I cried hot tears of joy! I immediately emailed H.R of my prospect employer. They were happy. I was happy and I finally signed my then revised letter.
What followed was a whirlwind experience. After the rigorous background
checks, including calls with three people from each company I’ve ever worked
for (this is why you must never lie on your resume), I underwent five weeks of
extensive training. I also had to take FINRA (Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority) exams in order to be licensed as a
securities professional in the U.S. Most Wall Street* jobs require you to
already be licensed in order to be considered for the role, I was lucky to have
found a bank willing to offer me a job with no license, on condition that I
would pass both the exams I needed to take within a month of joining my team.
Did I not study like I was mad? The recommendation is that in order for one to
pass (min 73%) you have to do at least 700 practice questions – I did 1200. There’s
also a 30 day cooling-off period before you can rewrite, should you fail. Even
though we were told that failing the exams wouldn’t result in dismissal, Nelson
Mandela did not spend 27 years in jail just for me to go to America and fail. The
funny part is that before my first exam, instead of saying “good luck” some of
my colleagues sent me congratulatory messages. The pressure! Their messages were not in vain though, I passed both exams on first
attempt.
Ain’t no
day like pay day…
I had a job, which was great, but I also needed to get paid!
Moola, zaka, chankura (I never use these terms in real life and I don’t know
why I’m using them now but I think it makes me sound cool). But wait, a salary
means you have to pay your taxes right? This meant that the other admin was to get
my social security number (SSN). The good thing is you can actually start
working while waiting for one. But because in the U.S payday in generally twice
a month (mid-month and end of the month), my first pay cheque was due before my
SSN was issued. H.R. told me not to worry and that my cheque would be posted
via mail. Haibo! I saw the dollars slip through my fingers! So close yet so
far! But to my fellow South Africans, the U.S. mail service is actually a
trusted and well-functioning institution. Everything is posted. My bank card,
work permit, SSN card and many other important documents were sent to me via
mail. As in P.O. Box! I’ve never had anything get lost in the mail.
Fast-forward to when I was officially an admin-free human. I had a
job, a bank account, a SSN (also required to apply for a credit card and state
I.D.), securities license and a New York state I.D. (not required but very
necessary so you don’t walk around with your passport). Go-time!
Time to get down to business…
Having had spent last year working in London, which is thought of to be fast-paced, I feel like there is no place in the world that has an intense corporate culture remotely close to New York. The days are long, every request is urgent, emails are responded to and phone calls are taken AT ALL TIMES (I have very much been on call with someone (not from my company) in their hospital bed before an op) and if you’re in banking, leave is not quite like how the rest of the world views it, here its more, leaving place A for place B but I will no doubt respond to ALL emails. I once spoke to an MD who said they’ve never had an “out of office” in their 20years+ working on Wall Street. I don’t know what war New Yorkers are preparing for, but I can see they are determined to win it! It obviously varies from industry to industry but everyone I’ve spoken to who’s worked in other countries agrees that things are way more intense here compared to other parts of the world. New Yorkers on the other hand, don’t seem to fully understand what I mean – because this is all they know! For me it was definitely baptism by fire!
I had (and continue to have) a lot of adjusting to do. New
country, new culture, new job, in a completely different (and more technically
inclined) product area to what I have experience in. In my interviews I kept
stating with great enthusiasm that I was looking for a challenge. Which to be
fair I was, but never in a pandemic years did I think I’d get the most
challengey challenge I’d ever experienced. I knew that with no recognizable
school on my resume, no connections and no U.S. experience, moving at the level
I was at at the time in my previous role would be a bit
of a battle. But I long accepted that the story of my life is a series of three
steps back to move one step forward. So I thought, if I have to regress in my
career path, let me at least go into something that was going to give me a
daily mental work out, and the world was listening, so I ended up in
Securitization. Outside of high level info on the housing crisis and watching
The Big Short, I knew nothing about Securitization. But sometimes, when you say
that you’re a “fast learner” in your cover letter, you might just be required
to prove it. Who would’ve thought! Has it been daunting? Absolutely! I’ve
learnt either a new term or new skill every day since I started. I'm completely outside my comfort zone. It’s
unsettling and exciting all at the same time. I’ve had some really tough days
but all in all, all of my good days, outweigh my bad days. I’m also grateful to
have been blessed with the most amazing and supportive team who have really
been great in helping me get up the curve.
In the
famous words of the great philosopher, Robyn Fenty – work, work, work, work,
work, work…
Monday to Thursday I eat all my meals (supper included) at my desk while working. I
would say I currently work, on average, 16 hours a day and some days I don’t
even have downtime. You are literally pushing from the moment you sit down.
Lunches are usually a massive bowl of salad I can never finish. New Yorker’s live on salad. There are so many
salad places around my office and they are always all usually packed around
lunch time. And if you walk around the floor during lunch time, all you’ll see
is biodegradable (hi Greta!) salad bowls sprinkled everywhere. On Friday
evenings I at least get to eat dinner at a dinner table…or the couch with my
work phone close by. Working on weekends is not taboo, naturally.
So when Mr. Sinatra sang about New York, New York, he was talking
about the intensity of it all. The culture of “stay ready so you never have to
get ready”, the life of survival of the fittest, the strong belief in hurry up
and GO! The deep sense of urgency. The constant rush. It is after all, the city
that never sleeps…
*Wall Street is not merely in reference to a location but used as
a synonym for the U.S. financial industry and the firms within it.
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