Ten Things 25-Year-Old Me Thought I Knew When I Started My Career In Finance But Didn’t

1. “I was competing against every peer for compensation, promotion, prestigious assignments and the favor of senior leaders.”

Reality: Your career is not zero sum. Those who lift everyone around them advance and those who are out just for themselves may start off strong, but rarely last.

2. “There was an idealized amount of wealth, ‘the number,’ that once achieved would give me the freedom to really start doing exactly what I truly wanted to do in life.”

Reality: “The number” always changes as circumstances change and then when/if you get to the place where the amount of money doesn’t really matter, you realize it never did. People motivated primarily by “the number” are generally miserable and rarely attain it.

3. “If I went into finance, I could have a fine career, but would sacrifice never being an entrepreneur or experience the intrinsic rewards of helping to build a company.”

Reality: If you act like an owner within your company, even well before you ever are one, you can have an amazing entrepreneurial experience and truly experience helping to build something you are proud of. The hard part is truly acting like an owner.

4. “The finance industry consists mostly of obnoxious Type A people who are only self-interested and I would have to do my best to constantly navigate extremely sharp elbows and people who cut corners regularly.”

Reality: I have come across a very small handful of people in our industry that I am happy to never see again. The overwhelming majority are good people with positive intentions who tell the truth and work tirelessly as a team by supporting their co-workers to get the best result possible for their clients. People are very competitive, but the energy is directed in a very positive and productive way.

5. “The overall brand, stature and size of the financial company I worked at would be one of the strongest determinators of my ability to succeed.”

Reality: The strongest determinator of one’s ability to succeed is their own personal brand, reputation, ability, attitude, creativity and tenacity. It is fine to work at a big company (and I have), but there is nothing more personally rewarding than being part of creating a bigger company based on the collective talents of the individuals you help bring together.

6. “Finance is a great field to learn the basics so you can eventually apply your skills towards something more enjoyable, rewarding and beneficial to society.”

Reality: Finance has been misunderstood and because of a few bad actors and circumstances, often has a mixed reputation. If you want to enjoy a rewarding experience, help a biotech company get funded so they can make advances in treating cancer, negotiate a better capitalization of a big employer so they avoid bankruptcy and preserve jobs, or create access to capital for a potentially revolutionary technology company that will make people’s lives easier. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the minutiae of the job and miss the big picture that you are helping amazing companies/people make the world better.

7. “The people senior to me (way back when) no longer understood how the new world worked and I was sure my aggressive new way of doing things was better and their constant focus on ‘risk’ and ‘what could go wrong’ was a cumbersome impediment to action and success.”

Reality: I think I owe a lot of senior people an apology for what I was thinking about them when I was a junior employee. Yes, I’m a Boomer now and people will make fun of me for saying this, but experience does matter. Making countless mistakes and learning from them makes you incredibly valuable. Better yet, lose the arrogance and learn from the mistakes of people who went before you. Much less expensive and painful. #okboomer

8. “Companies will always be around and from my perspective, they exist to help me best achieve all of my professional goals and objectives.”

Reality: Everything in life is fragile. Health, friendships, and trust can evaporate overnight. So can companies. Companies are living, breathing organisms that can get sick or die. That usually happens when people at the company forget their responsibility to protect the “home” that so many people depend upon. You can achieve all of your professional goals and objectives, as long as you protect the culture, capital, brand and integrity of your company.

9. “If I worked exceptionally hard and I discretely made sure everyone knew it, my career trajectory would be greatly enhanced.”

Reality: Nobody cares how hard you work. They care about how effective, efficient, creative, trustworthy, commercial, and enjoyable to be with you are. Facetime is BS and even though it may not appear that way, it is up to you to see through it. People with balance make it to the end of the race. Shame on all of us senior folks in finance who cannot get this through our thick heads and allow bad behavior. Our firm is not immune to encouraging this myth but we are constantly trying to do better.

10. “If I dedicated myself 100 percent throughout my career, I would have a remarkable retirement to look forward to and enjoy.”

Reality: I would not want to change places with any of my friends who have retired early. No judgement whatsoever as everyone has their own priorities and goals. If you love what you do, appreciate your co-workers and enjoy your clients, as you advance in your career the feeling of “work” is eclipsed by the feeling of “making a difference” and “helping to accomplish something you are very proud to be a part of.” It is never easy and there are certainly days I would scream otherwise, but the reality is that nothing is better than being fully engaged with people you truly like to help accomplish complicated goals that are important and worthy.

RICH HANDLER
CEO, Jefferies Financial Group
1.212.284.2555
[email protected]
@handlerrich Twitter | Instagram
Pronouns: he, him, his