Thanks for the advice on your first two points. However, I will not refrain from saying things like that. I am not saying it to sound cool, I am an extremely motivated person in life and I am not afraid to show it. I do not see anything wrong with that.
The thing is if you go into an interview it is going to be a “show me” rather than “tell me” type of situation. If you make big statements like that then you need some good examples to back it up. You are trying to break into an industry full of many high achievers and workaholics most of who probably worked extremely hard to get into the positions that they are in, if you say something like “my dedication, motivation, and genuine admiration of the markets is unmatched” there is a good chance they are going to cut you down a bit if you don’t provide really good exampes of why this is true. Just saying you follow the markets or that you passed CFA level 1 isn’t going to wow anyone.
Also, if you want to show motivation then just describe examples of how you’ve worked hard at trying to break in to the buyside rather than saying you are motivated. Just using hyperbolic statements like that has a very good chance of making you seem arrogant and then if they find your supporting examples of why these statements are true to be unsatisfactory its just going to make you seem naive to how hard they had to work to get their jobs.
Completely agree with shera and was surprised to notice that there was no tangible examples here of true interest in markets/stocks, as evidenced by potential stock write-ups. Maybe the OP is keeping this stuff to himself, but the point is that you get into the buy-side/sell-side with evidence of your stock ideas. You don’t get in just by saying you work hard or that you’re passionate. Everyone in this industry is “extremely motivated” but the most successful investors I have are disciplined, insightful, intellectually curious, and know how to find value.
By the way, did you read the two articles I linked you to earlier in this thread? I think know that they answer a lot of the questions you’re asking.
Thanks Shera and Numi. Both good points/explainations. I’ll try to tone down the motivation, but I guess I left out a couple of things that may help with concrete evidence. As an extra curricular activity in college I managed $250k of our school funds (which I know is peanuts compared to real asset management). But through that and my CFA competition I entered into in college, I have done three professional research reports on stocks and one on a ETF. Two of my recommendations where spot on, one was flat out wrong, and the final was somewhere in between. I also write financial articles for fun (chose not to get paid in fear of conflict of interest) for seekingalpha.com. I also plan on competing in a financial modeling competition in a few weeks (modeloff). I also plan on enrolling in Wall Street’s prep course for financial modeling soon. And finally, I want to start writing a book about retirement planning geared towards retail clients.
I competely understand what you guys are saying. That’s why I am trying to better myself with any type of avenue that has resume evidence attached so I don’t just say I love the markets and I am motivated. Thanks again for the input. Also, thanks for the links Numi.