DiscoBiscuit
Meat Tornado
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2009
- Messages
- 14,794
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- 8w9
Alright I've said I would make a thread on getting the job you want, but you can't do that until you've figured out what you want to do with your life now can you!
So where better to begin than the beginning.
Growing up, we all have things we're passionate about, things in or out of school. Things we never get bored of regardless of how ADD (or ADHD like me) we are. Before you can decide what you want to do, it helps to think about who you are as a person, what are you good at. But not only that, what are you good at that you love doing? Something unique to you that might not necessarily be common for everyone. This thread isn't for those who've known what they wanted to do all their lives and are already pursuing that, but for those who don't. Also, take note now that this thread will not be a follow your dreams and you'll be happy and that's the end of it kind of thread. That can be the case, but isn't always for everyone. Frequently life doesn't work out the way you want it to (it didn't for me). Often, it works out the way it needs to for reasons you wont understand until later (like it also did for me).
So what are you good at? Or better yet what do you like to do? Ever since I was little I've always loved talking to people. I was the precocious little kid making friends with all the adults. Hell, I'd try and talk to a brick wall if you let me. So I knew that whatever I did, it needed to involve people, specifically, communicating with them. Maybe you love computers and coding, maybe you love animals; maybe you love underwater basket weaving. We all love something, and I loved talking.
In middle school I remember writing a paper on Gun control (this was right after columbine) and that has always struck me as the beginning of my political leanings.
I was lucky to get into an academic magnet high school. After being bored and essentially teaching my geometry class because our teacher was the damn tennis coach, I decided to go into the International Baccalaureate program. Loved it. I loved history and physics, and theater, especially theater, and played a bunch of sports and was really involved yadda yadda yadda. Note the reason I'm telling you all this is that being able to tell your personal story in a compelling way is ESSENTIAL to getting a job down the road. It will also give you some insight into how I've made my decision. I knew I didn't want to be a periodontist like my Dad, and my grandpa had been a very well regarded attorney and everyone in my family thought that's what I should be.
You need to figure out what you love, what you are good at, and what has the potential to be a good remunerative career. Money isn't equally important to everyone, but it is always important. As long as you make enough to support your family and be happy that's all that matters.
I knew I wanted to be a political science major in college. I knew what I was interested in and never looked back. I wish I had listened to my dad and double majored in business or finance or accounting as well. That would have been useful but its water under the bridge now.
Don't be like me kids and study for your damn SAT's or ACT's or whatever it is that the kids are doing these days. I test well and did well, but take that shit seriously, if I had studied I probably could have gone almost anywhere in the country I wanted to. As it was I went to the University of Florida and got paid to go there (scholarships for the win!). If I could go back in time and tell myself to take my studies more seriously I would. I joined a fraternity and loved every minute of it, but I was lazy and didn't work as hard as I should have and could have. I could still have had just as much fun as I did, and I would have more to show for my time there.
Anyway, I took the LSAT's and didn't really study and this time it bit me on the ass more than it did with the SAT's. I still got into law schools but they were 3rd tier ones. And it was embarrassing that I didn't do better on them. Take that shit seriously. Ultimately, the way things went is the way they needed to. I wouldn't be where I am today if things didn't go exactly the way they did. I went to Law School and wanted to love it, and did enjoy some of it, but became bored. In my second year I had taken to opening a tab or Real Clear Politics or politico or whatever in addition to the notes I was taking. My mind had begun to drift and there was nothing I could do about it. It was at this time that I realized how much I loved politics, a love that you all still see to this day. It was also in this time period that I joined the forum.
