Good morning on this snowy day. Now and then, people talk about Talent on Wall Street. Of course, everyone has an opinion as to what constitutes talent.
“A talented person on the Street means someone who went to the right prep school, graduated from an Ivy League university or one of the seven sisters,” said a grizzled Wall Street trader in a recent interview. “Maybe they bounced into HBS or MIT after University, or maybe they got their McK at McKinsey. Either way, they come in on one of those fast-track programs and they’re off to the races”.
Ok, that’s certainly one way to look at Wall Street talent.
“I moved here from Florida,” said one analyst during a telephone interview. “I was the first one in my family to attend college, Florida State University. It was an amazing experience for me and really opened my eyes to life’s possibilities. One of my professors discovered that I had a gift for mathematics. He encouraged me to take a lot of higher math classes,” he added. “Pure fact is, I’d never have gotten this analyst job if that professor hadn’t taken an interest in me. I had to take a competitive test to apply for this position. I found out later that I scored 100% right answers; something they said they rarely see.”
So, there is a person who is highly motivated and self-made; from humble beginnings to an analyst’s position in one of the best-known Wall Street firms.
“Sometimes, it’s better to work on Wall Street than in Wall Street,” said a successful food vendor in an interview on nearby Pine Street. “My mother and father immigrated here from Greece. As a young boy, I spent a lot of time helping out in the kitchen, which always smelled wonderful with the various food being cooked, baked, fried, or sautéed all the time. When I was about 12 I started working with my dad at his restaurant, helping to deliver huge lunch orders to these fancy offices on Wall Street. After a few years, I noticed a lot less people in the offices, laid off, but the ones that remained still needed to eat. So we did well. I hired more food delivery people and expanded our business. Today, we have a commercial kitchen with real chefs that are dedicated to creating the fine breakfasts, tasty lunches and late-night dinners that we serve our Wall Street customers. So you see, even if they layoff or hire a bunch more, we’re still feeding the Street.”
Geez, that’s pretty awesome to look at talent from that perspective.
I asked Abbas Shah, an industry professional and recognized Macro trading expert, for his comments.
“On the Street, it is all about getting things done quickly and correctly the first time,” he said. “A lot of people tend to think that talent is what you make of it, he continued, “but, it’s really what the talent makes of themselves that counts.”
“A talented person on the Street means someone who went to the right prep school, graduated from an Ivy League university or one of the seven sisters,” said a grizzled Wall Street trader in a recent interview. “Maybe they bounced into HBS or MIT after University, or maybe they got their McK at McKinsey. Either way, they come in on one of those fast-track programs and they’re off to the races”.
Ok, that’s certainly one way to look at Wall Street talent.
“I moved here from Florida,” said one analyst during a telephone interview. “I was the first one in my family to attend college, Florida State University. It was an amazing experience for me and really opened my eyes to life’s possibilities. One of my professors discovered that I had a gift for mathematics. He encouraged me to take a lot of higher math classes,” he added. “Pure fact is, I’d never have gotten this analyst job if that professor hadn’t taken an interest in me. I had to take a competitive test to apply for this position. I found out later that I scored 100% right answers; something they said they rarely see.”
So, there is a person who is highly motivated and self-made; from humble beginnings to an analyst’s position in one of the best-known Wall Street firms.
“Sometimes, it’s better to work on Wall Street than in Wall Street,” said a successful food vendor in an interview on nearby Pine Street. “My mother and father immigrated here from Greece. As a young boy, I spent a lot of time helping out in the kitchen, which always smelled wonderful with the various food being cooked, baked, fried, or sautéed all the time. When I was about 12 I started working with my dad at his restaurant, helping to deliver huge lunch orders to these fancy offices on Wall Street. After a few years, I noticed a lot less people in the offices, laid off, but the ones that remained still needed to eat. So we did well. I hired more food delivery people and expanded our business. Today, we have a commercial kitchen with real chefs that are dedicated to creating the fine breakfasts, tasty lunches and late-night dinners that we serve our Wall Street customers. So you see, even if they layoff or hire a bunch more, we’re still feeding the Street.”
Geez, that’s pretty awesome to look at talent from that perspective.
I asked Abbas Shah, an industry professional and recognized Macro trading expert, for his comments.
“On the Street, it is all about getting things done quickly and correctly the first time,” he said. “A lot of people tend to think that talent is what you make of it, he continued, “but, it’s really what the talent makes of themselves that counts.”