Increase job market resilience and optimize beyond money

[LookingInward]

Hello,

I am a 25yo guy with a postgraduate degree in Finance and I work for a multinational Investment Bank in a 2nd work country. If everything goes well I guess my current company is a good place to "settle down" and grow as a worker but also as an individual. Such stability is valuable to me. However, one thing that I noticed about "work" over the past 4 years that I've done (3 different companies) it is that in many situations you are being paid to be highly proficient in the company's internal processes. This seems like a waste of my overall life time since in the long run I will be FI and I will not want to do that kind of work anymore. My current job involves a mixture of learning internal processes and understanding the financial industry. I like the later and think the first is kind of boring. So, to make it short, I like to view my current job in perspective to my overall life plan. Maybe im being to "ambitious", you tell me.

Another thing that I've learned this past year is that, although I have studied in 2 of the best universities in the country, I was still unemployed for more than 6 months and got rejected by more companies than I would have liked (I ended up in the company I wanted though). I remember that when I decided to study finance, I thought I would learn a lot of "actual work" skills. For example in a CS degree, although you might not code much, you learn the basics to learn any language in your line of work. You can apply those tools even outside of a strictly work environment. With finance I think this is not really the case (at least it wasn't in my case). I learned a lot of the industry lingo but I feel like I don't really know how to do anything practical. Because of this I thought about going back to school to study mathematical finance (much more of a practical work degree than regular finance), but for now that idea is in the "gotta think a lot about it before I move" category in my mind. What do you think I could do, career or educational wise to get ahead in terms of professional competition? For example, what are the "best" departments to work for in an Investment Bank? Should I write a Master Thesis?

Don't get me wrong, I know many people would be happy to be working for a big company and making a decent wage. I am happy, however I aspire for something more in my life than just save money and then "play" around until I die. I want to be constantly learning and I want to be able to pursue different challenges as I go through life. These challenges might involve doing interesting work or going back to school.

Thank you for reading and I hope to receive good responses from this "genius" infested forum

[Smashter]

This seems like a waste of my overall life time since in the long run I will be FI and I will not want to do that kind of work anymore.

That quote makes me think you won't be thrilled with your job whether you have a masters degree or not. That being the case, I would not go back to school. I'd study Mathematical Finance in my free time and see if there were ways to apply what I learned to my current role.

I'd bet that if you are an A+ worker who becomes self-taught in all the nuances of finance that your company will recognize and reward that. Also, you might be surprised at how often the same patterns repeat themselves. I wouldn't automatically say that what you are learning in finance won't be applicable elsewhere.

[unemployable]

Oh to be young and idealist. Or not.

Eventually you will learn the goal of being in finance is to make as much money FOR YOURSELF as possible. I mean that's everywhere but specifically in finance it will feel like everyone's getting rich except you. Or you won't learn this and be under some impression your life has some sort of higher calling, and get taken advantage of in the process. I went to a putative "top university" too; cry me a river.

Internal/operational/middle-back office jobs can pay quite well. Test the job market if you're not getting anywhere after a few years. From doing due diligence on investment managers I can say everyone has their own specific processes out there, but the game is mostly the same from place to place and no one expects anyone to come in knowing THEIR processes by heart. Hell they'd probably be suspicious if you do.

[Scott 2]

There's a meta level to those internal processes. As you grow your career, you move from learning them, to teaching them, to defining them, to teaching others to define them. It's up to you to decide where on that ladder to work.

In other words, at higher levels, the puzzle is not what to do, but how to get others to do it.

[conwy]

I've found it helpful to focus on the actions of your job. The hows. The things you act on (e.g. emails, documents, chat sessions, phonecalls, etc) may be relevant only to your current employer, but the way you perform those actions (including the techniques, habits, mental models, behaviours, repetitions, etc) can likely be lifted out of that job and applied to a completely different job, even in a different field, or even outside of work.

For example, if you're the decision point for where a piece of information/data should be forwarded to, and that involves visually scanning a list of words, you can find ways to optimise and speed up or otherwise improve how you scan lists of information, and you could apply that ability to other kinds of lists that have nothing to do with you employer.

[Lemur]

Finance here as well. I share some of your same feelings. I even branched out and started studying Python. I do not know if going back to school is going to help; perhaps, you're looking more for a creative outlet?

[sky]

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. When you are FI, you will be able to decide what you want to do.

[LookingInward]

Sorry everyone for taking a few days to answer. I try to take my time and think before I speak.

This seems like a waste of my overall life time since in the long run I will be FI and I will not want to do that kind of work anymore.

That quote makes me think you won't be thrilled with your job whether you have a masters degree or not. That being the case, I would not go back to school. I'd study Mathematical Finance in my free time and see if there were ways to apply what I learned to my current role.

I'd bet that if you are an A+ worker who becomes self-taught in all the nuances of finance that your company will recognize and reward that. Also, you might be surprised at how often the same patterns repeat themselves. I wouldn't automatically say that what you are learning in finance won't be applicable elsewhere.

