The recruiter at the table was smiling professionally when Jeremy approached. "h.e.l.lo! Are you interested in a career with Hale Investments?"

Oh boy, was he! But he worried that if he ended up working at a branch office he would never find a way to get noticed. Wouldn't it be better to start out somewhere more noticeable and work his way into the main branch from there?

"How does someone get a job at the main office?" Jeremy asked casually.

Of course he already knew the basics from word of mouth and online research but it might be nice hearing it from someone inside the company.

The recruiter barely held back his laughter. He had seen dozens of c.o.c.ky kids like this. They all thought they were worthy of working on Wall Street right out of school. Most people didn't even get jobs there until they were in their thirties.

"Experience is the most important thing. You're at Yale, so your education background should be sufficient," the recruiter said truthfully. "But most people start in a low department and get stuck there. Advancement is much more likely in a branch office."

Jeremy frowned. He already knew this. Cameron Singleton had been one of the strange exceptions to the rule.

He wasn't sure how he would manage to do it but he was positive that he could get somewhere if he made it into the a.n.a.lyst department. He had been following every bit of news about Hale Investments and was able to see that everything Aaron Hale did was something he would have done himself in that situation.

They were kindred spirits, he knew it! All he needed was the chance to prove it.

"Thanks for the information," Jeremy said as politely as possible. He took a complementary Hale Investments pen from a basket full of them on the table and walked away.

===

A month before his college graduation, Jeremy had already received multiple job offers. He turned them all down because they weren't quite what he was looking for. He didn't want to be a financial advisor because that was how people got stuck in the main office!

He had checked several employees' LinkedIn profiles and found, to his horror, that the recruiter had been spot on. Most of the financial advisors at Hale Investments had worked in the same department for more than a decade.

Working with clients individually sounded terrible to Jeremy. He wanted to be involved in the real numbers. And he was good at it too! His professors had all praised his brain and he was about to graduate summa c.u.m laude.

This did pose a problem though because he would need some sort of employment. He continued applying to other places that involved actual stock trends without much success. No one wanted a kid straight out of school.

It was so frustrating. People overlooked him simply because of his age. Jeremy had poured hundreds of hours of his life into studying the stock market, okay? He knew what he was doing more than most!

His mother wouldn't stop nagging him to just take one of his offers already either. She had absolutely no right to say that to him after throwing her education away.

Jeremy was getting discouraged. There was a decent chance he would have to take a financial advisor job to pay the bills. If he got stuck in that sort of role, all of his hard work would be for nothing.

His phone rang and he answered it reluctantly. He didn't recognize the area code so there was a decent chance it was a spam call.

"Jeremy Ward," he said with a sigh.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Ward. My name is Emma Wilson and I'm a hiring manager with Hale Investments. A headhunter recommended you to me. Would you be interested in interviewing for an a.n.a.lyst position?"

Jeremy was so shocked he nearly fell backward out of his chair. Was this some sort of crazy dream? What headhunter had even heard of him? He wasn't done with college yet!

Composing himself as quickly as possible, he cleared his throat and spoke calmly. He had to make a good impression on this woman.

"Yes, I would be interested."

Was she kidding? Jeremy had never thought an opportunity like this would come in a million years! Getting into the a.n.a.lyst department was a one in a million chance. n.o.body he ever heard of had been headhunted into such a compet.i.tive company.

"Excellent. I would like to conduct the interview over video call sometime within the next week. When are you free?"

For such a chance Jeremy would cancel anything. He would make himself free no matter what! But he had to play it cool. He gave her several time and date options to seem flexible.

She ended up setting the interview for three days from then at 1:30 PM. He barely managed to end the call politely since he was so freaked out.

Three days? He only had three days to think of every possible thing they could ever ask him and make sure he sounded like the best candidate.

Jeremy immediately began looking up common hiring questions and reviewing every a.n.a.lysis-related thing he had ever done in case they asked him what experience he had. He had an awful lot of old papers he wrote to look over.

In the end his panic was for nothing. The interview lasted thirty minutes and the hiring manager approved him on the spot and began to negotiate salary.

This was completely insane. Who recommended him? Who? Was some divine force looking out for him or what?

Jeremy honestly couldn't believe his luck. Getting through finals was a challenge because he was so stunned by what just happened that he could hardly focus. Telling his mother hadn't been as satisfying as he had hoped either.

"You got headhunted straight into Hale Investments," she stated doubtfully over the phone. "You."

"Yes, Mom," he said through gritted teeth. "They offered me a fairly generous starting salary too. I got into one of the most prestigious departments."

"They're crazy," she scoffed. "But good for you."

And that was the most support Jeremy ever got out of his mother. He should have expected as much.