How to Get and Leave a 6-Figure Job in Your Early 20s
From Wall Street to ramen to CEO, here are my thoughts.
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For the past couple decades, society has glamorized the university experience and held four-year diplomas in quite high esteem. At least, that’s how it used to be. Then, somewhere along the way, four years was no longer enough. You needed a PhD, an MBA, an MSc, and pretty much the whole alphabet trailing your name to prepare you for the most introductory role in your chosen field. Soon enough we’re handing fancy degrees to thirtysomethings who’ve never worked a real job or earned a dime in their field of interest.
Let me be honest about my waltz into a highly coveted six-figure job in a prestigious industry at the age of 22: I planned it… but there’s more to it.
At the age of 18, I didn’t know what the S&P was or what M&A stood for (mergers and acquisitions). I probably didn’t know Goldman Sachs from Golden Corral (for those who share in my ignorance, one is an investment bank and the other a buffet chain). I certainly didn’t have a clue that four years later I would be among the chosen few, working at a Wall Street bank, pitching and facilitating $100M+ deals (as an analyst of course, so really spending 18 hours per day in Excel models and PowerPoint slides), making more than twice as much money as many of my much smarter university peers and fellow graduates.
However, before I go into detail on my own journey, I feel compelled to debunk a common fallacy that far too many continue to believe and let govern their lives and careers.
If you believe there is a direct correlation between intellect (or IQ) and earnings, I’d challenge that you may be mistaken. While it would take a massive study of IQ test results and annual earnings to definitively prove or disprove this theory, the observational and anecdotal data from my circle of thousands of undergraduate, business school, and professional peers would lend to the contrary.
While the brightest individuals or supposed geniuses may have the potential for greater earnings than their more average-minded peers, the process of achieving those earnings isn’t always realized and often comes down to something other than intellect. In fact, I believe it comes down to three key…
