In the second of his “Hong Kong Hunter” series, our new candidate-columnist explains why he’s so desperate to find an equity research role. If you haven’t read his previous article, click here.

I was lucky enough to discover my true career calling while still at university. In my second year, I participated in my college’s student foundation, an organisation which raises funds to create scholarships through equity investments.

It was an eye-opening experience for me to discuss and analyse different business models with peers and professional investment advisors. It also gave me a sense of what the workforce would be like.

One of my peers in the foundation, who worked as a Starbucks store manager for more than two years, talked to us about the coffee chain’s revenue model and its unique selling point for business people: providing a central-city meeting place which is less expensive than a hotel.

From this I realised that understanding a business is not purely a matter of number crunching but a combination of both numeric and strategic information.

After leaving university, like many college graduates who were looking for a financial-services job, I naively applied for a full-time role without any prior or related experience.

For some unknown reason, neither an investment bank nor a Big Four accounting firm had visited my colleague to discuss recruitment, even though two department professors were awarded Nobel Prizes that year. All I knew was that I needed to get myself in the door. And this meant getting some sound experience and practical knowledge.

I therefore started to intern at a local brokerage house as an office assistant. Although this role might sound trivial to many people, I managed to learn a lot of basic but essential skills (in particular people skills) which helped me as I began my proper career in equity research.

But (as I wrote in my previous article), after doing so much to break into equity research, last year I was forced out of the sector that I love so much. I’m now working as a tax account for a Big Four firm.

You’re probably asking yourself ‘how can someone get so passionate about working in the research field?’ Well, although the job frustrated me from time to time, I enjoyed working with people with vitality of spirit and creativity. We thrived on a common goal: to generate superior returns for the company.

During my time in the funds industry, I felt a sense of pride in my research work because I thought I was doing well, not only for my employer, but also for my own reputation in the industry.

More importantly, I was given the opportunity to interact and communicate effectively with a cross-section of talented people, which I found to be the most valuable experience of my early career. I also learnt to translate difficult concepts into simple ones. I classify these as lifelong skills.

Being out of the sector isn’t easy. The only thing that’s keeping me going is that I loved what I did. And I want to rejoin the game as soon as I can!