WSO Podcast | E79: From FLDP -- Investment Banking -- The Buyside
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In this episode, @WSO1856 shares his path from an FLDP program and how he managed to lateral into an investment banking analyst position. We learn about his thought process during college, why he was too late and how he managed to break in through the side door after a year in the finance development leadership program at a Fortune 500 company.
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WSO Podcast (Episode 79) Transcript:
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:00:06] Hello and welcome. I'm Patrick Curtis. Your host and chief monkey, and this is the Wall Street Oasis podcast. Join me as I talk to some of the community's most successful and inspirational members to gain valuable insight into different career paths and life in general. Let's get to it. In this episode, WSO1856 shares his path from an NFL deep program and how he managed to lateral into an investment banking analyst position. We learn about his thought process during college, why he was too late and how he managed to break in through the side door after a year in the Finance Development Leadership Program at a Fortune 500 company. Enjoy. All right. So eighteen, fifty six, thanks so much for joining the Wall Street Voices podcast.
WSO1856: [00:00:59] Yeah, I'm happy to be on.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:01:01] So it'd be great if you could just give the listeners a short summary of your bio.
WSO1856: [00:01:05] Yeah, sure, so graduated from college in last five years, studied typical background finance, accounting from a regionally recognized school and started a career in a field program for a large Fortune 500 company. Started there for a year and was really getting good experience on the ground in terms of day to day corporate finance, learning things on the business process side. And really, when I was in the program, I decided that I wanted to make a switch into banking. And so really the key pivotal moment for me was just kind of realizing that, you know, five 10 years down the road, I didn't really see myself being a finance manager or something of that nature. I thought the idea of working on deals and being in the banking side kind of opened a few more opportunities to really help me figure out what I was interested in. And so what I did was really just network with a lot of alumni and just connections I had made through even my early days in my career just to see who I can talk to make that switch. And so ultimately, through my alumni network, was able to make a jump into banking and really kind of opened up the doors for me in terms of the finance world. From day one, I really enjoyed it a lot more, just the idea of being able to work. I mean, deals across a variety of industries as opposed to just being in a day to day role of a financial analyst. Mm hmm. So I was in banking for a couple of years and then made the switch to more of a buy side shop. And that's where I am today.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:02:56] Awesome, thanks for that, so let's start all the way back and kind of undergrad was it was kind of finance always kind of on the radar. Did you know you wanted to go into one of these FLDS programs or were you trying to get into banking and just maybe you were too late or the recruiting didn't go kind of the way you wanted or. Tell me a little bit about kind of what your thought process was kind of sophomore or junior year. I know you're so young men. Often it's crazy how early people have to start, but I'd love to just give the listeners a little bit of perspective in terms of what you were thinking back then.
WSO1856: [00:03:27] Yeah, I think it is hard to look back and consider. My mindset was, but I remember at school these programs were highly touted. It was something that seemed to be, you know, something I could see myself going down. But again, when you're in college, you really don't know what the day to day is actually like. I had tested the waters and done an internship in a slightly different capacity as to what my role would entail. But. I took the offer when it was when I finished my internship and thought, Hey, I'll give this a shot. It's a good program. There seems to be good mobility after these programs. It's not some sort of commitment. I didn't see myself in a dead end. Exactly.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:13] Yeah. So you're sorry. I was just going to say, So you're this is that internship you did. That was your junior summer.
WSO1856: [00:04:21] That was actually the sophomore summer, actually. Ok. And then, yeah, once I had that under my belt had the offer, I thought, Yeah, you know, there's I don't really see myself going into banking. I think this is something that can be a good start. I wasn't entirely as familiar with the banking process, and I know some of my friends were going through it. But for me, this is just a path that I saw seemed to have good long term opportunities available.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:04:49] Was your GPA decent or did you try to do a resume drop for the banking? I want to get into a little bit. The FDP like learning more about like what that actually entails because I think a lot of listeners would really help a lot of them in terms of people who maybe don't want to do the 100 hour weeks. But just let's go back. So you said you did have some friends going through it. It's interesting. Were you dropping your resume was something where you got some interviews or you just weren't getting any interviews when you dropped it?
