and we come full circle… Happiness = Passing Level 3 = CFA
@ Batgirl4eva, You sound like just the sort of snooty Ayn Rand reading competitive shrew that I would like to get to know better. What do you say we link up on Match.Com and get some spicy South Asian food next time I’m in Toronto? I’m gonna go all John Galt on you and teach you the meaning of industrial competition; you do not even know the meaning of metaphysical objectivism until you see me. @ Alladin, Don’t worry God doesn’t exist. But don’t tell any of your friends that I said that. Back to the thread… I think an important thing to understand is that most of us do not deserve what we are given in life, good or bad. Nature is pretty ambivalent towards us as individuals, as far as I can tell. So let’s not talk about, who deserves what. Jesus, I’m a terrible person compared to so many other people. I deserve much less than what I have been given. But that doesn’t mean I’m handing my job over to people that “deserve it.” No, I’m following my own special interest. Why? If you look inside me you will not find perfect DNA. I still have a bit of acne, even though I am 28 years old, which is absurd. You could never call me a great student - I got a D in Algebra 2 in high school - I’m pretty sure I am about to fail Level 3. My teachers frequently called me a feckless underachiever. My interests were never in pleasing others. I chased girls around when I should have been studying Maths, as my dear Asian friends did, and I went and got drunk probably 5 days out of 7 in college. I am all too human. But what you also will find is 10 million years of winners, people that managed to survive and reproduce in spite of their imperfections, no Adonis DNA here Charlie, just hard worken’, stone-cold, killing, Machiavellian, bastards that given the opportunity took it and survived. I’m not special. We all have this in us. All of us are the survivors of epochs. We are all Duh-Winning, not just Mr Sheen. Think of all the other strands of DNA that have not gotten this far, that were weeded out, and defenestrated into the dustbin of history. Now ask yourself this… Did you need a CFA charter to kill a wooly mammoth with a spear so that your family could eat? Did you need a CFA charter to grab the prettiest cavegirl by the hair and make her belly grow big? Nah, you just needed to have a set big enough to go out there and take it when it mattered. That is the x-factor that we all share and that you can channel if you dig deep and believe yourself. Your character is worth far more than a CFA charter and will outlast any downturn or recession.
Atlas must have shrugged at your post
@Chicken: Point taken hyperbole and all. Funny how from high school to SATs to undergrad to postgrad everyone is running around killing themselves for grades. Then you finally “win the race” only to realize you haven’t actually won anything. The winners are the guys on the sidelines you scoff at for getting drunk before the exam, scrapping by with a C all the while becoming everyones best friend since they had put time into relationships instead of some stupid 1st year lab report. I always used to dismiss the idea of not working evening and weekends since I never considered “just hanging out (with new people)” to be productive. I’m only starting to realize now that those priorities have probably been misguided.
CFA doesnt help you get a job but it helps you keep your job. If you dont have the CFA and perform poorly, you always open yourself up to questioning about whether you are qualified to do the role. It happened here to a PM, her technicals were crud, she wouldnt study for the cfa, no one asked questions when performance was good, when it was bad…she was fired because the firm couldnt defend her capabilties to clients.
As my grandmother once said :‘the world is round so why do you insist on being square?’
mathlete Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @Chicken: Point taken hyperbole and all. Funny how > from high school to SATs to undergrad to postgrad > everyone is running around killing themselves for > grades. Then you finally “win the race” only to > realize you haven’t actually won anything. The > winners are the guys on the sidelines you scoff at > for getting drunk before the exam, scrapping by > with a C all the while becoming everyones best > friend since they had put time into relationships > instead of some stupid 1st year lab report. I > always used to dismiss the idea of not working > evening and weekends since I never considered > “just hanging out (with new people)” to be > productive. I’m only starting to realize now that > those priorities have probably been misguided. You’re exaggerating in the opposite direction now. There are plenty of people with excellent grades who are also sociable, well adjusted people who “hang out” from time to time. It’s not necessarily one or the other. I think you need to start ramping up your networking, be more aggressive about your job search, develop a social life, and stop being bitter. While completing your qualifications of course.
