You spent every Uni summer doing internships, you networked like mad, you did loads of research on the finance industry, you planned your entire career from day one to retirement (at 45, in the Bahamas), you studied hard for your degree… and you still didn’t get offered a job at GS.
Well guess what – you are in the majority. Rather than thinking that your life is over before it has begun, you need to decide what happens next. Indeed, if you are reading this before the calamitous event, I would suggest that you should already have a plan B (and C).
I have to confess, I am always a bit unconvinced by people who map out their career in too much detail, particularly when all it involves a list of high-profile roles at top-tier institutions. I admire ambition, and self-confidence is a must in this industry, but these plans often look too “cookie-cutter” perfect and seem to have more to do with boasting rights than they do with a genuine evaluation of an individual’s personal strengths, weaknesses and objectives.
Potential employers can sense this also, so, before you apply for those top-tier jobs, it is important to do a thorough (and honest) evaluation of you motives – if you can’t convince yourself, you are unlikely to convince an interviewer. This process should start with in depth research of what the job actually entails and a sincere evaluation of whether or not this is something that you will really enjoy (if it isn’t, it will make you miserable and you probably won’t do it well, which will end up with you being just another attrition-rate statistic).
By “really entails”, I don’t mean just the good bits – for example, are you really happy to spend all hours in the office, missing important family events, just because you are waiting for someone at another bank to send you some data? Remember, long hours may seem glamorous, but they are often grindingly boring and can have a major effect on your personal life.
How can you go about finding these things out? Apart, of course, from scouring this site, try and talk to people in the business, preferably young recruits who are still going through the process, and preferably not those who have been offered up by their employer to provide this service. If you can find people who have recently left a role, that is even better as you are more likely to get an honest evaluation, if not, read between the lines (most employees are reluctant to say negative things about their employer and don’t want to look as though they are anything other than a great success in their job).
You also need to be honest with yourself – there is genuinely no benefit in kidding yourself on these issues. If, once you have done this you still decide that the job is for you, well done – you will be able to make a strong case to your interviewer who should be impressed by your self-knowledge and your evidence-based conviction.
As for that plan B (and C), remember that there are many ways to have a successful, enjoyable and rewarding career in finance. This doesn’t mean settling for second-best, it means finding what is right for you. There are plenty of good articles on this site which go into depth on what individual roles entail, but, once again, they will not be of much help to you unless you are honest about what makes you tick. Do you, for example, enjoy digging into businesses to find out how they work and building spreadsheets to model financial outcomes? If so, maybe you should be looking at research analyst jobs. Are you gregarious and good at convincing people in a discussion? If yes, you should maybe consider sales roles. These examples are a little simplistic and there are many other factors to consider, but they illustrate the line of thinking that you should be taking.
Also, if you fail to land the job you were hoping for, remember that there may be other routes to achieving what you want such as – for example – joining another department in a firm. Once you are in, you will have the opportunity to network internally and work towards what you really want. A word of caution on this strategy though – do your research to establish if such moves are really viable (can you find people who have already done this?). If you get it wrong you could find yourself pigeon-holed in a role that doesn’t provide the career progression you are looking for. An example of this might be joining a firms’ middle or back office with a view to moving to the front office – you need to know what your chances are of succeeding and acknowledge that you could end up on a different career path.
Another approach to taking an indirect route to the career path you aspire to might be to join a smaller or lesser-known firm but in the role you are aiming for. While this might not come with the same bragging rights as working for a top-tier organisation, it has the added advantage that, if things go well, your career progression could be a lot faster. You may also discover that it is a lot more fun – for example, management hierarchies tend to be much flatter in smaller organisations, so access to – and the opportunity to work with – the “C-suite” is much easier.
In conclusion, my recommendations boil down to research, research, research, be honest with yourself, think laterally and don’t despair if things don’t go to plan. By the time you get to retirement, is unlikely that the career you had will bear any resemblance to the one you mapped out. What matters is that it provides you with what you require.
Well guess what – you are in the majority. Rather than thinking that your life is over before it has begun, you need to decide what happens next. Indeed, if you are reading this before the calamitous event, I would suggest that you should already have a plan B (and C).
I have to confess, I am always a bit unconvinced by people who map out their career in too much detail, particularly when all it involves a list of high-profile roles at top-tier institutions. I admire ambition, and self-confidence is a must in this industry, but these plans often look too “cookie-cutter” perfect and seem to have more to do with boasting rights than they do with a genuine evaluation of an individual’s personal strengths, weaknesses and objectives.
Potential employers can sense this also, so, before you apply for those top-tier jobs, it is important to do a thorough (and honest) evaluation of you motives – if you can’t convince yourself, you are unlikely to convince an interviewer. This process should start with in depth research of what the job actually entails and a sincere evaluation of whether or not this is something that you will really enjoy (if it isn’t, it will make you miserable and you probably won’t do it well, which will end up with you being just another attrition-rate statistic).
By “really entails”, I don’t mean just the good bits – for example, are you really happy to spend all hours in the office, missing important family events, just because you are waiting for someone at another bank to send you some data? Remember, long hours may seem glamorous, but they are often grindingly boring and can have a major effect on your personal life.
How can you go about finding these things out? Apart, of course, from scouring this site, try and talk to people in the business, preferably young recruits who are still going through the process, and preferably not those who have been offered up by their employer to provide this service. If you can find people who have recently left a role, that is even better as you are more likely to get an honest evaluation, if not, read between the lines (most employees are reluctant to say negative things about their employer and don’t want to look as though they are anything other than a great success in their job).
You also need to be honest with yourself – there is genuinely no benefit in kidding yourself on these issues. If, once you have done this you still decide that the job is for you, well done – you will be able to make a strong case to your interviewer who should be impressed by your self-knowledge and your evidence-based conviction.
As for that plan B (and C), remember that there are many ways to have a successful, enjoyable and rewarding career in finance. This doesn’t mean settling for second-best, it means finding what is right for you. There are plenty of good articles on this site which go into depth on what individual roles entail, but, once again, they will not be of much help to you unless you are honest about what makes you tick. Do you, for example, enjoy digging into businesses to find out how they work and building spreadsheets to model financial outcomes? If so, maybe you should be looking at research analyst jobs. Are you gregarious and good at convincing people in a discussion? If yes, you should maybe consider sales roles. These examples are a little simplistic and there are many other factors to consider, but they illustrate the line of thinking that you should be taking.
Also, if you fail to land the job you were hoping for, remember that there may be other routes to achieving what you want such as – for example – joining another department in a firm. Once you are in, you will have the opportunity to network internally and work towards what you really want. A word of caution on this strategy though – do your research to establish if such moves are really viable (can you find people who have already done this?). If you get it wrong you could find yourself pigeon-holed in a role that doesn’t provide the career progression you are looking for. An example of this might be joining a firms’ middle or back office with a view to moving to the front office – you need to know what your chances are of succeeding and acknowledge that you could end up on a different career path.
Another approach to taking an indirect route to the career path you aspire to might be to join a smaller or lesser-known firm but in the role you are aiming for. While this might not come with the same bragging rights as working for a top-tier organisation, it has the added advantage that, if things go well, your career progression could be a lot faster. You may also discover that it is a lot more fun – for example, management hierarchies tend to be much flatter in smaller organisations, so access to – and the opportunity to work with – the “C-suite” is much easier.
In conclusion, my recommendations boil down to research, research, research, be honest with yourself, think laterally and don’t despair if things don’t go to plan. By the time you get to retirement, is unlikely that the career you had will bear any resemblance to the one you mapped out. What matters is that it provides you with what you require.