Sorry folks, here it goes again. Gots no one else that will listen to me here. I tried venting to my mom, but she ended up getting me more upset. Its a mother thing I guess. I needed to do this before I blow up and start beating the shit out every single VP in my company. Two in particular. God I would love to just do a jump spinning back kick into the gut of each one of em. Then take a bowling pin and shove it up where the sun don't shine.

[VENT/RANT mode on]

Started last nite. I saw a posting on Monster board that, I thought fit my background and experience to a 'T'. It was in Dallas and a recruiter was posting it. So I e-mail my resume over. At 8AM my phone rings, at work, it was the recruiter. How in the fVck did he get my work number, I chalk it up as recruiter detective work based on my resume. He says, I like your background eager to talk to you, but I understand this is a recorded trading line, call me back. So I call back. We do the dance about why I want the job bla bla bla bla. So I ask when am I going to get sent for an interview. He says oh I was not calling for that job. You don't have experience. So I go down the list of requirements from his posting. Everything matches my quals. Then he sticks in, oh I forgot to post that I needed someone with derivitives trading experience. He said I had a really good background, but do not have anything right now. Just wanted to chat. What a dick!! So I thank him politely for the call and hang up. What a f-ing waste of time.
Then I go back to work, only to find out that I am being written up for some trading error I made. Get this, we made money on my error. However since it was my 3rd in 6mos total that I have been there I am being written up. All my errors I have caught immediately. The worst loss have been $50.
Then I go to a meeting and I am being told, in a nutshell, that we are going to change the trading dept and combine with CustServ. If any of you are in the financial services biz, you would understand that this is the most assinine thing to do. Its like combining the IT dept. with sales. So I tell em how I feel and the reason why this is a bad idea. In fron of everyone. Guess what? after the meeting, I get written up for being insubordinate and not a "team player". Also the next time will be a termination notice. Oh and I also had the first training session for cust ettiquette class this afternoon. Which is basically "how to kiss someones ass even if they are wrong 101". To top is off, Mon. is a market holiday, guess what, we have to come in and do some more of this ass kissing training. Taught by some(I would guess but a good guess on his political affiliation) Democrap, Berkeley PHD grad. I'd love beat the crap out him too till he wakes up in the real world.

[i] to be continued[/i]

[i]continued[/i]

I think I'll just quit tomorrow file for bankruptcy and go back to CA with my tail tucked up my ass.

Why did I ever go back. Oh yeah I have a shitload of creditors. [:(]

Yeah I know. I'm an idiot for accepting this position in the first place when I had a cushy job in CA. And more than likely I will just suck it up cause I have a shitload of debts. And I should be happy that I have a job in this economy. I gotta tell you though that this is frustrating to the point that I think I'm gonna snap one of these days. I have a very high tolerance for stress but this is just pushing my limits. Having financial and career problems along with trying to acclimate within a new environment is just not working for me.

[/ VENT/RANT mode on]

I had a friend who worked for Union Pacific Railroad in North Platte, NE.

Let me add this is a no bullshit story I really do have friends, believe it or not.

Well a set of train cars comming down the track on a fast coast was heading for a work crew.

He threw a swith derailing the train cars into the sand off the track and potentially saving thier lives.

He was called into managment office and given an award for saving thier lives. He left that office and went into the next where he was given a reprimand in his file for derailing train cars without permision.

I would sling burgers before moving to the land of Californication.

Lordtrader just what type of people did you EXPECT to find in the financial scam industry?

Time to look for not only a different employer but maybe a better line of work?!

Dont sweat it lord tradder, I am currently negotiating a business deal with one tough SOB.  I look at my GirlFriend and and I look at my children and think , "YEAH WAY TO GO BUDDY." Why don't you fuck this one up?  They don't know this of course.  I look like shit, I feel like shit, but other than that I am doing pretty good. I wouldn't be near as calm as I am except that he isn't the only horse in this race.  BECAUSE I HAVE LEVERAGE!!!!!!!, YES YOU TO WHEN YOU ArE SELF EMPLOYED CAN HAVE LEVERAGE.  WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN DON'T PLAY FAIR, PLAY DOWN AND DIRTY , GET THE JOB DONE.

Benjamin

Lordtrader, this will make you feel better. After 13 years of active duty (9 in the infantry)4 reserves total 17. I have the pleasure on the 6th of march to have part of my L5 removed along with the disks above and below. These to be replaced with teflon spacers. Now the real fun begins. I get to have part of my hip taken out to fuse the L4, L5, S1 together. Man I wish I only had my job to worry about. I do feel for you though try working for a 22 snot nosed LT that thinks he knows more about the infantry then a 17 year vet. Some times you just wish murder was only a non traffic violation.

