finally did it....

[Almerick07]

comparing wall street firms to my firm is like comparing apples to oranges and here is why...after some time in the business guys at my firm work no more than 40 hours per week, live just miles from their own office and help individual investors in their communities acheive their financial goals. I get atleast 2-3 calls per day from head hunters looking for brokers for the goldman sachs, ubs, and merril lynches of the world. Last week infact merril lynch offered me 200k signing bonus to jump ship and join their team. But the bonus was contingent upon me bringing 75% of my book and producing at a minimum 250k in gross commissions by year 2 or i would have to pay every nickle back and loose my job. Im not in this business to work 80-100 hours per week sell my soul to live in NYC all for whats cost of living adjusted maybe 150k more per year. Im my own boss, set my own hours and live my own life.to say you need an MBA from a top 5 school to get a foot in the door at GS is rubbish, youve got to sell your ass off to get a foot in the door anywhere and thats the bottom line. On a side note I also happen to work for the 5th largest brokerage firm in the country so this isnt some mom and pop shop. When you start getting into the institutional side of trading its a whole different ball game, much more about who you know and dedicating your life to the almighty dollar. me personally id rather enjoy life, that is the main reason i made the jump from aviation into financial services. When you get into your high paying hot shot stock jockey job just sit back and look at all the back stabbing, greed and other cancerous attitudes that will be all around you. You couldnt put a dollar price on that to make me give up what ive got, oh yea hope you can talk on a phone for 14 hours a day....I dont mean to attack to dream you have or demean anything youve accomplished Im here and Im doing it and can tell you it isnt all riches and glory, there are success stories but far far many more failures. Just keep it in perspective

 

[PimpJuice]

"to say you need an MBA from a top 5 school to get a foot in the door at GS is rubbish"

"Just the other day convinced an elderly couple they DID have the resources to fully retire, never saw a smile so big from a little old lady when I told her she could give up her Wal-Mart job.


yeah right, Merrill Lynch wanted to pay you 200K plus for Grandma's piggy bank. you have a lot of opinion for 1/2 a month in the business. my corporate finance class was three times longer than that. i checked some of your old posts. you're what, 22 yrs old? not quite ready to offer advice based on "experience". we'll agree to disagree. good luck, though.

 

[Swass]

"to say you need an MBA from a top 5 school to get a foot in the door at GS is rubbish"

"Just the other day convinced an elderly couple they DID have the resources to fully retire, never saw a smile so big from a little old lady when I told her she could give up her Wal-Mart job.


yeah right, Merrill Lynch wanted to pay you 200K plus for Grandma's piggy bank. you have a lot of opinion for 1/2 a month in the business. my corporate finance class was three times longer than that. i checked some of your old posts. you're what, 22 yrs old? not quite ready to offer advice based on "experience". we'll agree to disagree. good luck, though.

All this from a kid who is still in school? Man you've got it figured out.

I started my own company from scratch. Zero. Commission only sales. Either you sell or starve. My first group was a three person machine shop that gave me a chance. In three years they were over 200 EE's. Any other salesman from one of the large brokerage firms would come in and try to get their business were shown the door, they only dealt with me. I was lucky that they believed in my little company that grew along side with them. I was 26 going on 27 then. I went from scratching two pennies together to close to 40 million in premium in 6 years. My commission averaged 5 percent, you do the math. I have since sold the company and remained as a consultant, work when I want. The buyer bought my company, my aircraft and pays me handsomely to close and renew business for them and to train their sales managers and producers. I have since gone into other realms and have a startup I'm working on in TX.

I have a bachelors degree, no fancy MBA from a top five school. I am also the last person on Earth you want competing against you in my field. If you are learning so much from your MBA program you must already know that to really make coin you need to work for yourself, since you say your that good it shouldn't even be a question.

 

[PimpJuice]

All this from a kid who is still in school? Man you've got it figured out.

I started my own company from scratch. Zero. Commission only sales. Either you sell or starve. My first group was a three person machine shop that gave me a chance. In three years they were over 200 EE's. Any other salesman from one of the large brokerage firms would come in and try to get their business were shown the door, they only dealt with me. I was lucky that they believed in my little company that grew along side with them. I was 26 going on 27 then. I went from scratching two pennies together to close to 40 million in premium in 6 years. My commission averaged 5 percent, you do the math. I have since sold the company and remained as a consultant, work when I want. The buyer bought my company, my aircraft and pays me handsomely to close and renew business for them and to train their sales managers and producers. I have since gone into other realms and have a startup I'm working on in TX.

