Love Working in Finance?

11 March 2009

1 minute read

We've all heard plenty about greedy financiers who brought the world to its knees. Well, it's time the peddlers of that cartoon-like stereotype heard from the rest of us.

You're in finance. Are you there mostly because you expect to make more money than you could earn in a different profession? Or, are (or were) you doing work that you love? Or is it a combination of both?

If you don't love the kind of work you do, then do you know someone in finance who does? Tell us about him or her: role, years in the business, personality. You needn't even mention their name. (But I for one, hope you will mention the employer. We'd all like to hear about an employer it's possible to love working for.)

Caricatures are funny when they're about somebody else. In this case, though, the ugly images prevalent in the news media are about you and me. And unlike the caricaturist's booth at the county fair, we didn't voluntarily sit down to be sketched. So let's band together and do our part to overwrite the media's funhouse-mirror portrayal of our profession, with a picture that's both more nuanced and more real.

AUTHORJon Jacobs

Insider Comment

13 comments

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ADB
4 October 2010
The most important thing in the world, in my opinion, is simply knowing how to make an informed decision. This is the truth when it comes to success as a student, and a professional, in your personal relationships, on your health and safety, literally everything hinges on your ability to make what you perceive to be good decisionsl. Finance is the ultimate form of trying to make sense out of chaos, and the whole existance of a system where our entire humanity has been duped into believe that this green piece of paper is actually worth something, but physically backed by nothing, is such a marvel. It is an ideally systematic way of trying to silo people into ranks based on what the "social market" deems worthy. That is why I study and work in Finance, and I hope that those of you out there that are so jaded by your decisions can take a step back, breathe deeply, and find solace in the fact that you are human, just like everyone else, and that you are going to be just fine. Life, just like the stock market, is tumultuous, but be a bull and fucking rally.
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ge
gebs67
27 March 2009
I can honestly say I have a passion for the markets; where else can you look at the entire political and socio economic picture daily. Pretty Cool!
I am not ashamed of being in financial services and when questioned I say jokingly, "Yes, I Am one of THOSE wall street guys". That usually clears up 90% of their stigma. Making things human is powerful.
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va
val314159
27 March 2009
I went into finance b/c I loved the idea of being close to the economy ITSELF (the actual money flowing around), as opposed to playing to the whims of others (i.e. dotcom time). It's a giant unsolved puzzle, and one that's a little bit more interesting then "make a webpage, plug it into a database, rinse, repeat".
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Wi
William J McKibbin
18 March 2009
My career in finance is about finding beauty in our models and analytics. I probably could earn more money in sales and marketing (which is where I began my career in finance years ago), but I later resolved to redirect my career into financial engineering and stochastic risk analysis -- I love what I do. More at:
http://wjmc.blogspot.com/20...
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gh
ghimawan
18 March 2009
Yes I did join finance for the glamor I thought it had,
but once I joined it, I actually love what I do, making real-time smart decisions, being paid when I'm right, that's what is fun about it.
I am an analyst at a fundamental hedge fund, and the best part about it is to look at finance from business point of view, and solving business puzzles and figuring out who's the best
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