Try to go back if you can.
Sometimes the key to major breakthroughs in life are attained by burning your bridges because this cuts off the option of retreat, forcing you to move forward (your only option). By burning bridges I don’t mean hurting your reputation in the eyes of others or damaging a relationship, but rather refer to eliminating the safe option as an ace in the hole and taking a risk for something that you think will be more fulfilling. We certainly need to be smart with our career moves, so I’m not referring to blind recklessness; but rather referring to those decision points where we accept mediocrity or go for something more special. Hard advice, sure, rewarding, definitely.
Don’t quit your job whatever you do until you find a new one. Try to stick it out for at least 2 years so you don’t look like a job hopper and then plot your next move. In the mean time, try to learn something new that will benefit your current role and make you a valuable player on the TEAM. Are you a charterholder or have you completed any of the levels of the CFA program? Also examine if perhaps you have a sense of entitlement that needs to be put in check. A lot of people think they are the next “Bill Gross analytical mind” when in reality they are not. There is really no way to know until you start running real money on your own. It is like every kid thinking they will one day play in the MLB when in reality only a select few out of many are cut from that mold. Really explore this and be be honest with yourself. If you just have an undergrad degree and have no technical skills, no CFA charter, no MBA, no CPA, the reality is you are just a dime-a-dozen. Realize this, collect your paycheck, do a good job, pay your taxes, and most importantly start working on skills that will build you respect and value where ever you go.
How big is your company? Is it possible to transfer to a different group?
Yes and the problem is discrimination against job hoppers. Again, why they choose to label themselves as ‘financial analysts’ is infuriating! very misleading title.
It should actually be called ‘Operations Analyst’ or something like that.
What terrifies me the most is just being a part of the long term unemployed, or stuck in some dead end job because of this
my reputation here is shot no one wants to hire me.
already tried no luck.
It looks like you need to look into some type of analytics job that is reliant on pulling data tables and putting the data into usuable reports for management. Perhaps you could work in an investor reporting role for a loan servicer, unless of course that is the exact job you had already that you hated. I would look at companies such as Nationstar or Ocwen Financial Corporation. They are special servicers that employ individuals that have strong analytics skills and a lot of the work has nothing to do with financial accounting. No idea if they are hiring or not, but might be worth a shot.
I am attempting LII again next year. I knew that this isn’t the job for me. Its not that I’m unhappy, its that I will possibly lose this job and find it difficult to get another job. I am trying my best. There were lots of subjects in school that I had no interest in but still tried.
I don’t mind working in a uninteresting job, the problem is just being employed.
People had suggested quitting to avoid being fired but then what explanation do I have to future employers for quitting?
That is a good idea, I will try that. I did enjoy working at the lending company. They financed commercial insurance policies, and I found it to be fascinating. Lots of analytics involved…I miss that job now.
I am trying to be picky (even though I’m desperate), and avoiding previous mistakes. Just the thought of getting fired and then having a bad reference scared me, don’t know if I should quit or not because of it
People have already lost faith in me here. Doesn’t matter if I do well going forward. A bad reputation is a bad reputation. They just assume I am screwing up 100% of the time.
I wouldn’t be so morbid. So you made some mistakes and have a few weak spots, no different than anyone else. Try to work on something that evidences what you do well. Maybe someone has an excel file that isn’t very user friendly. Offer to re-engineer it for them to make their life easier and make it more functional for the group. In your downtime try to do some accounting modules. Accounting isn’t rocket science, you just need to pay the price to learn the fundamentals.
Man, we all make mistakes. How bad did you screw up and what, as specific as you can, did you do? We all make mistakes. Did you lose the company money or make them look bad to a client? If not, you are probably making things worse than they are in your own head.
I don’t think it’s that perilous that you haven’t been at a job for more than a year. However, for your next interview, you really need to show that you’re the perfect fit and that you’ve been wanting to transition to that role forever. That means you need to speak credibly and passionately about that opportunity.
