Finance or Tech

Hi,

I am about to go to university and I am studying maths at a top 5 uni. I was wondering is it worthwhile me trying to go into tech or finance. I know of people going into IB but is this really long term proof. I am someone who is quite analytical and technical but also has soft skills and was wondering what career would be best suited for me.

Thanks

12 Comments
 

Tech if you want better hours with lower pay ceiling in the future. Finance if you want the reverse of those two. Obviously there are other factors to consider such as your preferences. Can go wrong with either one imo.

 

Based on your inability to run a search before asking probably the most over asked question on this site and other career sites - neither. You're better off flipping burgers at McD's

 
Most Helpful

Tech and Finance are two very distinguishable fields, and must be treated as such. I think the main allures of tech are “it offers opportunities to be creative and innovative” and the work environment, namely the culture and hours. What a lot of other people miss in my opinion is that finance still offers the ability to be both of these things, they just pertain to different kinds of intelligence.

Tech is centered around numerical intelligence, and detail oriented creativity. Finance is centered around verbal intelligence, and big picture creativity. Essentially what I’m saying is they each require their own differing forms of intelligence, meaning it really boils down more to which job would your personality better be suited for.

We tend to get sucked into this mainstream perception of what intelligence represents, and what constitutes and intelligent person. It’s not simply about your ability to solve complex math equations or understand quantum physics. There are many facets of intelligence that appear in all sorts of differing people. Ever heard of the term “musical genius”? That doesn’t correlate to musically inclined people being dumb, they’re just a different type of intelligent.


An extra nugget of information(opinion), your job does not define who you are. Choose something you are good at, that provides you the standard of living you require, and let that comfortability fuel your other passions in life. 

 

I would argue tech. You would make more contributions immediately. Also, you would ultimately develop on the product side of things, versus sitting on the sideline investing. There's tremendous power in both, with probably more guarantee that you would become a major decisionmaker in tech, as competition in finance is more fierce and doesn't depend on technical abilities.

 

I have spent 25 years in fintech space. I built and sold companies. Traveled the world. Created solutions that changed global markets. Worked with every major player in finance. Loved the fight to make markets better for investors.

I think the next 20 years will bring about the most amazing changes in history. These changes will be driven by technology start ups that will challenge everything we know. 

 

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