View from the 56th floor.

I attended the CIBC women in capital markets event that was held on the 56th floor of the CIBC building. For those who don’t live in Toronto, a part of the CIBC sign fell off the skyscraper yesterday evening. Surprisingly I was not scared for my safety, considering this is the second time something fell from a very tall building in Toronto in a span of a year. Anyway, the event was good. The most interesting part was that they had invited undergrad and MBA students from both Schulich and Rotman. It was interesting to see the dynamics play out as a result. We tended to huddle by school instead of by MBA and undergrad.

They had an executive MD talk about her experiences, and then they had us mingle. Her underlying message in the words of her 13 year old was ‘job is cool and the money is good’. My takeaway: There is never a dull day in the market and have an opinion and express it. She said well work hard now, put in your dues and it will pay off. Secret: You don’t work the crazy hours forever. AND she said that she worked a 4 day week when her kids were small. Nanny hiring was not discussed. In the mingle session, I joined the trading Q&A group. Their advice was to develop a thick skin, and know that you can’t win in the markets all the time.

One of the other points the speaker made was to move around early in your career and to try different things. I agree. The problem is I have tried different things and I can’t decide. Over the past two months, I have rekindled my love for the markets all over again. I absolutely love the markets. I can stare at the screen flicker stock upticks and downticks for hours. You can NEVER know enough about the market. There is something humbling and challenging in that. The problem is I also really like private equity or corporate lending (fundamentally similar). I like the idea of lending money to a company by assessing their potential and future profitability. I can ALSO look at pro formas and business plans all day. I guess I still have time to decide.

I am going to a few more career info events next week. I am not looking for a summer job or a full time job; however I think you always learn more about the companies at these events. At the very least it is good to go and check out the competition...