Which skills will take you the farthest?
Below is a list of common skills (technical or soft skills) that are often prioritized as the "most important" or "crucial" for the finance industry as a whole (IB/PE/HF). Which do you guys think matter the most in developing for a long-term successful career? Feel free to order them, or tierlist them (as WSO seems to love), and add in any skills I might have missed. Also, let me know if that skillset substantially changes depending on the industry, or how skill priority changes moving into seniority. I also understand that some of these cross over. This is mostly just a thought experiment, and curious what everyone thinks!
1) Networking (Socially or Professionally) 2) Sales/Pitching 3) Modeling/Excel/Technicals 4) Smelling out bullshit 5) Managing those working for you/Delegating 6) Interviewing 7) Reading emotions/rooms 8) Talking to non-industry experts 9) Ability to study/learn new concepts
Shopping lists such as the one you just posted are pointless and denote a rigid, box-ticking mindset that may work in vitro but prove useless in any real-life situation in which creative thinking and a capacity to adapt to changing circumstances are required. The only "framework" that encompasses all that, assuming you have a pre-defined goal:
- Know what you don't know
- Know what people want or expect of you
- Be able to learn what you don't know and give people what they want
The rest is masturbation
Fair enough. I was less thinking about forming a "shopping list" but rather just curious about how people here perceive certain qualities/skills in people. So this isn't as much for myself achieving said skills above, but more a genuine curiosity on how people here think about what to dedicate their own time and effort into improving. I appreciate the comment tho and agree 100% - there's no magical equation of "get XYZ skills = win at life in finance"
"Know what you don't know"
And making sure you partner with people who can cover your weaknesses. Spoke to an entrepreneur who went this route recently. Split his early equity with friends he could trust. Now they have VC / PE funding and I think is valued around ~$300M based on their last funding round.
From what I saw from him at an event I went to, he definitely is one hell of a salesman. Very high EQ too.
Soft Skills will get you the farthest imo
what type of soft skills though?
flaccid fornication
Confidence by far no.1 & no.2 being able to speak eloquently. You can know a surface level amount of something but if you portray that your knowledge is extensive that will get you the farthest.
Communication and soft skills are number 1 in any industry
Assuming an adequate level of intelligence, it’s a combination of drive, EQ, and communication. Most of your list is a combinatory or direct offshoot of these skills and abilities. Being driven, well liked, and able to effectively communicate your ideas in sales or internal contexts can take you far.
With regard to communication in particular, think about it like this. You know the smartest, most creative guy in the world. However, he can’t or wont’ communicate his ideas with the world for whatever reason. He has no utility of his talents. Now reverse this example with an average or even stupid coworker that is excellent at selling himself or his ideas. We all know people like this and they can go pretty far in life.
One striking example of someone who epitomized the dumb but excellent communicator was a professor. I kid you not that this guy had trouble with some basic math repeatedly when I did office hours with him. But with regards to his lectures, he was the most eloquent and convincing person I had ever come across. He sounded extremely sharp. Ultimately, as an aside, he single handily convinced me to never judge someone’s intelligence positively or negatively based on how they speak.
Consequatur ut cumque pariatur atque distinctio sunt sit repellat. Illum inventore iusto qui cumque eum.
Alias qui facere laudantium perferendis. Molestiae incidunt sunt deleniti amet. Unde porro mollitia et maxime est ea perspiciatis. Tempore ad ipsa repellat in deleniti est deserunt. Ipsa iste repellat sunt consequuntur molestiae accusamus fugiat. Perspiciatis voluptatem quidem rerum est repellat vitae.
Non aperiam incidunt et. Quia ut est harum quidem est. Pariatur explicabo odit et. Enim quibusdam et quo harum ducimus nemo.
Dicta sint quae quia ut sit. Quod nihil cum quibusdam doloremque.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...