Changing career path at 29...
Discussion
I’ve been working in a London for just over 10 years. Started as an office junior / accounts assistant & have worked my way up to the point where my next job would be Financial Controller. But I’m not sure I want to continue on the path I’m on.
I’m 29 years old and wondering if a career change is too late. I’ve always wanted to work in investment, either with a Hedge fund or Investment bank. Would I be taken seriously for a more senior position within a hedge fund or bank, considering my experience & management experience? Or would it be starting from the bottom again? And what’s the standard salary in the City now for the sort of level I could expect? Couldn’t afford too much of a drop in salary due to Mortgage etc.
I don’t have a university degree (which seems important to some but not all) as I started working when I left school at 18, feeling my efforts would be better spent on gaining experience as I struggled to motivate myself to study at school. Any advice / input from any brokers, analysts etc would be appreciated.
I’m 29 years old and wondering if a career change is too late. I’ve always wanted to work in investment, either with a Hedge fund or Investment bank. Would I be taken seriously for a more senior position within a hedge fund or bank, considering my experience & management experience? Or would it be starting from the bottom again? And what’s the standard salary in the City now for the sort of level I could expect? Couldn’t afford too much of a drop in salary due to Mortgage etc.
I don’t have a university degree (which seems important to some but not all) as I started working when I left school at 18, feeling my efforts would be better spent on gaining experience as I struggled to motivate myself to study at school. Any advice / input from any brokers, analysts etc would be appreciated.
It's not too late and yes you can move over - your skills are suited to places like banks but it would be at junior level. Don't kid yourself you'll be on the trading floor raking in millions; you're probably too late now to start doing that as they like to pick people from elite universities, train their own from a young age and it's a who you know world. A lot of people just burn out and the grass isn't always greener.
Investment banks are massive and roles vary hugely - it's not all about shouting down the phone buying and selling stuff, investing money all over the place. I reckon 90% of employees are not generating any money at all and are all support \ admin types in various departments. It's also no where near as sexy and lucrative as TV makes it out to be - sure there will be a handful of millionaires but most forget about the other 70,000 working at the firm doing long hours for pretty average wage doing mundane tasks.
Expecting to just walk in as a senior is a very unrealistic expectation. With 10 years experience you'll be considered a low level manager (VP level - this is the same level as typical bank manager at your local high street branch) - and that's with 10 years of being working in a bank. You'll have to start as an analyst which is a junior for 2-3 years at least. An investment bank will have thousands of VP level managers with 10 or more years experience and you won't get anywhere near the vaguely interesting bit of managing money as you need additional qualifications to do this on top of a degree (not that the degree does anything).
Check out the glassdoor website for insights and wage levels. I think you will be better off staying on the path you are on or forget IBs and hedge funds (most hedge funds won't even look at you unless you've been to an IB or another hedge fund).
The reality of working at an investment bank
Investment banks are massive and roles vary hugely - it's not all about shouting down the phone buying and selling stuff, investing money all over the place. I reckon 90% of employees are not generating any money at all and are all support \ admin types in various departments. It's also no where near as sexy and lucrative as TV makes it out to be - sure there will be a handful of millionaires but most forget about the other 70,000 working at the firm doing long hours for pretty average wage doing mundane tasks.
Expecting to just walk in as a senior is a very unrealistic expectation. With 10 years experience you'll be considered a low level manager (VP level - this is the same level as typical bank manager at your local high street branch) - and that's with 10 years of being working in a bank. You'll have to start as an analyst which is a junior for 2-3 years at least. An investment bank will have thousands of VP level managers with 10 or more years experience and you won't get anywhere near the vaguely interesting bit of managing money as you need additional qualifications to do this on top of a degree (not that the degree does anything).
Check out the glassdoor website for insights and wage levels. I think you will be better off staying on the path you are on or forget IBs and hedge funds (most hedge funds won't even look at you unless you've been to an IB or another hedge fund).
The reality of working at an investment bank
Edited by Anubis on Friday 22 June 09:26
Anubis said:
It's not too late and yes you can move over - your skills are suited to places like banks but it would be at junior level. Don't kid yourself you'll be on the trading floor raking in millions; you're probably too late now to start doing that as they like to pick people from elite universities, train their own from a young age and it's a who you know world. A lot of people just burn out and the grass isn't always greener.
Investment banks are massive and roles vary hugely - it's not all about shouting down the phone buying and selling stuff, investing money all over the place. I reckon 90% of employees are not generating any money at all and are all support \ admin types in various departments. It's also no where near as sexy and lucrative as TV makes it out to be - sure there will be a handful of millionaires but most forget about the other 70,000 working at the firm doing long hours for pretty average wage doing mundane tasks.
Expecting to just walk in as a senior is a very unrealistic expectation. With 10 years experience you'll be considered a low level manager (VP level - this is the same level as typical bank manager at your local high street branch) - and that's with 10 years of being working in a bank. You'll have to start as an analyst which is a junior for 2-3 years at least. An investment bank will have thousands of VP level managers with 10 or more years experience and you won't get anywhere near the vaguely interesting bit of managing money as you need additional qualifications to do this on top of a degree (not that the degree does anything).
Check out the glassdoor website for insights and wage levels. I think you will be better off staying on the path you are on or forget IBs and hedge funds (most hedge funds won't even look at you unless you've been to an IB or another hedge fund).
The reality of working at an investment bank
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll check it out.Investment banks are massive and roles vary hugely - it's not all about shouting down the phone buying and selling stuff, investing money all over the place. I reckon 90% of employees are not generating any money at all and are all support \ admin types in various departments. It's also no where near as sexy and lucrative as TV makes it out to be - sure there will be a handful of millionaires but most forget about the other 70,000 working at the firm doing long hours for pretty average wage doing mundane tasks.
Expecting to just walk in as a senior is a very unrealistic expectation. With 10 years experience you'll be considered a low level manager (VP level - this is the same level as typical bank manager at your local high street branch) - and that's with 10 years of being working in a bank. You'll have to start as an analyst which is a junior for 2-3 years at least. An investment bank will have thousands of VP level managers with 10 or more years experience and you won't get anywhere near the vaguely interesting bit of managing money as you need additional qualifications to do this on top of a degree (not that the degree does anything).
Check out the glassdoor website for insights and wage levels. I think you will be better off staying on the path you are on or forget IBs and hedge funds (most hedge funds won't even look at you unless you've been to an IB or another hedge fund).
The reality of working at an investment bank
Edited by Anubis on Friday 22 June 09:26
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