lulubelle Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 My dh just landed a job in finance that we are really excited about. But, there are some people we know well that have had a very negative reaction. They feel as though it is a senseless and useless job. How would you react? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5of5 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I don't know too much about it except that the upper executives often need a rotation in finance to advance. I've never heard anything particularly negative about it. I always imagined that it was more attractive than, say, accounting. I can imagine, though, that this may be industry dependent. What sort of company is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 It depends on the particular type of job. "Finance" is a broad term. I wouldn't call a job senseless and useless if there's room for talented and hard-working people to advance. If you and your dh are excited about the prospect, it doesn't matter what others think. Congrats and good luck! (I might have more concern if the naysayers were people with special, firsthand knowledge of the particular firm/position, or even special knowledge of the industry, that led them to such a dim outlook. FWIW, I know a few very successful investment bankers...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 My dh is very smart and hard working. He is a scientist. It is high frequency trading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Okay. What they might mean is that - as far as I understand - hft is about making money from market inefficiencies rather than from, for example, lending money or buying shares to help grow a business. It is very personal whether this is a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Uh, my reaction? "I think your job is senseless and useless, too. Go away." :) (I think that's a really rude thing to say to someone, particularly if they're opinion wasn't requested.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 There may be some jealousy since people perceive finance as being very lucrative. Also, I think it's a field most people don't understand (I sure don't) but also feel is full of trickery and liars and people out for the bottom line, such as all the shenanigans that led to the housing bubble. I think it's seen as something you do for money, not out of interesting or love. I'm not at all saying that's your dh! I'm just saying that is a perception that some people have that may be coloring how they react to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupidusername Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Uh, my reaction? "I think your job is senseless and useless, too. Go away." :) (I think that's a really rude thing to say to someone, particularly if they're opinion wasn't requested.) This. I think it sounds like a very interesting and lucrative job. I hope your husband makes a gazillion dollars. How does one get into this field, if I may ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 My dh is very smart and hard working. He is a scientist. It is high frequency trading. My cousin graduated in mechanical engineering (dean's list and scholar) and went into investment banking. He could retire at 50. It fits certain personality. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Chances are those people have seen too many movies based in the world of finance. Maybe they were victims of the Madoff scandal. I am grateful for people who work in finance because it means I can have a mortgage on my house, a 401K, and (albeit minuscule) educational funds for a couple of my kids. Way better than keeping money in a mattress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I think people sterotype finance a lot. It's not all Liar's Poker (the book). We all rely on a well functioning financial system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Chances are those people have seen too many movies based in the world of finance. Maybe they were victims of the Madoff scandal. I am grateful for people who work in finance because it means I can have a mortgage on my house, a 401K, and (albeit minuscule) educational funds for a couple of my kids. Way better than keeping money in a mattress. I don't think one needs to watch movies or fallen prey to Madoff to be negative about the financial markets. The Great Recession is still very much on people's minds and shaping their lives. Still, a lot of the negativity about finance springs from a mix of not understanding the markets and also stereotyping of finance workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 No more than law. Congrats to your husband. His job will be what he makes it. Best of luck to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Are you asking to see if the feedback you received reflects a common view or because you don't actually know why there would be negative responses? FWIW, I would not call that a job in finance, but in securities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 I think I just wanted to know what others thought about this type of job. It has been a bitter pill to swallow to have a dear friend say this to our face. She's always been brutally honest, so I really just need to cope. I think we just need to not take it personal - I guess. She told my dh that her ivy league alma mater lost many great graduates to finance. Dh is a particle field theorist in physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I think I just wanted to know what others thought about this type of job. It has been a bitter pill to swallow to have a dear friend say this to our face. She's always been brutally honest, so I really just need to cope. I think we just need to not take it personal - I guess. She told my dh that her ivy league alma mater lost many great graduates to finance. Dh is a particle field theorist in physics.She sounds bitter. Good luck to your DH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Losing people to finance is an odd way to express it. Those people didn't succumb to a dreadful disease, they just made a different career choice. FWIW Husband has been in finance/investment for 30 years. PM me if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Losing people to finance is an odd way to express it. Those people didn't succumb to a dreadful disease, they just made a different career choice. FWIW Husband has been in finance/investment for 30 years. I totally agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 The portrayal of "finance" in the media has been quite poor recently. Prior to meeting DH I was engaged to an investment banker, who stated he was a sociopath. