just think for a second what are two
things that Steve Jobs and jay-z have in
common well for one they’re both wildly
successful in their own industries
secondly they both overcame really
extreme circumstances to get there now
that’s important for me because I can
remember a time where I’m sitting here
getting ready to go into high school and
two teachers tell me that I should drop
out and I’m not going to amount to
anything in life maybe if you would have
seen my report card back then you
probably would have agreed but I need to
give you some context for that situation
though you see grades weren’t that
important for me because I was living in
an atmosphere where all I cared about
was trying to make it home from school
without getting jumped or robbed
especially when you’re just trying to
you know buy some pizza the next day at
school right I need to keep all my
change and if anything I’m here worried
about hmm what am I gonna have for
dinner and maybe will I be able to buy a
new pair of Nikes you know in the
weekend and these are the things that
matter to me I wasn’t thinking about
what college I’m gonna go to I wasn’t
thinkin is my GPA where it should be
as a matter of fact most people that I
grew up around weren’t thinking any of
those things now fast-forward let’s take
you to my spring semester senior year in
college I’m sitting here with several
job offers from some of the top
corporate and investment banks in the
world the reason that I got there though
they didn’t have anything to do with
just I came from the ideal background or
that I was the cookie cutter candidate
that most of these firms are looking for
it had to do with what I learned from
these successful people it had to do
with the the very specific techniques
and intricate steps that they did in
their lives which put them in a position
to use their circumstances for their
advantage the three things that I took I
think that we’re very impactful for
me had to do with you know first of all
your perspective the other piece has to
do with your story and then finally has
to do with your brand now growing up
I’ve been a big fan of movies and how
the story just unfolds you know you’re
sitting here you just like the drama
you’re you’re seeing how you know the
the main character has to overcome
something difficult in order to finally
defy all the odds and make it to the top
and I’m here thinking one day when I’m
sitting here you know with no future
ahead of me I’m like and that’s really
cool what if I can do that you know what
it would if maybe one day somehow that
can be me and that was I think something
that was very powerful and that I use
now in order to teach many other young
students and young professionals who are
trying to break into their desire to
career fields and I try to give them
these three steps and strategies in
order to apply for their own lives
see everyone comes back from different
circumstances and different backgrounds
but every single one of those things can
be used in your favor
only if you let it though now what do I
mean let’s start off with perspective
perspective is an interesting thing
because it can kill you or it can make
you the most successful person in the
room right let me break that down for
you see I went and I was looking at my
life now when I was applying for for
jobs right every college student is here
dreading the day that they’re gonna have
to send in those applications thinking
geez am I gonna have a job will I be
employed am I gonna get mad at my
university right I mean there’s a lot of
things that go through your mind that
make you wonder what does this mean for
me does my success after school does my
job define who I’m going to be and many
people think seem to think so
right I certainly did I remember being
in those shoes and just thinking if I
don’t get a job
I mean what am i I mean I’m gonna have
nothing I’m not gonna have money I’m
gonna have maybe some student loans you
know it’s gonna be a chaotic scene so
it’s a natural stress everyone goes
through it but the question then becomes
are you looking at it correctly let me
give you a bit of background on getting
into the corporate and investment
banking industry see they’re very well
known for recruiting candidates who fit
the following mold top university
excellent GPA they’ve had previous
internships already at at all of these
top firms and they all come from a
banking background or a finance
background as far as their major and
specialty is concerned now I’m here
wanting to do the same thing right I’m
like it’s easy you just apply but the
more I started learning about the
industry the more I realized jeez you
know I I don’t fit this mold right this
isn’t me and Who am I this is what I saw
this was my perspective of myself I’m a
first generation college student who it
doesn’t have the best grades who is also
from who is who is coming from a
background where I didn’t have an
internship previously that matched the
mold of what they were looking for and
on top of that I’m a philosophy major
now that’s not a knock on philosophy
majors but I’m pretty sure we can all
assume that you’re not going to see
these corporate and investment banks
knocking on the philosophy departments
door asking what are your best students
right so I feel like I have everything
stacked against me and as a result I’m
already beginning to discredit myself
and this is something that I see most
students do when they approach me for
advice right they because now that you
know they’ve seen that I’ve gotten into
these firms they said you know can you
