Job Title
Investment Analyst
Skills you rely on most in your role:
Ingenuity, creativity, communication, collaboration, problem solving
In high school, I would have been voted most likely to:
Be the quietest in the room
Question from Jessica, Barrie, ON:
“What certain skills do you need to work at your organization? What skills do you learn there? I want to become an investment banker, what advice do you have?”
I’d like to tailor your question just slightly Jessica. I think the more important question is what certain skills do you need to
excel at the organization!
- Ability to effectively communicate with others: Our work can be extremely detail oriented and rather complex at times; being able to simplify and articulate problems and solutions helps greatly.
- Organization/time management: In finance you tend to be pulled in many directions, working on several projects at once. Being able to effectively manage expectations from stakeholders and varying deadlines is very important.
What skills have I learned at my organization:
- The importance of simplification: Being able to focus on the important concepts and cut out all the fluff is an art form.
- Relationships, relationships, relationships: Foster friendships and relationships with everyone. You never know who you’ll run into at later stages in your life and the impact they may have on you (personally and professionally!)
A few pieces of advice as you work towards a career as an investment banker:
- Remain curious, dive into a wide array of topics, challenge yourself to explore different subjects that you don’t know much about.
- Read as much as you can!!! Any job you have in finance will require you to read lots of information and retain as much as possible. Developing those skills early will be extremely helpful in the future.
- Good grades will help! Having strong grades in university will help open up doors for you, but with that said, do not obsess over marks; they are by no means the only thing that will define your career.