When People Ask "What do you do for a living" What say you?

J

JesseJamesFinn

I stopped trying to explain what I do for a living long before the Day Trading Wives of the 1990s existed, it lead to far many controversial discussions and too much prying into our business.


I use the generic "I am a consultant", when asked beyond that, I get afraid of all the new people who make themselves friendly before they knew what I did. People who once blow you off and find out you make much more money than they do, they are the most sneaky snakes there are. What advice to blow this group off and avoid unnecessary exposure and stay out of the spotlight, I like dark trading rooms, not talking with people about the "how and why" of Trading. Thank's for your advice!


Talking about our issues on Elite Trader is refreshing, because it's with real people who can relate to the strange and sometimes chaotic life we live by. People here bring something to this table, they don't insult our brains by asking "how can I make money with the least amount of effort day trading?"
 
I do research on the financial markets, an I also have a high interest in psychology so I also research psychoogy/sprirituality subjects. But just now, my aim is to be happy and have a great time. :D
 
Why blow them off? I've had many positive experiences talking to people outside of this field about what I do.

There was one year when I stayed at a hotel for 300+ days. They had complimentary car service and the chauffeurs who drove me to the subway each day eventually recognized me and we'd strike up a conversation. They were curious what I was doing staying alone for an extended period at a hotel (my work eventually got too critical for me to spend time moving into a place of my own, so I left everything in a storage space at the edge of the city); a few of the drivers were around my age and I guess it was natural for us to converse.

We had plenty of mutual respect for one another. I explained to them about finance in general, and why none of what I do is exploitative as public opinion puts it. I also explained to them that it's not easy as it sounds: there were economies of scale and barriers to entry just like any other business; I'd give a high-level look at how certain strategies worked. I occasionally get asked what a regular person can do to invest his money (sometimes hinting that I could help them somehow, but I was doing prop at the time) and I'd refer them to a particular actively-managed mutual fund and some strategies for retirement.

In exchange, I heard them talk about their work - which is genuinely interesting, one driver was a managing director at a marketing consultation firm, and was only driving part-time because he loved meeting people, and had nothing to do since he separated from his wife. Everyone seemed to start off with a little bias against the financial industry but eventually started to understand that most of us were regular people with good intent. I just think it was great that I instilled other people's interest in my work, and it was definitely an experience that made me happier about my work.

I always remember one incident: I think this was at Hermès because they'd ask you to fill in your personal details whenever you made your first purchase. My friend was making a large purchase and the saleswoman was pretty surprised that she was a doctor at her age and wanted to know more about what she did. When I filled in mine, she was equally surprised that I had a doctorate. But I got a barely lukewarm response except "you must be smart", when I explained that I did physics and went into finance, both of which seemed so foreign to the average person. I was a young upstart back then and was rather offended that someone was less impressed about my physics PhD, since I felt strongly that it took me more effort. :D Thereafter, I've always taken the extra step to help people understand what I do.

TL;DR

0. If you think you've earned some boasting rights, most people actually don't care.

1. To be honest, the fraction of the population that reacts negatively is small, it becomes all the more important that you change his/her view if you get a hostile response (I've had those).

2. I feel everyone in this line of work has a civic duty to improve the public view of what we do.
 
Quote from JesseJamesFinn:

I use the generic "I am a consultant", when asked beyond that
More...
I use the less generic "I produce Internet porn". Reliable conversation killer if you feel annoyed by intrusive questions.
 
i posted about this last week; i am not a black box trader, strictly manual/discretionary.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3852424#post3852424

(repost)
i tell people i trade, i've gotten the "are you ok?" when the market's down big, etc. it's fine, i know they mean well, and i tell them that i just need the market to *move* and be right on the direction, sitting market = not good for me.

i've got a patter down, where it will be "i trade stocks for myself, but i'm not like the big guys you see on tv." because i'm not. i've also told people i don't want to know what goes on in their company because i'll never (and i do mean never) trade that kind of information.

i have a very small list of people who i'll tell when i do very well. one's a trader, other few aren't. my neighbor asked me the other day how i was doing, and i told him i was working my butt off the past couple of months. he said "that's good, right?" and i said yup. they have some vague idea.

i've only had one person who kept wanting to know how much money i make, and i kept evading it with "well, i'm not trying to live like a super millionaire", then "i don't know ROI, because i never calculate it", and "i try to focus on making good trades, the money will come if i'm trading my strategies well."

but most times, if people ask me how things are going, it will be a variation of "i'm very busy / things are quiet" combined with "i'm seeing things well / staying disciplined / not seeing things well / not being patient".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top