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. I think sociopaths tend to be drawn to jobs in investment banking generally, but it certainly doesn't mean they are all evil OR that finance as a sector is bad. Finance is great. Finance solves more problems than any other field, and the amount of money he will make at it will directly relate to how much value he brings to the world. There's a great book by Rabbi Daniel Lapin called Thou Shall Prosper that talks at great length about media and social misperceptions that money is evil. It sounds to me like you don't subscribe to the myth that money or wanting more money is evil, but there are people in your life who do, and you don't know how to respond to that. This book talks at length about the ethics of money. It's... deep. Like, I bought the audiobook and listened to it three times and I'm still not certain I've absorbed it all. I had no idea how much my relationship with that ex of mine had damaged my assumptions about money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 She told my dh that her ivy league alma mater lost many great graduates to finance. She is just venting, I don't think its personal. My alma mater has always "lost" the top engineering grads to the finance sector. The banks go a courting during our final year and pay better than an entry level engineer's position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I am a finance professor, so I won't agree that finance is a useless job. We did see a drop in people wanting to major in finance in 2008 because of all of the bad publicity regarding the financial markets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristen18 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 This post explains what HFT is, and why some people don't think highly of it. It's basically making money off of computer manipulation. To each his own. http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2139438 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Finance has the money...right? Sounds pretty good to me. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 This post explains what HFT is, and why some people don't think highly of it. It's basically making money off of computer manipulation. To each his own. http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2139438 Wow. That article makes OP's dh's new job sound unethical at best and illegal at worst (or maybe the other way around). That's the type of "finance" that gives finance a bad name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 The portrayal of "finance" in the media has been quite poor recently. Prior to meeting DH I was engaged to an investment banker, who stated he was a sociopath. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. I think sociopaths tend to be drawn to jobs in investment banking generally, but it certainly doesn't mean they are all evil OR that finance as a sector is bad. Finance is great. Finance solves more problems than any other field, and the amount of money he will make at it will directly relate to how much value he brings to the world. There's a great book by Rabbi Daniel Lapin called Thou Shall Prosper that talks at great length about media and social misperceptions that money is evil. It sounds to me like you don't subscribe to the myth that money or wanting more money is evil, but there are people in your life who do, and you don't know how to respond to that. This book talks at length about the ethics of money. It's... deep. Like, I bought the audiobook and listened to it three times and I'm still not certain I've absorbed it all. I had no idea how much my relationship with that ex of mine had damaged my assumptions about money. OOOh. I used to listen to Rabbi Lapin on the radio. I had no idea he was a writer too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Well, your post got me up out of my comfy chair and made me walk all the way down the hall to my computer with a real keyboard so I could respond to you. First, congratulations to your husband on his new job! Second, the commenter--she was rude, but I also want to ask--do you think that she feels he is *wasting* (haha) his particle physics background and selling out as a scientist? Some people feel like that. Some people wish they themselves could DO that (more money) but don't have the nerve or the talent or the life-situation to make it happen. Anyway, a couple of questions. Does your dh want to be in business and not in science? Then this is a good move! And the field of finance is about as complex as particle physics so he will need and use all his brains! :0) And I have to say, this is a pretty big move from one field to another--is the finance position in a company that has to DO with science? If so, all the better. If not, no big deal, but it does make a difference. Back in the day (:::drifting off into memories of ancient history as I lean on my cane::::) when I was being groomed for senior management, a couple of VPs in a very good company pulled me aside and told me how to plan my career. They said something along these lines. There are couple of ways to senior management in a company. First is to do everything related to the core product. So if your company makes widgets (the tradition non-product of theoretical discussions), you learn how to make widgets, design them, gather the raw material for them, sell them, market them, get product placement for them, provide product support for them...everything. The other way to become a senior manager (and the one they recommended for me as I was NOT going to be able to do the multiple responsibilities described above related to our particular widget) is to do every function within a company. Product management, finance, sales, marketing, support, R&D, development, and so on, as many as possible at a management level. That way, when they needed a big shot to manage the whole enchilada, you are the obvious choice, because you have done it all. So. There is that. The other piece of advice I got was to stay as close to the core of the company as possible. If your company makes and sells widgets, don't get into the MIS division of computer support for the company--that is nowhere near the product tiself. Product design, manufacturing, management, marketing and in some cases sales are at the core of the business. The next concentric circle is finance, accounting and in some cases legal (especially in intellectual property kinds of businesses). That circle is OK to be in. But you don't want to be in MIS or HR or training or in most cases accounting. It's not that there are not good jobs in these places...they are just