I left Law School, and worked delivering furniture for a summer. That sucked and gave me some insight into what I didn't want to do. I then began volunteering at the GOP headquarters in my city and worked on Rubio's 2010 senate campaign. I loved it and set up an internship with our congressmen beginning in the spring of 2011. I moved to DC and loved interning, but got tired of not making money. I got an opportunity to Lobby with the girl I worked under on Rubio's campaign. Always make connections and nurture relationships. Networking is key. In a world where everyone has a college degree or more and has great things to say about themselves who you know is as important as what you know. Well the Amendment to Dodd-Frank I was lobbying against was passed and we all were let go (thats the way it works up there). And I ended up at a think tank working for the head fundraiser doing Florida donor research. I ended up also being an assistant and that wasn't my gig so I ended up coming home to FL.
My mom was a realtor and so I took a turn selling houses for a year and a half, and didn't really enjoy it. I was out NETWORKING at a chamber of commerce event downtown and met a guy who I had a 30 minute conversation with, he took my business card and I thought nothing of it. I got a call a month later from his boss telling me he was a financial advisor, their offices top producer and that he thought I was wasting my time in real estate. I interviewed with her, a process I will describe how to dominate in later posts, and was hired after maybe the second interview. I then got my securities licenses, the series 7 general securities license, the series 66 to be a registered investment advisor and my 2-15 health, life and variable annuity license. I had a good year at that company, met all the production metrics got invited to a week long all expense paid trip to New Orleans for top producers and generally enjoyed myself. My boss left that company to pursue another opportunity, and the office quickly collapsed without her. All the other advisors left, and there had been some bad blood between her and the other advisors. I had to leave that office before it was shut down, the writing was on the wall. I followed my boss to her new company. I leapt without looking and taking the time to figure out what kind of financial shop would be right for me. I actually only got along with the top producer guy, my boss and another trainee who left. There was a bad environment there and it was the death of that office.
I went with my boss to her new gig and it sucked from the get go, the company was trying to build a financial shop from the ground up and didn't know what it was doing. There were no processes in place and trying to do business was like pulling teeth. They were originally an Insurance company so there was a huge emphasis placed on selling insurance and they had a down market clientele that I was not used to working with, and who mostly ended up being a waste of my time. I worked high net worth markets and small business owners and young white collar professionals at my first financial job. I was as unhappy as I had ever been and was already looking for a way about by about last November. I made a promise to myself that I would find something right for me, and that I would kick the tires on all the financial shops I needed to in order to find the right one. In January, I was still with the same company and on a conference call the whole company got shut down by a SVP from the parent company. Security walked in and company reps were there to talk about severance packages. Everyone else was floored as there had been no heads up about this. Thousands of people were let go. My bosses boss was let go.
I'm tired of writing, and will cut this short. I looked at a bunch of different jobs and ended up reconnecting with a guy who had tried to recruit me away from my first financial job when I met him at a NETWORKING event downtown. Originally his firm wasn't really even on my radar screen. He sent me a message over linkedin (get on that shit) and I came in not really expecting much. I really liked everything they had to say, and their shop was very successful and had a great culture. More importantly (this is after several interviews) I really liked the guys in there and the guy I will be working under. One of my fraternity brothers actually works on the same team I'll be working on and it will be nice to have him to connect me to everyone. I finally took the time to find the right job for me with the right environment, and the right mix of guys. The opportunity is great, their business model is great, and I will have a greater chance to succeed and make the kind of money I want to than I ever had before.
I mentioned earlier that things go the way they need to, even if that's not the way you want them to in the moment. If I hadn't left Law School, gone to DC and came back, networked the way I had and met the people I did, I would never have met the love of my life. I would never have been in town at that moment doing that exact thing. I wouldn't have downloaded tinder and I wouldn't have met my girlfriend on it. The twisted path that has led me to this current place has been extremely painful at times and seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel until there was. Keep hope, don't let life get you down, and know that the things you are going through now are turning you into that great person you've always wanted to become.
This is the first of many posts. This one is just to show you my story and show that things can turn out all right even when at the time you think they won’t. I'll go into resumes and interviewing and networking and all that other stuff, but I thought this was more important to start off with.
