Although the finance jobs come with a lucrative package and pay scale, they also bring with them high levels of stress. Recent sources have revealed that over 65% of the Indian working personnel in the finance sector feel that their jobs embed high levels of stress, and this figure is expected to increase yearly as more and more people are building their careers in finance.
Although there is a lot of growth in this field, the constant change in the market and workload stress make finance a challenging field for jobs. Although all the finance jobs do not involve high levels, most of the entry-level and mid-senior level job profiles involve tight deadlines and high work pressure.
The four most Stressful Finance Jobs
As per the 2014 survey conducted by Asian Investor, the following are the finance jobs, wherein one counters the most stress:
- Investment Banker: To this date, the job format and profile make the job role of an investment banker the most stressful out of all the finance jobs. They encounter two stress triggers, which are the difficulty level of work and the amount of work that they are expected to complete. Investment banking associates, investment banking analysts, and investment bankers in the mergers & acquisition department are the three investment banking roles, which are the more mentally exhaustive. The following are the tasks that an investment banker is expected to perform:
i) Socializing with people.
ii) Connecting and onboarding various entities with the company.
iii) Conduct and attend formal meeting sessions with the entities.
iv) Negotiating with the entities for the sale of the company’s offerings.The multiplicity of tasks deprives them of proper sleep, a good diet, and fitness motives. Moreover, the pay structure does not match the number of tasks performed
- Trader: Although a trader’s job is not that hour demanding as an investment banker, still the stress faced by the people of this designation is much more acute and can occur instantaneously. When one works in trading, he/she must adhere to the fact that most of the factors of the job are highly uncertain, and you cannot do anything but just go with the flow. You sit there on your job desk every day facing situations when the market is in your favor and when it is not.
- Risk management & compliance: Compared to an investment banker, the risk management role is more of a non-revenue generating role, which invites enmity from the employees seeking the transaction approvals. Moreover, as banking frauds and scandals are on the rise, the workload and targets of the risk and compliance personnel are consistently increasing. In this domain, the market and credit risk management are the two of the most stressful roles.
- Wealth managers: Popular for a bad cause, the wealth managers or financial advisors have a bad pay scale, wherein they get only what they get for the company. Moreover, the personnel of this department has less job security, meaning that low productivity can get them fired. This job role is a blend of finance and sales, wherein you must approach people for selling your financial offerings. Initial targets are family members and friends, which further adds to the pressure as the completion of designated targets would only get ya compensation, that too hand-to-mouth. Inflexible working hours and unrealistic targets make this job one of the most challenging finance jobs.
Managing your job stress levels
There are some tested ways that people working in finance jobs can maneuver to curb their job stress levels. They are as follows:
- Map out your daily chart: Many people indulged in finance jobs fail to finish their tasks during office hours, and hence they have to work overnight. To avoid this, they must make an hourly schedule of their day in the morning and must follow that. This would help them in managing their tasks as we make self-imposed time limits per task.
- Eat well and exercise daily: Many assignments allocated to you would increase your stress level, but an external factor that would serve as a stress buster is daily exercise. During your lunch break, you could go run or walk. Another important thing is to eat a healthy and balanced diet to keep your energy levels high.
- Make the best use of your off-days: No matter what the job is, 24*7 working is impossible. Keep all the electronic gadgets aside during your weekends or other holidays and give time to yourself and your close ones. Relax your body and mind during this time, as it would help you to work to your best capabilities when you return to work.
- Network with people after work: The key to making your finance jobs less burdening is socializing with people and fostering strong team relations via good communication. Do not hesitate in going out with your co-workers for drinks or dinner after job as this would help you in developing good coordination with them, which can help you during your job.
Conclusion
A task in finance isn’t always straightforward. To be successful, you’ll need a lot of brainpower, a lot of hard work, and a lot of education. It has the potential to be very successful in the long run because it is an intellectually interesting field. If a person works hard and puts their best foot forward early in their career, it does not take long to rise through the ranks, allowing them to earn more and confront new challenges. So, whether you decide to go into a different company or not, network with people in the banking field.