help me and I asked sure what do you
think what do you want to do and they
tell me I want to get into banking I
want to get into finance and this this
and that I say okay great
what do you think is stopping you well I
don’t really qualify see I I don’t come
from this background or I didn’t have
this grade or I didn’t I didn’t go to
this networking event it’s
etc etc I mean you name the reasons
everyone’s always gonna find a reason as
to why they can’t do something so the
most interesting thing that happened
with me was I just pause for a second
and I looked if all of these successful
people are doing something even despite
their circumstances that are telling
them you’re going to fail or you’re
going to amount to nothing what did they
do differently so well for one let’s
take my background you see I again
first-generation college student and I
didn’t have an internship previously
there’s a good reason for that you see I
was working full time to pay for college
and if you think about it that’s
something that shows that you can be a
candidate that is ready to work very
hard for what you want to do now I also
maybe didn’t have the best grades but
it’s because I’m having to work full
time not just work full time but I’m
also having to do another side hustle
with an online business I’m doing
whatever I can do to make sure that I
can graduate right actually attend my
classes and you know leave with a degree
and hopefully with a job right so that’s
that kind of area where you’re feeling
stuck but it can be used to your
advantage because I know that I can
grind and I try to do the same thing
with many students one recently
approached me last week he contacted me
asking can I speak with you I’d love to
work you know in finance can I can I
have a chat with you I said sure
so he comes up he we get together and I
said tell me about yourself oh well I’m
a student here but you see I come I’ve
come from an international background
I’m Korean and I don’t think that firms
are necessarily gonna what like me
because of my background in Korea I said
why not well they’re not in the best
state economically at the moment and I
said I mean what is so you’re already
assuming that you’re not going to
qualify because you are blaming your
country’s economy on your success and
how they’re gonna perceive you it’s it’s
it seems pretty silly but at the same
time
if you can recognize what’s happening we
all do that to ourselves don’t we you
know we all just take the worst and try
to say this is me and this is what’s
going to define what I’m gonna turn out
is so I said no it’s because you’re
international that gives you something
unique so you bring an interesting value
proposition to finance many firms
especially the largest ones are all
international they’re all gonna value
somebody who’s bringing a different
perspective it doesn’t matter what the
current state of your economy is because
as you can see the United States wasn’t
in the best economic State 88 or 10
years ago now but if that was what were
they were gonna define us by and your
candidacy geez nobody here would have a
job at any of these firms right so
obviously the light bulb clicked and he
decided yeah you know this is true it’s
an interesting point and he suddenly
looked at everything about himself
completely differently perspective it
can make the world of difference right
now the next piece is about your story
see I’m a big fan of movies and telling
your story because again we’re going
back to the main character what is it
that makes him unique him or her unique
they are going through something that is
typically not overcome right and it’s
going through a hardship so you think
wow when I’m going through a hard time
in life what am i you know what am i
experiencing at the moment and I’m
experiencing that moment in my movie
this is that piece that’s gonna be my
turning point and I’m going to
eventually overcome it and I’m going to
turn into a great story this bad
situation but it’s all about how you
deliver it though you can’t just go
through a bad situation overcome it and
expect that people are gonna buy it what
do I mean by that
I’m gonna give you a very short story
there was a there was a kid
who he was disabled didn’t really get
along with his dad too well and he kind
of wanted to branch off into the world
he realized you know it was a bit rough
out there
and maybe I should just come home so he
came home and him and his dad made up
that’s the story might not seem so
interesting at first right but what if I
told you that was a plot to Finding Nemo
everything changes right it’s completely
different and what matters is how you
tell your story you see so when I was in
the position now of trying to apply for
jobs I needed to come up with a story
that would be able to emphasize those
points and not just change my
perspective to make it positive but at
the same time let someone know who I am
I’m because of that story and what
happened and what led me to that place
and I started doing that but the
interesting thing is see once you
reshape your perspective and then you
start telling your story you start
making that your default of who you are
see it actually becomes what you
identify as and you’re no longer a
product of your circumstance rather you
are something that has excelled through
your circumstances and and those
situations that seem so bad at one point
suddenly are what become your strengths
those are the things that become your
unique value proposition so when I was
in this position and I start telling my
