A Q&A with the woman who went from Oxford to Goldman to a left-wing think tank that puts the planet first
We've been speaking to Lydia Prieg, a former physicist and fixed income trader at Goldman Sachs who left the firm voluntarily for a new career at political think tank the
This is Lydia:
This is what she said:
1) What inspired you to go into banking when you left university?
I've always been an energetic and competitive person, so the trading floor naturally appealed to me. In addition, having always enjoyed maths (my undergraduate degree was in physics), I was keen for my career to be somewhat mathematical. This was why I chose to go into fixed income, rather than equities, as I found the former to be more technical. Finally, I would highlight the fact that the majority of students at my university (Oxford) apply for corporate internships and graduate recruitment schemes. Although the university's careers service is very helpful when you go there to request information about a specific career, I feel that they do not do enough to proactively communicate to the students that there are a whole host of "high-flying" career paths available outside of the ubiquitous banking, accountancy, law and management consultancy firms that host countless drinks events and dinners for Oxford University students.
2) Did you find it easy to get the job at Goldman Sachs? What were the main challenges in the interview process?
I applied for a ten week summer internship in my penultimate year of university. To get this internship I had to do maths and logical reasoning tests (in the 1st round), and had four interviews (one in the 1st round and three in the 2nd round).
To prepare for the interviews, I read the FT for a week before each round, read the Vault Guide to Sales and Trading (so that I would know what the job roughly involved on a day-to-day basis) and read some other guides that taught me about the different products (options, futures, swaps, etc) and how they worked. Even though I wasn't applying to these departments, I also read the Vault guides to Investment Banking and Investment Management, as it is important that you know for interviews what the other parts of an investment bank do. Finally, on the morning of each round, I memorised a few key statistics (key exchange rates, key interest rates, the oil price, the Goldman Sachs share price, etc), as I had been advised by previous applicants that I might get tested on such things. I also obviously prepared for the usual competency-based questions (give an example of when you demonstrated leadership, etc).
If you prepare like this, you should be fine at interview. I had only one "bad" interview, where one of the interviewers (there were two on the panel) was extremely unpleasant and aggressive. However, when speaking to other applicants afterwards, it was clear that he had behaved like that to everyone. Consequently, I concluded that he was simply "testing" us to see how we behaved under pressure.
The internship itself is a bit like a ten week interview. You spend a couple of weeks attending lectures and rotating around all the different desks to get an idea of what everyone does. You then choose a few desks that you want to focus on, do longer projects at these desks, and spend time getting to know everyone at the desk. There are also a lot of networking events.
I spent most of my time in interest-rate-products and was offered a job there at the end of the programme. About 65% of all the interns in my intake were offered jobs, so if you secure an internship you stand a very good chance of walking away with a job at the end of it. My advice would be to work out what your skills are, and find the desks where those skills are desired. For example, if you are better at maths than at networking, then it is probably wise for you to focus on technical trading jobs. It is also important to develop a thick skin and to not take criticism personally. Everyone will receive some negative feedback at some point, and traders are unlikely to sugar-coat this... You should not let this knock your confidence. Moreover, if such comments really do upset you, then perhaps you are not suited to work on the trading floor and should consider whether this environment is really the one in which you would like to work.
3) How long into your career at Goldman did you realise it wasn't for you?
The initial learning curve is very steep and, thus, I found the job to be stimulating. However, once I knew what I was doing, I actually found that life on the trading floor was somewhat repetitive.
More significantly, I became aware that I simply wasn't sufficiently interested in the financial markets. If the Bund rallied 5bps, I cared because my job demanded that I cared, but not because I actually found that information interesting. I did enjoy certain elements of my role, such as modeling, building pricers, etc, but this really derived from my enjoyment of problem solving as opposed to the substance of the work itself. Furthermore, this was not how I spent the majority of my time.
Thus, within a year of having started, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with my choice of career. However, I wanted to give the job a proper chance, and so, whilst I sent off an application to study for a MA at the London School of Economics, I waited to resign until I had been at Goldman Sachs for twenty months. During this time, my opinion did not change, and I decided that I was prepared to take a very large pay-cut if this meant that I could do a job that I genuinely enjoyed. I wanted my job to be more than just a job.
4) What was the defining moment which made you decide you wanted to leave and try something else instead?
I had never been particularly interested in politics during my teenage or university years. However, whilst working in the markets, where one has to keep on top of political events, I found myself becoming increasingly interested in public policy issues and current affairs. So, whilst I somewhat reluctantly read about credit-default-swap spreads, I eagerly devoured political news.