WSO1856: [00:05:20] I remember towards, yeah, during senior year, I remember I was dropping resumes just to kind of see what the process is like. I wouldn't say I had a standout GPA or anything like that. It was probably on the lower end. Mm hmm. So the fact that I had an offer and quite frankly, probably wasn't as attractive candidate as someone who had done a banking internship their junior year
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:44] Or senior year. It's almost too late, right?
WSO1856: [00:05:46] Exactly. Yeah. So I figured, you know, I'd missed the boat on those opportunities. I thought the opportunity I had in hand was a pretty good one.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:05:55] Do you feel like you missed? So sorry to harp on it, but do you feel like you missed the opportunity because you didn't know about it or because you dropped like you didn't get in sophomore year? Or because you had already accepted to take the FDP internship, summer junior summer junior summer? Like what was it or is just like you just didn't get enough on campus interviews because you at your school? I'm sure there's some OCR, but it's not like you're getting flooded right with all these banks. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
WSO1856: [00:06:26] Yeah. Yes, so I guess, you know, I guess the best way to put it is not having a, you know, stellar financial record and also not really being as familiar with what the banking process would entail at the time. Yeah, I think was something that definitely hurt me. If I did want to go down that route, I probably would have been very open to it. It would have been very beneficial and I would have saved myself some time, you know, making the switch later on.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:06:55] Mm hmm. But did you enjoy your sophomore summer? You did enjoy. It seemed like a good place to be. It wasn't a dead end, like you said. And so you're kind of, did you do it again? You're your junior summer. Another internship there?
WSO1856: [00:07:10] No. So my junior summer, I took a position at a large bank in more of a financial analyst type role. So thinking I wanted to maybe, do you know, a financial analyst program at a bank considering that when I did that one, I really didn't enjoy it? I thought the fact that being in a middle or back office type role at a bank wasn't what I was looking for.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:07:35] What was like the day to day like, like when you got in there and actually saw it? What was it like? Because I had never experienced that? Was it just like the type of work you're doing was just like not actually stimulating? Can you tell me about like kind of what you guys were doing day to day?
WSO1856: [00:07:49] Yeah, definitely. I mean, I felt like a lot of it was just running reports and kind of kicking and tying to ensure, you know, some of the traders pals were. You know, balanced and the
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:03] Monkey work basically like
WSO1856: [00:08:04] You're basically you could put it that way. Yeah, I mean, taking
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:07] It tying, yeah, it's
WSO1856: [00:08:10] The type of position where I didn't enjoy coming in each day and.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:08:15] But is that because you were an intern or like, is that because you're an intern or is it? Was there a path in the middle office that you could be a career kind of middle office support or manage all the interns and the analysts? Was there a path potentially there?
WSO1856: [00:08:29] There definitely was a path, but it's not something I thought I'd find interesting. And then we were in some of the meetings going over what the traders pals were like or some of the other reporting cadences and things like that. It was just something I couldn't see myself getting passionate about and really getting excited to go to work every day, I thought. And I think that's kind of where I had a trigger moment of, you know, maybe I want to do something that's a little bit more front office business type thing. And so switching gears, I think going back to that Fortune 500 business LDP program seemed like something that would give me a little bit more business facing opportunity.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:11] Yeah, it would be a better step kind of if you did want to get to banking at some point.
WSO1856: [00:09:16] Yeah. Not even necessarily banking. I think at that time, I was all over the place thinking, even corporate development or something like that, just something where I couldn't see myself being in a middle office role, taking and tying, you know, front office people's business and their work.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:09:34] It's funny because I think there was a post. I can't remember who it was famous post. I think it's Heiser or something on Wall Street races years ago is like, get how to escape back off as hell or something like that. And it was like some people were upset about it. But the reality is if, if, if you are a hardworking individual with and you're pretty sharp, it can. I think it can get really monotonous there. Not that banking can't get, you know, wrote and you start doing the same thing over and over again as well. I think there are very few jobs where you're creative all the time. So we can be fair, even LDP programs, it's not like some amazing. You know, creative job where everything changes every day, but the cool part about it. Maybe you could elaborate more on this is you are rotated through groups, right? Is that is that correct?
