Venture Bank of Bloomington, Minnesota is one that I have interviewed with multiple times.
Of course I never received a job offer, because, well, if we were to put it simply;
I HAVE MY HEAD OUT OF MY ASS.
However, as you are no doubt fully aware, banks, bankers and the financial industry in general, prefer you to have your head up your ass, or at least be willing to french-kiss some ass in order to be employed, and that leads us to our recurring lesson about the American financial system;
It is more important that you kiss ass than kick ass.
It is more important to bend over than make profit.
It is more important to ignore reality and play ball as we all enjoy a free bailout on the American taxpayer's back as we pay ourselves enough money to buy ourselves houses and boats on Lake Minnetonka even though we don't deserve it and pose as "real" business men just like Tom Petters and Denny Hecker.
Now, I won't go into details but I interviewed twice AND offered them my Independent Analytics services and they wanted nothing to do with it. Of course, for a mere 10% of their losses THIS ONE QUARTER, I would have prevented it.
But (and pay attention to all of you thinking about entering finance/economics as a career, because it will change your minds to major in something like computer programming or engineering where your bosses have to adhere to the laws of PHYSICS and not the laws of some middle aged dumbass with too much of daddy's money in lalaland) you see it is more important to the powers that be in the finance world that you be a conforming automoton than any real leader with any real brains and any real talent with any real hope of delivering any real increases in real profitability.
I have been thinking about this on my motorcycle rides throughout the Black Hills, and it almost seems to me that the people who are currently in the positions of power in the US coroprate world almost value "conformance" and "slavery" and "power" over "profits" or "efficiency." It's enough that I am seriously considering contacting a labor economist I know to see if there is a way to measure how much value a middle aged dumbass places on conformance versus performance. Perhaps that could be a labor economist's thesis
"Conformance vs. Performance."
In any case and in all seriousness, I'm just gloating in the losses the dumbasses at "Venture" *ooooooh, isn't that exciting! "Venture" - yeah, like "ventures into bankruptcy"* "Bank" is suffering right now.
Of course, it all could have been avoided, if they had just...
aw, fuck it, never mind. I should have been born in the 20's.
"I should have been born in the 20's."
ReplyDeleteThat would make you in late 80's now... a cantankerous old guy ranting at the nurse and your senile co-denizens of the nursing home about how the world is going to hell but it "ain't your problem" and dreaming of solid food...
I can see it. :-)
Oh, would that be grand.
ReplyDeleteBorn in the 20's
suffer the great depression
Fight in WWII AND assuming I made it,
get to live with a beautiful wife and "suffer" the culture of 1940's and 1950's America. Frank Sinatra, Louie Armstrong, dancing, everybody wearing suits when they go out.
And then right when the flower power children take over, I suffer a heart attack and die an early death.
To be fair, Cap'n is a cantankerous young guy ranting at all of us about how the world is..... :^)
ReplyDelete(I'm a cantankerous middle aged guy myself)
I've shared a lot of thoughts of the Cap'ns, and the thought that always comes back is "OK smart guy, if you're so brilliant, show the rest of the world how it's done." (add expletives if necessary to apply to your situation)
I'm giving it a little college try, and I'm assuming Cap'n is working towards the same.