I have noticed a lot of questions from people trying to get jobs and or questions from people who recently have gotten jobs. I have decided since I am staying in on Friday night to get some much needed rest maybe I can give some advice. Let me preface by saying I am not a wise old man (JoeyD) but I have 4 years of pretty solid experience with formal credit training to speak from and my relative youth might put me in a good position to comment. Things I wish I knew when I was looking for a job: 1) Don’t be scared to contact anyone! I remember not wanting to call people because they would not know who I was or would not want to help. When you are first starting off it is a numbers game, contact everyone, contact your dad’s second cousin’s wife’s ex-next door neighbor. The worse thing that can happen is they say they can’t help, which won’t happen. 2) Once you have an interview, really research the company! Most of you are saying no duh right now. But really research, did they just do any big deals? Any recent acquisitions? Change in management? Anything big or small, its all about talking points in an interview. Truth be told, a lot of times the people who are interviewing you may not want to be there, they are busy and got pulled in at the last minute. Listen carefully: IT IS YOUR JOB TO DICTATE WHERE THE INTERVIEW GOES!!! Prepare for it as if you are interviewing them, dead silence is not only awkward for you it is also awkward for them. 3) I have also noticed a lot of questions about modeling. If its anything you can’t learn in a day you don’t want to do it, your not a programmer, excel is pretty simple once you have the basics. Don’t sweat it. Once you have the job: 1) No one likes a kiss A$$ 2) You want to be liked but don’t forget you are at work, Sure its great to be the funny guy, buy when promotion time comes funny only goes so far. 3) Don’t be afraid to ask questions! For the most part it is the smartest guy in the room asking the most questions. Not all inclusive by any means just some fun facts. Good luck to all and feel free to add.
Excellent post, my man. Thank you for the helpful advice, especially the last 3.
Def. agree strongly with #1 and would like to add - if you can find someone from your alma mater, it increases the chance of them helping you out 1000%, at least if you go to a non-ivy league school. People want to see more people from their college in desirable jobs, partly because it makes them look better if there are lots of grads from their school at a firm that typically employs ivy leaguers. Use your school’s career services office, even if you graduated 5 or 10 years ago, because a decent career office keeps names/contact info on file.