atilla

As far as i can tell no matter what work it is that you do
1. Don't take this **** from anyone, never rip anyone off no matter what.
2. And the most important part of doing good business is being a good middle man, puting people together and products, they will sort themselves out.

RuFF_Fanatic

Hi again and i appreciate all your comments and suggestions alot. I just got a volunteer job at a local hospital. Thanks again guys!

Premier

In business, don't get too caught up in making money. If you take care of your customers, the money will come.

m21sniper

I'm self employed, and i would echo what a previous poster said far more eloquently than i will state here:

If you'e not happy....no amount of money is worth it.

I'm an auto repossessor, and i truly love it, though at some point i'll get too old and will have to either hire some employees or change occupations.

At any rate, make your payments.

On time.

jax911TT

Great thread! From my 25 years in the "Corporate World" I would suggest that you:
1. Work hard in high school and get accepted to a top college. I have two M.S. degrees but failed to obtain one from a TOP college. A mistake that I regret to this day.
2. Use your college degree to obtain an excellent job with a Fortune 500 company that is willing to invest in you (GE, P&G, etc.).
3. Learn as much as you can about RUNNING a busines (sales, marketing, accounting/finance)
4. Leave the company and go into business doing something you love utilizing the skills you picked up with the company
5. While in business be the best at what you do for your customers
6. Stay single (or at least childless) until your 35. When children suddenly appear in your life all plans go out the window (see point 9 below)
7. Surround yourself with good hard working people
8. Make lots of money in your business and buy the car of your dreams
9. Have children and discover what you thought was important and fun (the CGT) really doesn't matter any more.
10. Sell the CGT and enjoy what is important ... the family!
11. Never lose your sense of humor!

speedfreak2005

I've learned that one must be quick to exit a company where no more room for advancement exists. This is extremely important. It is somewhat selfish to say, but you really can't have any allegiance to any company/boss when you are first starting out.

jax911TT

Speedfreak2005;

Point well taken!! That is why I included point #4 - Leave the company. There is no allegiance in today's Corporate America!

CP

My!! what a crazy two weeks. Finally a little free time. A thought or two about residential architecture.

Most would envision being a residential architect to be fully involved with design, and seeing beautiful, innovative homes being built. This is true only to a certain degree, especially if you work for a large firm. The reality is that if one works for a large firm, the higher up you are, the more removed from design you become. The senior partners spend most of their time marketing, doing client and city presentations, running production schedules, and checking billing and collections. In another word, doing what most successful businessmen do.

Skill sets needed to be a successful residential architect:
Creativity - visions of beautiful designs.
Marketing - Ability to convince your clients to use you, buy into your designs, and then convince the approving public agencies to buy in as well.
Public speaking - A lot of time, we attend Planning Commission and city council hearings to 'sell' our projects.
Listening skills - you have to fully understand what the clients like and WHY they like it.
Communication skills - you have to be able to expalin why your designs meet your clients' needs and wants.

What I just described in how the architecural profession generally works. I work in a very different way in my design side job. First, I am a one-man firm, so I do all my own designs and never delegate to drafting people to do my drawings. Second, I do no marketing; ALL my work comes from clients who had seen my previous work and seeked me out for their designs, or referred by people who know of me. As such, I'm blessed that I never spent time doing marketing (I don't even have a portfolio). I am doubly blessed that I have some very high-profile clients (baseball team owner, baseball super stars, Silicon Valley chieftans etc.) that I can basically name my price on my designs. As a one-man firm, I cannot increase income by doing more work (there's only 24 hours a day), instead I earn more if I can charge more per design. This is another advantage of having a well-paid full-time job, as I can be choosy about my assignments. Some very talented architects I know got stuck in a clientel group that they cannot raise their fees. I'm truely lucky that I never experienced that, and believe me, it's 60% luck, and 40% skills when that happens.

So here's the bottom line about being a successful residential architect: If you want good money, chances are you'll work your way up a big firm, but eventually give up your design roles. You'll then rely on your business skills to earn the big bucks. If you like design, then be a small firm, but you must cultivate your clientel so you can earn higher fees per design. Incidentally, where one practices has a direct bearing on the 'value' of a design. Generally, the higher the home price, the more $$$ the owners will spend on an architect. I happen to live/work in an area with extremely high home prices. The homes I design vary betwen $5 million to $25 million (current value). That's another blessing in my life.

OK, hope this helps a little. Signing off for the night.

CP

Doug&Julie

CP, your posts have been interesting to read. I'm currently a 35 y/o designer (exhibit, retail, environmental) and have had thoughts of getting "back" into architecture. I say "back" because, in High School, I actually got away from the field because I thought, on the whole, it lacked creativity. Of course this is not true, but where I was coming from, every architect I talked to was a "9-5"er with the appearance of no more future than a typical staff accountant in an accounting firm. (..proceeding gingerly..not to upset any accountants here..) I saw no future in that...certainly no "interesting" future. So I pursued (and got) a BFA in Industrial Design and, for the most part, have been doing well. (..no CGT, however! ) But I do think I've just about reached my "peak", both financially and within this company. So, in order to grow, I'm thinking of "going back" to get formal training/education in architecture.