I have my profile and resume on that site, have yet to get a call. I have even e-mailed the individual recruiters in my field. Guess no one likes my profile. I see a few jobs there, that I think is a fit, but no calls or return e-mail.

lt i know it sounds bad but for gods sake no matter how bad it gets DO NOT return to cali. no human being should be subjected to having to live there. at least thats what i assumed you meant by CA.

I didn't read the rant, but I'm assuming it has something to do with inadequacy and artificial enlargement.

Hang in there, it's just your job, not your life.

Geez, for a Texan you sure sound an awful lot like one of those whiny Cali liberals [:D]

Chin up.  Who knows, maybe the prickmeisters' resumes will reach the desks of some headhunters, but with the phone numbers switched.

If you're going to come back, try to make it in time for the March shoot, or at least in time to register for the November elections!

The world needs ditch diggers too- Judge Smalls

Seriously, get yourself out of debt as quickly as possible.  Do it even if you have to come back to Hell.  Then come to terms with working with other people SUCKS.  You will have to put up with asswipes as your boss in most corp. jobs, cause they are looking out for their own asses, not the companies or yours. Once you are out of debt you are master of your own destiny as long as you live within your means.  Then become a gunsmith, eek out a meager existence, and be happy.  But what do I know, I wipe crap out of people's asses for a living. [:P]

Of course I tell you to get out of debt having just bought an HDTV I have no idea how I'm gonna pay for. [:D]

Just do what I say, not what I do. [:D]

LT,

I understand your position, been there and done that.  When I was single, I would walk.  Now that I am married and with kids, I got to take and swallow it.....until I can find something better then CIAO BABY!

Well the last place I worked at was awesome. They were aggressive enough to keep my interest and actually listened to you. They did not make stupid biz decisions. And it really was a family affair within the company. Albeit a 5000+ employee. Here we have less than 150. The problem is that the powers that be have very lil experience in the brokerage industry. So its like having a truck driver in charge of a battle ship. Sure he can probably drive it, but can he manage it?

I know what you mean bro. Sorry to hear about all of the bs that you had to go through lately.
We all do things we regret - and we only spend a short time in this world. If going back to CA is going to make you a happier person, then by all means do it.

One of my favorite lines from FIGHT CLUB is: "It's only after you've lost everything, that you are free to do [i]anything[/i]."


Eric/Tyler

LT vent away it makes you feel better. I am in an odd situation myself. The first thing you have to understand is the 99% of the jobs in corporate work totally suck today. Loyalty means nothing, hard works has very little rewards, no recognition for individual performance achievments, and most are now doing the workload of 3-4 people for the same salary. This finally smacked me upside the head in September of last year. I will not bore you with the details, but I worked for 11.5 years with Xerox corporation as a Network Systems Analyst. I am also only 29yrs old, so yes I joined at 17 right after high school and worked my way up to the big bucks. I asked for the layoff package in October and I got it. My reason behind it was so I could take some time to reasses what the hell I want to do and use the generous package to pay down my debt. One regret I have had is not enlisting at 17. So I took this chance and joined the Army National Guard, for Infantry. My reasons for not doing it before was I could not financially afford 3 mos of no salary for basic/ait. Now I can. I have salary continuance + unemployment now, and I have until the end of April before my severance runs out and I need to either ship out for basic (scheduled by the Army for August of this year)or land another job. I have slowly sent out my resume to lower paying and what I figured would be less stressful IT jobs that I easily qualify for. Noone calls me back, my only guess is I am over qualified and they think my salary requirements are too high. But I do not care, I do not want the corporate high paying high stress job anymore! For what? I decided I would rather have a less stressful job for lower pay and be unappreciated, then a higher pay higher stress job and also be unappreciated! I was sick of my life revolving around my job. Vacation? When I took it I had to call in on my messages, check email and make calls to customers or sales reps. If I did not go away for vacation I would have to go back into work sometimes. Thats not vacation. So I am kind of in limbo at the moment, no job prospects, and deciding whether or not to roll up my basic training for May 1st or close to it then decide when I get back. I am even kicking around taking active duty assigment when I get back under NY state since it pays about $100/day plus housing and meals. The airport duty was putting up guys in hotels for housing. If everything falls through when I get back I will just switch over to the Army fulltime. I have lived for a while earning well and having all the material things, I am now divorced (no kids) and no longer have to work for the womenz! I like being single and all my money goes to me and my hobbies. Anyway I kind of got to do my own little rant here too, but basically I am saying do what you feel is right and fuck everyone/everthing else. The sooner you realize you are a working drone that they do not care about the easier your job will be. I made alot of waves and caught the attention of the CEO on more then 1 occaison. That was a nono but I did not care. That ship there continues to sink because it was once known for putting employees first but no more. It is the same as every other company out there, and that is why it is so void of the top performers and the old company line towers as they say. Their exists a few good places left, but it is diminishing rapidly. The work environment is so completely differant then just even 5 years ago. Best of luck to you, keep your chin up!

taelil, That is the position I am at now. I was at a VP level at my job in CA. I have to constantly explain why; 1) I stepped down from that position. 2) Why I took such a large paycut. Most employers I think view that as I was pushed out for some reason by my former employer. And you're right, I do send resume for jobs that are requiring less qualification and I do not get a call back. I just want outta here.