WSO1856: [00:10:26] Yeah, that is correct. I think in a few of the rotational programs I remember seeing, you're getting exposure to a lot of different sides of the business. Do you mind
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:10:35] Sharing like what you saw?
WSO1856: [00:10:37] Yeah. Well, I think my experience is slightly different in the fact that I didn't go through all the rotations or anything like that. But for me, you know, I was in one of the divisions of this large company and in a specific sub segment of the operation. So you're working with real business partners who have meaningful roles in the in the business and working with them on their budgeting, forecasting and basically trying to help them understand their business as a true key finance partner.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:08] Got it! You're brought in almost like as a higher internal consultant, hired gun finance person to help them make sense of what's going on.
WSO1856: [00:11:17] Yeah, exactly. I think part of it, at least from my perspective, I don't know if others have, you know, different experiences. But for me, it was a lot of these business partners set budgets for what they're going to spend on these various projects, and you're kind of helping them along the way to make sure that they're truly going to spend that money and it's properly reinvested back into the business that they're not or vice versa if they're going to go over budget for certain projects. You're kind of keeping on track with different cadences to ensure that. Um, they're maximizing their project management skills.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:11:55] So these FDP programs that these large fortune, five hundred, they're very competitive to get into. Can you tell me? If you looked at other ones outside of the one you did in your sophomore summer or were you like, Hey, I really enjoyed my time there and you kind of already had the connection there, so you decided I'm going to go there.
WSO1856: [00:12:12] Yeah, I didn't. I didn't look too deeply or try my resume that others. I did consider others that were out there. I just looked at other companies that had them. Yeah, but I felt that when I had the offer as a company I liked, I thought they had a really good mission and good, pretty solid people and was a good package overall. So I didn't pursue anything else. Interview wise, yeah. So did you,
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:12:37] Did you when you had the offer, was it after your sophomore summer or how did that work? Because I know you did the financial analyst role at a bank, the middle office role the following summer. So were you getting? Did you kind of like reach out and then send it off, or did they have that offer open for that long? Yeah, you know, it's I'd say it's actually
WSO1856: [00:12:57] Very this can be very specific or unique. I think the way it worked was, they gave me a recommendation to apply for the program. I remember. So after that junior internship at the bank that I had, I basically had to go in, do a think, maybe like a two hour test. And then right after that test, I guess I scored well enough and received an offer. So that was heading into my senior year.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:29] What was that test like? You tell me more about that. Yeah.
WSO1856:00:13:33] Yeah, it was. It was generally about basic business concepts, stuff you'd have in macroeconomics, one on one, those kind of general understanding how to read charts and make sense of general business info like supply
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:13:50] Management type stuff.
WSO1856: [00:13:51] Yeah, yeah, kind of stuff like that. And then also just there was definitely a financial and accounting component as well. I think just making sure you understood the three statements generally how various expenses will impact three statements. Did you prep a lot
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:11] Of this knowing it was coming or did you were you kind of like surprised and just managed to pass?
WSO1856:00:14:16] I think I reviewed some of my notes from various college courses because that's kind of what I'd heard from others. It was all stuff that was actually pretty practical and stuff you'd be learning in school, whereas sometimes you can go into things where they're less practical, less things you've learned in school and more on the job. So I felt like I was well prepared and scored well enough to receive an offer.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:38] Great. So you kind of did that, it sounds like early in your senior year.
WSO1856: [00:14:43] Yeah, I think it was the summer going into senior year, summer, OK?
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:14:45] Some are going to senior year, so you're able to enjoy your senior year at school, which is awesome.
