My First and Second Real Jobs

I graduated in 1988 from Texas Christian University with a BBA in Marketing. I had dreams of being a brand manager for some product and designing ad campaigns, creating promotions and trying to create brand loyalty. Well, I quickly discovered the sad reality that to get a job like that you need to have an MBA from some Eastern school and a lot of luck. So, I was destined to do what everyone else with a BBA in Marketing does and that is sales.

I got a job selling computers to auto parts stores and to say I didn't like it would be an understatement. Anyone that knows me probably wouldn't be surprised that I wouldn't be good at sales because I'm not the type that just walks in the room and starts talking to people. But, talking to people wasn't my problem with this job, I got quite good at that, I just couldn't get anyone to buy anything. Fortunately, my life style had not changed much since I was in college. I still shared a two bedroom apartment with 2 other guys and I had few expenses so the income I was making went a long way. So, I started a plan of saving as much as I could so I could go and get my MBA and hopefully have a career change.

And, I did just that. I quit my job after about 15 months and started back to graduate school full time. I decided to get my MBA with an emphasis in Finance because I really am more of a numbers guy. While I was in school it was the time when we were having all of the bank and savings and loan failures so we were studying that quite a bit and I got fascinated with banking. So, I decided that is what I wanted to do, go into banking. Now, remember I was still young and it never occurred to me that it probably wasn't a good idea to pursue a career in an industry that was failing.

I graduated about a month before we went to war in the first Gulf War and that combined with the fact that I was looking for a job in a struggling industry, resulted in six months of unemployment. But, I finally got my big break when I got a job as a collector for a bank that, yes you guessed it, had failed. But, the FDIC didn't shut down all of its branches so it was still operating but barely. And, yes, I was a collector. I collected mostly on automobile and boat loans and while I only took the job because I needed the job, it turned out to be one of the best experiences I have ever had.

to be continued...