u/Drew_16N

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Pitched a local luxury auto detailer on shooting audio-first Reels. used a pair of ear-level binaural mics while vacuuming pet hair out of carpet fibers and using a leather steam brush on steering wheels.

the raw tactile sound effects make people stop scrolling immediately. we produced 6 short video clips in three hours. the detailing shop runs them as local Facebook ads and booked out their schedule for two months straight. charging them a flat $1,800 monthly content retainer now.

People are terrified of confrontation especially gen z and younger millennials who hate their toxic retail or restaurant jobs. i threw up a basic carrd landing page offering a proxy quitting service.

you pay me 50 bucks. you give me your managers phone number and a brief reason why you are leaving. i text them from a burner number acting as your legal representative or career proxy stating that you resign effectively immediately and will not be returning communications. it is completely ridiculous but people are actually paying me to avoid the anxiety of sending the text themselves.

I noticed people constantly giving away sturdy moving boxes in local Facebook groups after they unpacked. I started collecting the clean ones, sorted them by size, bundled them into moving kits, and sold them for way less than buying new boxes.

It wasn't life-changing money, but I made around $180 this month with almost no upfront cost, just some time and a car.

The biggest surprise? Most buyers wanted convenience, not brand-new boxes.

Image idea: A stack of clean cardboard moving boxes neatly organized in a garage or car trunk.

Has anyone else stumbled into a side hustle that sounds strange but actually worked?

My brother works at JPM as an Associate, and it's one of the most toxic work environments I've ever seen. Every time I see him, he looks more exhausted than the last. The guy barely sleeps anymore. He's constantly glued to his laptop, answering emails during dinner, taking calls late at night, and canceling plans because something "urgent" came up. It feels like his entire life revolves around making slides and responding to people who somehow always need something immediately.

The worst part is how quickly the job changed him. He used to be outgoing, always down to travel or hang out, and now he's permanently stressed. Even when he's technically off, he isn't really off. His phone never stops buzzing, and you can tell he's always thinking about work. The salary and the JPM name might look great on LinkedIn, but from the outside it just looks like they're burning through young people and replacing them with the next class.

If you're thinking about going into investment banking because it sounds prestigious, I'd seriously reconsider. Watching someone close to me get completely consumed by a job made me realize that no logo on your résumé is worth giving up your life for.

I've noticed a lot of candidates spend all their time memorizing technicals but barely network or practice behavioral interviews.

If you've gone through Investment Banking, Equity Research, or Sales & Trading recruiting, what do you think is the biggest mistake applicants make?

Would love to hear everyone's experience.

I've noticed a lot of new UGC creators send 10–20 emails, get no replies, and assume outreach doesn't work.

The reality is that brands receive dozens of pitches every day. Timing matters just as much as your portfolio.

A few things that have helped me:

Keep your first email under 150 words.

Personalize the first sentence so it doesn't feel copied and pasted.

Include one portfolio link instead of attaching multiple files.

Follow up 5–7 days later if you don't hear back.

Track every outreach in a spreadsheet so you know who to follow up with.

For example:

Week 1: Sent 30 pitches → 2 replies.

Week 2: Followed up with the 28 who didn't respond → 3 more replies.

Those follow-ups actually generated more conversations than the original emails.

Many creators leave opportunities on the table simply because they never send a second message.

How many follow-ups do you usually send before moving on to the next brand?

If you're targeting Investment Banking, Equity Research, Sales & Trading, or Corporate Banking, here are a few lessons that would have saved me a lot of time:

Networking isn't optional. Building genuine relationships often gets you further than submitting dozens of online applications.

Know the "why," not just the formulas. Interviewers care more about your thought process than memorized answers.

Stay on top of market news. Be ready to discuss a recent deal, IPO, or macro event and explain its impact.

Practice behavioral questions. Your stories should clearly demonstrate leadership, teamwork, and resilience.

Start early. Recruiting timelines move quickly, and being prepared ahead of time makes a huge difference.

What's the most valuable piece of advice you've received about breaking into the sell-side? Or, if you're already in the industry, what do you wish you had known before your first interview?

When I first started reaching out to brands, my portfolio looked nice, but it didn't answer the question every client has:

"Can this person create content that sells?"

I made three simple changes:

Added a 10–15 second hook reel at the top of my portfolio.

I grouped my videos by niche (beauty, tech, lifestyle, etc.) instead of uploading them randomly.

Included a short sentence under each video explaining the goal (product demo, testimonial, problem/solution, or ad).

After making those changes, I noticed more brands responded to my outreach and conversations became much easier because they could immediately see what I could do.

You don't need dozens of videos. A few strong examples that show different content styles are often more valuable than a large collection of random clips.

What's one change you've made to your portfolio that actually helped you land more UGC clients?