WSO1856: [00:14:51] Yeah. Yes. I think having the offer in hand made things easier. You know, going into the school year, but at the same time wasn't as heavily. Considering other roles or maybe has driven to go into banking again, probably was really hard because, like you said, it's kind of like you're missing the boat by senior year. It's kind of too late.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:15:12] Yeah, my senior year, if you haven't had a banking internship, it's really tough because there are kids that you're competing with that do have the internship that didn't get written off or maybe from a boutique investment banker and said their work, at least the work they did over the summer tends to be more relevant like deal experience and stuff. So you're definitely fighting an uphill battle there. So I get it. So you're you enjoy your senior year, you kind of graduate and then you started in this fdcp program. Do you feel like? It was a good experience for you, like you were you're you were there for a good two years. I'd love to hear just a little bit about like what it was like when you first started with it. Really tough and then it got kind of easy. Or was the were you constantly learning or was it, you know, it was OK and you felt like, Hey, I needed something else to challenge me, and that's why you kind of jumped.
WSO1856: [00:16:04] Yeah. The only thing I would correct is I was only there for one year, for one year. Ok, yeah. So I was there for a rotation on the job. It was, I think, a little bit challenging at first because there wasn't a formal training to start off the program.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:19] Oh, really, that surprises me. Even a large.
WSO1856: [00:16:21] Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was pretty surprised there was training periodically. You know, every couple of months we'd go to formal training, but got it.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:30] But you, like, started day one and you had no clue what you're doing. Just like here.
WSO1856: [00:16:34] Yeah, they kind of just said, you know, here's the role you're in. You're taking over for this guy who's, you know, moving on to this next role, they'll teach you. So this guy taught me the ins and outs the day to day over the course of a few days, which was definitely helpful. And were you
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:16:50] Were you like on one project or is it like you said, it's like a sub division of one set of the company or one part of the company?
WSO1856: [00:16:59] Is that how? Yeah. So it's more sort of a subdivision of the company. Got it. And being, yeah, being a finance partner for that and helping with a lot of the type work.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:08] So know somebody kind of handing it over to you over just a couple of days.
WSO1856: [00:17:12] Yeah, exactly. So I think from there being a fresh out of school college kid, given a lot of, you know, pretty meaningful responsibility as opposed to just mundane busy work was. I wouldn't say so much as wake up calls it is, you know, it's just a lot to take in at first, but I didn't feel like it was very stressful. I think, yes, yeah, probably stressed in a way. Just because there's so many nuances to understanding systems and terminology and just understanding the meaning of your role and the bigger picture, I think, takes a little bit of time.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:48] When you say systems, do you mean like the software that you guys would use to kind of do this stuff?
WSO1856: [00:17:53] Exactly. So a lot of steps in terms of, you know, how to run certain reports understanding different cost canter codes.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:17:59] Is this like sales force type stuff or more like very proprietary software for
WSO1856: [00:18:04] The specific businesses? Yeah. I would say more on the proprietary side or things like an sap. Got it. Got it. Ok. So it's not as intuitive, necessarily.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): 00:18:14] No, they're not. I've seen some of them, and I'm like, How? That doesn't make any sense. Why do you have to do that? So you hear you're in this program? Sorry for only about a little over a year, and you tell me when you kind of start thinking, Hey, maybe this banking thing is interesting to me and a couple of months in, was it, you know, seven months in? What kind of made you start looking?
WSO1856: [00:18:36] Yeah, I think I think it was maybe, you know, a few months in, I'm working, my buddies are working. We're catching up and just talking about the stuff that we do day to day and you kind of hear what other people are working on and kind of the paths that things lead down. And I think that's kind of where it opened my eyes in terms of really thinking about, you know, what do I want to be doing, not just next year, but the next five years, ten years from now, what I see myself doing and it was a lot of reflection and kind of looking at people at my company who are there five years ahead of me, 10 years ahead of me. What they're doing is that the kind of role that I want to be in. And so at that point, I think it was a few months in. I just started talking to a few of the older guys I knew from college. And you know who had. Made their ways in some of these careers and trying to understand if banking would be something for me or, you know, some of the other positions I was considering, I think I was open to consulting at the time as well. So it really was just trying to understand what would be my next step.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:19:39] And so do you feel like you didn't gain that perspective? Like, do you feel like the reality of actually being out of school and working kind of all of a sudden woke you up because it sounds like there was a little bit of floating? I mean, I was the same way, but in college, there's a little bit of like just floating through. And then like, Boom, you're in the job and you're like, Wait, a second, is this what I want to do for this life? Could you? There's nothing stopping you from doing this. Conversation's earlier, right?
