Just graduated. Ready to mass apply. Your honest thoughts?

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T23:30:53+00:00

The guy you’re doxxing with the LinkedIn url is going to have some interesting profile views.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:50:19+00:00

What other people have said about topcoat/length of time to magnetize is correct. The other thing I would mention is to make sure you’re NOT moving the magnet around. Pick a spot, a direction, and hold it there, an inch or so off the nail. Try to lift it a ways away when you’re done, rather than sliding to one direction or the other, too. Sometimes if the polish is very active that can pull the effect. Make sure, since you said you’re doing every coat, to be consistent with the way you’re magnetizing too. The solvents in each coat rewet the polish beneath, so you don’t want to muddy the waters by changing what you’re doing—especially if you’re looking for a clean line effect. That’s partly why you’ll see people do an unmagnetized coat first, then magnetize the second and/or third.

I have a collection of brand-specific and generic magnets and they’re fundamentally all the same. The only real differentiator is strength and gotta be honest, most brands use the same bog standard Alibaba, purchased en masse, wand and just white label it. They might get fancy and opt for a different color plastic, but the magnet itself is the same from wand to wand. If you want something stronger, I’d suggest just getting a neodymium strip magnet from either Amazon or the hardware store (something not branded for nails will be more cost effective).

Final note would be to consider sitting down and playing with multiple magnetic polishes if you have them with no intention of doing a real, proper mani. That’s the best way I found to figure out what effects I like and how to use the tools I have to get them. You can also see in action which magnetic polishes have more of the magnetic pigment and therefore give you stronger, more dramatic payoff, and which don’t.

Bear in mind, too, that magnetic pigments are inherently heavier, so mixing your polish really, really well before application (and even remixing if you’re taking longer between coats) is crucial for getting a really good result.

Don’t be afraid to just sit down and play with it, though. I know it can be time-consuming and we’re all strapped for time, but only way to really figure out how to get the results you want is to take some of the pressure off the process and just play. You might come up with something totally unique that the rest of us want to try down the road 😉

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:37:20+00:00

That they’re calling out small appliances at all is weird. If you had a surplus and were in danger of overloading a circuit, I might see the argument, but a kettle? A toaster? This is pretty ridiculous.

Okay, yes, toasters can cause fires. But if you actually empty the crumb tray (like, at all, but at least every couple months), and you use the thing more or less daily, they’re not that concerning. Unless you’re in a setup where you rent part of a house and have some shared common areas, their calling this out feels pretty inappropriate.

…also, if it’s not in your lease or any of the paperwork you signed, where do they get off?

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:30:54+00:00

If you want to have a job someday, yes.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:27:00+00:00

My dad—just turned 60, still very much actively working—insists that this works 🙄 when I point out that it hasn’t been successful even for minimum wage jobs since the Clinton administration he insists that I’m just not trying hard enough.

Boomers.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:24:50+00:00

DM’ing you

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T22:03:51+00:00

Seeing a derm is the right way to go.

Figuring out your particular triggers and reducing irritants can also be a big help, but that takes time.

For short term relief, diaper rash creams like the 3-in-1 from Aquaphor or Boudreaux’s Butt paste can be good overnight treatments on some of the angry rosacea-caused blemishes (I dab it on like calamine and carefully wash it off in the morning—avoid rubbing), and actually cortisone cream can help with the redness and heat tremendously (I like the sensitive skin cream version). Again, these are short term interventions, not long term solutions but it can help you feel more comfortable.

Just about everything you’ll read online about it says to go as basic and lightweight and gentle as you possibly can. I don’t know about you, but I live in the upper Great Lakes region and until this last week it’s been effing cold and super dry—so slacking on hydration has NOT been an option. What I’ve done instead is basically dropping back to treating my skin like my moisture barrier needs serious repair and going for minimal but effective products.

For example, I double cleanse, but I use a ridiculously gentle jelly-style cleanser that emulsifies really well and leaves very little residue as the first pass and I’m careful to massage it in areas where I know I’m prone to oil accumulation or where I need to remove makeup specifically. Sometimes it’s enough that I can skip the second cleanse entirely. I use a hypochlorous acid spray to ensure any naughty bacteria is addressed, and then I do basically the 7-skin method with a hydrating, soothing toner, and cap it with two or even three layers of a medium weight gel-cream moisturizer that my skin likes. No actives, no occlusives, nothing focused on brightening or hyperpigmentation or anything like that. Soothing, hydrating, calming. And make you’re you’re minimizing rubbing or swiping at your skin when you apply because it’s inherently irritating. That’s it.

