As a PhD in Financial Management & Analytics, I am the Head of the Research Department at a top Investment Bank in Mumbai, India. I am also currently on a course for the MBA program at the University of Mumbai.
Although I have been at my current job for around five months now, I still feel very much like a student – I am still learning and trying to figure out what I do. That being said, I have been on a course that’s very interesting and fun and I have been given a lot of opportunities to be creative.
I have been given the opportunity to spend more time doing research. I can be very creative and think of ways to make things better. My biggest problem now is that I have to find a job. At my current job I am a finance consultant and I have to go on sabbatical to take care of a family. I am still learning and trying to figure out what I do, but I need to find a job.
The finance department of a large firm is the lowest-paid (and the easiest to fire) in a hierarchy of management positions, so it makes sense that any financial consultant would look for a job in a lower-paying position. You’ll no doubt know someone who has a similar background, so if you’re looking to land a job, be sure to check references, see what companies you can talk to, and ask around on the job search forums.
This is an incredibly common problem. But for some reason, a lot of people don’t even know why they’re not getting a “contract” the first time they attempt to take on a “financial advisor.” The majority of people who take on financial advisors are just going with the advice of “it’s not my area of expertise.
This common problem is the result of one of the most common mistakes I see (and sometimes even worse) I have seen in my own career. For whatever reason, people who have had a great career so far and are still looking to expand it into something else keep getting stuck in the same old rut. They get the usual list of things that they should do and they just can’t bring themselves to do it.
I’m not just talking about people who were successful in their finance career, but also the people who are still looking to expand their finance career or people who are just plain old bored with the financial industry. For some, it might be that they just don’t feel any passion for what they’re doing or that they’re simply not very good at it.
I get this a lot. This is one of the biggest reasons why I’ve always felt that I had a hard time making friends with other financial experts. It’s also why I don’t believe in any form of credentialism (the idea that credentials make you a better person or expert). I never really care for the prestige of being a finance expert, so I never look for great job offers, and I certainly don’t need a degree to get anything.
I know this all sounds like a lot of hot air, but the fact is that there are tons of finance experts that I know who are great people and have a ton of experience. The problem with the general idea of credentialism is that it ignores the fact that just because something is important to you, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Most people are not just experts, but experts in a particular field or discipline, or even a particular specialty. They have a wide range of skills and knowledge that they can put to use in their careers, and there is value in that. If you are an expert in a certain field, or in a particular specialty, or even in finance, then you are valuable. If you have expertise in finance, then you are valuable.
