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Topic: Jobs in financial industry
| Author | Message |
| yourstruly | Posted – 5/15/2008 9:48:07 PM | show profile Does anyone have any experience working as an ex-journalist in the financial sector? I know some firms hire ex-financial journalists to do research. Is the work satisfying? (I suspect not, but neither is what I do now.) What kind of qualifications do you need? I'm a financial journalist, but I've seen some ads requiring applicants have already passed the Series 6 (which you can't take unless sponsored by a financial firm, presumably an employer). I'm about ready to hang it up on this frustrating industry and want to know if the grass is any greener on the other side. Thanks. |
| LotusBlossom | Posted – 5/18/2008 12:54:44 PM | show profile | email poster It's Nice I was a reporter and then editor for 15 years at the WSJ and then jumped to an investment bank for a number of reasons. My base is well over 100K plus bonus, which is nice, but the work is also nice. I don't do research and I will not touch marketing or communications; I simply edit bankers the way I one edited journalists. I travel quarterly; this year I went to Shanghai, London and Barclona and I stay in nice hotels. Best of all, I am regarded as sort of a witch because things a journalist knows are mysteries to bankers. I valuable at the bank because I am not of it. |
| Scottie | Posted – 5/18/2008 9:15:28 PM | show profile Lotus Blossom, I'd kill for a gig like yours. I have the financial reporting and editing background with a big name newspaper, but what else do I need to do? Who's usually in charge of these kinds of jobs? If I want to talk to potential hiring managers, what titles? should I be looking for? And what kind of titles do writer/editors at an investment banks have? Any input greatly appreciated. |
| Scottie | Posted – 5/20/2008 12:31:07 PM | show profile Going for the bump-up as I'm hoping to get some info. I would like to start proactively looking for jobs like Lotus Blossum's. However, I am moving to a new city where I don't have personal contacts. I need to know who's usuallly in charge of writers in these types of positions so I can contact them in case of potential openings. Also, LotusB, without outing yourself can you tell us what you edit? Pitchbooks, research reports, presentations? And please, anyone else with the inside scoop, chime in. Meanshile, I think I'll go find an investment bankers chatboard. |
| LotusBlossom | Posted – 5/20/2008 8:01:12 PM | show profile | email poster I-Banks Hi Scottie -- I'll be happy to tell you what I know. You can email me off the board |
| Astera | Posted – 5/20/2008 8:36:16 PM | show profile Just be careful that you fully understand the job requirements if you decide to pursue work in a financial environment. I currently work for a mortgage bank (happily, I just gave my notice), and the work I was doing was extremely tedious and didn't play to my strengths. I worked in a marketing department, where my main responsibility was to proofread the direct mail letters we send out. I also had to read all the "fine print" on the back of the letters to make sure it was accurate, and there was always hell to pay if the tiniest mistake got through...sometimes hard to avoid when a team of three was required to proof eight to 10 campaigns a day, all of which consisted of multiple letters. My writing duties consisted mainly of rewording a sentence here or there, and even the smallest change had to be reviewed by our compliance department. Also, I had to read the exact same letter and do data checks on it four times a day, every single day. It was a super-corporate environment, too. And there was constant tension and anxiety in the air, because the mortgage loan business has tanked. That said, Lotus Blossom's gig sounds great. Just be sure of what you are getting yourself into! ------ www.adventuresofastera.blogspot.com |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 5/20/2008 9:19:50 PM | show profile Thanks Astera, I've done corporate work so I know what you're talking about. At a major newspaper, an intern can write a story, have it edited by one editor and see it land on the front page. In a bureaucracy -- be it corporate or governmental or in-between -- 20 people have to obsess over every single word. Never the less, if the money's good and the hours are regular, I'm ready to sell out! |
| InsomniacNOT | Posted – 5/20/2008 9:20:35 PM | show profile ps that's me, Scottie, I wiped out all my passwords on my other computer. |
| lhjunk | Posted – 5/21/2008 2:55:39 AM | show profile | email poster Looking for VP, Editorial for Financial Services firm Hi, I'm with a leading financial services firm in Manhattan and we're looking to hire a VP, Editorial for a newly created digital team. If you're interested in learning more about the opportunity, contact me at lhjunk@yahoo.com. Regards, L |
| Scottie | Posted – 5/21/2008 1:13:06 PM | show profile Thanks Lotus, I've e-mailed you. LHJunk, sounds like a great job but I'm looking for work in Toronto. |
| renny | Posted – 5/22/2008 12:39:21 PM | show profile jobs in financial industry After three years of PT freelancing (non-finance related) and two years of FT freelancing (feature writing, primarily food writing, for national and regional magazines and newspapers) I landed a great FT gig at a major Wall Street firm in corporate communications. I am one of three editors for a monthly employee newspaper and write about everything from investment banking to retail banking to technology. It's a high-class publication, written in a journalistic style. We conduct interviews and write and lay out news stories just like at any other newspaper, but we have to get everything approved before it is published (no small feat sometimes). This is the best job I've ever had. The hours are great, (9-5:30pm) I am well-compensated (including a sizable bonus) and I get four weeks of vacation a year. On a daily basis I get to talk to intelligent, extremely competent people and I enjoy the intellectual challenge of translating financial language into a journalistic style. (And I have continued to freelance a bit to keep my hand in "real" journalism -- my real passion is food writing). I think if you have excellent reporting, writing and editing skills you can make them work for you in just about any industry, despite a lack of experience in the finance world. Hang in there -- if you can find the right job it's worth it. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 5/22/2008 1:00:33 PM | show profile So this is different from all of the recruitment spam I get urging me to "consider a career in financial services" from people who pull my resume off the two mainstream job sites? I'm being snarky. But ye gods, if I get one more of those e-mails. "I saw your resume on Blah-de-Blah and feel that you are uniquely qualified for a career in financial planning. We'll train you. Set your own hours. Help others plan their finances." One company actually called me and wouldn't tell me why they wanted me to come in and "talk to the executive vice president for ten minutes." "What kind of position is this for?" "I'm not at liberty to speak on his behalf." "You want me to drive 40 minutes to your office to talk to an EVP for ten minutes and you won't tell me what it's about?" Oy! |