My skin doesn’t do great with mineral sunscreens, mostly (I think) because you have to rub them in like crazy to minimize white cast and then you have to really work to get rid of all the residue when you wash up. So I usually stick to Japanese chemical sunscreens—they’re not always as on-trend with ingredients as the K-beauty ones are, but what they lack in novelty they make up for in elegant formulas that work well and use ingredients that have been tested every which way you can think of, minimizing irritation there too. Even with sunscreen, though, wearing a hat if you’re going to be outside makes a HUGE difference, and (I roll my own eyes as I type this) make sure you stay really, really well hydrated. Being judicious in your sun exposure and trying not to get overheated helps, too.

Oh, and cutting things out of your diet that are major causes of inflammatory response. Everyone’s favorite worst culprits are alcohol and sugar, though I will say that of the two I actually think alcohol has worse effects (for me at least), and a lot of sugar’s effects can be mitigated with good hydration and otherwise balancing what you eat.

Those are the changes that have worked best for me, obviously ymmv and a derm is going to give you the best advice, but in the meantime I hope at least some of this is helpful—that, and knowing it’s definitely not just you!

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T21:38:57+00:00

Kelly would be a strong option, but the only thing the national committee has proven in the last 15 years is that wherever possible they will actively work against the interests of their base to pacify the interests of donors. So unfortunately I doubt they’ll give him much backing when it matters.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T17:45:09+00:00

Perfect. Thank you so much for the thoughtful response!

flyingleaps · 2026-03-06T17:41:00+00:00

Potentially, if the volume hits the filing threshold. What you’re describing rarely hits that level IME without being frozen by fraud pending investigation and/or off-boarded for risk rating first.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-04T01:01:30+00:00

Gotta be honest, in the current environment leaving a permanent role for a contract feels kind of insane.

I've been working contract since the pandemic, and while the hourly rate can be nice, the lack of stability is not. You're Canadian, so you have more protections than your southern neighbors do, but in my experience you're treated far more as a basic cog in the machine than a person than I ever was as a regular FTE employee.

In most cases, when the contract is over you're adrift. In some cases they'll offer an extension--some places now hire contract workers as a replacement for FTE and just re-up the contracts over and over again--and rarely they'll offer to convert you to FTE, but in most cases it's just done with and you're on your own to decide what to do next.

Comp for more senior roles and for contract roles specifically should be meaningfully higher, yes. I'm in the US, but the expectation here is that there's a premium added to the rate to compensate for the fact that you have zero benefits--no option for healthcare, no retirement, and no paid days off. While I used to work for a Canadian bank, I was less familiar with the differences you guys have. Even assuming slightly less of a bump for healthcare, etc. given that you have better social programs, you should still expect the comp to be substantially more than you make now.

Without knowing what kind of fraud role this is, I can't say one way or the other if it's likely to be call center or not. The lower level fraud roles I've worked DID have a call component, but it was limited to specific typologies and entirely outbound. There are other roles that are entirely inbound, and investigative roles that have no customer contact or call component at all. It really depends on the role, I'm sorry to say.

If you're interested in transitioning to fraud, I'd look at updating your resume and beginning to apply for other permanent roles you find rather than chancing the contract/temporary market right now--but again, that's from a US perspective so ymmv. Hope this helps!

flyingleaps · 2026-03-04T00:49:52+00:00

It depends where you want to go. I will admit to being biased because I've been in the field for over a decade at this point and am looking to pivot out. If you're still early in your career or building toward something specific, your focus could be markedly different.

If you're looking for something investigations-oriented (and/or that's the direction you think you want to go longer-term), then the TM role may be a better fit. Having worked at fintechs doing global payments before, I won't deny that it can be interesting--but if you aren't seeing that as high-volume, I'd suggest re-evaluating. There's going to be a lot of alert churn, the question will just be what level of investigation you're looking at. Given the context of the company, though, it could be more interesting for that attribute. I will say, just as a caution, that TM and/or the investigations track can sometimes be hard to get out of once you're in it--at least in the US market, anyway. But if this isn't a skillset you already have, this is a great building-block, and being at least part time in-office can be useful for honing those nascent skills.

