Ben Carpenter began his career as a commercial lending officer at Bankers Trust Company. Two years later he joined Bankers Trust's Primary Dealer selling U.S. Treasury bonds. After a brief stop at Morgan Stanley, Ben joined Greenwich Capital, which, during his 22-year career there, became one of the most respected and profitable firms on Wall Street. At Greenwich Capital Ben was a salesman, trader, sales manager, Co-Chief Operating Officer, and Co-CEO. Currently Ben is the Vice Chairman of CRT Capital Group, a 300-person institutional broker-dealer located in Stamford, CT. He resides in Greenwich, CT with his wife, Leigh, and three daughters. Check out additional free content including excerpts, videos and blogs at www.thebigswebsite.com.

Preface: Welcome to the Big Leagues xi How The Bigs Came to Be xii Introduction: Before The Bigs xv Junior High School xvi The New Kid xix High School xx Going Away xxii My Parents xxiv Benjer xxx Part ONE HOW TO SURVIVE, THRIVE, AND HAVE FUN IN THE BIG LEAGUES 1 1 Managing a Corporate Career 3 First At Bat 3 First Job Search 5 First Job 8 Something Better Out There 12 Only You Can Look Out for Yourself 16 What I Did Right--What I Did Wrong 17 Ted 19 More Curveballs 25 Learning from a Slump 30 Back on Track 32 Keep Your Eyes on the Prize 33 Out on a Limb 36 Cut Throat and Deep Throat 38 Going To War 42 Looking Back 45 Going Forward 46 Final Thoughts 47 2 Being an Entrepreneur 49 Tumble Inn 50 All Cotton 62 Golfone 66 The Stand 68 Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship 70 Final Thoughts 76 3 Being a Leader 77 When to Be a Leader 77 Lead by Example 78 Be a Leader, Not a Manager 78 Don't Be Cynical 80 A Room Full of Fog 82 Everyone Is Important 84 Knowing What to Say When 86 Demand Respect 90 Make the Whole Greater 91 The Guiding Principle 94 Leadership, Friendship, and Adversity 99 The Least Fun Part of the Job 105 Too Much Credit--Too Much Blame 106 4 Staying Out of Trouble 109 RAT Bite 109 Get Some Goddamn Sleep! 112 Front Page News 113 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 118 Breaking the Golden Rule 122 If You're Lucky Enough to Get Rich Once 124 Don't Pick Fights You Can't Win 128 Never Be Like Never 130 5 Living a Happy Life 133 The Secret 133 Creating a Happy Life 136 Money and Happiness 139 Leave Your Baggage at Home 140 A Final Thought on Happiness 141 Part TWO HOW TO CHOOSE, GET, AND DO A GREAT JOB 145 Introduction: Your Big League Career 147 6 How to Choose Your Career 148 Focus on What You Do Well 148 Should You Follow Your Passion 149 Consider Your Lifestyle 150 Job Satisfaction and Compensation 151 Wall Street, Then and Now 152 7 How to Get a Great Job 154 You've Got to be Kidding 154 A Guide to This Chapter 155 Informational and Job Interviews: Scoring Goals 157 How to Get Informational Interviews #1 Developing Your Network 158 How to Get Informational Interviews #2 Using Your Network 159 How to Get Informational Interviews #3 Asking for Help 162 How to Get Job Interviews #1 Asking for the Order 168 How to Get Job Interviews #2 Employment Websites and Social Networking 169 How to Get Job Interviews #3 You Need to Be Creative and Bold 171 How to Get Job Interviews #4 Staying in Touch 175 What to Say During Interviews #1 It's Not About You 178 What to Say During Interviews #2 Informational and Job Interviews Are Different 179 What to Say During Interviews #3 How to Prepare 180 What to Say During Interviews #4 How to Sell Yourself--Punchy Vignettes 182 What to Say During Interviews #5 Talking to Your Resume 186 What to Say During Interviews #6 How to Be General and Specific 188 What to Say During Interviews #7 Understanding the Game Around You 189 What to Say During Interviews #8 What Not to Say 190 What to Say During Interviews #9 Questions to Ask 190 What to Say During Interviews #10 Questions You May Be Asked 192 Be More Aggressive 193 Read Your Interviewer 195 All About Internships 197 How to Use Headhunters 202 To B or Not to B 205 Math, a Good College, and a High GPA 210 Life Ain't Fair 211 Thank You Notes 212 Your Step-by-Step Guide to Getting a Great Job 213 8 How to Do a Great Job 216 Ben's Advice for Avery 217 Lori's Advice for Avery 221 9 How to Manage Your Finances 225 Keep Your Personal Expenses Low 226 Keep it Simple, Stupid 227 Investing and You 228 File This One Away for the Future 232 Helping Family and Friends Financially 233 A Time and a Place for Everything 234 Your Step-by-Step Financial Plan 235 10 One Last Story 237 Letter fromtheAuthor 241 Acknowledgments 243 Index 247