“What do you want to do?”
“I want to work in a cool job with cool people.”
“OK…doing what exactly?”
“um…well…I mean…”
This was a conversation that occurred in my senior year of college with the guidance counselor.
I knew I wanted to work in finance in some capacity because I liked numbers, but beyond that, I had no plan.
Finding a job after college was difficult because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. There were loads of interviews in banking, but they wanted me to be in sales. That wasn’t going to work.
Eventually, I landed a job as an analyst with a small investment consulting firm. My boss started out managing money for one of the biggest hospital systems in Detroit. He was so good at it that several other hospitals approached him to manage their money.
I still remember my first day on the job having to look up what bond credit ratings were because I had no idea how they worked. I had a lot to learn.
There are generally two types of jobs when you’re first starting out — learning jobs and earning jobs. This was a learning job because I certainly wasn’t earning that much.
I was dating my now wife at the time but she was going back to school on the other side of the state. So every night I would get home from the office, go to the gym, eat some dinner and then read for 2-3 hours a night.
I read every investment book I could get my hands on. I highlighted and underlined. I took notes.1
My boss taught me about asset allocation, investment policy statements, risk profiles, and how to communicate effectively with clients.
I was still so green I didn’t realize those