not at the core of the particular business you are in. If you are an accountant, and you want to be in the core of the business, get with a CPA firm. See what I mean? Anyway, from your post, I can't tell what "concentric circle" your dh's job is in, but that is one thing to think about. There are companies where finance is the core product. There are companies where finance is in the second concentric circle. Either of these are GREAT. When you get to the point where it is far away from the product, then it can be less promising as a career path, but it can still be a wonderful job--I have friends who have been in the third concentric circle for YEARS and they just love it because they love doing what they do, they make decent money, they've been there long enough to be unaffected by layoffs, and they get to go home at night and not worry about career trajectory. Anyway, that is what I learned at the knees of 2 VPs and from observation. My dh got his MBA with an emphasis in finance, and he adores it. It is really annoying because just as I am nodding off, he is likely to start reading some *****fascinating***** paragraph about some finance theory (grrrr--I'm YAWNing). Me, I got my MBA in operations. Now THAT is what is fascinating...just in time delivery, making the product move through the channel faster....let me read you this CHAPTER. LOL Good for your husband. Sounds like you got a smarty, which means it is pretty likely you are one too. Don't let the naysayers get you down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I think he'll get that reaction from a lot of scientists in academia, but then again, it isn't like a particle physicist is ending world hunger. If it is what he wants to do, great. Go for it. Academia eats people alive and then spits them out. My hubby was pretty bummed when a colleague he really admired left it for a major hedge fund, though he certainly didn't say that. He tried to come up with an alternative since his colleague did want to stay in academia, but his colleague was unwilling to move around and you can't really be a physicist without being willing to move. We've stayed in touch, as we live in the same city, and it seems that he enjoys his job but doesn't find it particularly challenging. He was telling my hubby some of the easy things he does that people are amazed at. Emily (whose husband has succeeded at academia but wonders what road he would have chosen if he had known what academia was really like) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 snip Emily (whose husband has succeeded at academia but wonders what road he would have chosen if he had known what academia was really like) I have friends in this boat. And I have friends in the commercial boat..."shoulda gone the academic route...." It's a tough slog, academia...I'm glad your dh has found his way to make it work. :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I think I just wanted to know what others thought about this type of job. It has been a bitter pill to swallow to have a dear friend say this to our face. She's always been brutally honest, so I really just need to cope. I think we just need to not take it personal - I guess. She told my dh that her ivy league alma mater lost many great graduates to finance. Dh is a particle field theorist in physics. Am I the only one, or did anyone else just hear Regentrude whimper? ;) Lulubelle, I hope your DH finds the work exciting and fulfilling, and I hope that when your friend sees how he is thriving she will apologize for speaking out of turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I used to work the prosecution side of securities fraud. So my opinion isn't probably one you'd want to hear. ;) But, I will say this. If he is going into this field. Make sure he knows the rules. The company will have compliance experts and he can usually look to them for solid information and guidance-with the exception of a totally corrupt firm like you read about. Listen to compliance, not fellow workers or even the boss when it comes to the legality of something. Your DH will be smart enough to read through and understand the legal materials independently so that is good. My view is that it is very easy to accidentally slip up and it is also easy to find oneself in a corporate culture that has been going down a slipperly slope for years ("Oh, we don't worry about that, it's not big deal...). In either case, knowing the rules yourself will help keep you safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Am I the only one, or did anyone else just hear Regentrude whimper? ;) It's not too unusual for people who've studied physics to eventually go into something like finance. They get the job because they can do the difficult math. My husband's cousin studied physics in Germany but works in investment banking there and in Switzerland. His wife is a physicist, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Good grief, someone sounds jealous. Congratulations to you and your DH! My husband and I have technical degrees and have seen a number of friends jump to the financial sector at points and back. My DH actually used to work in the finance sector, but he was doing 80 hour weeks and was flying to New York constantly, so he decided on a change after a while. We are still reaping benefits of that job financially though. And he still does very well now too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I was an accountant in the tax dept of a large corporation. We happened to be in a sector made up of engineers. In my role, I dealt with finance and accounting and engineers for certain projects. I loved when an engineer was in a finance role because it meant he or she understood the money side and the engineering! Most engineers didn't want to deal with the boring tax lady asking questions about their research! But, an engineer in a finance role understood why I was asking and how I was trying to benefit the company. Made my job much easier! Plus, it was fun to learn some of the engineering. At our company to really advance out of just tax, I would have rotated through many departments in finance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 It's not too unusual for people who've studied physics to eventually go into something like finance. They get the job because they can do the difficult math. My husband's cousin studied physics in Germany but works in investment banking there and in Switzerland. His wife is a physicist, though. I would not have guessed that. Thanks so much for sharing the info. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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