's, and competitions just to get to this point. Also previously doubted your own self-worth because you might have to take a position at 'only' 50k, well why give up now? What do you plan on doing instead that will pay above 50k, have less hours than IB/consulting, and give you access to management and to help their decision making processes?
I've been looking at the pay on Glassdoor, and I think I've changed my mind. It's tough because I know it's two years of my life... Gone.
Haha was just generously curious because you wanted high pay, high exposure, but low hours. That combination does not exist, at least at the lower levels, that I know of. You clearly are capable of the long hours, and if you continue putting in the effort you have already demonstrated I'm positive you can land a good job. Keep up the hustle, and I'm sure I'll be seeing another AMA in a few years when you're working FT for a quality IB,PE, or consulting firm
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! Very impressive.
.
Great job, reminds me a little of my experience. One recommendation: never believe that you showed them or that you're better than them. Your drive is what leads you to success, and maintaining that drive is what will lead you further.
You know I was just crying myself to sleep feeling sorry for myself but you've really motivated me to do something with my life! Thank you!! Nothing is impossible!!!
Enjoyed the story. One great leadership lesson many have learned over and over: "surrounding myself with only** smart people**" many never get this one... at some point you need to bring others that don't fit that description. cue Judge Smailes (sp?) organizations need drones too it seems you helped a lot of people so you may have brought in that aspect while developing a loyal group of disciples....(another key to leadership) nice job. an additional point that students often fail to consider: timing. keep chasing until the timing is right. finding the right balance of follow up is the challenge. chasing an internship is often like chasing a deal (because the role may rely on the deal...)
keep pushing
This thread got hijacked by Addy's. Damn, now everyone wants a piece.
what kind of prefigious pe shop does unpaid internships
They paid
Great story, congrats and thanks for doing AMA! Keep it up!
Zig Ziglar - See you at the Top? good read.
The fact you spent your time and money in making the effort to garner jobs for your fellow organization members speaks volumes of your character.
Fuck these trolls and their insignificant posts at times. It is no wonder this website gets bad rep from senior finance bankers in the real world.
Post could be more succinct, but I always enjoy hearing someone coming from a community college succeeding, as I went to one myself. It's refreshing to hear something different than "currently at target which daddy pays for and landed an internship at pretentious shop, same tier as X/Y/Z." Great job on reaching your goal!
Love this post. I started last semester with a 2.6, now I'm at a 3.6 hoping to transfer to a target state school in the south. Glad that someone else has blazed the path I'm going down.
Posting below
great read and congratulations... loved freakonomics, for me it also put the fire back under me and reading. Curious as to what other books you found to be most enjoyable/motivational.
Posting Below.
xgozax - great story, congrats on the offer; way to kill it.
I'm also curious about some of the books you read. Which ones were most notable / helpful.
Posting below.
BOOKS TO READ IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:
You might notice that I don't read any finance books, or fiction books. That's because I believe PEOPLE (including you) are the most important thing in the world. They can make you money AND save you time. Clearly, they are the most valuable resource in the world. Learn how to effectively work with them, and you will be most successful everyone. ALWAYS put people first.
Great Advice for choosing books: You will typically have a nagging feeling of what you are really interested in, our qualities you would like to have. Listen to that feeling. Google books on that subject. Look through 2-3 different lists of suggestions. Which books come up on multiple lists? Which books look interesting to you? Commit, and read!
+1SB for this list!
awesome story, thanks man
I registered to WSO, to say thanks! I will definitely take a look at the books you recommended
When will you begin therapy for narcissistic personality disorder?
When will you begin yours for hater syndrome?
Great story. Did the GPA mean anything while interviewing? I just got my B.S. My average up until last semester was a 3.8. I must agree that your story was a lot to read and seemed caffeine infused but I think it shows your enthusiasm. Congrats on your success, it is all hard work.
a 4.0 GPA can definitely get you in the door, but I am not sure how much it actually weights.
I think a 3.5 with some solid bullet points, and a good behavioral interview/story will allow you to accomplish just about anything.
Congrats, dude!
Did you have to wear roller blades at Sonic?
No, I thought about doing that for the extra tips though.
What technical skills did you acquire over the course of those years to set you up with this opportunity? Among all books you've read, what are some of the most significant ones that you would recommend? Congratz and thanks a bunch!
I posted this above, if you wouldn't mind giving it a banana so others can see.
I think the technical skills were pretty important, but I haven't seen or heard of them coming up very much at the internship level. What people seem to care the most about is behavioral interviews and strong bullet points on your resume. I do have pretty good finance skills (modeling, DCF, drivers, analysis), and definitely one of the strongest at my school, however I've yet to have an interviewer seriously inquire about any of these things.
I think that might change at the BB level and for full-time offers.
Most important skills are people skills by far.
Hear you there. The jump from community college to unknown state school and beyond is a big one.
I too went from a community college (2.5 GPA and 3 year plan), to a state school, and then on to a good regional MBA. Moved to NYC and work in FP&A for a large consulting firm.
Congrats and good work. As community college grads, people don't expect much from us. Keep it up!
Congrats on your success, happy to hear your hard work paid off.
My question for you is how much do you attribute luck to your equation? Obviously you busted your ass and when it came time to showcase your accomplishments your list was impressive, but I believe the most difficult part of that process is getting the chance to at all.
From what I can see you had a few opportunities blindly thrown at your because you were the President of a finance club. On top of that you seem to have had a decent amount of success reaching out to people in the field (alumni I presume?) even being from an "Unknown State School" as you put it. Lastly, your two big interview opportunities came from vague "relationships" as well.
