To give you a little background, I studied liberal arts and finance in undergrad, then went to work at an elite investment banking firm after I graduated (e.g., like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Morgan Stanley). After that, I worked at an elite fundamental long/short equity hedge fund. I did well. Last year I made $400K all in my mid-20s. I'm really analytical and made the firm money, but the reality is that I hated my life and was let go. I hated my life because I am really bad with interpersonal stresses and politics, much moreso than most people. After being let go, I contemplated suicide fairly regularly (I am seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist, so I am in good hands now). It hurt me a great deal because I made the firm an extraordinary amount of money ($50 million), so me being fired was them telling me I was so unpleasant that exceptional performance was irrelevant to them. It also hurt, because I didn't know what else I wanted to do with my life. Also, being let go coincided with me realizing (i) I was on the autism spectrum and (ii) I come across as rude to others without me realizing it, which is pretty normal if you are autistic. I know there are politics in every job and I've tried really hard to improve my skills. For example, after I was let go, I read 50 books on being persuasive and better with people and took theater classes every day in a sincere effort to learn to act more normal. But, I'm not sure how much it will help. I am worried this is a problem that continues to affect me despite my best efforts.
I am not sure what to do. A lot of the normal jobs you do when you find the fundamental finance path stressful might not make sense for me. For example, doing business development involves a lot of people skills, which I clearly have very little of. Part of me wonders if I can be a quant, because it sounds like a finance job that's great if you are bad with people. The problem is I didn't study math in my undergraduate degree nor did I excel in the subject (I got a lot of Bs, which sounds like it may not be good enough). I think I didn't excel because I didn't see it as important to going into investment banking, but the reality is that I like math and was good at it when I applied myself. I think I would be more motivated if I studied it now. Would I be crazy if I did this? What should be my first steps? Is there a way to put my foot in and try it without taking too much risk? Any thoughts or advice?
I am not sure what to do. A lot of the normal jobs you do when you find the fundamental finance path stressful might not make sense for me. For example, doing business development involves a lot of people skills, which I clearly have very little of. Part of me wonders if I can be a quant, because it sounds like a finance job that's great if you are bad with people. The problem is I didn't study math in my undergraduate degree nor did I excel in the subject (I got a lot of Bs, which sounds like it may not be good enough). I think I didn't excel because I didn't see it as important to going into investment banking, but the reality is that I like math and was good at it when I applied myself. I think I would be more motivated if I studied it now. Would I be crazy if I did this? What should be my first steps? Is there a way to put my foot in and try it without taking too much risk? Any thoughts or advice?
