On Finding A Job In Finance

Photo Credit: Chris-Håvard Berge

I was approached by a younger friend for advice. This is my response to his questions below:

Thank you for agreeing to do this for me. I would love to have an actual conversation with you but unfortunately, I think that between all of the classes, exams, and group project meetings I have this week it would prove to be too much of a hassle for both of us to try to set up a time.

1. What professional and soft skills do you need to be successful in this career and why?
2. What advice would you give to someone considering working in this field?
3. What are some values/ethics that have been important to you throughout your career?
4. I understand that you currently run a solo operation, but are there any leadership skills you have needed previously in your career? Any examples?
5. What made you decide to make the switch to running your own business?

Thanks again,

ZZZ

What professional and soft skills do you need to be successful in this career and why?

I’ve written at least two articles on this:

How Do I Find a Job in Finance?

How Do I Find a Job in Finance? (Part 2)

Let me answer the question more directly. You need to understand the basics of how businesses operate. How do they make money? How do they control risk?

Now, the academics will show you their models, and you should know those models. What is more important is understanding the weaknesses of those models because they may weakly explain how stocks in aggregate are priced, but they are little good at understanding how corporations operate. The real world is not as ideal as the academic economists posit.

It is useful to read broadly. It is useful to dig into a variety of financial reports from smaller firms. Why smaller firms? They are simpler to understand, and there is more variation in how they do.  Learn to read through the main financial statements well. Understand how the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement interact. Look at the footnotes and try to understand what they mean. Pick an industry and compare all of the companies.  I did that with trucking in 1994 and learned a boatload. This aids in picking up practical accounting knowledge, which is more powerful when you can compare across industries.