Investment banking is not without setbacks, and one needs to be resilient. Maria Gonzales was rejected several times early in her career, but she did not take it as a setback; instead, she took it as an opportunity to improve. She joined a smaller investment bank, which gave her broad exposure to various sectors and honed her ability to handle deals independently. This experience helped her move into a larger firm, where she eventually rose to a senior role.
Most of the successful investment bankers, as in the case of Alex Kim, faced a hard market: financial crisis, regulatory change, or something. He remembers learning how to adapt and become agile, diversifying his skills to focus on long-term relationships. Case in point, a life proof of agility and resiliency in times of economic fluctuations in one's career.