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The financial services industry, as well as financial disciplines common to all industries (such as accounting), have long histories of attracting energetic and ambitious people who are looking for the best career opportunities. Focusing on the financial services industry, here are a few of its most significant selling points for prospective employees.
Compensation
The financial services industry is noted for compensation structures that are, overall, much more generous than in other sectors of the economy.
See our more in-depth discussion of compensation for details. In particular, successful financial services sales professionals tend to be especially well paid, both relative to other employees in this industry and especially in comparison to sales people in other industries.
Advancement
Compared to other industries, the financial services firms tend to place less weight on seniority in judging the readiness of employees for advancement. High performers can move ahead regardless of age, making this industry particularly attractive for ambitious young people in a hurry.
Getting Started
Breaking into the financial services industry presents increasing challenges today due to the consolidation of financial firms and the scaling back of traditional entry points such as financial advisor training programs and the renowned Goldman Sachs Junior Analyst Program. Nonetheless, financial internships are growing in importance as avenues to the best jobs in the industry.
Bureaucracy
Many of the leading firms tend to be relatively thinly-staffed. There are comparatively few layers of management. Decision-making tends to be rather quick. Your opportunities for getting face time in front of senior management also tend to be excellent.
That is, these firms do not normally operate in a highly formalized, chain of command fashion which is more typical of slower-footed traditional industrial companies.
You also are more likely to juggle multiple responsibilities within a given job category, often ranging far beyond the official job description, compared to the norms in other companies. Bureaucracy should be an important consideration in choosing employers.
Pace
A premium is placed on quick thinking, quick acting, and constant production of results. This can be trying for some people, exhilarating for others. The thin staffing and comparative lack of bureaucracy requires exceptionally hard work, focus and commitment to stay afloat, let alone to succeed. For those who do, however, the rewards are commensurately great.
Caveats
As a general rule, the banking and insurance sectors of financial services tend to be rather more bureaucratic, more deeply staffed and less remunerative at all levels than firms whose principal lines of business are in (for example) securities brokerage (or financial advisory services), investment banking, securities trading, investment management (or money management), and/or securities research. These latter types of firms include what is commonly called Wall Street.