I have a bachelors degree, no fancy MBA from a top five school. I am also the last person on Earth you want competing against you in my field. If you are learning so much from your MBA program you must already know that to really make coin you need to work for yourself, since you say your that good it shouldn't even be a question.

Look, my point is not that success is dependent on an MBA and that others haven't gotten there without the degree. What I'm saying is that it is an excellent investment and a great launch pad into many stellar careers. This is especially true for younger guys thinking of leaving aviation but with no other real formal skill set and who may be willing to go back to school. Trust me, there is a real demand for this degree right now in finance. An MBA from a top school will get you an associate position at a top investment bank or trading firm, a job as a management consultant at a top firm, a job in marketing or brand management or general management with a blue chip company, etc. Can you ultimately get a job like this without a degree? Yes but the road is much longer and your chances much slimmer. I left the Navy, strongle considered the airlines and than decided to go for something else. I could have likely gotten a decent paying job somewhere but was motivated to go higher. An MBA is a great ticket to get punched. Is a lot of it just a credential? Yes. You will learn a lot and some it is a waste of your time and some of it is clearly practical and useful but nonetheless, most of us are there for the name and the degree.

I look forward to competing against guys like you. I have my whole life.

 

[Almerick07]

1/2 month in the business...equals about 5 years of school. youre right, im 22 years old. the youngest broker EVER in the history of my region and so far the most succesful fast starter to date. Im not here to brag about myself or tell someone to not get a degree or MBA for that matter, what Im saying is to get to the top its gonna take more than a fancy degree from a high dollar school. On another note what you dont realize is that the average age into the industry is 40 years old...the silverback giving you your investment advice might not be as seasoned as you think nor should he be. I sell the same investments that guys in the business have been selling for years and years. Its funny how you brag about all the time in the business youll have but something tells me ive got you beat on that, everyone has to start somewhere. to discount my input because of my age is a dire mistake and it is my "experience" that is just trying to shed some light into the industry for you. I was in your shoes too, only heard the success stories and have come to find out MBA or not there is a 70% fail rate on the series 7 alone and a 60% washout rate beyond that. To disregard those facts is dillusional, just keep your guard up when your branch manager is stealing your trails (if youve learned about those in school yet) or when they back charge your commissions for their credit because after all they can just fire you if you raise a stink. Sounds like wall street is right up your alley maverick

 

[PimpJuice]

1/2 month in the business...equals about 5 years of school. youre right, im 22 years old. the youngest broker EVER in the history of my region and so far the most succesful fast starter to date. Im not here to brag about myself or tell someone to not get a degree or MBA for that matter, what Im saying is to get to the top its gonna take more than a fancy degree from a high dollar school. On another note what you dont realize is that the average age into the industry is 40 years old...the silverback giving you your investment advice might not be as seasoned as you think nor should he be. I sell the same investments that guys in the business have been selling for years and years. Its funny how you brag about all the time in the business youll have but something tells me ive got you beat on that, everyone has to start somewhere. to discount my input because of my age is a dire mistake and it is my "experience" that is just trying to shed some light into the industry for you. I was in your shoes too, only heard the success stories and have come to find out MBA or not there is a 70% fail rate on the series 7 alone and a 60% washout rate beyond that. To disregard those facts is dillusional, just keep your guard up when your branch manager is stealing your trails (if youve learned about those in school yet) or when they back charge your commissions for their credit because after all they can just fire you if you raise a stink. Sounds like wall street is right up your alley maverick

it is right up my alley. guys with mba's don't get jobs like yours. they work on massive trading floors and sell to large institutional investors or ultra-rich private clients and make money hand over first. after that, they go to work at hedge funds. i'll leave the retail shops and pedalling life insurance policies to a bunch of blue hairs to you. i'm not in the retail investment business, that's where the bottom feeders live. looking at your past posts you were hell bent on joining the guard last year (not active). what i'm saying is, post again when you have a WHOLE month under you belt and you've stuck to something. i've been at my summer internship longer than you've had your job so i'm pretty sure i have more experience and more education than you but i was a kid in my young twenties once too so i understand. . i didn't mean this thread to become a pissing contest but that seems to be what you want.

