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GUEST COMMENT: The first 48 hours of redundancy are critical
Have you ever had a sporting injury? If so, you’ll know that taking some key actions in the first 48 hours plays a key part in minimizing damage and speeding your recovery. Whether you’ve strained a muscle, damaged some ligaments or incurred something more serious, it will help if you rest, apply ice or compression, [...]
ELI LEDERMAN: The end of rewarding careers in finance? Not so fast
For a generation now, jobs in finance have topped the wish lists of young people at universities around the world. When word spread that financial firms would visit campus on recruiting missions, eager applicants jostled to secure coveted interview slots. Perceived as wealth-creation machines that stamped tickets to some lavish lifestyle, the global investment banks, [...]
GUEST COMMENT: The best bond traders don’t always accept what they’re given
Bond traders are overwhelmed with data, as anyone having access to a Bloomberg terminal knows. The challenge is to identify the numbers that are useful to make a buy, hold, or sell decision. I define information to be the subset of data that has utility in decision-making. The task then is to distinguish between what [...]
GUEST COMMENT: The only way to succeed in finance is by playing nasty office politics
If there is ever an important piece of advice that university lecturers and textbooks fail to impart to students entering the workforce, it is the fundamentals of office politics. It’s the, “who you know, not what you know,” ticket that guarantees movement up the corporate ladder. I’ve watched in amusement as co-workers, managers, and MDs [...]
GUEST COMMENT: Every 10 enquiries are 1 meeting; every 1,000 contacts are 1 job offer
It’s 11am and I have already received three rejection emails. I want to crawl back in bed. But I go for a cup of coffee instead to provide some comfort. Coffee is safer than a cookie. Sleeping in this morning would only waste a few valuable hours in which I can get hold of people [...]
GUEST COMMENT: Read this very carefully before deciding to work for a Chinese bank
Having worked in Chinese companies in Hong Kong for four years, I have faced some situations that made me ask: “What’s wrong with this firm?”. For those of you who want to join a Chinese bank, please ask yourself: “Are you ready for the Chinese working culture?” Here are some examples, so you can see [...]
GUEST COMMENT: I am channelling Ayn Rand to help determine my career path
The Russian-American novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand argues that all of us have a philosophy of life. Likewise, when it comes to investing, I think it’s really good to know what you believe and how you know it to be true. Successful investing requires a unique blend of attributes and ideas. A humble spirit, for [...]
GUEST COMMENT: I left banking because it was like working on a high end supermarket checkout; now am I am unsure what to do
“C.B.R EMERGENCY RATE HIKE 300BPS.” The big red letters flashed over my Reuters screen as I pondered the consequences for my book. Wasn’t I long in both the 1mth and 3mth buckets? A quick check of my risk confirmed that not only was I long the 1mth and 3mth buckets, but that I was long [...]
GUEST COMMENT: Your first year in M&A will be filled with aborted deals
If you’re starting out in M&A, you’re probably excited about all the deals you’ll be working on. Everyone wants deals. Everyone needs deals: you need deal experience for your buy-side interviews and for your CV. The only problem? You’re not going to get any (deal experience). What people don’t tell you is that most M&A [...]
GUEST COMMENT: 19 steps to suffocating your career
1. Get caught up in your own world and busy life. 2. Don’t bother keeping in touch with your network of friends, ex-colleagues, ex-clients and contacts. 3. Get made redundant or learn your job is under threat. 4. Get back in contact with your network because you’ve heard the mantra: “Networking is best way to [...]
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