Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

I have always believed that while you cannot change the future, with some careful planning it is possible to warp it! Of course, I may have been mistaken, but let me explain what I meant. In about 2015, or thereabouts, I know my time as a financial consultant and advisor was nearing its end. I never had to see the flames to be able to smell the smoke of a forest fire. In this case, it was fairly obvious.

Morgan Stanley had purchased Smith Barney, the company I had been with, it and its predecessor firms where I had been employed for almost 35 years and was quite happy and think that my clients were as well, since we were making money together. With this, another merger in the works, it meant that Morgan Stanley would now have more than doubled their force of brokers!

Ordinarily, this would not have been a big problem, except that Smith Barney did not own the vast and complicated computer system that sat on every broker’s desk, nor the extensive system in New York. All that belonged to Citigroup who charged an exorbitant rate for their system’s rental. Trhey also refused to sell this system to Morgan Stanley.

The only recourse was to continue and bite the bullet, or create an entirely new computer system, and that was what Morgan Stanley eventually did. It was a full year of ‘hair pulling’ and an unimaginable series of problems, but at the end of the tunnel we had a much better, more efficient system that better met our growing, and more complex needs.

When that was finished, I am sure there were several bright young MBA graduates in the head shed who got the idea our head count was excessive. Why not push them out the door at little or no cost to the firm. We would then raise our profitability without any serious jeopardy to the firm.

Now, let me provide you a flash back. When I first got into the business in 1985, and started to work, an account that a broker opened with the purchase of $10,000 in one mutual fund was considered a good account. Over the years, this amount was slowly pushed up annually, until finally in the late 2010’s, the same new account had be approaching $1,000,000 to be a good account!

The concept was Morgan Stanley did not need 17,000 brokers worldwide. Why not whittle the number down each year, it will increase the corporate R.O.I. So, the firm’s plan was to cut the number of brokers and at the same time increase profitability. While it made sense, and while I was and always had been profitable to the firm, my days were limited.

To this end, I began to think and look for alternative things to do. What I ‘locked’ on was why not find a job of teaching finance in one of the local colleges. I singled out Houston Baptist University and had a conversation with the business dean. She looked over my Master of Business degree and informed me that I needed at least six more graduate hours in finance before she could hire me as an instructor.

I had felt that there were two sides to working as a stock broker. There is the academic knowledge needed and the practical side, working in the trenches which is absolutely necessary for survival. Too many young applicants with adequate academic credentials fail miserably because they aren’t prepared for the trench warfare as I’ve termed it. I had both and thought It would have been a winner for both the University and me. She informed me that I needed at least 6 more graduate finance hours before she could hire me as an adjunt professor.

Well, I go and enroll in University of Houston’s night school for one three-hour course. Upon finishing that course, I enrolled in the second one. Upon completion of the second course, I again call to talk to the head of the department. To my surprise, she had retired and the new Dean had hired two professors!

I was disappointed. The plan was a good one, it just had too many moving parts and those
had marched to a different drummer. I still believe those two adjunct professors did not have my experience. They would continue down the proven path of academia and the graduates would have to learn, to their chagrin, the real world is not what was taught in the classroom.

There is little likelihood of the survival rate being less than 10 to 20%, simply the lack of recognition of the difference in the real world and academia!. Just Sayin….RJS

Iowa Farmer Loc: Iowa City Iowa

I had a number of instructors in college that were highly intelligent but lacked any resemblance of common sense. That HR person deprived many students of your life experiences.

audigger53 Loc: Severn, MD

Same thing for Hardware Tech Support. The guys that came up from the Field knew more about the products and failure symptoms than a lot of the Company Engs. The companies started letting the older Support guys go as they could hire EE's right out of school for 1/2 the salary. Of course the new guys never saw the problems and went by the "Book" trying to help the guys in the field. Didn't work good at all. I did 20+ years as Hardware Tech Support on Computer, Systems, Printers, Ect. Ended up going back to the field to repair hands on. I would talk to Support for the companies I then worked for to tell them the problems I had found and the cures needed. They could not believe that I could do all that without having a EE Degree. My training went back to Main Frames. So PCs were easy for me even at the chip and power supply level. I fully understand where you are coming from Robert.

Jeremy Loc: America

Hands ON is very valuable. I hated dealing with Factory reps or people on phones or emails telling me blah blah blah. Bring there first hand with hands on is the people who really know.

Bunyan Loc: Colorado

My colleagues and I would supply a federal agency with the information they needed to testify before congress. It took years to develop their trust in us. I was being replaced with kids straight our of college because (and this is exactly what I was told) the company could get 3 of them for 1 of me.

Slimshady Loc: Central Pennsylvania

I ran into a similar problem. I called the factory tech support with a problem I was having and after explaining what was going on,the answer I got was “good luck”. No help whatsoever

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Glad to hear the resonses that have been posted. The major firms, at least when I started, would hire someone and give them a desk, a phone and a phone book and say, "Go to it"! So even smart kids right out of college seldom have any network, or idea of what to do or where to go to build a 'book'. Many even expect clients to come in the door! No, they have to go out and capture those clients and it is hard work and takes years. I was the first one my office to have my own IBM computer just to manage a data base of my prospects. Just Sayin...RJS

harleypiker Loc: WA

RJ,
I have always told people that I have not let my college degree get in the way of my education!

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

I doubt that those in the Ivy Covered Walls of academia ever think about life on the outside. I suppose that in some cases it doesn't matter, but in others it definitely does, and the 'in the trenches' experience is necessary for survival. I was older than most others who became stock brokers and had a lot of contacts that helped me to survive.

But when my partner and I were managing close to half billion dollars under management, we definitely had some experience that would have been valuable to any rookie. Just Sayin...RJS

nutz4fish Loc: Colchester, CT

H P.... In all of my working days I never once heard that, and would have been shocked ( and pleased ) to hear it. There were so many who thought that their academic credentials had some value in and of themselves, I lost count after a while. What really determined their value was chiefly: performance, teamwork, and the ability to communicate.
With out those assets, what good would they be to assist in achieving organizational goals ?

Jeremy Loc: America

I just thought of something RJS. Your not Teaching because you would have to be JUST TEACHING not be JUST SAYING.

Harris T. Fudpucker Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

And the dangers of having a kid, dictate what needs to be done, to a veteran! In the oilfield, there are 'blow outs'! That is where the pressure below has more pressure than all the weight stacked on top can suppress. A friends dad, was on an offshore drilling rig, been doing the company job, for 40yrs or more. As the Shell Oil Comany man, he made all the decisions on the rig. He now had to state everything to the office, no matter how big or small the problem. One day he had a 'blow out'. He called the office, already knowing what to do, but that was their new policy. The person he spoke with, was a snot nose little, 'I just got out of college, and know so much' rug rat. The pipe was blowing out the hole, and he wanted to close the rams, but the kid wanted to wait, see what it does. Anyway, I got a call from him, and he told me what happened, and wanted to know what common sense would do. I told him the same thing, that his engineering degree told him, and his experience told him to do. You just can't beat experience!

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Ha! You've got me there! Just Sayin...RJS

BassmanCurt Loc: Lake Fork Texas

Robert,
As always your wisdom is spot on. My best engineering professor was on loan from corporate America. He could do what most of my professors couldn't... explain how what he was teaching could be applied to the real world.
Tight Lines,
Curt

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Curt: You are correct. Knowledge that cannot be satisfactorily used is only good for a crossword puzzle! Just Sayin...RJS