Hours a week... seriousely, no exaggerations
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I’m in the process of interviewing for a spot at the local MSSB. I went to a career orientation and they said to expect working insane hours the first few year - every night + weekends. Seriously, how much of that is for real and how much is just to scare the lazy asses? What’s a typical schedule going to look like for the first few years at MSSB and how much of it is actually mandatory?
The only thing that is mandatory is the production expectations. If you can do $500m in your first year working 1 hour per week, MSSB won’t care. What you were told in orientation is what it typically takes for a newbie to meet production expectations. Plan on working very hard or getting very lucky as these are the two paths to making it.
BTW, don't plan on getting lucky.Two-
Yes, many of us worked pretty long hours early on. But many of those hours are different types of hours than you might think. For example, many of my evening hours were spent at home writing thank-you cards, updating my contact management system, planning my day, researching investments, etc. Saturdays were spent prospecting. I would work a few hours on Sunday doing “evening” work (as outlined above).
I worked more hours than in my previous career, but had MUCH more control over them. For example, I often ate breakfast and dinner with my family (never did previously due to commute), but would do work every night after kids went to bed. Many of my evenings are currently networking/board meetings/appointments. Not a lot of “heavy lifting”. I would say (4 years in) I average two evenings of work each week. Some weeks it four nights, some it’s zero. But I also eat lunch with my family about 3 days a week. NEVER did that before.
So it’s all relative to what you are trying to accomplish and how hard you want to work. Honestly, if it were not for some of the networking and board meetings, I would rarely work nights.
count on working 12 hour days monday thru thursday and 6 hours on saturday if you’re serious about the business. without knowing anything about you, i hope that you have connections this is an incredibly difficult business to start from scratch
that doesn’t sound that bad… so first few years i imagine work consists primarily of prospecting. is that strictly (or mostly) cold calling? what’s a cold call like at a place like MSSB? I work at an independent “boutique” so our calls consist of pitching a stock right out the gate… not so at MSSB i assume?
ive got to say 12 hours mon-fri and 6 on the weekends does sound excessive. i do have “connections” in the sense that i know a lot of rich people, but i have no intention of being “that guy” that hits the up for money all the time. I’d prefer not to handle my friends’/acquaintances’ money. So… should I not bother?
Not until you learn to spell "seriously", that will be critical point. Good luck!ive got to say 12 hours mon-fri and 6 on the weekends does sound excessive. i do have “connections” in the sense that i know a lot of rich people, but i have no intention of being “that guy” that hits the up for money all the time. I’d prefer not to handle my friends’/acquaintances’ money. So… should I not bother?
1) Most people don't work horrendously long hours. Most people fail out of the business. 2) Do you know any people who started a very successful business? Did they put in very long hours and make sacrifice's while they were starting their business? You won't succeed unless you have a business owner's mentality. It's ok if you don't, but this would then be the wrong career.I’m in the process of interviewing for a spot at the local MSSB. I went to a career orientation and they said to expect working insane hours the first few year - every night + weekends. Seriously, how much of that is for real and how much is just to scare the lazy asses? What’s a typical schedule going to look like for the first few years at MSSB and how much of it is actually mandatory?
humn, I think of this job as 24-7. =)
But it is not a job, its a lifestyle and a passion.
As far as office hours... as we used to say to new ameriprise recruits... only financial advisors take a 30 hour a week job and stretch into 60 hours. dont get into the mindset of office hours... most of it is bs time if you are not doing.
i guarantee you, if you have 20 hours a week of face time with people... you will be at the top of the game. As far as my wirehouse experience... no one gave a hoot where you were if you were producing.
if you are producing 250k first year standing in the middles of times square... by all means.
i use “office time” to denote time spent on the phone cold calling. i think thats where the discrepancy is - i guess you guys use other methods of prospecting that sort of blur the line between time spent working and not working. so, how do you get clients? i hate to get dragged into doing too much “networking”, it just feels like harassing the people you know and trying to meet new people under false pretenses.
Pleasing methods versus pleasing results Read "The Common Denominator of Success"i use “office time” to denote time spent on the phone cold calling. i think thats where the discrepancy is - i guess you guys use other methods of prospecting that sort of blur the line between time spent working and not working. so, how do you get clients? i hate to get dragged into doing too much “networking”, it just feels like harassing the people you know and trying to meet new people under false pretenses.
Spell seriously correctly and work 60-70 hours per week and you might have a chance. I’m working 7 to 7 or 8 during the week and Saturday half day.
I saw a bio on the guys who started ben and jerrys, they worked 16 hour days when they first started. You don't have to work a lot but you will fail. Anyone who built a business had to work hard to get it started.
Do you realize that you used poor grammar in your attempt to criticize poor spelling?Spell seriously correctly and work 60-70 hours per week and you might have a chance. I’m working 7 to 7 or 8 during the week and Saturday half day.
i think this isa little bit of a bold statement. not the 12 hour days part, i agree 7 to 7 or even 7-9 1-2 nights a week isn't far fetched. However, building a business from scratch is difficult but not impossible. Every business is hard to build but if your persistant you'll be fine. You'll feel more successful building a book from scratch rather than taking hand me down clients. At least thats how it was for me.count on working 12 hour days monday thru thursday and 6 hours on saturday if you’re serious about the business. without knowing anything about you, i hope that you have connections this is an incredibly difficult business to start from scratch
IMHO, it’s not about how many hours you work, but what you do with those hours. Some people just have the “it” factor. UNless you are some sort of cold-calling machine, msot people are not prospecting 12 hours a day after the first year or so. It’s just not logical. When are you meeting clients? When are you networking? When are you talking to CPA’s and developing relationships? Yes, there are some out there (i.e. BondGuy) that can build awesome businesses cold calling and not knowing the people on the other end of the phone. Most of us don’t do that. Personally, I just don’t want to. I get no satisfaction out of it whatsoever. Ultimately, this is a relationship business. The more relationships you can foster, the better you will do. Networking works, but only when done the right way, and not as your ONLY method. Networking should be started from day 1, so that those relationships start to pay off in years 3,4,5+. Networking should not be a substitute for cold calling. I think that’s where people fall down. Networking is relationship building. Cold calling is selling. You have to strike a balance between different methods early on, with an emphasis on direct selling methods (cold calling, cold walking, seminars), while building relationships for the long haul. But you need those quick early sales to keep yourself solvent and employed.
I worked 60+ hours per week for the first two years.
I now work 45-50 hours per week.You gettin advice about working hard from fools that post on message boards during business hours. Now that’s funny right there.