Another one hangs it up

congrats, what kind of job is it?

 

Dude, you took a shot and decided to bail. You didn't bankrupt yourself and didn't ruin your future. And you're leaving on your own terms, which should be comforting in itself. Don't grab the job out of panic because if it's the wrong job you'll end up quitting or being fired and then you'll be in an unfamiliar area away from any contacts and support system that can help you. You're a young man and you have your whole future in front of you with unlimited opportunities. I wish someone had given me this advice when I was 30, but I also understand you gotta do what you gotta do.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt, "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

 

Are you waiting for other offers? If not and if it is a good job, you might consider taking it for now. The worst case is that you waste a year building up your credential for your next job. I don't know about the job market out there but I am sure there are people looking for jobs.

Here is perhaps some hint about the state of our economy under Bush:
I saw two robberies happens in two different supermarkets past midnight this month and I live in a good neighborhood on Long Island, NY. The robbers were in different age group. :eek:

 

awesome to hear, I hope i get a job soon.

 

Having a job isn't as wonderful as one might think..
The endless politics, the abuse, the backstabbing, the manipulations, the lack of appreciation. I have been there and done that. I want to stay independent and trade my own account for awhile and maybe add some others to manage. I was on the buyside for nearly a decade and just got downsized. What do I have to show for it? Nothing. The people I worked for got rich off of me. I feel like a complete fool for having a job all these years. I am now in my mid 40s. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Corporate America is downright miserable right now. You have not missed a thing, trust me. It seems glamourous etc but in reality, it sucks.
Ask around. Are these people really that happy? They have no freedom and are chained to their job. On weekends, they worry about their job and their job security. There are many ways to make money in the markets. You just have to apply proper money management.

Sorry for the rambling but reality is so different than perception......

 

well first things first. A job for me is at present a matter of survival, if it wasnt I wouldnt be looking. Secondly, Im canadian, business here is good, employment has never been lower. So I don't see it as all that bad, its really all about how you want to look at anything, I tend to approach it with a positive additude and good things follow

 

Here they could care less about you.

I just think if you have the right money management skills and know how to trade, you might as well do it for yourself and make yourself money. I was restricted on my personal trading at my company so I missed out. I made them $23,000,000 last year and was paid $86,000. Sucks! It was a salaried job. My reward for this? Downsized.

I am going to make my own damn money now. My point is that the corporate world is NOT as glamourous as people think it is.

Ask around...how many people are truly happy working for someone else?

 

Midlifeguy has hit the nail on the head. You are so right,corporate layoffs began for me going back to 1982. This shaped my independant thinking early in life.

 

there is no doubt that the 'good-old-time' loyalty between corporations and employees has deteriarated to near non-existence.... but that does not mean one should not take a corporate job.

It's a game of sucker and suckee. Let me draw a couple of scenarios.

1. One takes a corp job, thinks he would devote 110% to the company, at the same time sacrifice family life, his own health and soul, so x number of years, play the game of politics diligently, climbs to middle management, get laid off on a severence package.... usually one becomes the sucker.. some may get lucky to be high enough in the ladder to come off the ladder with a golden parachute of some sort, in this case I'd call it a draw.

2. One takes a corp job, but always has his sight aimed at 5, 10 years down the road, figure out what is in demand out there, find opportunities to add value to himself, thru career experience and training. At the same time, one always put family and personal health on top of the priority list. This makes him a wanted item in the market place, so he can write his own ticket, with options to go on things bigger and better. in this case, I'd say the corporation becomes the sucker.

A person with enough entrepreneur blood would naturally take the 2nd path, by which he treats a corporate job as an entrepreneur venture, while weighing cost/benefit of swimming in the corporate world vs. going out on his own, with considerations of the following, but not limited to:

1. one's education and professional background.... if you spent so many years getting your college degree, plus so many years to gain your professional experience, now if you decide to go out on your own, then natually the question becomes: what asset in your background gives you a competitive advantage in the market place? if you become your own boss selling hot dogs on the street, what in your background gives you the advantage over the next guy one block down that only had elementary school education? if you become a prop trader, what gives you the advantage over the guy at the next desk, or the guy taking the opposite side of your trade, who might only has high school diploma?

2. one's risk profile... married or not? have kids or not? spouse works or not? imo this is secondary consideration after the 1st one above.

With the above being said, I'd say in the initial stages of one's career, a corporate path makes the most sense for majority of the new college grads. A corporation with established position in it's marketplace is a proof that the business model is working, and one has plenty to gain in this environment. With enough project experience under the belt, one can then seek bigger things, or become a 'free agent' consultant just for the $$

 

BD,

Thanks for the words. I am 25 and feel like I am entering where you began those 5 or so years ago. I've been trading on and off since I was 18 or so, but always held jobs, because I never had enough money to strictly devote to maintaining my lifestyle (not the cheapest) + be fully capitilized to trade.

I have reached that stage now, and with that hard work being accomplished , the hard part begins.

I know just what you mean. If you go into a field and know ABC leads to results, you can practice and execute ABC. In trading this ABC is ambigious to say the least. I used ABC to reach the state I need to try to trade for a living, yet the ABC doesn't exist into the field I a now entering

I think the only way to go in the game is to set apart those living expenses for as long as you can, this way your trading results will not result in catastrophic failure of your lifestyle.

I hate corporate life, but I need to know, I have to and must know that i gave this is a real, legitimate, tangible try. That is where I am.

I'm hopeful and scared at the same time.


I am reminded of rounders. The John Tuturo character. He had been in the game for along time, doing it full time. always managing to support his family, etc. Yet he never went for the big one, he never strived to get rich quick. He loved the game, but was always thinking about surviving in it. As I remember he was always ridiculed by the new and the high rollers.

Still he managed to play the game he loved and survive.

I think for me that is all I want. If I am able to achieve infinite riches, so bet it. If I am able to achieve a life where I can wake up in the morning and go take a walk, climb a mountain, or just chill out and have a beer, rather then knowing I am going in to play that horribly draining game of corporate politics, I'll be happy.

Your post has ben very insightful. I am looking very hard at future hedges in case this doesn't work out right. I will always trading and if it doesn't work, I will switch over to investing.

I still think serious long term money can be made (there was a post on this earlier) about pouring all your research and smarts into finding new technology and companies looking to exploit them. Heavily invest in these companies, using your DD and research and intuition to guide you, and maybe you can become rich off that.

I know a few goldbugs who have made enough over the last few years to retire comfortably, even maintaining a small yield on their money, they could live without doing any investing.

These were investors though. They saw the opportunity and they jumped in, bet the farm as it was. Betting the farm always seems like a good idea on an investment vs a trade.

Thank you for your posting. Lot of negativity on ET, but the positive supportive responses have me hopeful this will still continue to be a place of great insight and knowledge gained.

I may be 5 years younger then you are, but I think about the things you are thinking about now, and it scares me daily.

I ignored a college education so I could go out and work at 18 in IT and achieve the material things I wanted. I know now I must complete my education and try to keep something on the side to hedge against the result you and so many others have.


Maybe all that rah rah rhetoric is not applicable to trading, but I think it may be applicable to other things in life. If you were to take 5 years and dedicate it to plumbing, I'm sure you would be a 6 figure plumbers, or maybe a 7 figure plumber business owner.

So go out there and kick ass. If all that positive never failure always win shit doesn't apply to trading as you see it, it will apply to other more translucent careers.

Keep us updated, and thank you for your words