I think you are correct, the Masters will not make me love my job. However, I think it will give me some more resilience in terms of the job market. I studied some of the material for Mathematical Finance on my own and to be honest I think I strive much better with a teacher. At least in the more technical details.

Also, don't get me wrong, my plan A is indeed to become an A+ worker. I am using everything I've learned over the last few years to be the best "new guy in the firm" I can be. However, I am always thinking of what I can do better and I am afraid of only riding this train and not preparing for the next situation. That is another reason why I am thinking of studying more.

Oh to be young and idealist. Or not.

Eventually you will learn the goal of being in finance is to make as much money FOR YOURSELF as possible. I mean that's everywhere but specifically in finance it will feel like everyone's getting rich except you. Or you won't learn this and be under some impression your life has some sort of higher calling, and get taken advantage of in the process. I went to a putative "top university" too; cry me a river.

Internal/operational/middle-back office jobs can pay quite well. Test the job market if you're not getting anywhere after a few years. From doing due diligence on investment managers I can say everyone has their own specific processes out there, but the game is mostly the same from place to place and no one expects anyone to come in knowing THEIR processes by heart. Hell they'd probably be suspicious if you do.

I couldn't understand if you were putting me down or just being sarcastic or something like that. I might tend to lean a little bit on the idealistic side, but I think the thoughts I've expressed aren't that though. I will be trying to make as much money as possible, but on a deeper level I know that alone won't motivate me to go the extra mile. That is why I also like to think how I can take my experience as a worker and try to use it to prepare for future endeavors. Focusing 100% on money doesn't motivate me, what can I do about it...

There's a meta level to those internal processes. As you grow your career, you move from learning them, to teaching them, to defining them, to teaching others to define them. It's up to you to decide where on that ladder to work.

In other words, at higher levels, the puzzle is not what to do, but how to get others to do it.

I've previously worked in IT consultancy and I did experience some of the evolution you mentioned. At the end of my 3rd year in that area I was now teaching the newcomers how to do things. On one hand, I can see the meta level you do talk about, and I am currently applying some of that work experience in my new job. However, when it comes to the actual content of my previous work, I feel like it mostly went to waste. It was only useful for that specific application.

I've found it helpful to focus on the actions of your job. The hows. The things you act on (e.g. emails, documents, chat sessions, phonecalls, etc) may be relevant only to your current employer, but the way you perform those actions (including the techniques, habits, mental models, behaviours, repetitions, etc) can likely be lifted out of that job and applied to a completely different job, even in a different field, or even outside of work.

For example, if you're the decision point for where a piece of information/data should be forwarded to, and that involves visually scanning a list of words, you can find ways to optimise and speed up or otherwise improve how you scan lists of information, and you could apply that ability to other kinds of lists that have nothing to do with you employer.

I think I am quite good in focusing on the actions you mentioned. As I've said before on my response to @Scott 2, I am applying to the best of my abilities the knowledge I've been acquiring in these last few years.

Finance here as well. I share some of your same feelings. I even branched out and started studying Python. I do not know if going back to school is going to help; perhaps, you're looking more for a creative outlet?

Funny you mention Python. In the time I was unemployed I also started to study it. But now that I am working full time again, I just don't have that same mental availability. Maybe I should start doing at least a little bit on the weekends? I'm thinking about it but still haven't taken the plunge. I feel like I am still settling at my new life and don't feel like taking on additional "homework".

Tell me a bit more about your experience in Finance please. I like to read the perspective of others.

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. When you are FI, you will be able to decide what you want to do.

You see, I fear that focusing too much on FI will detract from my overall life achievements. In the months I was unemployed I experienced for the first time not having to do anything to maintain my life. It was a learning experience and I realized I like some external structure that allows me to focus on doing good work. I didn't like just staying at home and doing my own projects. It felt too isolating. Going out for drinks and a light chat also didn't do it for me. I yearn to have a group project that I can contribute to. In a way that is also what I'm trying to extract of my job. I do like to remind myself of that, even though a job feels a bit too time demanding and rigid.

I feel like in the past I focused too much on the future and now I am trying to use the present to actually feel satisfied instead of always waiting for that magical time in the future where everything will be better. It might sound cliche but another reason I would like to extract more from a job is to live more in/for the present.

[Farm_or]

I think you have the right attitude. One of the sins of wages is thinking like an employee, but in order to grow, you have to apply the discipline to self sacrifice for your employer, for awhile.

Being out of balance for awhile is necessary for a balance long term. As you constantly improve at your current position, your worth will grow outside. Once in awhile, you have to lift your nose off the grindstone and look around. Certainly not every day, but there will be better opportunity to make a move eventually and continue growing.

You are creating a brand that is as marketable as possible. See your every day efforts from the perspective of your next potential.