+1 to the above… the key here is you need to be a 3.8+ GPA student AND a social butterfly AND a student leader not a 4.0 GPA student with no social skills and not a outgoing student leader with a 2.7 GPA @ Chicken: Philosophizing doesn’t get you bottle service… misjudged me I’m afraid. I’m the cold heartless shrew variety with nothing but the bottom line in mind. But if you ever happen to have fired a couple hundred good honest people and feel like a Cuban in Toronto, perhaps we can talk then (and by Cuban, I don’t mean the pool boy… this time). ^----For the record I’m clearly being sarcastic above 
OK, now I want to meet batgirl4ever…
@batgirl4ever: I think your arguments are impractical. Life is about give and take. You can’t be student president with a 3.8+GPA and be working full time gaining experience. You have to prioritize. Maybe 1 person in a million can get all that done because I certainly haven’t met any. The fact remains that every day people who are in every sense of the work mediocre are getting positions that people who are in every sense of the word are exceptional are not. I’d love to show you the resume of some friends of mine who cannot get employment in Toronto and have resumes that even if you dreamed up a perfect candidate wouldn’t be better. Don’t get me wrong its nice to believe in a world where we have complete control of our destinies and are rewarded solely based on merit but that is not the world we live in.
^ - That’s kinda the point - the capital markets industry isn’t interested in the top 5% of candidates - they’re looking for the top 0.5 (or, in worse times, the top 0.25%). You’re right, most people don’t fit that criteria, but that’s the point. I would highlight though, that I’ve met many people who fit the criteria i outlined. Based on what you appear to value in terms of qualifications, I suspect that the “perfect candidates” you are thinking of are just like you - having more degrees than a thermometer but no real life experience in anything.
“See the sad thing about a guy like you, is in about 50 years you’re gonna start doin’ some thinkin’ on your own and you’re gonna come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life. One, don’t do that. And two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a fuckin’ education you coulda’ got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library.” ~ Will Hunting
^- Have to agree to disagree on that one. I know people who’ve been hired that don’t know the difference between a stock and bond. Virtually no one I’ve met can tell me how to price a derivative or the first thing about black-scholes or replication. However all of them got their start through a family contact. +1 on the thermometer reference kind of funny Interesting how you assume I’ve got no life experience. I’ve got 4 years of work experience 2 in engineering and 2 in IT prior to undergrad. I’ve traveled to over 50 countries and lived in 3. I’m an avid golfer and a cook. I consider myself pretty well rounded just not the last 2 years which have more or less been devoted to academics.
mathlete Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^- Have to agree to disagree on that one. I know > people who’ve been hired that don’t know the > difference between a stock and bond. Virtually no > one I’ve met can tell me how to price a derivative > or the first thing about black-scholes or > replication. However all of them got their start > through a family contact. > > +1 on the thermometer reference kind of funny > > Interesting how you assume I’ve got no life > experience. I’ve got 4 years of work experience 2 > in engineering and 2 in IT prior to undergrad. > I’ve traveled to over 50 countries and lived in 3. > I’m an avid golfer and a cook. I consider myself > pretty well rounded just not the last 2 years > which have more or less been devoted to academics. What’s your handicap? Use your golf connections to network, it’s amazing how golf and business go hand in hand.
^- handicap is a 10. I’m an immigrant so every summer during my undergrad I was abroad. I don’t have any friends who are avid golfers/can afford to play golf regularly here. I don’t think I would have any networking issues if I were born here, considering in my home country I could get any IB/trading job in a second. Edit: Been here for 6 years
sigh
So… why don’t you go back to your home country? Just sayin
where is home for you mathlete ?
South Africa, don’t want to get shot pretty much.