Extreme vanity?

I was watching a Dr. Wayne Dyer lecture on PBS yesterday and something he said is very relevant to me. He advised that you need to live in constant gratitude: when you see a dime on the street, you should pick it up and be grateful. You should not get irritated because it’s not a quarter.

I’ll readily admit that I am not always grateful for what I have. In particular, I feel inadequate because I do not work on Wall Street as a banker. My conversations this weekend with the hot banker have rekindled these somewhat latent feelings.

The point is, I know I am smart enough to be a banker, I’m just frustrated I haven’t tried harder to become one. Instead I work as a bean counter and try to stay conscious by consuming lots of Starbucks.

In previous posts I talked about how I hoped that I would begin to regain my ego, my “edge”. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s happening because I just don’t feel the drive to be an accountant or to work in the “back office”. Nevertheless, lots of good could come of this if I channel it into productive actions.

In the interest of living in a state of gratitude (and not extreme vanity!!) here’s a very short list of what I have to be thankful for regarding my current job situation:

1. I have a job at an excellent bank
2. My job pays well & I have excellent benefits
3. The people I work with are extremely nice, not miserable, and I can tell they want me to be successful
4. My hours are excellent – typically out by 6 or 6:30. If I use my time wisely this leaves me lots of time to focus on self-improving things that will help my career (and goal of being a banker) such as:
1. Completing the CPA (February, 2007)
2. Study hard for the GMAT and break 700 (August, 2007)
3. Diligently prepare grad school applications (November, 2007)

Thought provoking quotes

I am fascinated by successful people. I can’t really define success other than I think I know it when I see it. A few seemingly unrelated articles/quotes this week have really gotten me thinking:

1) In this week’s Economist is a terrific special report on talent “one of those irritating words that has been hijacked by management gurus. It used to mean innate ability, but in modern business it has become a synonym for brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively. That may sound waffly; but look around the business world and two things stand out: the modern economy places an enormous premium on brainpower; and there is not enough to go round.”

2. In a recent post entitled “Hit Em Where They Aint”, Uncle Bill talks about a “young, bright, pretty, perky” girl he met who was successful because she was competing against people who “were fat, balding and boring. Her career and her salary took off.”

3. Finally, also pointed out to me by Uncle Bill was advice I had read in a Ben Stein column about how to “Succeed in Hollywood – or anyplace else”:

There's No Such Thing as Being Too Likeable

Remember how it was in high school? The friendliest, most self-confident kids got to be chairman of the student council and had a crowd hanging on them. Well, it's exactly like that in real life in Hollywood (or anywhere else). Men and women gravitate to those who are likeable and easy to be around.

Think of your own bad self. Who do you like to be around? Sourpusses or friendly, encouraging, smiling people? That's how it is in the workplace, too.

Your likeable self is the self who gets ahead. Remember it, and win in Burbank, Beverly Hills, or Bergen County.

My plan for the new job

As I have written here previously, I have accepted a new job at a major investment bank where I will be doing internal finance/accounting type of work. Today, I found out that a colleague of mine is leaving to work at the same bank….. except she got a job doing Private Equity!!

I have to admit, I’m a little bit jealous! She told me that she initially went in to apply for a similar job that I am taking, but somehow they moved her along to speak with the PE people. Aside from my minor jealousy, I am extremely happy for her. She was one of those people who you could see was going to be very successful. She is extremely attractive, she has a winning personality, she smiles all the time, she’s fun to be around, she’s highly intelligent, and she works very hard. Given all that, I can’t see how anybody wouldn’t want to hire her!

This has gotten me thinking – I have the potential to be one of those people, but I am not there yet! My last two years in public accounting have set me back because I have not been focused and I have not worked hard! Yes, I have learned about accounting and financial statements, but not nearly as much as I would have learned had I been a banker or something.

Now is my second chance to make something of myself. Here’s what I want to happen at my new job:

• I want to go in everyday with an attitude that I have to work hard… not like what I have now where I feel that there are no consequences if I laze about and get nothing done
• I want to be focused and I want to care about what I’m doing
• I want to go to the gym every night and get in a great workout after work (I get my best workouts when I’m doing well at work)
• I want to drink more green tea and less coffee (totally random but this is correlated to my mood and attitude)
• I want to bring a great attitude to work – I want to know everyone’s name and smile and laugh a lot
• I want to “fit-in” with the office culture
• Finally, I want to do a great job and feel good about myself again

New Job!

Great news… I got a great job offer at a bank!!! The job is sort of an internal finance/accounting role. The advantage is that it involves a heavy interaction with at least five different areas of the firm on a daily basis. I am excited for a fresh start; excited to start a job where I want to excel and not just get by.

Before I started my current job in New York, I had such a different attitude about work. During my junior of college I had an internship at a major bank. It was unpaid but I was extremely dedicated to my work. I was doing very tedious work using massive spreadsheets but I wanted to do the best damn job possible. Hell, I would have accepted the job if I had had to pay to do it!

From the beginning, I did not have that attitude about my current job. I only saw it as something I would do for two years while I qualified for the CPA. Consequently, I never really did a great job and I was miserable a lot.

Big Day In the Job Search

A lot happened today on the job-front:

Current Job: I found out today what my new salary will be and I was extremely disappointed. Given how strong the job market is for my industry, it is very hard to believe that they would be offering such a low amount. Do we work in "financial services" or not??? If the answer is yes -- and they claim we do -- then we are substantially underpaid.

Interviews for New Job: Today I went for my third interview at a major investment bank. I have been interviewing for a “back-office” position doing a combination of financial reporting and internal finance (budgets, projections, etc.)

There’s a lot that’s good about the job, but there are some negatives, too. For one thing, one of my best friends happens to work at the company and in the division. His role is definitely a lot more high profile and glamorous. He is nonetheless very supportive of me taking the job even though it could be a little bit weird. More on this later.