To be successful in finance, you need to have specific traits, and this article will look at three of them.
Amongst the most vital traits you can have in business, but specifically in the financial sector, is to be determined and tough. The nature of the field suggests setbacks are common; there are very few people, if any, that have had a long career without having some sort of challenge to manage. Not only is this attribute essential in overcoming obstacles, it is beneficial because there are very long working hours that are full of hectic schedules. As many individuals want to work in finance, you must keep up a high work ethic to fend off possible replacements. The compensation for the intense work load is generous pay and various other perks. With this sort of pay, people can retire early, such as JP Livingston, who retired at 28 after a short yet effective career in finance. This choice is not for everybody, with many investment bankers working at financial institutions well into their 70’s, but it is obviously a enticing prospect.
As financial services are an business that centers around statistics and reacting to changes, having a strong intellect is pivotal to success. Specifically, individuals must have strong mathematical skills with an emphasis on examining mathematical patterns and data. To succeed you need a real knack for identifying issues or anomalies in any set of data, and this requires a sharp eye for details. Naturally, the most capable financiers come from a mathematical history, where they would have mastered something like maths, economics, or accounting at their universities or colleges. There are lots of examples of people who do not study number-based degrees who succeed in the financial services industry; all that is required to be a strong candidate for a leading investment firm, is that you have good analytical ability and a excellent work ethic. An example of the kind of work ethic you need is from Lars Windhorst, who founded his first business when he was at school. While this is very unusual, it is the level of commitment one should aim for to succeed in the investment world.
Finance and investment are all about trust building and persuading people that you are more dependable than your competitors. The financial market is highly competitive, so convincing clients you are their perfect choice is crucial. To do this one needs to have strong people skills, whilst also being watchful of potential bad customers. It helps to be charismatic without being overly arrogant, as a way to instil confidence but not so much that they think you are not meticulous in your decision making. Having characteristics like these are what would have helped somebody like Thom Weisel have such a effective career; trading and drawing investment is down to constructing successful connections.