I also found myself becoming more and more left-wing, and wanting to become politically active. Furthermore, a couple of my close university friends had pursued careers in public policy or were working for charities. I listened to them talk about their jobs, and found myself becoming increasingly jealous. Over time, it became glaringly obvious that I should be trying to pursue such a career myself, rather than working in the financial markets. Thus, I resigned from Goldman Sachs to do an MA in Political Science and Political Economy at the LSE, and with the intention that I would ultimately go on to work for a charity or think-tank.
5) It was quite a change from studying physics as an undergraduate to studying a Masters in Political Science and Political Economy - what made you switch directions and was it easy to do?
My reasons for choosing to study political economy are explained above. I chose to go back to university for a year, rather than apply directly for new jobs, because I felt that I needed to take a year out. Working at Goldman Sachs was very time consuming, and I didn't have the time or energy to prepare for public policy based job interviews.
Moreover, having already chosen an inappropriate career once, I was anxious that I should not rush into another mistake. I wanted to take the time to carefully explore all my options. Finally, I felt that I was not yet ready to pursue a career in policy. I wanted to have first actually studied the issues, thought about them in depth, and been exposed to new ideas. All these considerations prompted me to do an MA.
With regards to how difficult it was to switch, I actually found that I was at an advantage coming from a strong mathematical background, as political science and political economy are econometrics-based disciplines.
However, I was concerned about my essay writing skills, as my classmates had all come from social science or humanities backgrounds. Furthermore, my A-levels are in maths, further maths, chemistry and physics, so I hadn't written an essay since I was 16!
Fortunately, this turned out to be an unnecessary fear, as by writing a few practice essays and handing them in to get feedback, I was quickly able to get up-to-speed on this.
I also had a lot more spare time given that I was no longer working in banking. So I did an internship with a Labour MP 1-2 days a week during my MA, as, given that I wanted to pursue a career in the policy department of a think-tank or charity, I felt it was important that I had a concrete understanding of how parliament works.
6) Do you have any regrets about leaving banking?
No. Leaving banking was without doubt the best decision I have ever made. I fully appreciate that many people enjoy the industry, and am certainly not arguing that it would be best for everyone if they resigned! However, for me, personally, banking was not a good fit.
Furthermore, throughout my time at Goldman, but also since leaving Goldman, I have become more politically engaged, but also, crucially, a lot more left-wing. I do not believe that the differences between the bonuses bankers enjoy and the salaries paid in other professions simply reflect differences in levels of skill and/or effort. Moreover, I do not believe that such extreme levels of inequality are fair or helpful. Given these thoughts, it clearly would not be appropriate for me to return to banking!
7) What's the best thing about the job you do now?
I currently work for a left-leaning think-tank in London, and am researching the links between the capital markets, international development and environmental sustainability.
I love my job, as I feel that, in a very small way, I am helping to further an important cause.
In addition, I am genuinely interested in what I do now, which really does make all the difference! Finally, I am constantly getting to do new things, including reading and writing research papers, working with charities, giving lectures and participating in round-table discussions, doing media work, and lobbying parliament. Every day is different, and I am constantly being challenged and having to develop new skills.
8) What advice would you offer other junior employees at investment banks who are wondering whether they've made the right decision?
The most important thing is not to be afraid to leave just because there isn't a graduate recruitment scheme (or other such easy entrance route) into many of the careers people might be interested in pursuing. Whilst this can be daunting, for those people who just "go-for-it", work hard and persevere, the rewards are ample.
For anyone who knows that they are not happy in banking, but are not sure what they would do if they left, I would really recommend going back to university for a year or two so that you have some time to figure this out and pursue the alternative interest that you have without having to immediately embark upon a career change as such.
Finally, I strongly maintain that one's paycheck is often a poor measure of the success one has made of one's life. Whilst many people enjoy their jobs and, in addition, make a lot of money, I don't understand anybody who is unhappy yet continues to do something that does not interest them, simply because they feel compelled to make unnecessary sums of money (or because they are concerned that they will be looked upon as a failure if they do not).
My feelings on this are compounded by the fact that many people may sacrifice their twenties or thirties (which should be the best years of one's life) in this perhaps pyrrhic quest. Whilst I fully appreciate that loving one's job is a great privilege that not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy, a large majority of the banking population are in the fortunate position to have been to the best universities and to have the skills and confidence that mean that the world is their oyster. It is definitely a great shame that so many talented people are sucked into a world that will not make them happy...