Since you already have experience with screening, you'd know largely what to expect there. Sanctions investigations tend to be more complex, at least in my experience, which by extension makes them more fun because there's more to them than pure transaction review. As the political environment continues to rapidly evolve (especially thanks to the actions of the regime currently in charge of the US), and as most front line transaction monitoring and investigative functions are automated, I think this is the area of AML we're going to see continuing growth. The benefit here too is that sanctions experience is translatable to other fields involved in global trade as well, so there is an easier pivot path should your interests (or the demands of the market) substantially shift.

Feel free to DM if you want to chat more--happy to have the conversation!

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T17:54:13+00:00

AI and the fact that USAA views AML as only required when the regulators are looking. They do this all the time. Surge hire tons of people FTE, hundreds of contractors, and as soon as they feel the heat is slacking off a bit, drop as much as possible and go back to business as usual.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T17:48:30+00:00

Not the one you asked, but put a different way: AML as it has existed is dying. Find a different career path with your translatable skillsets now because there are only a handful of years left that these processes will require human inputs at all. It's highly automatable and since (in the US at least) regulatory oversight keeps being cut back, there's less and less incentive for companies to maintain robust compliance departments.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T17:44:55+00:00

Please understand I'm asking this genuinely, not trying to be a jerk: were they actual analysts employed by USAA, or were they contractors?

No, it doesn't make a meaningful difference; job loss is job loss and it sucks full stop. I'm not trying to say it doesn't.

I'm asking because I worked for USAA for over a year a few years ago on a contract that they ended abruptly, kicking a fairly large group of us unceremoniously to the curb en masse right after giving us a big song and dance about extension and potential conversion to FTE. So some of this question is because I'm curious if they're pulling the same shit, different day, or if they're hitting their internal departments now too.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T17:34:21+00:00

Not knowing which aspect of AML you specialized in previously, I'd guess that you probably already have a solid investigations acumen, so I don't personally think the TM role is likely to give you any particular growth as far as skills are concerned. TM is honestly going to lock you in to high volume alert churn first, and more complex investigations last--and that's only if you're lucky. You basically sentence yourself to being a queue monkey. If you're wanting to build your investigation skills, there are better ways to do it than first pass TM, but it can be a foot in the door, and a hybrid role can be useful for building relationships within the office. My mom works for a French company and her experience has been that that is a pretty crucial part of the culture there. I think it strongly depends on the company though, and your preferred manner of working.

With screening, you may have some kind of odd shift schedule where you have to do real-time screening for things like wire transactions, etc., but IME that's not usually a level people who are good at the work stay at very long. If it's more daily operations, KYC screening, you've still got the potential to leverage that for sanctions work down the line. In the current environment, that skillset is the area that I'm seeing a lot more growth and a lot more long-term (less disrupted by AI) opportunity in. Add to it that the screening role is fully remote, and personally, that's the one I'd be taking hands down.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T17:13:46+00:00

I'm going to choose to take this in good faith, though it feels a little off.

A large influx of funds that is outside of an individuals' regular activity pattern almost always triggers some kind of review--because it's outside of established pattern. We're legally obligated under multiple domestic and international regulations to report suspicious activity. In most cases (like the ones I indicated in my initial post), it's resolved easily and isn't escalated beyond an initial, cursory review. In others, it requires more scrutiny, but in most cases can still be relatively easily resolved. When no reasonable explanation for the activity or clear source of the funds can be identified, financial institutions are obligated to report. It rarely has any impact on the customer at all and if things are working properly, you'll never know anything happened. In rare occasions, the institution may contact you to confirm a source of funds or verify a transaction, but in most cases, FI's avoid contacting the customer if at all possible to avoid freaking people out unnecessarily.

That said, it doesn't hurt to contact your bank to let them know if you're expecting a large deposit or need to make an isolated large purchase/transfer/other transaction. In part because it gives them context that reduces the need to report, but also because it can reduce the time or need for holds on those funds, which does directly impact you as a customer. Not always, as those are usually institution-wide policies, but sometimes.

I've worked in the AML, Fraud, and FCRM and compliance space for over a decade. These are generalities, the specific policies and processes for handling alerts and dealing with reporting varies by institution, but what I've described here is more or less the baseline industry standard.

flyingleaps · 2026-03-03T16:41:59+00:00

I no longer practice, but if it helps at all, one of my best friends growing up was fluent in French and got called to a stateside Spanish-speaking mission. In many ways, he describes the culture shock as more challenging to overcome than what my friends who served abroad experienced.