...so what's my point...???

As advice to mkell, I highlighted the above because, as an architect, I think the best way to distinguish yourself (and separate yourself from the "accountants") is #1 on the list...creativity. The formal training of architecture is a skill just about anybody can learn, but creativity will put you above the rest and greatly move you along your career path.

...I had more, but...it's lunch time.

Andre

Anyone here in the finance world? I'm a little older than 15, about half way through 20 and i have already chosen my major as finance and i am minoring in math. I am hoping to get a job right out of my bachelor, so that the company i work for can invest in my further education. I am on my second internship. Currently at fidelity, worked for a smaller company last winter . I am trying to become a quantitative analyst, anyone here have any good advice or in a similar field that would let me pick their brain a little?

have been following this post for a while, turned out better than i thought it would.

Ken D

I'll try and help...

Most shops will look for quants with graduate (preferably post-graduate) degrees in mathematics, statistics, engineering, etc, and preferably from a top school. The quants I work with are mostly PhDs in physics or mathematics. You'll need good programming skills as well, so pick up CS courses in C/C++.
PM me if you'd like to talk offline.

Ken

Edit: Since you're at Fido, I would suggest trying to meet with people who are in the jobs you aspire to. Find out their backgrounds and how they got where they are. Even as an intern, your manager at Fidelity should be willing to help put you in touch with some people.

CP

Andre,

Much kudo for knowing what you want so early in the game. Wonder if you ever asked yourself: Why do I want to be a quantative analyst; Pay scale, nature of work, prestige of field, future growth, others? It definitely takes a certain personality trait and high number-IQ and tolerance to excel in this job.

Root of my question is that if you understand why you aspire that job/career, you may actually find easier ways to get there.

CP

killbugsfast

Hard work and dedication does pay off . I happen to know a lady who still works M-Sat , 8 to 5 , hates to sit at work and does not even use a calculator to figure out the sale total . All this at 95 y/o !! She got her GED , worked for the government in a secretarial position for 35 yrs. , retired more than 25 yrs ago . Put her 3 children thru medical school . When the last of her siblings died , she picked up her store and continued in the families' tradition . Widowed since 1973 . Would not give any of it up for a CGT. She is the real thing , no frills , a true model of dedication and sacrifice . Love , compassion and altruism . I talked to her yesterday , while she was at work , loving every minute of it . God Bless my Grandmother . We all have different needs and wants . As long as you do not tramp on others to reach your goals , it should be fine .

Andre

CP, I have asked myself this question. I had a lot of answers, some not as good as others. For one, as anyone else i'd like a job where i have the financial stability to take care of myself, help out my family, and also enjoy life a little bit too. I like the hours, i love the fact that most of these people work 8-6 or so, that to me is great because it doesn't take over your life. For example IBanking...thanks but i dont want to spend my early 20s working 120 hours a week. Also i have had a lot of exposure to math(dad, and grandfather both PhDs) and i hated it most of my life but now that i am getting into a little bit more serious stuff, seeing application, doing modeling its starting to get really interesting. That and the markets facinate me as well. I'm the type of guy that will find a lot of stuff interesting, i dont know how i even got into know about quant analysts but i did and from speaking to a good amount of them and learnign a bit about their work i BELIEVE this is somethign i want to do. Like i said though, it would be hard for me to HATE a job, i've had many in my short time and have found somethign good about each one.

My thoughts about the IQ...i dont know if i'm a smart kid or not, i dont know what my IQ is but i believe having a good IQ is helpful but not the end all. To me its like being athletic, if you are athletic you pick up sports faster and with less effort, if not you have to work harder on skill to get good. If i have the IQ, great, if not i am more than willing to work harder to get done what needs to get done.

Ken D. This is what i have found out lately, unfortunetly. Not a lot of companies hire kids out of bachelor programs into quantitative analysis. The great thing is that at here at Fido i am working in the group with all the quants. So i get to do projects with them. I will defenetly nto be able to get into this group after school right away because most of them are PhDs. That is why i am trying to figure things out early, i'm trying to substitute my lack of advanced education with the tools and experience of quant analysts. About the comp sci stuff, in the last month i've had to learn FAME, SAS, UNIX, Emacs so i've been pretty busy trying to learn these tools. I'm also taking a JAVA class next semester. I am currently working on a risk management project with one of the senior quants here which is awesome.

I will PM you as well but any ideas on what route i should take in the beggining? i dont think i can afford to go to school to get my PhD. I plan to AT LEAST do the first CFA test before i graduate but i would really like to work right after my bachelor and then go back later.

CP

Andre,

For someone half way through 20 you are wise and mature beyond your years. With your insights and attitude I'm sure you will succeed, whatever you do.

I'm more than twice your age, and I've found that life skills takes you farther than technical skills. So please develop a good set of life skills and you are mostly likely set for life.

Great job, and good luck.

CP