If you talk to an investment banker who’s recently left the industry for another job, the biggest adjustment – aside from the money – is the people. Outside of the financial sector, the whole idea that not everyone they work with is highly-motivated and elite is just something they can’t get their head around.
For those going the other way – moving out of one career into professional or financial services – there’s another concern. “Imposter syndrome”, or the nagging feeling of anxiety that all these clever people in the corporate world “seeing through me: would I be found out now?” Susan Sommerville, a teacher who switched into PwC told the FT.
Bankers these days, of course, are more likely to go in the opposite direction. Very often it’s years of working long hours, combined with a life event like a first child, ill health or shattered relationships that make them yearn for something else.
Geoffrey Stanford, who left his investment banking job at Citi for teaching, says he was determined never to get too attached to a large income. “People get locked into mortgages. My wife and I were clear that we weren’t going to get sucked into that lifestyle.”
He says you must keep an “open dialogue” with your partner about what’s important to you about your career, particularly if you’re suddenly earning a lot less.
More broadly, Jane Clarke, a director at business psychology Nicholson McBride advises really understanding why you’re unhappy in the first place and what change will make a difference. “People don’t think hard about it. It’s important to see which bits you like and analyse the company, people at work, work-life balance.”
Does your job define you? “For some people it is really important to say ‘I work for X’ or am a ‘Y’,” she says.
Separately, Goldman Sachs partners have seen their stock options soar thanks to Trump’s election. A filing on Wednesday, reported by Bloomberg, shows that they’ve gained $800m since the result, after Goldman’s shares went up by 18%. Still, not all partners held on to their options after Trump’s election – 112,000 stocks were sold by partners the day after it became apparent he’d won.
Meanwhile:
Michael Sherwood’s farewell at Goldman Sachs (Financial News)
Meet Trump’s expected new commerce secretary Wilbur Ross: “He’s not your usual Wall Street jerk. He is tough, but courteous.” (Financial Times)
Son of rich financier with behaviorial problems opens rehab centre: “I had a primary therapist, I had a family therapist, I had a recovery counselor, I had a spiritual therapist.” (Bloomberg)
Former Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann and German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble in a public spate over bonuses (Spiegel)
Big tech companies are draining academia of AI talent (WSJ)
J.P. Morgan paid former UK chancellor George Osborne £81k ($100k) and £61k for two speeches in New York (Guido Fawkes)
Paulson & Co is cutting in Europe, and two partners have departed (Financial Times)
Contact: pclarke@efinancialcareers.com
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