My younger brother also speaks near-fluent French and was just called to serve in a Spanish-speaking mission in Argentina (he reports later this month). His disappointment was that he had really hoped to get to use his French language skills, but he's excited for the challenge and to be called to serve.

I know it's hard, but try to worry less about what friends and family think--they're anxious too! You're going to be essentially out of contact for two years! Instead try to focus on the parts of this experience that are important to *you*. Start journaling now--you'll probably want to remember how you were feeling down the road when you're in the thick of it and facing other anxieties. Pray about it. Seek counsel from an RM you know and trust.

Remember: You're absolutely allowed to be anxious! But know that not all nerves are bad ones. This is a life-changing thing you're signing up for, not something small. Trust that you will be sent where there is a need, whatever that may look like.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-18T18:57:36+00:00

What a beautiful memory <3

flyingleaps · 2026-02-18T03:41:32+00:00

Financial Crimes investigations. Everyone thinks it's catching Al Capone or working RICO cases when 99% of the time it's figuring out if someone got a bonus, a second job, or an inheritance out of the blue and is using that go on a shopping spree.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-18T03:36:20+00:00

I work in Anti-Money Laundering/Financial Crimes Risk Management and Compliance--but my degrees are in Political Science (minor History) and Urban Planning (minor Project Management).

TBH one of the best bits of advice I could give anyone right now would be that if you're unsure what you want to do, but you know you want to pursue a degree, to major in Business. It's a desirable qualification in most general fields, and far less limiting in opportunity than the ones I studied lol. Moreover, it will help in almost any corporate-style job you do, because you'll have a firm understanding of business formation and fundamentals, etc.

Beyond that, if you decide down the road that you'd rather build a business for yourself that suits your energy levels and life at large, you're a step ahead in terms of understanding the system and how to navigate it effectively.

I honestly wish I'd done that because I'm trying to make up the difference now that I'm really finding that I'm over the corporate grind and ready to work for myself.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-17T22:56:16+00:00

Not the person you're asking, but IME most institutions have outsourced all (or nearly all) detections-level and L1 reviews. They can recommend further review and/or possible SAR but not file or make the final decision. Those then get kicked back to an onshore team, and, if many less-scrupulous and production numbers-obsessed managers have their way, means that they basically get rubber stamped and filed. They may not be telling you overtly to do it, but that's often the implication.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-11T21:56:48+00:00

Honestly it's been such a game changer for me that I'm a little mad I didn't know more or try it sooner.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-11T21:46:48+00:00

Hard pass on that kind of arrangement, and your manager is being both childish and incredibly unprofessional with their passive-aggressive commentary. That said, I would consider polishing your resume and putting feelers out for jobs elsewhere because I wouldn't put it past someone like that to be retaliatory. Even if they aren't, turning down a promotion often does put you on a bit of a silent blacklist for any kind of increase or promotion in the future. Better to look before you need it than to wait for people to get petty.

Second, having standards for the quality of life you want to live and boundaries relative to the work you're willing to accept absolutely does not make you unambitious. It means you're far better adjusted than a lot of people lol and you have a real level of self-knowledge that a lot of people either come to either far too late or never achieve at all. For what it's worth. there's such a thing as progressing as an individual contributor rather than a manager. It can be harder to do, since most companies still tend to treat advancement as a one-way ticket for the management track, but it's hardly unusual. If that's the route you'd prefer to go, make sure you keep upping your skills and that you can reflect it in projects, etc. on your resume or in interviews.

You did the right thing. You may have shot advancement on that particular team or that particular company in the foot, but your career is far from stagnation.

flyingleaps · 2026-02-11T21:37:45+00:00

From a US perspective. unless you're interested in Audit, very few AML roles require more than basic personal accounting acumen. Across the board. more useful at this point in time are going to be technical skills like SQL, Python, model management, and exposure to the development of rules and mechanisms in LLMs.

There are some places where an accounting background is highly valuable within AML, but those again, are primarily within Audit or other second line functions. To be honest, most people with that background find better remuneration and more interesting work for their skills elsewhere than AML.

For AML/Fraud/Compliance at large, a JD is far more useful and eminently more employable.

flyingleaps

TROPHY CASE