The Future of Finance Jobs
In the not so long-gone past, many career advisers were advising young people seeking to start out a career to go into finance. The financial markets were doing well then, finance jobs were in plenty and MBA schools were bursting with young students seeking to build a career in finance. And the finance jobs were, of course, not limited to the financial markets. With a strong economy, finance graduates who couldn’t get jobs in the financial markets and investment banks could quite easily be absorbed into commerce and industry accounting jobs. Other would get middle office finance jobs in the public service, and going was good.
Then the bubble burst.
The economy went into recession mode, the financial markets shrunk and finance graduates who had taken up jobs with investment banks found themselves facing the axe, as the investment banks are the worst affected by turmoil in the financial markets. And as if on cue, companies, in a bid to cut costs, were also cutting on their head counts, thus also shaking the fortunes of the finance graduates who found commerce and industry accounting jobs in the private sector. In the midst of all this, it seems that the only secure finance graduates are those who took up middle office finance jobs in the public sector, but even this is not fear-proof for we do not know for sure what the full effects of the economic turmoil will be on civil service staffing.
So in the face of all this, what is the future of finance jobs?
It might seem counter-intuitive to say, but the future of finance jobs is still bright, in spite of the current turmoil in the financial markets. As it were, economists tell us that the current economic turmoil is largely short-term to medium term, which is to say that it won’t be with us forever. Which means that the people who chose to pursue a career in finance need not regret their choice, as better times are coming. But even before the better times arrive, the people with finance backgrounds who are currently getting laid off might not find themselves in the cold for too long.
As governments unveil the various economic stimulus plans, there will be need for people to manage the money as it goes into various sectors – which translates to some finance jobs. Of course the finance jobs created in this way will be for the best brains in finance.
And then there is the fact that all companies, like human beings, have a native survival instinct, which they are likely to find handy in these hard economic times. One survival strategies for companies in crises is to hire the experts who are likely to navigate them through the particular crises. And since the current crisis is financial, the companies are likely to find themselves hiring financial experts to help them address the economic crisis. Of course, the companies are not likely to be overtly looking for finance experts to help them address the financial crises. What we are likely to see is an increase in commerce and industry accounting jobs, but the accountants so hired are bound to be almost exclusively tasked with cost and revenue management tasks, geared towards helping their employers sail through the turbulent times successfully.
And finally the good times will surely come back again. If the history of the financial markets is anything to go by, we know that all bursts are always followed by booms.
Finance Job Interview Tips – Financial Careers Advice
The best bit of advice you can offer anyone going for a finance job interview is to be prepared. The time you put into preparation will have a direct relationship with how well you perform in the interview and how likely you are to get the job.
Firstly, find out as much about the company as you can in advance. The more you know about the potential employer the better. You can never know too much and it will help in two ways. You will show you are an observant individual with an outwardly looking understanding of the industry and the knowledge you have learnt will show you know what you are talking about. Secondly it will also show that you have researched the company. This time commitment of the research also shows how keen you are on the position. Any recruiter is always going to appreciate pro-active candidates who show that they are keen to get the job.
Think in advance what questions they are likely to ask. Many financial job interviews follow a similar pattern, so think ahead about what they might ask. Draw up a mind map using both you CV and the job advertisement to decide topics. You won’t need scripted answers but the more time you have to think about answers the more likely you answer is to be what they are looking for. A few bullet points will give you a head start over the other less well prepared candidates.
Visualise your success. You can never underestimate the power of positive thinking. The worst that can come out of a financial job interview is you don’t get the job. You didn’t have a job when you entered the room so it shouldn’t be the end of the world if you leave the room without it. Understanding this and assuming you will do well can work wonders.
It is impossible to avoid tough questions; though as many financial job interviews are similar there are plenty of things you can bear in mind to avoid any unnecessary heart ache. It’s usually safe to assume the interviewers might adopt a “good cop/bad cop” dynamic even if it isn’t deliberate. By expecting this you can learn to respond to questions in they way the interviewer will expect and show how capable you are of dealing with difficult people.
If you aren’t sure how to answer a tough question, ask a follow up question. It will show a keen-ness to answer the question but buy you a little more thinking time. If you still don’t know the answers they want to hear don’t be afraid to admit it. It can look much worse if you answer incorrectly than admitting you don’t know.
If you are facing a tough round of questioning in your job interview it’s easy to ramble and forget to actually answer the question. So be careful not to lose your thread. If they notice you aren’t actually answering their questions they will think you are at best evasive and at worse out of your depth.
There is plenty to be gained from asking good questions in job interviews, it will show you are interested in the role and show you are curious to learn more. One good question to ask is about what they think the best and worse aspects to the job role. Asking questions like this enable you to gain a better understanding of the role.
Another good and unusual question to ask is about the company’s work culture. It shows you have an understanding of the work environment you feel most comfortable in. Similarly it shows a desire to understand more about the company beyond the jobs description.
Finance Jobs – How to Succeed in Finance
Finance jobs are very appealing to a lot of people because of the flexible work hours, the chance to work from anywhere you are as well as the chance to have a long harem of clients. But if you are a tiny fish in a big pond then succeeding can be a difficult thing. Because of this, you will have to know the tricks of the trade. Where will you find those, you ask? Well, you’re in luck; here we let you in on a few secrets to succeeding in the world of finance.
Conduct a Thorough Research
Start with figuring out who it is that you want to work for. You can start your career in finance either from a brokerage firm or you can start with a bank or a financial advising firm or you can even start as in independent person. You can go ahead and interview with a lot of places before you actually find out which is going to suite you the best.
Think in Sense of Long Term Prospects
If you think about the future then this is going to be the only way you will be able to get ahead. But you also have to keep one thing is mind, you are not going to start off as a millionaire, you will slowly have to work your way up to the top and it is going to take some time before you start earning in big digits. You also have to keep in mind the type of firm you want to go for according to what you want to earn in the end.
Let us take the example of the traditional firm; you will get a salary along with a performance bonus as well as a commission. Then again if you go for an approach which is independent then you are going to have commission payout which are a lot higher but then you won’t really have a salary.
Find a Good Mentor or Any Mentor
If you can find a mentor then you will have the opportunity to learn from a person who’s have a good finance career for a long time and who will be able to help you every step of the way. You will find that some firms will give you mentors and they will put you through vast training processes, there are also firms available who have mentor programs which aren’t very structured. If this is your case then you can simply call a financial planning association which usually has mentor programs of which you can be a part.
Build Yourself a Work Model
You need to ask yourself about the things which you need to do everyday in order to get a good client base and also to get your business on its feet. You may have to make phone calls or contact people, then you have follow up processes with your clients. So in order to get everything done routinely you need to make a routine so that you can work effectively.