Advice for the next 5 yrs of my life wanted plz.

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by Ur My Wages, Oct 14, 2006.

  1. Joab

    Joab

    Apart from the obvious grades and being top of your class, Wall Street is all about IMAGE, spend lots of time reading GQ and look the part.

    Learn the language of the street and develope some street smarts beyond the books, they love leaders and they love winners.

    Stay away from drugs and drink it's concidered a sign of weakness.

    Excel at a sport and prove you can work within a team.
     
    #11     Oct 15, 2006
  2. This is an excellent point.

    When I graduated high school, I thought I had left that all behind. However, when I started working, I found out that the workplace is nothing more then a high school on a larger scale. It is very important for you to be well liked. So you have to watch exactly what you say at all times. This sounds easy enough, but little things can get you in trouble quickly.

    Avoid writing emails and try to use the telephone as much as possible. Emails are stored permanently and can be archived for many years. In fact, a google search will reveal some of my postings on a news group from 1996. When you must write an email for any reason, be short, concise and polite. Use words like thank you and please.

    When you see someone for the first time, always say something nice like Good Morning. When they leave, say Good Night. This is starting to sound very basic, but my point is that everyday common courtesy goes a long way.

    Being popular is key to success. Even if you lack knowlede of your job, if your well liked, then the people around you will make sure your sh*t does not stink.

    In any event, whatever you do or wherever you go, my default advice remains supreme. That default advice is to save and invest at all times no matter what your income level. All of these workplaces are temporary events in your life. When all is said and done, the only thing that is left is the money in the bank.

    So when going out to a nice dinner, ask yourself, do I really need to spend $30 on this dinner or could I go to McDonalds eat a meal for $5 and use that $25 to buy a savings bond. The dinner will be a temporary event in your life that will become a fading memory. However, you will need that $25 at some point in the future for something more critical then a dinner at a restaurant...
     
    #12     Oct 16, 2006
  3. esprit06

    esprit06

    you're getting a lot of US-centric advice here, don't let that distract you

    save and invest no matter how small
    live within your means...you're a student so that should be the norm...take those habits with you when you start earning

    dublin no matter what anyone says (particularly people in property who are flying high right now) is a very small town
    at the end of the day, don't forget that.

    try to get a summer job lined up with any investment bank in london for next summer if you can.....you'll learn way more than you will in dub. get the names of temping agencies and be persistent........these people are looking for people who can knock out menial office tasks in these places...it's a great way to start....google robert walters, they are a big temping agency...

    if you'd rather stay in dub then hammer your contacts and faculty people to try to get into a summer placement (even if it's the mailroom...it's a beachhead from which to advance)....BoI or AIB but also merrill have a big office there..be bold phone and persist..you'll get something......who knows, you might be able to keep the job (and the cash) part time when you go back in second year......

    with uni....it's very important as they say to have fun and suck the life out of it !! but take care of business first so you have even more time for fun.......work effectively, be organised, don't let your time be wasted.....learn to speed read your prescribed texts ahead of time, makes the lectures more valuable per unit time spent......:) there's always an angle for smart people !

    (Another thing: there is a post here somewhere by a guy who goes by the moniker "I trade 4 money"....man, read that one, don't be like him...see what people are saying to him and try to see why he's going to take a fall...he's 24 )

    Here it is
    http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78466&perpage=6&pagenumber=1

    Read it and understand , ask questions if you don't understand......and btw, well done for coming on here to get advice....road is long, way is narrow.
     
    #13     Oct 16, 2006
  4. gnome

    gnome

    There's a book... something like "Everything I needed to know in life I learned by the 1st grade".

    Basically,

    Say please and thank you
    Remember to flush
    Always put the seat down
     
    #14     Oct 16, 2006