story I go to networking events I go to
interviews I start meeting people just
in passing I start telling the story so
much that therefore it becomes it starts
becoming Who I am and when I realize
this is becoming actually Who I am I’m
no longer thinking I don’t qualify I
don’t I don’t belong I start thinking of
course I belong and these are the
reasons why this is my story this is
what I did in order to put me in this
place to rise up and be an excellent
candidate for your job sir so what
happens after that is I think the the
final touch right this is going to be
about your brand everyone those famous
brands and we think when we see
coca-cola we see Ted when we see any of
these label
on the products you’re using on the
clothes you’re wearing you know that
that brand is something that holds a
value it’s something that is significant
and it tells a story right you need to
treat yourself as your brand see I
remember at first when I came on campus
people would look at me and they might
think oh this is some kid who you know
he came from some rough background isn’t
in the business school he I don’t know
what he’s gonna do there was no there
was nothing that they took from meeting
me but see as time went by I made a
decision I made a choice to start
creating a brand about myself what did I
want that brand to say I wanted that
brand to say that he’s professional he’s
somebody who if you if you work with him
he will be an excellent team player
that’s somebody who when you work with
him they’re going to be part of an
amazing team and help you all excel
together see I made a choice to start
building this character about me and
even more so I then made a choice to
start making myself a person who can be
a resource for those that need advice on
getting to the next step in their
careers this became something that I was
passionate about and it now became
something that everyone else knew about
who I was so if I were to wrap it up and
take a full circle I started off being
some kid in the street who his teachers
told wouldn’t amount to anything and
then I ended up you know having the
chance to work at some of the most
prestigious firms in the world and be
able to give back now to so many other
students and young professionals who are
in the same shoes that I previously was
in and that’s something that I take very
seriously and because of where I know I
came from and because of the difficulty
that it was to take those bad situations
and turn it into something amazing and
that’s why I devote myself to today and
I think the important takeaway from this
is that you know your past doesn’t have
to define who you are later on or as
many of you will hear
if you look into finance and you’re
trying to value a company past
performance doesn’t always indicate
future results thank you
things that Steve Jobs and jay-z have in
common well for one they’re both wildly
successful in their own industries
secondly they both overcame really
extreme circumstances to get there now
that’s important for me because I can
remember a time where I’m sitting here
getting ready to go into high school and
two teachers tell me that I should drop
out and I’m not going to amount to
anything in life maybe if you would have
seen my report card back then you
probably would have agreed but I need to
give you some context for that situation
though you see grades weren’t that
important for me because I was living in
an atmosphere where all I cared about
was trying to make it home from school
without getting jumped or robbed
especially when you’re just trying to
you know buy some pizza the next day at
school right I need to keep all my
change and if anything I’m here worried
about hmm what am I gonna have for
dinner and maybe will I be able to buy a
new pair of Nikes you know in the
weekend and these are the things that
matter to me I wasn’t thinking about
what college I’m gonna go to I wasn’t
thinkin is my GPA where it should be
as a matter of fact most people that I
grew up around weren’t thinking any of
those things now fast-forward let’s take
you to my spring semester senior year in
college I’m sitting here with several
job offers from some of the top
corporate and investment banks in the
world the reason that I got there though
they didn’t have anything to do with
just I came from the ideal background or
that I was the cookie cutter candidate
that most of these firms are looking for
it had to do with what I learned from
these successful people it had to do
with the the very specific techniques
and intricate steps that they did in
their lives which put them in a position
to use their circumstances for their
advantage the three things that I took I
think that we’re very impactful for
me had to do with you know first of all
your perspective the other piece has to
do with your story and then finally has
to do with your brand now growing up
I’ve been a big fan of movies and how
the story just unfolds you know you’re
sitting here you just like the drama
you’re you’re seeing how you know the
the main character has to overcome
something difficult in order to finally
defy all the odds and make it to the top
and I’m here thinking one day when I’m
sitting here you know with no future
ahead of me I’m like and that’s really
cool what if I can do that you know what
it would if maybe one day somehow that
can be me and that was I think something
that was very powerful and that I use
now in order to teach many other young
students and young professionals who are
trying to break into their desire to
career fields and I try to give them