WSO1856: [00:20:04] No, no, nothing at all. And that's why I'd kind of advise anybody who's curious about anything, not just banking, but to have conversations early. Talk to as many people as they can and really just learn as much as they can about a role or a career as early as they can on to save themselves time down the road. Yeah, and to not make the switch as difficult as it really can be.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:20:28] Yeah, I mentor. I have the show monkey to millions. I don't know if you've heard of it, but I'm basically mentoring four kids in college trying to break into careers and mostly banking. And one of my mentees, she's at Fordham and she's like, been aggressively reaching out like networking with people and people are just like shocked because she's a freshman, but she already has like an internship lined up. She has like she's set. Yeah, but it's just it's just all about like putting yourself out there. And oftentimes when you're that young, it's really intimidating and you don't you don't feel comfortable because you don't even know the lingo.
WSO1856: [00:21:02] Totally. I totally get that. And yeah, I definitely regret not pursuing this earlier. Maybe going to more information sessions on campus when they had them. Yeah, but
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:21:12] You got to. I mean, you've got to mature too, right? I mean, it's just it's a it's a maturation process. Don't beat yourself up over it. You ended up at a great Ph.D. program. So yeah, you're there and you're learning, but you're still kind of now you're kind of doing a little bit more of a broad search, consulting, banking. And so what kind of pointing you to banking? There's a couple of friends that were like really pushing you towards that or what do you think kind of set or were you applying to consulting as well? What made up your mind?
WSO1856: [00:21:42] I was applying to both. I thought just the idea of working on a variety of different companies or deals or something like that was more interesting than just working at one and being, you know, kind of more of an internal. A cog in the wheel, I kind of felt like I was being, yeah, I felt like having more of a high level view looking at a full company or full deal with something that was more attractive to me. So just reading a lot of the resources online and trying to really talk to others who are in each of these fields to understand what their day to day was like, really, just kind of this
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:22:18] Is like this is like networking one on one you just started talking to everybody.
WSO1856: [00:22:22] Totally, you know, someone started talking to one of your friends who knows someone who's in this, you know, career at this firm. Hey, you know, you should reach out to them that they're happy to talk to you. So you just got to keep talking to people. That's what I did. I just kept talking to people and it really shocked me how open people are to talking, answering questions because quite frankly, they probably the same questions a couple of years earlier.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:22:47] The questions were you asking like in these info sessions, was it mostly over the phone and stuff?
WSO1856: [00:22:52] Yeah, mostly over the phone and just learning about what people's day to day is like, what they kind of recommend doing. If you know, to get into these firms. I mean, a lot of it is these people got into these firms from undergrad or maybe some sort of other exit opportunity down the road. The position I was in was definitely unique, but it really was just understanding the day to day and kind of affirming for myself.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:23:19] I'm curious what they said. I'm curious what they said to you. I mean, they probably were. I'm guessing they were advising you. You'd like to look at lateral openings. Is that correct? Like just. Or were they saying something because you're coming from an FLDS program that you said it's not it's not traditional to go FLDS, then all of a sudden go banking. So what were they? What was their advice to you?