Everyone talks about GPA and prestigious universities, but after speaking with analysts, associates, and recruiters, a few things came up repeatedly:

Networking consistently beats cold applications.

Knowing the technicals is expected—not a differentiator.

Strong behavioral answers often determine who gets the offer.

Commercial awareness matters. Be able to explain a recent deal or market event and why it matters.

If you're preparing for Investment Banking, Equity Research, Sales & Trading, or Capital Markets, focus on these four areas every week:

Reach out to professionals for informational calls.

Practice technical questions until they're second nature.

Follow major M&A deals and market news.

Conduct mock interviews with peers.

Many candidates spend months memorizing guides but never build relationships. That can be the biggest missed opportunity.

What's one piece of recruiting advice that made the biggest difference in your career? Share it below.

When I first started looking for UGC work, I spent most of my time improving my portfolio. While that helped, I realized clients cared just as much about how I pitched as what was in my portfolio.

A few things that made a difference:

Keep your portfolio short and easy to navigate.

Personalize your outreach instead of sending the same message to everyone.

Include examples that match the brand's niche.

Follow up once if you don't get a reply.

None of these guaranteed a client, but together they noticeably improved my response rate.

For those already landing UGC deals, what's one thing that made the biggest difference for you?

I've noticed that most advice for breaking into PE, VC, hedge funds, or asset management focuses on networking, technical interviews, or having the "right" background.

For those who have already made the transition, what skill ended up making the biggest difference?

Was it financial modeling, investment memos, sourcing deals, networking, industry knowledge, or something else entirely?

I'm curious because there's so much conflicting advice online, and it'd be helpful to hear what actually mattered in practice rather than in theory.

For the longest time, I kept jumping from one side hustle to another, hoping the next one would be the breakthrough.

Nothing changed until I focused on one skill instead of chasing every opportunity.

For me, that was video editing. It didn't pay much at first, but every project improved my portfolio, my skills, and eventually my income.

The biggest lesson? Learn a skill you can get paid to improve.

What's one side hustle that's actually worked for you? Or are you still trying to find the right one?

When I first started working with AI, I thought the language model did all the heavy lifting.

I'd ask it a question, expect a great answer, and wonder why it sometimes made things up.

It turns out the quality of the answer depends just as much on the information you feed the model as the model itself.

That's where search infrastructure comes in.

Here's how I think about it now:

Search finds the right sources.

Crawling collects the content from those sources.

Indexing organizes everything so it's easy to retrieve later.

Retrieval picks the most relevant pieces before the AI generates a response.

Once I understood this workflow, the quality of my AI applications improved significantly. I've also found that different tools solve different problems:

Exa is great when you want semantic search instead of simple keyword matching.

Tavily works well for AI agents that need fresh information.

Firecrawl makes extracting clean website content much easier.

Serper is useful when you need Google Search results through an API.

Brave Search API is a solid option if you want an independent search index.

One takeaway that changed how I build AI projects:

The smartest AI can't give great answers if it's searching for the wrong information. Prompt engineering gets a lot of attention, but retrieval quality often has a much bigger impact on the final result.

What search or retrieval tool has worked best for you? I'd love to hear what you've been using.

After speaking with recruiters and professionals across private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds, one pattern comes up repeatedly:

The candidates who receive offers aren't always the smartest, they're the ones who make it easy for firms to trust them with capital.

A few things that consistently matter:

Strong accounting and financial modeling fundamentals. You should be comfortable explaining the three financial statements, DCFs, LBOs, and valuation methods without relying on memorized answers.

An investment mindset.

Be prepared to defend why you'd invest (or not invest) in a company using a structured thesis.

Clear communication. Senior investors want concise thinking, not long-winded answers.

Attention to detail. Small mistakes in a model, deck, or resume can leave a lasting impression.

Genuine curiosity. The best interviews often become conversations because candidates ask thoughtful questions about industries, portfolio companies, and investment strategy.

One piece of advice I wish more candidates followed: don't just practice technical questions. Spend time reading investment memos, earnings reports, and industry analyses. Being able to discuss a real company intelligently is often more memorable than reciting formulas.

For those already working in investment banking, consulting, or corporate finance:

What skill or habit do you think gave you the biggest advantage during buy-side recruiting? I'd love to hear different perspectives from PE, VC, hedge fund, and asset management professionals.

One thing I appreciate about MCP is that it standardizes how AI models interact with external tools. Instead of building custom integrations for every app, you can expose capabilities through an MCP server and let Claude use them when needed.

It's especially useful for coding workflows where the model needs access to project files, documentation, or other development tools without constantly switching context.

Has anyone built a custom MCP server for their own projects? I'm interested in hearing what use case provided the biggest productivity boost.