EDIT - I should have mentioned that this job will have me speaking to people all day long face to face where I am at my best. It will allow me to use my God given talents to their greatest effect.
So where better to begin than the beginning.
Growing up, we all have things we're passionate about, things in or out of school. Things we never get bored of regardless of how ADD (or ADHD like me) we are. Before you can decide what you want to do, it helps to think about who you are as a person, what are you good at. But not only that, what are you good at that you love doing? Something unique to you that might not necessarily be common for everyone. This thread isn't for those who've known what they wanted to do all their lives and are already pursuing that, but for those who don't. Also, take note now that this thread will not be a follow your dreams and you'll be happy and that's the end of it kind of thread. That can be the case, but isn't always for everyone. Frequently life doesn't work out the way you want it to (it didn't for me). Often, it works out the way it needs to for reasons you wont understand until later (like it also did for me).
So what are you good at? Or better yet what do you like to do? Ever since I was little I've always loved talking to people. I was the precocious little kid making friends with all the adults. Hell, I'd try and talk to a brick wall if you let me. So I knew that whatever I did, it needed to involve people, specifically, communicating with them. Maybe you love computers and coding, maybe you love animals; maybe you love underwater basket weaving. We all love something, and I loved talking.
In middle school I remember writing a paper on Gun control (this was right after columbine) and that has always struck me as the beginning of my political leanings.
I was lucky to get into an academic magnet high school. After being bored and essentially teaching my geometry class because our teacher was the damn tennis coach, I decided to go into the International Baccalaureate program. Loved it. I loved history and physics, and theater, especially theater, and played a bunch of sports and was really involved yadda yadda yadda. Note the reason I'm telling you all this is that being able to tell your personal story in a compelling way is ESSENTIAL to getting a job down the road. It will also give you some insight into how I've made my decision. I knew I didn't want to be a periodontist like my Dad, and my grandpa had been a very well regarded attorney and everyone in my family thought that's what I should be.
You need to figure out what you love, what you are good at, and what has the potential to be a good remunerative career. Money isn't equally important to everyone, but it is always important. As long as you make enough to support your family and be happy that's all that matters.
I knew I wanted to be a political science major in college. I knew what I was interested in and never looked back. I wish I had listened to my dad and double majored in business or finance or accounting as well. That would have been useful but its water under the bridge now.
Don't be like me kids and study for your damn SAT's or ACT's or whatever it is that the kids are doing these days. I test well and did well, but take that shit seriously, if I had studied I probably could have gone almost anywhere in the country I wanted to. As it was I went to the University of Florida and got paid to go there (scholarships for the win!). If I could go back in time and tell myself to take my studies more seriously I would. I joined a fraternity and loved every minute of it, but I was lazy and didn't work as hard as I should have and could have. I could still have had just as much fun as I did, and I would have more to show for my time there.
Anyway, I took the LSAT's and didn't really study and this time it bit me on the ass more than it did with the SAT's. I still got into law schools but they were 3rd tier ones. And it was embarrassing that I didn't do better on them. Take that shit seriously. Ultimately, the way things went is the way they needed to. I wouldn't be where I am today if things didn't go exactly the way they did. I went to Law School and wanted to love it, and did enjoy some of it, but became bored. In my second year I had taken to opening a tab or Real Clear Politics or politico or whatever in addition to the notes I was taking. My mind had begun to drift and there was nothing I could do about it. It was at this time that I realized how much I loved politics, a love that you all still see to this day. It was also in this time period that I joined the forum.
I left Law School, and worked delivering furniture for a summer. That sucked and gave me some insight into what I didn't want to do. I then began volunteering at the GOP headquarters in my city and worked on Rubio's 2010 senate campaign. I loved it and set up an internship with our congressmen beginning in the spring of 2011. I moved to DC and loved interning, but got tired of not making money. I got an opportunity to Lobby with the girl I worked under on Rubio's campaign. Always make connections and nurture relationships. Networking is key. In a world where everyone has a college degree or more and has great things to say about themselves who you know is as important as what you know. Well the Amendment to Dodd-Frank I was lobbying against was passed and we all were let go (thats the way it works up there). And I ended up at a think tank working for the head fundraiser doing Florida donor research. I ended up also being an assistant and that wasn't my gig so I ended up coming home to FL.
