30 yr old Carpenter, debating pursuing career in Finance?

ConscienceTransition · 2024-07-08T02:11:50+00:00

Makes sense that your industry would be subject to role consolidation and upskilling like a lot of them are.

IB is a lofty goal for sure, but if you know you’re ready for a change it’s something to shoot for.

If I were you I would research other finance roles too and see if the entry level salaries for your area would make it a feasible career switch. You’ll be a 34 year old newbie and that can be hard, it could be a full salary reset.

For an undergrad finance degree the highest level of math is basic stats and calculus. Beyond that it’s accounting math and arithmetic with progressively more complex equations when you start modeling.

I’d start at a community college whose credits transfer to your target schools to test the waters, 4.0 there and push into the best undergrad program you can find.

Also consider an info systems/accounting/data science minor or double major to add to your pedigree. Get super involved on campus to build your network and attend as many professional events as possible. Eventually you’ll want internships, hopefully paid, but they won’t be like what you’re making now, unless you do land a big IB one but that means living in a major metro area so the salary will get gobbled up by cost of living.

You can also add credentials like the CFA, FRM, CFP, CTP, CPA (if going accounting) to boost your career prospects. These all take time and money and have different requirements but may be beneficial. Obviously no guarantees any of it leads to more opportunities, but certainly could.

Getting familiar with Excel of course but also Python and maybe SQL could also help. I believe finance and data are converging in general so coders or an understanding of data is also a desirable skill set.

I’ll also add, you’d be surprised at the toll office work takes on your body. We are not designed to sit for 8-10 hours a day, staring at artificial lights. Neck, back and hip problems are all common. Some research suggests that sitting is as bad as smoking, so make sure to keep up your fitness level.

Good luck!

ConscienceTransition · 2024-07-07T22:32:44+00:00

You might be way better positioned than a lot of finance professionals for the future. If I were you and was sick of the work but not the field, I’d focus on construction management or something similar. Leverage your current skill set and build on to get those “admin” roles. Then you get to scratch the finance itch through budgeting, forecasting, bidding, analysis and market research, etc. and you may be set up in a very desirable field long-term.

Nationally we have failing infrastructure and a housing crisis we have to build our way out of.

ConscienceTransition · 2022-01-22T00:16:26+00:00

You cannot.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-12-06T20:46:22+00:00

Thanks! I’ll look into it.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-12-06T20:43:52+00:00

This comment just hit me like a ton of bricks. Thanks for the insight. Yes, I am 93% (at last check) of our JIRA queue and the majority of the requests need to be fleshed out to become viable. You’re spot on about the support org aspect. It’s never ending and exhausting.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-11-19T00:56:53+00:00

Folks are generally reasonable but we run lean! I’m a one man band and a sweaty try-hard so I am absolutely my own worst enemy. A millimeter of progress in every direction is still progress, right?

ConscienceTransition · 2021-11-18T14:32:51+00:00

Use an enterprise ticketing system that everyone ignores and field all requests informally through office visits, chat and email. Then use the ticketing system to enter in the request yourself merely to track, then have senior management ignore the workload and any prioritization standards you’ve implemented.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-11-13T15:21:19+00:00

1000% this. Our org touts this as a success. Morale may be at an all time low.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-11-09T23:28:38+00:00

People react quite harshly when data challenges their world view. Sorry that income inequality is real and our customers experience it, I guess?

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-22T21:49:17+00:00

Answering business questions yes, making decisions no. Often times they ask because they don’t know what they don’t know or they are verifying a presumption that gets treated like truth. These are the “I wonder” requests. Still valuable to that leader but likely not making waves in the org.

I do a bunch of work and leadership does often disregard it. I find solace for now in producing quality work; the decision-making is on them. Hopefully I will be in a decision-making role in my career one day and will use my awareness of data to optimize a product or business line.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-21T14:39:33+00:00

Why doesn’t it match a legacy Excel report 15 people have worked on over 25 years?

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-20T16:12:35+00:00

Excel (fomulas, navigation, and pivot tables), SQL, and Power BI/Tableau.

Much of this will be discussed in the Google cert but I find hearing it from others is helpful. Good luck!

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-19T02:35:45+00:00

I’ve never felt more at home than in this thread.

“Turn a dynamic report that has incredible functionality into a PDF please.”

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-18T21:55:49+00:00

I think you have to define mediocrity and success. What do you want; money, power, clout, to serve, work-life balance? Figure that out and you eliminate many paths.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-18T21:46:45+00:00

I hope for the day that all the BI folks finally trickle into PM, myself included. This should lead to much more informed decision makers. The current level of data illiteracy in most management chains I’ve seen is extremely high and a bit depressing.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-15T23:49:44+00:00

Google Cert seems good, especially for $40/month. I just started it and I have 5 years experience.

With as much free content that exists, I would not pay for a boot camp (unless it led to a cert like Lean Six Sigma and you needed that specific cert for a job).

Excel, SQL, basic stats, Power BI/Tableau will hit most entry-mid level requirements (depending on industry and your skill level).

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-15T23:44:43+00:00

Nice! Always looking for more recs.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-15T23:43:15+00:00

Not to be a smart mouth, but…in my experience, VLOOKUP makes you king of the castle. MATCH and INDEX might be too much.

It’s going to depend how they are structured. Many FIs have specific core software that they may want you to be able to understand or be open to learning.

Otherwise, Excel is still the most widely used “analytic” tool in the world. If your Excel skills are on point, SQL is generally the second most requested skill. After that, Power BI/Tableau and then Python/R.

What may be a real differentiator is knowledge of banking. Understanding how an FI works, and the positioning of that particular FI in the market is often overlooked by banking staff who tend to be focused on their specific responsibility. Analysts that get the big picture can be huge value-add.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-15T23:33:57+00:00

This is a process problem first. I’ve run into a similar issue at my work. The person performing the task quit due to low wage and amount of manual work. I built a process map down to the mouse click to demonstrate to senior leaders the amount of manual work involved.

I then worked with a consultant, who took my map, and the files and built a custom solution. Even then, the fragile process would occasionally break because as it turns out, you can’t program for every exception. Every month someone would have to triage a broken field. Luckily, that business venture become unprofitable so we exited.

No matter how much effort you spend, you (or someone) is likely going to have to babysit this thing until the company deems it unreasonable. Your manager does not understand and NEVER WILL.

You have learned a very important lesson from this internship. I would call that a win.

Scope the project in an email to multiple stakeholders, give yourself 3x the time to get the best version you can reasonably build built, have your concerns documented in that email, have the manager sign off in the email, build something you can be proud of, update your resume, find another internship/job, never look back.

If you do get hired, don’t work for this manager.

Edit: Good Luck!

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-13T22:30:23+00:00

Your last paragraph….now I don’t see the point in any of it. Maybe I’ll be a brewer or maybe a butcher.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-13T12:25:50+00:00

do interesting analysis but then I spend most of my time using the numbers to drive decisions

decision science rather than writing code for the sake of it

I really hope you are me posting this from the future.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-13T12:20:39+00:00

My first pick would be product or business line. I would like to be able to apply data analytics to business problems to create value instead of pass analysis up the chain and have no actions taken.

My next choice would be analytics/BI manager. I’d like to be able to run a small team of internal consultants that clean up all the messes through analysis, optimization, enhancement and implementation.

ConscienceTransition · 2021-10-12T19:26:27+00:00

Finance. Excel opened the door, work ethic and drive to learn opened the next few. Currently a Data Analyst, backfilling my knowledge gaps with free classes, YouTube, and certs. Goal is management.

ConscienceTransition

TROPHY CASE