The finance career rule that’s a bit mafioso, but still works
As a rule of thumb, it’s not illegal to not be looking for a new job while you're doing your old one. It might, however, make you unpopular with your boss.
Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.
Speaking to students at the LSE Alternative Investments Conference, Giovanni Orsi – head of private equity relationships and partnerships at Canadian pension fund PSP Investments – spoke about why loyalty is so important to him in business.
“It’s an easy trust to break,” Orsi said. “About four or five years ago, there was a director in our team who was doing really, really well. We thought we would be promoting him to the next level. But then we found out he was interviewing with some competitors.”
The firm didn’t like that. “People were really disappointed,” Orsi explained. “But we told him that we really value you – so stop your interview process now.” The director, however, refused. “He came back and said that he still wants to understand, and he kept going.”
That lack of loyalty to PSP was extremely damaging. “That broke our trust. And that trust is key,” Orsi said. The unspoken result was that the director's promotion did not end up going through.
Orsi ended with some advice to juniors: “Wen I look at a CV and see that somebody has changed job very frequently, it always raises questions. There might be very good reasons why that is, but if you do that, you need to have an answer.”
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