WSO1856: [00:23:41] Um, yeah, I don't know if it was so much as lateral as it was just to make the move when I could just try to find any opening and convince someone that you have the technical skills to, you know, come in day one, you've done some self-learning on your own where you're not going to be thrown in and not have any clue what the lingo is or right, what a deal is. Just really to familiarize myself with the specifics of banking and the kind of roles that I'd be applying for.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:24:11] Ok, so you start doing a ton of info sessions, lots of calls, and then what kind of was the break or did you were you applying online? I assume at the same time,
WSO1856: [00:24:22] A few times. Yeah, but. But that's like, yeah, I think those are black holes. Yeah, I think any time I had traction anywhere was either in bounds, you know, from LinkedIn or really just when I had my true success was just reaching out to my alumni network and there happened to be someone leaving a firm, going to get their MBA and that kind of opened the door to a position being open and having that person kind of help me understand what the role was and. How to prepare, I think, really was beneficial.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:25:04] And so kind of like a mentor from an alum.
WSO1856: [00:25:08] Yeah, yeah, pretty much, I mean, someone who had been through the process could really help. Understood that my background wasn't necessarily a lateral move into the position, but pointed me to the right resources to prepare and myself, well, you know, to do the stage.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:25:25] Did the bank? Did the bank say to you kind of during the process like you would start as a first year analyst? Was there any communication about that of where you would start out?
WSO1856: [00:25:33] I think it was pretty clear from day one. Okay. Yeah, yeah. When you're six months out of college, I don't think there's any I could be wrong, but I doubt there's much room for any leverage. Do you remember
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:25:45] How many people you ended up talking to around? Approximately.
WSO1856: [00:25:50] I don't know, but definitely, definitely in double digits. I mean, you're just even something that's more informal than formally reaching out to somebody.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:25:58] It sounds like you were really sticking to your alumni because they're pretty strong and close knit.
WSO1856: [00:26:02] Yeah. And I'd say socially, I think having some of those conversations with people in an informal setting also is always beneficial because they'll put you in touch with the next person who can really help you help you.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:26:16] Great. So you started and you got promoted pretty fast. So tell me a little bit about what it was like to drink from the fire hose again.
WSO1856: [00:26:23] Yeah, I'd say it was the same type of thing I talk about earlier kind of thrown in, expected to pick up how models work and the various nuances of the specific part of banking, housing and deals. So really, I think I was just so hungry and so happy that I made the switch that everything was just. Me just trying to absorb as much as I could, and I was really hungry from day one, so
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:26:54] Have somebody at the firm that helped you like get up to speed faster? Was it another analyst or another associate that kind of. I spend a lot of time with you, or is it mostly was it just like spread out a bit depending on the deal team?
WSO1856: [00:27:06] I would say definitely a lot more of the junior people, the analysts associates, but even people, you know, have more senior levels who are just good people, they want to see the best in the team. They make a good personal connection with you from day one. So it really depends, I guess, on the firm. But for me, it was a variety of people that really helped me grow and develop and basically was able to transform into being a pretty valued member of the team early on.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:27:35] Yeah, it sounds like, you know, within a year you got you got like a lot of people. Nowadays we get the fast track to promotion trying to hold on to you this year. I think a lot of analysts now are just hopping or just jumping ship after one or two years. So the banks are kind of giving that accelerated promote. Did you feel like did you ever consider staying on for an extended period of time or making banking your full time career? Or was it or you kind of always had that eye towards the buy side?
WSO1856: [00:28:00] Yeah, no, I mean, I think there's definitely good careers to be made, so it wasn't out of the question, I think when buy side opportunities presented themselves, it just was more attractive path. Especially after talking to more and more people. Like I said, it doesn't really stop. Once you just get into the one career, you think everyone as you talk to more people, you kind of. See what they're doing, you learn about other opportunities, and
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:28:28] You didn't stop. You didn't stop. You slow down the networking, but you never really stopped fully.
WSO1856: [00:28:34] Yeah, I think generally, if you're a social person, you're going to meet people naturally. Not necessarily me reaching out to people on LinkedIn cold and trying to network that way is just more so. Talking to other people, meeting friends of friends and just kind of hearing what they're doing, seeing that the by side was something that would be a good opportunity for me.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:28:56] And so do you mind sharing kind of the let's do you mind talking a little bit about like Comp- or ranges in terms of what you saw at the at the FDP and then what you saw like the pay bump? So I'm banking assuming there was a bump.
