The Jobs of Others
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In the life on an investment banker, decisions occasionally arise about the direction of your career. Why does it feel like everybody else seems to take the right decisions in these circumstances?
Over the course of my worklife, there have been a number of occasions where I found myself at a career cross-roads. I had been in my current roles for a decent amount of time but fancied some other challenge and ideally a move up instead of sideways.
In moments like these, external opportunities can be very tempting, but usually come with caveats. In particular in your early years it is hard to judge from a few interviews what a role is really all about. You can try your best to get the complete picture about this (exciting!) opportunity, but once you start your new job it might look very different indeed.
After I made up my mind that my first job in banking needed to be upgraded to a better and more lucrative version, my employer at that time showed sudden interest in retaining me, to the extent that I was sent to about 25 internal interviews in my last two weeks at the firm. Nothing came out of it since the role I was interested in was not available, but nevertheless it left a few (and still very present) "What ifs?" in my mind.
What if I had given them more time to find something for me?
What if I hadn't turned down the role in sales (although I never wanted to do sales)?
What if I had not focused on that one asset class I really wanted to get into?
Needless to say: The role I had accepted externally was better paid but did not turn out to be all that. One of my colleagues told me within the first week about his surprise that I was hired since there was barely enough work for the current team members. When I was called three months later by my former boss who wanted to get me into his team at a different bank, I was more than happy to unwind my previous decision, accept his offer and live with a 'blip' in my CV happily ever after.
Well, ever after means, of course, until the next cycle of decisions comes around....
The boss who pulled me out of the land of 'not enough work for anyone' decided to move on himself. Given the choice, I decided against following him. But again, a lot of "What ifs?" were to follow. Fortunately, regrets were short-lived this time round since he lost his new job six months later, and I for once found myself having taken the right decision.
This kind of reinforcement is comforting occasionally:
But even more so, everybody else seems to take better decisions:
It seems to be in the nature of the industry that we always envy those who seemingly make the smarter calls. Maybe an environment in which some people seem to go home with incredible amounts of money creates a general sense of entitlement which causes us to be disappointed if somebody else is more successful.
But maybe it's just me who is genuinely envious, or that the grass really is always greener.
On that note, I try to be content with the decisions that I have taken. I'd like to think that even if I had just tossed a coin every time I'd been at a crossroads, my career could have developed differently - but probably not much for the better or the worse.
And try not to let the fact that other people are better off not put a damper on that.
In moments like these, external opportunities can be very tempting, but usually come with caveats. In particular in your early years it is hard to judge from a few interviews what a role is really all about. You can try your best to get the complete picture about this (exciting!) opportunity, but once you start your new job it might look very different indeed.
After I made up my mind that my first job in banking needed to be upgraded to a better and more lucrative version, my employer at that time showed sudden interest in retaining me, to the extent that I was sent to about 25 internal interviews in my last two weeks at the firm. Nothing came out of it since the role I was interested in was not available, but nevertheless it left a few (and still very present) "What ifs?" in my mind.
What if I had given them more time to find something for me?
What if I hadn't turned down the role in sales (although I never wanted to do sales)?
What if I had not focused on that one asset class I really wanted to get into?
Needless to say: The role I had accepted externally was better paid but did not turn out to be all that. One of my colleagues told me within the first week about his surprise that I was hired since there was barely enough work for the current team members. When I was called three months later by my former boss who wanted to get me into his team at a different bank, I was more than happy to unwind my previous decision, accept his offer and live with a 'blip' in my CV happily ever after.
Well, ever after means, of course, until the next cycle of decisions comes around....
The boss who pulled me out of the land of 'not enough work for anyone' decided to move on himself. Given the choice, I decided against following him. But again, a lot of "What ifs?" were to follow. Fortunately, regrets were short-lived this time round since he lost his new job six months later, and I for once found myself having taken the right decision.
This kind of reinforcement is comforting occasionally:
- The job my friend offered me a year before he was made redundant. Right call!
- The nice job with the big guarantee I turned down only to find out later that the bank was in a lot of trouble and didn't even service all guarantees. Right call again!
But even more so, everybody else seems to take better decisions:
- Former colleague got himself a nice role at a top-tier bank just before market started to tank. Very enviable.
- The person who took one of the roles I interviewed for at my first employer and ended up being very well-paid indeed. Don't even go there.
It seems to be in the nature of the industry that we always envy those who seemingly make the smarter calls. Maybe an environment in which some people seem to go home with incredible amounts of money creates a general sense of entitlement which causes us to be disappointed if somebody else is more successful.
But maybe it's just me who is genuinely envious, or that the grass really is always greener.
On that note, I try to be content with the decisions that I have taken. I'd like to think that even if I had just tossed a coin every time I'd been at a crossroads, my career could have developed differently - but probably not much for the better or the worse.
And try not to let the fact that other people are better off not put a damper on that.
Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box
Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.
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