I started a new job a few months ago which is a lot more finance oriented than my previous one. Only issue is, I do not like what I do (corp fin) and have no interest in pursuing a career in this field anymore. I am wondering whether this is due to the hours/unpredictability of the hours and whether i’d be happier in AM. My gut feeling tells me I will not, especially since I find the CFA L3 material to be the dullest and most mindnumbing thing I have ever laid my eyes upon and managing other people’s money sounds painfully boring to me.
Anyone else been through the same type of existential crisis before? How did you manage it? Is this a normal/temporary feeling? My plan is to stick it out for another year, while trying to find something else I do enjoy doing. I am also considering dropping the CFA altogether (but having mixed feelings about this… especially after passing first two levels swiftly).
My experience is that many things in life aren’t what you thought they would be before you did them. Life is all about finding the little distractions and tiny bits of happiness between the cracks; otherwise if you are looking for a sustained, Pollyanna equilibrium condition in your overall life you may be sorely disappointed.
If finance is not your calling, you might be in the wrong online forum.
Managing other people’s money is not boring. If things go well, you could be making bank. If things go badly, you can destroy people’s lives. Every day, you can be fielding calls from people who think you just made a stupid mistake that is going to put them in the poorhouse, or alternately, that you missed stock X which could have made millions if you had just bought it last Tuesday. Now, all that might be stressful, but it sure isn’t boring. There’s new s#!t to deal with every day.
Corpfin is supposedly less action packed than asset management, but it does tend to be more stable and there are more positions in it. But it may be that you do need to find a new passion. Just remember - as DOW said - every job has its crappy aspects. Except poetry. Poetry is all good.
@geo: Corporate finance in bank*, I should have made this clear. I was in Big 4 audit before that.
There are obviously various layers in AM, and some jobs are indeed super exciting (thinking HFs in particular), but what if you do not have a passion for investing? I do not really care about markets, nor about huge transactions happening in consolidating industries. I do read the FT and follow financial news, but I mainly do it to stay relevant in my job. Was wondering whether some of you guys are like me, or if you’re all hardcore financial heads who really care about all this.
I don’t think most finance people are specifically interested in finance. They are interested in the job characteristics, particularly, the possibility of intellectual success and its direct relationship to financial success. Continually succeeding in a risky environment, and then getting paid for that, is a very positive stimulus. I would not say I have a “passion for investing”. However, I do have a passion for “winning” at something and also getting paid money; succeeding at markets is just the most direct way for me to do that.
This all depends on what you want to do, your financial situation, financial responsibilities (wife, kids, loans), but the long term plan should focus on what you are passionate about assuming you are relatively young. What do you want to do (any industry, anything)?