WSO1856: [00:29:10] Yeah, definitely. Definitely at. Starting now as well, and there are sub $100. There was some sort of overtime component that helped initially, but what even some of the older people who had graduated through the program complained about was that actually they were making sometimes less than what they did in the program. Oh, wow. Yeah, because of the overtime components.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:29:38] Oh, so like when you're when you're in the FDP, you get like a big overtime kind of bonus of some sort to treat you up or whatever. And then once you get out of that program, you can make less money. I didn't know that.
WSO1856: [00:29:51] Yeah, you could. I mean, it all depends if someone was doing a lot of it or not. But yeah, but yeah, so then the banking jump was in the hundred plus range. All in this wasn't any sort of major big bulge bracket bank, so I think you can understand where the comp was there. Yeah, I think there's enough resources. Then as you progress up the ranks of the bank, you know, the comp obviously jumps more and more and then typical by side entry level range, I think was pretty competitive.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:30:24] Great. And so were you when you were looking at buy side opportunities, given that you weren't in like an elite boutique or a bulge bracket bank or whatever? How did you go about thinking? Were you being more proactive about reaching out to recruiters? How did you kind of structure that whole process because you were, yeah, you were there for you were at the bank for almost three years.
WSO1856: [00:30:48] Yeah. Yes, I think to put it one way is really just being proactive in terms of going after recruiters, being not at a place that was any sort of on cycle recruiting or heavily targeted by the major recruiting firms. Really just continuing to network, find where opportunities were. It wasn't any sort of thing where you see a lot of the bias at opportunities, where analysts kind of know where they're going within a year of starting the analyst program at a big bank. Yeah. So it's about being proactive on LinkedIn and networking with others, really?
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:31:27] Were you worried that were you ever worried that, like the associate promote might actually hurt you in this bicep recruiting?
WSO1856: [00:31:35] I think I think they did way in my head a little bit.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:31:40] Just made me wonder about that because you can go almost it's almost like you almost get like the recruiters almost see you as like, Oh, he's done, he's done. He's big, you know?
WSO1856: [00:31:50] So curious, did you think that could be a factor?
Patrick (CEO of WSO): 00:31:53] Yeah. I mean, obviously it worked out for you, but are you? Were you able to? So like the job that you ended up getting. Was it through a recruiter?
WSO1856: [00:32:05] Um, no, it actually wasn't OK.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:32:07] So but they did get you some looks.
WSO1856: [00:32:10] Definitely. Definitely got some looks. We're starting to make traction, and then this was more of a. I guess, yeah. A networking type opportunity that came up.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:32:23] Ok, great. So your network comes through again? Yeah, that's awesome.
WSO1856: [00:32:28] Yeah, it's definitely had any sort of consistent track or plan that someone can do. But yeah, I guess any advice I would have would be just talking to people always helps and kind of help me figure out what you want to do and you never know who put you in touch with a certain role or another person.
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:32:48] And so looking back, you know, before we call it, looking back on kind of your whole career so far, is there anything you would tell your younger self leaving in college to do differently, leaving college?
WSO1856: [00:32:59] What's that? I think I think just early on in college, I wish I had, you know, really thought a lot more about my career and not just, you know, taking something because it seemed OK. I think the skills I learned from the first program were really beneficial, especially having inside corporate experience that a lot of people in banking don't necessarily have and understand. But at the same time, definitely wish I had gotten into my path a lot sooner. So there's always trade offs, always things you might have done differently. But again, I'm happy today and really value the skill set that I have for my different experiences
Patrick (CEO of WSO): [00:33:44] For sure, man. Well, listen, I really appreciate you taking the time for chatting with me. Yes, sounds good. And thanks to you, my listeners at Wall Street Oasis. If you have any suggestions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to send them my way. Patrick at Wall Street Oasis dot com. And till next time.
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