I’ll ask a question I know a few others would like to know:
Given your age, where “should” you be on your career, in whatever branch of CFA nerdom you end up in.
I’ve got images of 20 somethings out east filling bathtubs with cash and dom peringnon. Not that I would want that. I’m more of a beer guy. Anyway think goldman sachs elevator qoutes.
A realistic benchmark would be helpful.
So, “where” are you?
Due to diversity and developments in the industry, that question is not easy to answer, imo. The career path is not as straightforward as it was some years ago.
I hope I´ll finish the exams this summer, the Charter award dinner in Germany is one day before my 40th birthday! I feel settled in my job now. I didn´t go to university but did an apprenticeship in a small bank. Then I was stock broker at german exchange, financial adviser, then trader for equities, FI and FX. Last year I joined our AM team as portfolio manager, mainly responsible for stocks. I feel comfortable with that, but I don´t expect to retire from that job, because there are so many different developments…
(And I prefer beer over anything else, too)
I think I am where I should be (mid twenties, finance at large bank, decent salary), but I’m already bored. So I’m starting to focus on where I want to be.
And yes, beer.
I’m here, and I’m pretty content with my progress. I’d like to start managing some people at some point, but I may need to switch companies to do so. I feel that it’s difficult to go from the bottom of the ladder to managing people within an organization… people still look at you like you’re some junior (doesn’t help that I look much younger than I am).
Specifically for your benchmark, I’m late 20’s and I’m in a senior specialist (subject matter expert) sort of role.
Way behind here, switched into finance in late 20s and only have a year of experience. Just learning as many skills as I can and try to close the salary gap on the more experienced people over the next 10 years.
At age 1 you should have at least one successful parent in the industry or at least a major figure in politics. Otherwise you’re going to spend the rest of your life catching up.
Careers in this industry are very non-linear and can change quickly. I also think it depends on the overall economy – you can’t really compare your progress post-2009 with someone who started in the business in 1995, etc.
Don’t worry about it, just work hard and make smart moves, the rest will take care of itself.
I feel I’m behind because I didn’t even figure out I wanted to work in the industry until my senior year of college, where I was a Marketing major. I’m almost 28 now and have worked steadily in the industry since graduating, but I’m nowhere near my own personal standard (currently the Research Compliance Officer for a B/D). It also doesn’t help that most of my friends are in their low to mid 30s and further ahead in their careers.
My primary motivation for starting the CFA program is to hopefully make myself more marketable so I can catch up to where I want to be. I figure if I can be 30-32 with the CFA and CMT, I’ll at least have something to work with.
+1 I am astounded by the opportunities people had pre/post 2009. Almost grounds for a revolution.
No offence Bremen 74 but OMFG
You don’t have to be particularly brilliant to be a stock broker. In many locations, you just have to be good at sales and smart enough not to do anything technically illegal (or smart enough not to get caught). Admittedly, not all brokers are salesmen, but often salesmen are sold as brokers. From a broker position, it often is possible to build or network your way up into other stuff, particularly if you are a good rainmaker and friendly.
Don’t worry about being behind. You are behind relative to some people, and ahead of others, but it doesn’t really matter. Life circumstances vary widely and it’s really difficult to make apples / apples comparisons. It took me a long time to embrace that but I am sure it is true if you can wrap your mind around it.
Two things:
People that are “ahead” probably made huge sacrifices that you didn’t make. You did something else. You may regret that choice, but you may also have regretted making big sacrifices. Hindsight is 20 / 20.
If you are 28 and plan to meet the average retirement age of 65, that is 37 years from now, or ~130% of your life to date, including the time you were crawling around shitting your diapers. Of course we all want to retire before 65 but let’s try to keep things in perspective here.
Part of getting ahead in life is being smart enough to figure out the industries that will be in high demand in the future. Finance is contracting. Be flexible and open.
What´s wrong with that??
I think he meant in an appreciative way. You’ve made it without university degree. Kudos.
Great perspective. Most of the people, I’ve met in finance, have a habit of looking down on others (even if someone is a successful investor, they will remind others of his f*cked life personal life or sth). They do nothing but spread negativity around.
Don’t compare yourseft to others all that much. You’ll only feel bad when you see someone younger and more affluent.
Just work hard, do your best, stay positive, and things will work out.
I meant it in an envious way. Which you could construe as appreciative. Yes Bremen, well done. Your experience is envy worthy.
CFAvsMBA et al…you are right. Comparisons are a fruitless exercise in frustration. But they are also inevitable. So feel free to tell me about your first 5 years as a CFA level 3 coffee machine.
ninja_economist know what you mean re: assholes looking down in finance. I sat through apresentation with John Rogers - CFAI CEO -who drove home the point that we need fewer ego driven A-types in our industry. (Read: we need fewer assholes).
So looking down is not something I intend to do. At least not while other people are watching.
I know that there’s always going to be some hot shot that’s more successful than me, so I really try not to compare myself to others. However, I have my own standard for myself and where I think I should be at a given age. So if I feel like I’m not up to that standard (as I do now), I consider myself a failure.
I forgot the name, but a while ago I’ve read about this chinese multibillionaire. He is 60-something years old, net worth about 9B, and he was basically poor at 42.
Don’t worry about the past, especially because you can’t change it. Focus on the future and you may be able to do the most impressive things.
edit: Thanks, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong_Qinghou (and 11.6B actually)
