Life Is Hard: What Happened To Me Since College
Let's go a few years back. Imagine a shy, sleep-deprived kid with a cheap, $90 suit that was one size too big and hung off my frame like a style from the 80's. I was your typical mathematics nerd from MIT, about to graduate, and I was busy trekking off to these big tech company interviews, entertaining offers ranging from $8,000 - $15,000 / month.
Unfortunately, this was a brutal, post-recession world and being flown out to Chicago to get wined-and-dined for job interviews sounds way more glamorous than it actually was. Imagine ninty candidates from top-notch Ivy League schools competing for one open position. Not to mention the brainteaser interview questions.
Seriously. My interview questions were along the lines of "Hello. Are you ready? Is 2009 a prime number?" Well, duh. It isn't a prime number because every prime number up to 44 (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13,17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43) does not divide 2009.
How successful was I?
- I sent out 80+ job applications.
- I received 25+ initial screening interviews
- I was flown out for two "Super Day" interviews
- And I got ..... ZERO offers.
Internally, I was screaming: "HOW THE FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME??" All my friends were off to big cities, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, NYC, and making a healthy six-figure income. I hated myself. Some of those friends have since become multi-millionaires.
With my life in turmoil, I went from a manual trading commission-only firm in Boston to grad school at Harvard University, to interning for a Morgan Stanley branch back home, which shut down a year later.
Then I decided to turn my beloved hobby of photography into a job. My parents were furious. They stopped helping me pay for rent after I quit everything else to be a photographer. I could barely feed myself. What the hell was I doing?
This blog is dedicated to how I went from absolute rock bottom to make a comfortable income as a professional photographer. Stay tuned, friends.
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