Say goodbye to the dream

[chisness]

[ QUOTE ]
kingneo was an engineer before he quit to play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha I can see this for sure. With a non insane hours job like the one described in OP, I feel like poker hours with work would be at least half compared to without work and would be more fun because after the first 15 or so hrs/week it can start to feel more like a grind

[The Don]

[ QUOTE ]
Plus, I want to be involved in social circles that extend beyond poker social circles.

[/ QUOTE ]

You really have to be that type of guy to enjoy the company of your colleagues at places like MS, JP, and (especially) Goldman. These places are dominated by supremely confident frat-type dudes (as opposed to supremely confident nerds in poker)... definitely not the friendliest crowd.

[Jonathan]

[ QUOTE ]

I want to point something out to you. One of the earlier
posts suggested you play poker for 3 years first, and then
take a real job later. This is NOT an option! You have
the opportunity to take the job and training NOW. You will
NOT be offered this opportunity three years from now, believe me!


[/ QUOTE ]

One other thing.

Suppose you take the training job on Wall Street and you fail?
You think poker is going anywhere in the meantime? Do you
think that if walk into Bobbys Room with $250,000 in your
pocket the pit boss will stop you and give you a job interview
to see if you qualify and meet their standard? He will welcome
you with open arms and offer you fresh fruit and cold drink!

This is a one way street. You can take the job now and always
return to poker later, if you choose to do so. The converse
is definitely NOT true.

Suerte,
Jonathan

[Ballers83]

Jason, I am graduating in April 07 with a degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Toronto. Like yourself, I am actively job hunting right now. If you could kindly answer a couple of questions that I have. How did you apply for jobs for finance/investing? Did you apply to the companies directly through their HR services or did these companies has specific job listings somewhere?

I've worked as a mechanical and computer engineer during the past few summers and I don't really like it. I've been trying to get a permanent job next year as a financial analyst / industrial consultant. Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

[bigt439]

[ QUOTE ]
"And thats likely 6 - 7 days a week. Your hourly is actually pretty low in a relative business sense for your first few years."

What are you talking about, people are making 7 figures after 2-3 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeh some are... but thats pretty optimistic. Some people are making that in operations and marketing too after the same amount of time, but it's definitely not the norm.

All I'm saying is that there is a lot more to it than, hey, I'm making 7 figures, that was easy. It's a looooot of work and you have to put that into perspective. I respect those that can do it a lot, but I would rather kill myself. Personally, I don't really see that big a difference between making 10 million a year and making 500,000. The utility I would get out of that extra money would be lost ten times over in all the time I'd spend working. This is of course just my opinion, but everyone should consider more than just the salary.

[Jason Strasser (strassa2)]

Well the obvious counter to this is that the current state of poker is not permanent. It's a reason I put in probably more hours than I wanted to when I was in college.

However, I do agree that it is much harder going from poker-real work, than the other way around.

[PartyGirlUK]

I think making 8 figs and 27 is very very unusual.

[Jason Strasser (strassa2)]

[ QUOTE ]
So they keep eliminating those who dont perform well on a yearly basis? That is pretty cool. I never heard of anything like that before.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you dont perform they either move you around to different desks or they fire you, after a while.

[SlowHabit]

Exactly what job did you apply for?

[Guppies]

I honestly don't think money should be a motivating factor in this decision. No matter which path you choose (poker, wall street, etc..) you are very likely to pull in somewhere in the vicinity of a few million in your next five or so years. But really, you need to evaluate how much the money means to you.

I think an important question to ask yourself is if you'd pursue a career in wall street if your expectation weren't as high. Because as your salary increases the utility of the money will decrease drastically. It's very nice to make your first few million, that kind of money buys a lot of security and peace of mind. However, how much nicer is it to earn your next few million? That money won't be buying you security or peace of mind, that money's going to be getting you a waterfront house, a new mercedes, a personal chef. So are these the things that your going to be pursuing your career in wall street for, or are there genuinely other factors in your decision?

I know that I would rather play poker for the next few years and then take a lower paying job doing something I genuinely enjoyed. There are many jobs out there that pay crap but really shine in other aspects. And if you were in a position where you didn't have to worry about the money I think that would be worth a lot more than all the luxuries a job on wall street could buy.