Is finance a "sales" job?

creamgethamoney
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:46:17 +0000

It involves sales, but its not like a used car salesperson job either. Even i-bankers are glorified salesmen. Basically, most finance jobs are educated BS: you have to crunch numbers, etc. but the best people are those who can use those numbers + other intangibles to get people to buy into their ideas. For example, i-bankers will crunch numbers, put together pitch books through research, etc. to convince two companies to merge. Similarly, consultants will make decks, crunch the numbers, gather data, etc. and try and sell and implement those ideas to a company and corp finance people will crunch numbers and present to upper management about what to invest in, how to finance, etc.

If you’re not comfortable making presentations and selling your ideas, then don’t do finance (take your mouse and get back to making 60k a year as an accountant) but if you enjoy convincing people that your ideas are correct using quantitative analysis and research, then do finance and wear Ferragamo loafers and Hermes ties while your friends wear Kenneth Coles and rock 4 year old blackberries.