 

[Almerick07]

lets be clear here, without the retail business YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE A JOB. I wonder what sparks the institutional side of things...couldnt be mutual funds or the general public buying sh*t? Second Ive been with my firm since Feb of this yr. 2 months dedicated to studying and passing my regulatory exams and the rest of that time has been in the field. To account some changes ive made in my life to a lack of experience is where youre wrong...I got out of aviation because it sucked, it turned a passion into a paycheck and nearly ruined my desire to fly at all so because Ive contemplated career moves outside of my current career boils down to the opposite of what your MBA filled mind can grasp. I was not turning this into a pissing contest by anymeans just trying to make a point that the odds are against you not for you. With the attitude that money will be coming in hand over fist is a dillusion, youve got to earn it. Did I once say I was better than anyone for making the comments Ive made, youve got to get off your ego horse and play a little ball in real life before you go making the assumptions youre making. To honestly degrade what Ive done in my life goes to show how ignorant/JEALOUS you are. You want a pissing contest Ill stomp you

Give it up KID, doesnt it feel good to be belittled by a 22yr old punk

 

[PimpJuice]

lets be clear here, without the retail business YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE A JOB. I wonder what sparks the institutional side of things...couldnt be mutual funds or the general public buying sh*t? Second Ive been with my firm since Feb of this yr. 2 months dedicated to studying and passing my regulatory exams and the rest of that time has been in the field. To account some changes ive made in my life to a lack of experience is where youre wrong...I got out of aviation because it sucked, it turned a passion into a paycheck and nearly ruined my desire to fly at all so because Ive contemplated career moves outside of my current career boils down to the opposite of what your MBA filled mind can grasp. I was not turning this into a pissing contest by anymeans just trying to make a point that the odds are against you not for you. With the attitude that money will be coming in hand over fist is a dillusion, youve got to earn it. Did I once say I was better than anyone for making the comments Ive made, youve got to get off your ego horse and play a little ball in real life before you go making the assumptions youre making. To honestly degrade what Ive done in my life goes to show how ignorant/JEALOUS you are. You want a pissing contest Ill stomp you

Give it up KID, doesnt it feel good to be belittled by a 22yr old punk

dude...sounds like you've got some real anger issues to work through. good luck with that. unlikely that i'm jealous of a 22 year punk. two trips to iraq, 200 carrier landings and an ivy league MBA on the way so no, i'm not jealous. i look forward to you working for me someday. maybe you'll be out of the mailroom by then. i'm done with the thread.

 

[Alamanach]

I did a little checking, and I see that the top ten business schools in the country collectively churn out well over 5,000 new MBAs every year. Some of those schools are not, technically, Ivy League, but I don't know anybody who'd turn up their nose at places like Stanford or the University of Chicago. So that's over 5,000 serious competitors every year.

I couldn't find any data on the number of Wall Street-echelon stock brokers. But if the Street is anything like the entire rest of the world (and, by nature, it is a highly refined extract of the entire rest of the world), there will typically be somewhat fewer jobs than there are qualified people to fill them. A degree alone won't be enough to get somebody in-- it never is. So hopefully those 200 carrier landings will count for something.

Almerick07, seeing as how you're a bone fide financial advisor and he's just a starving student, must you really kick the poor chap around?

 

[Almerick07]

I apologize for the ranting; Im not an angry person just cant stand pure ignorance/stupidity whatever the case may be. Pimpjuice has obviously seen wall street the movie a few too many times to understand how real life works, but if he goes to make a bazillion dollars in a few years good for him. Im happy where I am at, making more money than I could have dreamed of as a pilot and living a life which at my age Im pretty satisified with so to hell with crying about it.

On a side note thank you PJ for serving our country, youve earned my respect for that. One last piece of advice when you get out in the real world is to keep your ego at bay, shut your mouth open your ears and learn from the best. From my observations those might be your down falls but Im hoping you prove me wrong...goodluck