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Those with finance-focused jobs/careers, a question
Posted on 5/23/13 at 2:57 pm
Posted on 5/23/13 at 2:57 pm
What are the different types of roles you've had, and what were the pros & cons of them? What made them enjoyable? For the shitty experiences, what made them unenjoyable?
I mean with respect to happiness, and how they matched up to your personality and interests.
I'm in finance, and I'm just trying to figure out what path I want to pursue. Still early in my career.
Prompting this question is the fact that in FP&A I'm constantly dealing with bullshite from the business line I support. I see it as a good position to cut your teeth on in corporate finance, but not something I want to do much longer than I have to.
Pros:
Exposure/opportunity to learn about corporate accounting without being an accountant
Allows you to learn the business
Good "all around" finance experience early in career
Cons:
Monthly/annual cycles (close/forecast/budget)
bullshite/bitching from people with budgets you track & support (some people are a charm, but 1 or 2 dumbasses can drag you down and make you miserable)
Bearer of bad news when there are expense contractions
Just wondering how I can take the experience I gain into a more enjoyable direction.
I mean with respect to happiness, and how they matched up to your personality and interests.
I'm in finance, and I'm just trying to figure out what path I want to pursue. Still early in my career.
Prompting this question is the fact that in FP&A I'm constantly dealing with bullshite from the business line I support. I see it as a good position to cut your teeth on in corporate finance, but not something I want to do much longer than I have to.
Pros:
Exposure/opportunity to learn about corporate accounting without being an accountant
Allows you to learn the business
Good "all around" finance experience early in career
Cons:
Monthly/annual cycles (close/forecast/budget)
bullshite/bitching from people with budgets you track & support (some people are a charm, but 1 or 2 dumbasses can drag you down and make you miserable)
Bearer of bad news when there are expense contractions
Just wondering how I can take the experience I gain into a more enjoyable direction.
This post was edited on 5/23/13 at 3:05 pm
2
Posted on 5/23/13 at 3:27 pm to Swoopin
Asset Management.
Pros: Collection of some of the best minds in the world (due to pay), dynamic structure, ridiculous amounts of information to scan through, a true portrait of human psychology, context into what is actually going on in the world, very generous pay, excessive amounts of capital that are actually for normal people at the end of the day.
Cons: Collection of some of the biggest egos in the world (due to pay), political hierarchy, cut throat mentality (a true portrait of human psychology), context into whats actually going on in the world, the ire of many people.
At the end of the day it has to do with your personality. If you enjoy pressure, calculate numbers very fast, and can see things at a higher level I'd go asset management, trading, portfolio management. If you like knowing something inside and out and pitching deals, I'd go investment banking. If you really enjoy helping people, I'd go financial advisor or consultant. If you enjoy data, I'd go analytics.
If you want to go to the only portion of finance that is actually growing, I'd go compliance.
Just remember to do whatever you enjoy doing, not what pays the most. If you go that route you will not be happy.
Pros: Collection of some of the best minds in the world (due to pay), dynamic structure, ridiculous amounts of information to scan through, a true portrait of human psychology, context into what is actually going on in the world, very generous pay, excessive amounts of capital that are actually for normal people at the end of the day.
Cons: Collection of some of the biggest egos in the world (due to pay), political hierarchy, cut throat mentality (a true portrait of human psychology), context into whats actually going on in the world, the ire of many people.
At the end of the day it has to do with your personality. If you enjoy pressure, calculate numbers very fast, and can see things at a higher level I'd go asset management, trading, portfolio management. If you like knowing something inside and out and pitching deals, I'd go investment banking. If you really enjoy helping people, I'd go financial advisor or consultant. If you enjoy data, I'd go analytics.
If you want to go to the only portion of finance that is actually growing, I'd go compliance.
Just remember to do whatever you enjoy doing, not what pays the most. If you go that route you will not be happy.
Posted on 5/23/13 at 5:29 pm to BennyAndTheInkJets
I consider myself a people-person through and through. I guess what I'm learning is that that quality doesn't extend to dealing with people who only see hearing from you as bad news. That's inherent when you're dealing with FP&A, I'm starting to think. Can't spend this, can't spend that. Can't budget this, can't budget that. etc.
I guess I'm looking for upsides in the experience I'm gathering in such a way that it can transform into doing something of a different nature.
I guess I'm looking for upsides in the experience I'm gathering in such a way that it can transform into doing something of a different nature.
Posted on 5/24/13 at 8:37 am to BennyAndTheInkJets
quote:
If you want to go to the only portion of finance that is actually growing, I'd go compliance.
frick
frick compliance.
Posted on 5/24/13 at 9:12 am to Broke
Haha I'm in compliance. There are various areas in this field. From my experience: I don't work long hours. I usually clock out at less than 40 hrs a week. However, you don't start getting paid well until you are manager. Even then, you will not get nice bonuses because you are not generating revenue for your institution. Am I happy? I guess. But I wouldnt mind getting some experience in the asset management or IB fields. It is hard to come by though.
Posted on 5/24/13 at 9:27 am to Swoopin
Trading (commodities, equities maybe even bonds), PE, IB or Consulting is really where you want to be. Those areas are probably the most exciting areas of finance. Obviously, opinions will vary on this.
I'm sure some of the MT finance guys will have good ideas for you as well.
Good luck
eta: I'm in energy (power, nat gas and oil) trading and I love it.
I'm sure some of the MT finance guys will have good ideas for you as well.
Good luck
eta: I'm in energy (power, nat gas and oil) trading and I love it.
This post was edited on 5/24/13 at 9:33 am
Posted on 5/24/13 at 9:30 am to AUtigerNOLA
I'm a BA in FP&A at a midsize company. Liking it so far - seems to be a good blend between tech, finance, and project management.
Right now I'm designing automated report packages, dashboards, budget models, process improvement ect using various software reporting/consolidations tools off a data warehouse. I work closely with our DBA so am also getting exposed to SQL server management.
I would kill myself if I was one of the people in my dept who only compile books of finanials however as that shite is for the birds. Also being tied at the hip to the monthly/quarterly deliverable cycle would suck.
I could see myself eventually becoming a conulstant down the road or moving into management at a larger company.
Right now I'm designing automated report packages, dashboards, budget models, process improvement ect using various software reporting/consolidations tools off a data warehouse. I work closely with our DBA so am also getting exposed to SQL server management.
I would kill myself if I was one of the people in my dept who only compile books of finanials however as that shite is for the birds. Also being tied at the hip to the monthly/quarterly deliverable cycle would suck.
I could see myself eventually becoming a conulstant down the road or moving into management at a larger company.
This post was edited on 5/24/13 at 9:33 am
Posted on 5/24/13 at 9:31 am to gamatt53
quote:
I would kill myself if I was one of the people in my dept who only compile books of finanials however as that shite is for the birds. Also being tied at the hip to the monthly/quarterly deliverable cycle could suck.
+1
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