these three steps and strategies in
order to apply for their own lives
see everyone comes back from different
circumstances and different backgrounds
but every single one of those things can
be used in your favor
only if you let it though now what do I
mean let’s start off with perspective
perspective is an interesting thing
because it can kill you or it can make
you the most successful person in the
room right let me break that down for
you see I went and I was looking at my
life now when I was applying for for
jobs right every college student is here
dreading the day that they’re gonna have
to send in those applications thinking
geez am I gonna have a job will I be
employed am I gonna get mad at my
university right I mean there’s a lot of
things that go through your mind that
make you wonder what does this mean for
me does my success after school does my
job define who I’m going to be and many
people think seem to think so
right I certainly did I remember being
in those shoes and just thinking if I
don’t get a job
I mean what am i I mean I’m gonna have
nothing I’m not gonna have money I’m
gonna have maybe some student loans you
know it’s gonna be a chaotic scene so
it’s a natural stress everyone goes
through it but the question then becomes
are you looking at it correctly let me
give you a bit of background on getting
into the corporate and investment
banking industry see they’re very well
known for recruiting candidates who fit
the following mold top university
excellent GPA they’ve had previous
internships already at at all of these
top firms and they all come from a
banking background or a finance
background as far as their major and
specialty is concerned now I’m here
wanting to do the same thing right I’m
like it’s easy you just apply but the
more I started learning about the
industry the more I realized jeez you
know I I don’t fit this mold right this
isn’t me and Who am I this is what I saw
this was my perspective of myself I’m a
first generation college student who it
doesn’t have the best grades who is also
from who is who is coming from a
background where I didn’t have an
internship previously that matched the
mold of what they were looking for and
on top of that I’m a philosophy major
now that’s not a knock on philosophy
majors but I’m pretty sure we can all
assume that you’re not going to see
these corporate and investment banks
knocking on the philosophy departments
door asking what are your best students
right so I feel like I have everything
stacked against me and as a result I’m
already beginning to discredit myself
and this is something that I see most
students do when they approach me for
advice right they because now that you
know they’ve seen that I’ve gotten into
these firms they said you know can you
help me and I asked sure what do you
think what do you want to do and they
tell me I want to get into banking I
want to get into finance and this this
and that I say okay great
what do you think is stopping you well I
don’t really qualify see I I don’t come
from this background or I didn’t have
this grade or I didn’t I didn’t go to
this networking event it’s
etc etc I mean you name the reasons
everyone’s always gonna find a reason as
to why they can’t do something so the
most interesting thing that happened
with me was I just pause for a second
and I looked if all of these successful
people are doing something even despite
their circumstances that are telling
them you’re going to fail or you’re
going to amount to nothing what did they
do differently so well for one let’s
take my background you see I again
first-generation college student and I
didn’t have an internship previously
there’s a good reason for that you see I
was working full time to pay for college
and if you think about it that’s
something that shows that you can be a
candidate that is ready to work very
hard for what you want to do now I also
maybe didn’t have the best grades but
it’s because I’m having to work full
time not just work full time but I’m
also having to do another side hustle
with an online business I’m doing
whatever I can do to make sure that I
can graduate right actually attend my
classes and you know leave with a degree
and hopefully with a job right so that’s
that kind of area where you’re feeling
stuck but it can be used to your
advantage because I know that I can
grind and I try to do the same thing
with many students one recently
approached me last week he contacted me
asking can I speak with you I’d love to
work you know in finance can I can I
have a chat with you I said sure
so he comes up he we get together and I
said tell me about yourself oh well I’m
a student here but you see I come I’ve
come from an international background
I’m Korean and I don’t think that firms
are necessarily gonna what like me
because of my background in Korea I said
why not well they’re not in the best
state economically at the moment and I
said I mean what is so you’re already
assuming that you’re not going to
qualify because you are blaming your
country’s economy on your success and
how they’re gonna perceive you it’s it’s
it seems pretty silly but at the same
time
if you can recognize what’s happening we
all do that to ourselves don’t we you
know we all just take the worst and try
to say this is me and this is what’s
going to define what I’m gonna turn out
is so I said no it’s because you’re
international that gives you something
unique so you bring an interesting value
proposition to finance many firms
especially the largest ones are all
international they’re all gonna value
somebody who’s bringing a different