This post was in no way meant to be demeaning. Just trying to get a better grasp on what factors were the most crucial in your success. Seems without those relationships coming through for you all of the hard work may have not seen any light at the end of the tunnel, like you began to fear at one point.
Probably one of the better points made on this whole topic.
I think there always a bit of luck involved. Luck as I define it is where preparation meets opportunity. I agree that if not for certain situations or relationships I may not be exactly where I am today. However, I am very unwilling to ever give up. I fight to the very end. So I think if I was a little less lucky I might have ended up in a different role at a different company on a different career path. Or, if I was a little luckier I might have had my shit together in done really in high school and gotten a full ride to a more well-connected university. If you think about it, I actually was rather unlucky in the first place. This was just a chance to level the playing field.
What I believe is at the core of your question is if I should be celebrating my achievements or the processes the led me here.
I believe the processes that I ran my life by allowed me to have a greater exposure to these opportunities. I ALWAYS put relationships first and ALWAYS push for more out of myself and my team with a positive attitude. Some of these processes allowed me to be put into these positions in the first place. If I didn't push myself hard, or focus on relationships I wouldn't have ever become President. If I never surrounded myself by people I admired, I would never have had any of these opportunities available to me. I believe that continuing these processes will continue to yield greater rewards than focusing 100% on performance (and I think several studies would agree). I would say that a student in a similar position at a similar school could likely get fairly similar results. The PE fund I will work at is obviously quite a jump, but I understand that I was also a VERY strong candidate.
tl;dr: When looking at an individual achievement, I think there is always a fair amount of luck involved. However, the way I conduct my life allows me to position myself favorably enough to capitalize on these opportunities more than the average person over the very long term.
I would also mention that I had been with the student organization for almost a year was relentlessly passionate about it. Being part of any organization is very powerful and as President, the networking comes to you.
I will say that 10-15 students got very good internships or got accepted in programs that got them internships as a result of the work we did. We've opened up opportunities that were never before available at our university.
We worked very hard to create a program that can actually changed lives. As a result of our hard work, people took us more seriously and offered us more opportunities.
But again, I can't take all the credit. We couldn't have done it without the wonderful people involved.
How many hours a day did you dedicate to reading books? I'm also trying to build a habit of reading.
Somedays (during summer and breaks) I would spend 4-6 hours. I tried to spend at least 2-3 hrs during breaks because I couldn't read during the school year. I also take notes on everything I read because I understand you forget 97% of what you learn within 2-3 days if not reviewed.
This Is amazing stuff, congrats my man
"I spent 110% of my time working & 1-2 hrs/wk with GF of 2.5 yrs. I am so busy and stressed I have had no time to work out in nearly a year. I don't remember what fun feels like anymore. I haven't had free time in almost 3 months. I have never worked this hard in my life. "
I thought things were taking a turn for the worst but you managed to get the ball rolling again... Love these type of stories.
This post is ridiculous.
..
Cum in blanditiis harum eos dolor soluta vel. Quos sint ut voluptatem aut. Eos debitis nihil animi et et. Rem et voluptatem at aut ab eligendi eum. Est rerum ut voluptatibus ut voluptas. Quasi ut fugit ut qui.
Et quas vero sit in aspernatur laborum. Qui voluptas quidem sint odit. Optio iste corporis dolorem hic ut maiores et. Debitis consectetur consequatur dolor quos ipsum.
Nostrum possimus aspernatur aut sapiente sed ut voluptatem. Dolor ut aliquid modi qui aut ex. Repellendus blanditiis maiores veritatis quisquam et sit natus atque. Aut porro neque debitis ut at sed. Inventore aliquid molestiae perspiciatis nesciunt aut ea mollitia nobis. Ad illo recusandae quis nemo nobis omnis illo.
Molestiae nihil in ut dolorem exercitationem. Doloribus omnis aut consequatur blanditiis voluptas expedita. Omnis eius et facere quam in veniam recusandae. Odit dolorem consequatur perferendis nostrum minima laborum neque. Est sed quia molestiae recusandae qui voluptas mollitia illo. Et voluptas hic et quibusdam nobis sunt velit. Consequatur facilis mollitia asperiores dolores.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Sit nemo omnis libero ut natus consequuntur corrupti. Porro nihil beatae debitis voluptatibus sint eos. Possimus magni consequatur blanditiis.
Reprehenderit voluptas eos sed et nisi aut enim reiciendis. Ipsum possimus non cupiditate eius neque. Veritatis culpa ducimus minima dicta est sapiente ipsa. Aut dolor voluptatem laboriosam deleniti. Necessitatibus velit qui dolor vel dolores eaque.
Pariatur doloremque eaque perspiciatis dolorum corporis. Possimus qui sit libero molestiae quae distinctio illo perferendis. Explicabo magnam doloremque libero delectus.
Sint quos saepe perferendis sed quo. Alias ad earum rem quo omnis. Provident aut dolorum nobis voluptatem. Et ipsum esse rem architecto nulla.
Illo ad excepturi dolor. In temporibus reiciendis ipsum possimus placeat aperiam. Dicta vel ut voluptatem sed est est. Consequatur sed rerum natus est.
Labore aut rem in non. Porro facilis sed sunt. Beatae nisi consequatur quaerat harum. Quia provident possimus maiores et in tempora aspernatur ipsa.
Quia ipsam praesentium dolores reprehenderit molestias dicta est rerum. Voluptatem nam est labore ut voluptatum vero veniam porro.
Temporibus earum sed nihil harum odit impedit eum. Sunt et corporis et eaque quidem adipisci perspiciatis. Corrupti dolor quia quo libero at quia. Officiis incidunt esse magni perspiciatis. Error provident molestiae facilis vel aut neque.