I used to enjoy my job in finance until I did not. I liked finding meanings in numbers and abstract concept, until one day I stopped seeing connections. Looking back, I realized my most enjoyable experiences have always been related to creating something that has a longer impact, like setting up the structure of a database that supports the whole engagement, or creating automations for a business process. However I struggle to find an area that’s more of a creative nature in the field of finance. Most of the finance jobs I know relate to investing, providing expertise to client, operations and/or sales. Pardon me that I don’t see “value creation” as my kind of creation, but nothing more than “making or saving more money”.
I guess I am more of a “product” person?
Anyways I see a misfit between my personality and the field of finance. But I’m not so confidence in my assessment, as a lot of my friends who were discontent with their first finance jobs were able to settle with jobs they like better after change fields a few times. I wanted to do the same, but I was and still am very pessimistic about finding a field within finance where I see a future. Maybe not everyone is fit to do finance, even if he is intelligent, likes abstraction, appreciates the high income and doesn’t hate numbers?
I can still do the work. I just couldn’t care less. I see no future. Or a future that will be soon plateaued due to lack of proactivity and motivation.
Anybody with similar sentiments? Any advice?
What is your current position? Have you considered moving to a business analyst role like at cap one or maybe even consulting like at Deloitte? There are a ton of “finance minded people” who are in your shoes who combine product and business knowledge. Find something that lets you be creative
Thanks truly for the advice. But I have to say I don’t really see business analyst or consultant as a product role though. I’m sure it requires creativity in either role but still those sound very service oriented jobs that provide analysis or expertise rather than directly build a product.
I spent a number of years working in technology departments of two financial services companies.There are product analysts at various financial services companies (like the investment banks and hedge funds) that interact with portfolio managers/traders/accounting/finance folks and design and build products that address their business problems. The resulting products have to solve a real business problem, and having a background like yours could therefore be a big plus. Those types of roles require plenty of creativity.
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/i-might-hate-finance-and-this-mi…
couple questions:
Thanks thebrofessor. To answer your qsn, I’m in my early 30s and an assurance manager with one of the Big 4. Yeah I know accounting is not finance…but I majored in accounting and finance in college and serve clients in the financial industry at work so I know what finance is about. I started feeling like this while in college. I never felt comfortable with finance/accounting topics even though it’s my major/job. Every time I talked about it, it felt like someone else talking. It never became natural to me. I thought if I stay longer and try harder one day it will all make sense, only to find out the dots never connect, and I never change. I can still do what I do. But I have no vision, either in the industry or in myself. And it scares me.
I completely agree with your point on self care, which is what I have been prioritizing during the past few years. I do believe a better self helps to keep a better perspective, but it’s not the solution to all. During the past few years I have been trying not to focus too much on my career and spent more time exercising, traveling and spending time with family and friends. It definitely enhances my overall life quality. But my confusion with my career is always there. Guess a healthier me is just healthier, nothing more.
I have friends who ventured out of assurance to do other business within big four, friends who went to MBA to completely transfer out of accounting into IB. However none of those options appeal to me. I did some projects within my company on automating business processes and implementing new digital solutions. I truly enjoyed the technology aspect of it, which gave me a ray of hope. However the cs skills I learnt from those projects are very minimal and the work is mostly about understanding the accounting/finance services and less about cs, and I'm dealing with the same group of accounting/finance minded people which I respect but rarely relate to. I felt so weighed down by being in a new "tech" role but doing things not so different from before. I guess that's when I start to feel stronger about the thought similarly expressed by @Kassad. I want to GTFO, have a fresh start and leave the world of accounting/finance forever behind.
if you're an accountant by trade and want to leave that entirely, you may need more education/training because the jobs you're qualified for are going to be in accounting/finance.
if I were you, I'd start networking with people in tech and see where that takes you. maybe you need to go back to school and get a grad degree, maybe you just need a certification or two, or maybe you just need a change of scenery and do FP&A at a tech company (maybe the culture will make all the difference)
Don't lose sight of things. You're here to get Bud Fox's apartment in Manhattan and Jordan Belfort's white ferrari like in Miami Vice. You didn't watch field of dreams when you got into finance, you watched wolf of wall street and american psycho. If investment bankers followed what they were passionate about then there would be 4 people max at goldman sachs
Haha that’s funny. I can only brainwash myself for two years max though, nothing more. My true personality will come through eventually.
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