perspective it doesn’t matter what the
current state of your economy is because
as you can see the United States wasn’t
in the best economic State 88 or 10
years ago now but if that was what were
they were gonna define us by and your
candidacy geez nobody here would have a
job at any of these firms right so
obviously the light bulb clicked and he
decided yeah you know this is true it’s
an interesting point and he suddenly
looked at everything about himself
completely differently perspective it
can make the world of difference right
now the next piece is about your story
see I’m a big fan of movies and telling
your story because again we’re going
back to the main character what is it
that makes him unique him or her unique
they are going through something that is
typically not overcome right and it’s
going through a hardship so you think
wow when I’m going through a hard time
in life what am i you know what am i
experiencing at the moment and I’m
experiencing that moment in my movie
this is that piece that’s gonna be my
turning point and I’m going to
eventually overcome it and I’m going to
turn into a great story this bad
situation but it’s all about how you
deliver it though you can’t just go
through a bad situation overcome it and
expect that people are gonna buy it what
do I mean by that
I’m gonna give you a very short story
there was a there was a kid
who he was disabled didn’t really get
along with his dad too well and he kind
of wanted to branch off into the world
he realized you know it was a bit rough
out there
and maybe I should just come home so he
came home and him and his dad made up
that’s the story might not seem so
interesting at first right but what if I
told you that was a plot to Finding Nemo
everything changes right it’s completely
different and what matters is how you
tell your story you see so when I was in
the position now of trying to apply for
jobs I needed to come up with a story
that would be able to emphasize those
points and not just change my
perspective to make it positive but at
the same time let someone know who I am
I’m because of that story and what
happened and what led me to that place
and I started doing that but the
interesting thing is see once you
reshape your perspective and then you
start telling your story you start
making that your default of who you are
see it actually becomes what you
identify as and you’re no longer a
product of your circumstance rather you
are something that has excelled through
your circumstances and and those
situations that seem so bad at one point
suddenly are what become your strengths
those are the things that become your
unique value proposition so when I was
in this position and I start telling my
story I go to networking events I go to
interviews I start meeting people just
in passing I start telling the story so
much that therefore it becomes it starts
becoming Who I am and when I realize
this is becoming actually Who I am I’m
no longer thinking I don’t qualify I
don’t I don’t belong I start thinking of
course I belong and these are the
reasons why this is my story this is
what I did in order to put me in this
place to rise up and be an excellent
candidate for your job sir so what
happens after that is I think the the
final touch right this is going to be
about your brand everyone those famous
brands and we think when we see
coca-cola we see Ted when we see any of
these label
on the products you’re using on the
clothes you’re wearing you know that
that brand is something that holds a
value it’s something that is significant
and it tells a story right you need to
treat yourself as your brand see I
remember at first when I came on campus
people would look at me and they might
think oh this is some kid who you know
he came from some rough background isn’t
in the business school he I don’t know
what he’s gonna do there was no there
was nothing that they took from meeting
me but see as time went by I made a
decision I made a choice to start
creating a brand about myself what did I
want that brand to say I wanted that
brand to say that he’s professional he’s
somebody who if you if you work with him
he will be an excellent team player
that’s somebody who when you work with
him they’re going to be part of an
amazing team and help you all excel
together see I made a choice to start
building this character about me and
even more so I then made a choice to
start making myself a person who can be
a resource for those that need advice on
getting to the next step in their
careers this became something that I was
passionate about and it now became
something that everyone else knew about
who I was so if I were to wrap it up and
take a full circle I started off being
some kid in the street who his teachers
told wouldn’t amount to anything and
then I ended up you know having the
chance to work at some of the most
prestigious firms in the world and be
able to give back now to so many other
students and young professionals who are
in the same shoes that I previously was
in and that’s something that I take very
seriously and because of where I know I
came from and because of the difficulty
that it was to take those bad situations
and turn it into something amazing and
that’s why I devote myself to today and
I think the important takeaway from this
is that you know your past doesn’t have
to define who you are later on or as
many of you will hear
if you look into finance and you’re
trying to value a company past
performance doesn’t always indicate
future results thank you
Please follow and like us: