The Finance Whisperer

Top 5 Best Paying Banks

Everyone knows that finance and banking jobs can offer great salaries—but which banks have the best?  A recent Forbes article recently ranked banks that paid the highest salaries.  Here are the top five, based on salaries for vice presidents and financial analysts:

1.    Goldman Sachs
Average base salary for vice presidents: $165,424
Average base salary for financial analysts: $74,958

2.    American Express
Average base salary for vice presidents: $156,760
Average base salary for financial analysts: $67,670

3.    Capital One
Average base salary for vice presidents: $151,853
Average base salary for financial analysts: $70,091

4.    Morgan Stanley
Average base salary for vice presidents: $141,439
Average base salary for financial analysts: $62,183

5.    Wells Fargo
Average base salary for vice presidents: $124,540
Average base salary for financial analysts: $60,586

While a great salary can be very enticing, make sure you look at other factors before choosing your first job!  Take corporate culture into account, as well as learning opportunities and benefits. Most importantly, make sure you like the job and company.

The Three Main Questions in an Interview

For an important job interview, it is not uncommon for a candidate to prepare for hours and to try out multiple techniques to battle his or her nerves.  As you prepare, George Bradt, a Contributor at Forbes, clues us in that outside of job knowledge, the decision of whether you get hired or not boils down to three main questions. 

1.    Are You Capable of Handling the Job?
Recruiters want to know that you have the knowledge, skills, and management abilities to handle the job that is given to you.  You should highlight your strengths and if they ask you about your weaknesses, tell them what you have learned from your past mistakes.

2.    Will You Like What You Do?
Recruiters want to know that you enjoy your job, your colleagues, and your environment.  If an employee is only motivated by salary, then he or she will soon be unsatisfied and leave the company.  To reduce turnover, recruiters look for employees who love their jobs.

3.    Will You Fit Into the Corporate Culture?
Recruiters want to know that as a new hire in a new environment, you will mesh well with your colleagues and the culture of the company.  During an interview, recruiters are not only evaluating your skill set but also your attitude and personality.

As you prepare for an interview, decide how you will answer each of these questions.  Be ready to provide relevant examples.  The questions may be asked in different ways, but all questions will circle back to these three main points.  Best of luck in your job search!

Is Investment Banking Tied to Poor Health?

Thinking about a career in investment banking?  Make sure to take care of yourself!  A recent study by the University of Southern California determined that investment banking is correlated to insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders, and an explosive temper.   The study’s researcher shadowed about 25 entry-level investment bankers, from the time they graduated from business school, to ten years out.  Within a few years, every individual developed either a physical or emotional illness while banking.  One of the main factors that may be contributing to this outcome is the long hours investment bankers have.  In the first year, many (or most) bankers spend 100 hours a week in the office.  By the sixth year, the researcher determined that 60% of those observed were still struggling with their health in some capacity, while 40% had learned to make their health a priority.  Investment banking is certainly not a career for the faint of heart—if you decide on that career path, be sure to be cognizant of your health!

5 Tips if You're Laid Off

While the unemployment figures are looking more and more positive overall, a number of major corporations are continuing to lay off their workers – companies like American Airlines and Pepsi.  So make sure you’re prepared for anything!  Here are 5 tips if you get laid off:

1. Remain positive and professional.  Constantly thinking about what you should have done differently can often make it difficult to move forward. 
2. Negotiate your severance package.  Many people don’t know that end dates and severance packages are up for discussion.  Make sure you completely understand the process.
3. Look into internal mobility options.  While your department may be downsizing, there could be others that are doing well.  In addition, there may be subsidiaries of your employer that are looking to hire.
4. Make sure to collect colleagues’ contact info.  These connections may be useful in the future—at the very least, connect with everyone on LinkedIn.
5. Take some time to contemplate your next move.  Not everyone gets the opportunity to really think through their next career step—take advantage of it!

Accounting Jobs are on the Rise

Concerned about the lack of hiring in the finance and banking sector?  Consider switching over to the accounting profession!  More and more positions are becoming available at both public accounting firms and companies in need of in-house accountants.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers in accounting are expected to grow by 22% between 2008 and 2018!  One of the primary reasons for this increase has to do with regulatory changes, such as Dodd-Frank.  Accounting firms are looking to hire at every level, from recent graduates to senior managers, for a variety of opportunities.  Firms are looking to hire for accounting positions in a number of U.S. cities, including New York, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.  You could also think about going abroad to countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China.  If you want to take a break from Wall Street, a career in accounting might be the way to go!

Accounting Jobs are on the Rise

Concerned about the lack of hiring in the finance and banking sector?  Consider switching over to the accounting profession!  More and more positions are becoming available at both public accounting firms and companies in need of in-house accountants.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers in accounting are expected to grow by 22% between 2008 and 2018!  One of the primary reasons for this increase has to do with regulatory changes, such as Dodd-Frank.  Accounting firms are looking to hire at every level, from recent graduates to senior managers, for a variety of opportunities.  Firms are looking to hire for accounting positions in a number of U.S. cities, including New York, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.  You could also think about going abroad to countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China.  If you want to take a break from Wall Street, a career in accounting might be the way to go!

Exercise and Your Boss

Do you have a mean or aggressive boss?  See if you can get them to go to the gym!  A recent study determined that managers who exercise for even a half-hour once or twice a week are significantly less likely to treat their employees harshly.  In the study, 98 employees in accounting, engineering, and banking professions were asked to rate their bosses.  The scale measured verbal abuse and humiliation tactics.  The study found that aggression in the office was strongly linked to frequency of exercise.  So consider paying for some classes for your boss’ next birthday!  According to the study, the type of exercise is not important.

Jobs in Finance - Playing Catch Up

Despite the positive employment outlook for January reported last Friday, it seems Wall Street employers still have a bit of catching up to do.  In total, the number of jobs in financial services dropped by 5% in January.  Within financial services, the greatest decline was for jobs in finance and insurance (7.5%), followed by jobs in securities, commodity contracts, and investments activities (2.9%), and commercial banking (2%).  Although these figures are disappointing in comparison to those in other industries, hopefully we are just a month away from seeing more jobs open up for financial services!

More Technical and Specialized Management Positions

A recent trend has become apparent among companies’ executive teams—engineers and other technical managers are becoming more prevalent in top management, while executives with backgrounds in business are decreasing in numbers.  Titles like “chief operating officer” are appearing less often, yet management teams have doubled in size in the past twenty years.  According to a recent study by Facebook, 3,337 company CEOs and founders had advanced backgrounds in engineering, while only claim to have 1,016 have MBAs.  Career experts claim that professionals looking to advance their careers should consider pursuing more specialized degrees, rather than general business ones.  Executive roles have become increasingly more specialized, and many believe the trend is here to stay.  So if you’re looking to take your career to the next level, consider a more specialized role!

The U.S. Economy Adds 170,000 Jobs

ADP announced today that the private sector added 170,000 new jobs in January, a figure that came in below most economists’ predictions.  The number reveals that hiring slowed in January, after 292,000 jobs were added in December.  Interestingly enough, over half of the companies who hired in January were in the services sector and had fewer than 50 employees.  This trend is likely correlated to the increase in demand for small business loans in the fourth quarter—hopefully because people are becoming more confident about the state of the economy!  Larger companies, however, only hired 3,000 new workers.  The Bureau of Labor releases January’s unemployment rate on Friday; economists are not expecting any major progress, but maybe we’ll be surprised!