I myself have never been at the same company for more than two years (though part of it was because my whole team got hired to another bank so we all moved together) – but, if you’re early in your career and you can explain the transitions, and they’re NOT performance-related (i.e. you have references to vouch for you), then you should be fine. For clients that I advise who have these types of insecurities about their job transitions, my best advice to them is to walk in confident and believe that whatever they did was part of their master plan. That is, if you don’t see your job-hopping as a nervous issue, others probably won’t either. Emotions are contagious like that.
The boss’s boss is an auditor, so he is very sensitive to mistakes. I’d say its a combination of small inconsequential mistakes (nothing like screwing something up to a client) and having the repuation of not fitting in.
Mistakes can be forgiven if you are adding value, but I have a reputation because of my immediate supervision of ‘not connecting the dots’ and of course ‘lazy’ which makes me look really bad.
once your reputation goes, it goes. if I don’t ask questions in meetings I am ‘disconnected’ and if I do question (and apply some CFA principles) I look like an idiot. I give you my previous example of using a weighted average to adjust for probabilities in a sales pipeline. This is a straightforward concept that a LI Candidate should understand but to these accounting folks it looks crazy. The thing is I am not rewarded for anything I contribute so all I have is my mistakes.
The job is very operations focused, you have to have the mindset of an operator. The relationship with the boss is not good. things are going to end soon at this company one way or another. I have begun to look aggressively.
I am planning on doing that. I see myself as a good interviewer and trying to be picky as to where I end up. I ahve recently discovered that searching for the word ‘economics’ on indeed.com instead of ‘finance’ brings up a lot of quantitative-oriented jobs where I am likely to thrive. searching for simply ‘finance’ brings up tons of operations jobs where actual ‘finance’ as it is defined here is maybe 5-10% of the work.
I just wish they would lose the name ‘financial analyst’…this is what screwed me in the first place. working in operations means having the ability to be molded into only what they do, and have the creativity stamped out of you. they never tell you this in the job description. "modeling, forecasting, finance’ are all sexy-sounding words but once you are in a corporate finance role you are basically a glorified bookkeeper.
I would like to give out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me with this. I have started to really look and have a network of recruiters in town that I know. trying to get the word out.
If you are an accountant who wants to work operations…great! however, if you are like me (econ major, physics minor) who is into theories, big picture-type of analysis, please STAY AWAY FROM CORPORATE FINANCE. most of the people there are accountants and you will hate it.
I totally understand where you are coming from. In my last role it was a company of <10 people. The principles didn’t think they needed to work and all the employees were miserable people and treated each other poorly. They gave absolutely no training and expected me to basically know the operational workflow on day 1. This caused me to feel overwhelmed and lead to me making several mistakes which took almost to the end to get back my credibility, despite being one of two charterholders in the office. It was a miserable 3 years and it took a toll on my health and well being. Prior to moving into that role I performed ver well as a financial analyst at a large wirehouse firm, so it was a real surprise to be treated so poorly at this little firm. It was a toxic environment. You’re doing the right thing by trying to get out. Best of luck to you. Be honest in your interviews and say that you are looking to find a place that is more aligned with your interests and professional development as an analyst.
about taking a toll on your well being. being in a negative environment for 40+ hours a week does that. it is tough. especially recovering from mistakes. it has happened to me as well, and you’re reluctant to ask questions because you feel like you’re digging yourself in a bigger hole.
I suspect what happened (perhaps) is that my boss recognized early on that I wasn’t a good fit and he was trying to shove me out the door for his sake and mine. I don’t know, I can’t read minds. he claims to like me a lot personally but also tends to act like an a***le sometimes so who knows.
I never intended to work in such an operations oriented role. I have been fascinated with the stock market, and financial theories in general ever since the dot com bubble. what they don’t tell you is the work you will be doing as a ‘financial analyst’ has NOTHING to do with this! Even now I get offers for operations type roles. I am able to recognize them now, and I reject them even though it is very likely I will see some unemployment in the near future.
If you don’t mind me asking PalacioHill, what type of work do you do now? and how did you come across it? Thanks again!
a job is a job… it’s not necessarily fun or exiting, that’s what hobbies are for!