Cue Elle Woods: "What, like it's HARD??" The experience of young candidates breaking into the industry twenty, thirty, or forty years ago bears little resemblance to that of aspiring financiers today. While many of the same qualities that make for a successful finance professional need to be embodied, the methods by which skill level and qualification are now judged have gotten...crazy. Applicants as early as their sophomore year in college are now asked to demonstrate technical skill in ways that many MDs and GPs might find humbling. However, that doesn't mean the experience of those who started their careers decades ago should be dismissed either. The skills set required to succeed in earlier decades may have seemed less technically rigorous, but that doesn't mean success was necessarily easier to come by. The interpersonal communication skills, tenacity, and even physicality sometimes required on the job decades ago would weed out many of today's candidates. It's important to keep the lines of communication going up AND down the ladder of seniority...maybe you'll learn a thing or two. #investmentbanking #privateequity #trading #careers #womeninfinance