My mom was a realtor and so I took a turn selling houses for a year and a half, and didn't really enjoy it. I was out NETWORKING at a chamber of commerce event downtown and met a guy who I had a 30 minute conversation with, he took my business card and I thought nothing of it. I got a call a month later from his boss telling me he was a financial advisor, their offices top producer and that he thought I was wasting my time in real estate. I interviewed with her, a process I will describe how to dominate in later posts, and was hired after maybe the second interview. I then got my securities licenses, the series 7 general securities license, the series 66 to be a registered investment advisor and my 2-15 health, life and variable annuity license. I had a good year at that company, met all the production metrics got invited to a week long all expense paid trip to New Orleans for top producers and generally enjoyed myself. My boss left that company to pursue another opportunity, and the office quickly collapsed without her. All the other advisors left, and there had been some bad blood between her and the other advisors. I had to leave that office before it was shut down, the writing was on the wall. I followed my boss to her new company. I leapt without looking and taking the time to figure out what kind of financial shop would be right for me. I actually only got along with the top producer guy, my boss and another trainee who left. There was a bad environment there and it was the death of that office.
I went with my boss to her new gig and it sucked from the get go, the company was trying to build a financial shop from the ground up and didn't know what it was doing. There were no processes in place and trying to do business was like pulling teeth. They were originally an Insurance company so there was a huge emphasis placed on selling insurance and they had a down market clientele that I was not used to working with, and who mostly ended up being a waste of my time. I worked high net worth markets and small business owners and young white collar professionals at my first financial job. I was as unhappy as I had ever been and was already looking for a way about by about last November. I made a promise to myself that I would find something right for me, and that I would kick the tires on all the financial shops I needed to in order to find the right one. In January, I was still with the same company and on a conference call the whole company got shut down by a SVP from the parent company. Security walked in and company reps were there to talk about severance packages. Everyone else was floored as there had been no heads up about this. Thousands of people were let go. My bosses boss was let go.
I'm tired of writing, and will cut this short. I looked at a bunch of different jobs and ended up reconnecting with a guy who had tried to recruit me away from my first financial job when I met him at a NETWORKING event downtown. Originally his firm wasn't really even on my radar screen. He sent me a message over linkedin (get on that shit) and I came in not really expecting much. I really liked everything they had to say, and their shop was very successful and had a great culture. More importantly (this is after several interviews) I really liked the guys in there and the guy I will be working under. One of my fraternity brothers actually works on the same team I'll be working on and it will be nice to have him to connect me to everyone. I finally took the time to find the right job for me with the right environment, and the right mix of guys. The opportunity is great, their business model is great, and I will have a greater chance to succeed and make the kind of money I want to than I ever had before.
I mentioned earlier that things go the way they need to, even if that's not the way you want them to in the moment. If I hadn't left Law School, gone to DC and came back, networked the way I had and met the people I did, I would never have met the love of my life. I would never have been in town at that moment doing that exact thing. I wouldn't have downloaded tinder and I wouldn't have met my girlfriend on it. The twisted path that has led me to this current place has been extremely painful at times and seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel until there was. Keep hope, don't let life get you down, and know that the things you are going through now are turning you into that great person you've always wanted to become.
This is the first of many posts. This one is just to show you my story and show that things can turn out all right even when at the time you think they won’t. I'll go into resumes and interviewing and networking and all that other stuff, but I thought this was more important to start off with.
EDIT - I should have mentioned that this job will have me speaking to people all day long face to face where I am at my best. It will allow me to use my God given talents to their greatest effect.