A friend of mine had been doing the job web sites for a number of months recently, and came to the conclusion that none of the job listings contained within the sites are actually real. They've pretty much devolved into advertisments for recruiting firms. You send in the resume and one of two things happens:
1) You never hear anything.
2) A recruiter calls to 'touch base' with you, informing you that the job you applied for is unavailable/has been filled, but (s)he will DEFINITELY keep your info on file in case anything does come up.

It's how they make their money.

LT - know a bit how you feel. I worked for about a year in the IT department of a securities firm. My second week there, I was back in the tech area, and for some reason one of the help desk grunts (they man the phones and take user trouble calls...and if it's anything tougher than 'click here and then select this' they send it to the IT dept.) decides to grill me about the incompetence of the IT department. Basically just bitching me out because he felt we were not responding to their trouble tickets quickly enough, etc, etc.
After a minute and a half of being thoroughly bitched out, I looked the guy right in the eye and said 'Well, if you guys would quit being the HELPLESS desk, and actually try doing you job instead of dropping all your shit on US, maybe we'd have the TIME to respond quicker', and I turned and walked.

Turns out the head of the help desk was in her cubicle which was maybe 10 feet away (cast iron bitch from hell she was), and hear the entire conversation. I received a verbal and written reprimand by my sup, and spent the next three months on my hands and knees doing PC inventory work. Him, nothing. It's the nature of the beast. Securities and trading is one of the most cutthroat parts of the finance world. You'll get nailed for any reason whatsoever, or no reason at all, and you can get fucked over quicker than an Amsterdamn prostitute...

If you do decide to file bankruptcy, stay in TX. It has cushy laws to protect the bankrupt.

Beyond that, and not to sound unsympathetic to you: [stick]

3 errors in 6 months may sound small to you, but you are in a financial job in a financial company. That means you are in the beancounting department of a beancounting company. Did you expect any less from the beancounters in charge of preventing any deviation in the orderly flow of beans, no matter how small?

Did you expect that the High Priests of Conformity and the Sacred Ministers of Beans would be happy with your [pissed] hard-charging, [smash] maverick, "tell it like it is" [soapbox] style? No. They need team players, predicatble, efficient, and compliant. If that ain't you, then either get a new line of work or suck it up and deal with it.

Complaining or acting surprised that a financial corporation is a stickler for details and filled with

mindless corpspeaking drones
[:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>][:)>]

is like bitching that South Texas is hot and filled with people[):)] who won't speak English. [thinking]

if it was fun, they wouldn't call it work, and they wouldn't have to pay you to do it.
life is short, and you need to figure out what it is you really want to do, and work toward it. if you have to shovel sh*t for a while before you can fertilize your flower garden, so be it.
meanwhile, dont let them see you sweat, the SOBs. they thrive on your discomfort, so deprive them of the pleasure.

LT,
Don't lose your cool.  Stay focused on the long term goal...a better position at a different firm.  Be nice to the pricks for now too.  Do your absolute best at everything.  Be in early, leave late.  Be alert and don't make any more errors, no matter how small.  Prove to them you are the world's best damn trader ever.
All the time, plot your escape.  Work behind the scenes.  Network, improve your resume, dig...dig...dig for that new and better job.  If possible, prep new clients but do NOT actually begin working for them...just string them until you can get out the door and take them with you.
Once you have fully prepared for your departure and have returned the signed offer letter to your new empolyer, inform your old employer of your intent to depart.  Be ready for immediate termination and escorting out of the office.  That means you need to be ready to go to work at the new place immediately after you leave the old.  Take your pride and whatever business you have been able to acquire with you and enjoy your new job!

"Revenge is best when served cold!"...Klingon proverb.

Good Luck!

My guess is that the economy will pickup substantially in the next 6-9 months. Hang in there, eat as much crap as you must to keep working, and when the market opens up, change jobs as quickly as possible. Good luck...

LT

Maybe it is time for you to open a retail brokerage business of your own.  Assuming that you have your stockbrokers' license, you could probably do well.  I have a friend who is doing it & he seems to be doing well.  It was tough when he started out, but it got better in a few years.

A suggested plan of action:
Write a business plan in your spare time.
Concurrently do informal market research by talking to your friends, both online & personal, to see if they would place a portfolio with you, & obviously, trade with you.
Consider taking on some small equity investors to tide you over.
Keep your head down at work & plug along.
Start the business in your spare time.
Quit the corporate world when the business grows to a sufficient size.
Buy out those investors.

Good luck.

It could be worse. Your dick could have shrunk a few inches. You just can't tell what might be in your pills.[shock]