What is the attitude of young people to join the financial industry?
Text-Li Pu. From January 16 to 19, 2024, more than 300 major leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels held a special discussion on the major issue related to the overall situation of Chinese-style modernization - promoting high-quality financial development at the ** Party School. **The general secretary delivered an important speech at the opening ceremony, emphasizing "unswervingly taking the road of financial development with Chinese characteristics" and "promoting the high-quality development of China's finance".
When talking about a financial power, the speech mentioned a series of key core financial elements, including a "strong financial talent team". As the main force of the financial industry, what kind of attitude should young people take to join the financial industry and contribute to the high-quality development of finance?
Financial youth need to be de-labeled
The financial industry has always attracted much attention, and was even once seen as synonymous with prosperity and success, and the practitioners in it are also linked to labels such as "high starting point", "high income", "more money", "decent and promising", "elite", etc., and a large number of young people are attracted by these labels.
I don't like finance per se, but I like the decentness and high income of the job. "Many young people who have just stepped out of school and have not been deeply involved in the world have entered the financial industry with such an idea. Even after the "salary cap" order, the financial industry is still attractive. However, the current financial market, especially at the moment of promoting high-quality financial development, does it need talents for the purpose of "making money"? Are they competent for financial work under the requirements and trends of high-quality development? I guess the answer should be no.
From the perspective of the personal career development of the majority of young people, I would like to say that if we are passionate about the work we will be engaged in, and this job is valuable to the society and contributes to the people, then this job is decent and worth devoting to, and we can also obtain long-term and broad career development space, and it is inevitable and comfortable to obtain a satisfactory income. On the contrary, if you don't love it, have no interest in financial work, and the original intention is just to make quick money and make a lot of money, this job may slowly "consume" your passion, which is not the most terrible, if you taste the sweetness of quick money and big money, financial work may lead you to the end of self-destruction.
We return to the financial industry itself, the goal of the development of the financial industry is definitely not to make money, China's finance has carried the gene and mission of serving the society and the public at the beginning of its birth. The essence of finance is to help the financing of funds, so that individuals or enterprises that need to use funds, and individuals or enterprises who have spare money in hand and need financial management, can obtain the most efficient match through the matching of financial service institutions and practitioners. From the asset side, whether it is a bank, a first-class insurance or a trust, it should and must fulfill the responsibility of supporting the development of real enterprises and supporting the people to obtain a happy and beautiful life. For example, inclusive finance can serve "entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship", so that entrepreneurs can obtain real financial support, solve the financing difficulties of small and micro enterprises, etc.; Through the design of reasonable housing loan products, it can not only allow people to own their first home and improve their houses at a lower cost to gain a sense of belonging, but also effectively put an end to speculation in housing speculation, which is the embodiment of "housing not speculation" in the financial industry. From the perspective of liabilities, the bank's savings and wealth management products help the people manage liquidity, brokers, and qualified investors through the capital market services to obtain risk returns and excess returns, and insurance implements the function of a social stabilizer, and solves the problem of medical supplementation, pension supplement, and risk compensation through rich insurance products.
In the process of serving the society and serving the public, in fact, it is necessary for specific financial practitioners to conscientiously complete their respective work, and only when the practitioners in it love finance, have financial professional knowledge, and grasp the pain points and needs of the service objects, will they truly implement the responsibility of financial services to the society. Therefore, talent is an important factor in promoting the high-quality development of finance.
Young people who have joined or are ready to join the financial industry should remove many labels from the outside world for financial practitioners, change their thinking, and not simply run towards the goal of making quick money and making a lot of money, as they need to shoulder some responsibilities in this industry. At the same time, we should also open our minds, the emergence and development of China's financial industry requires the efforts of generations, the older generation has completed the task of financial popularization, and now in the face of an increasingly complex economic environment, financial youth need to give full play to their wisdom and talents to promote the high-quality development of China's finance.
I like a saying that young people go to the future, and they determine the direction of the future.
Altruistic service, professional empowerment
In 2018, Huang Qifan delivered a speech at the graduation ceremony of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, saying: "Finance is essentially a modern service industry with an intermediary nature. ”
I think this is a standard for a qualified financial youth.
In the service industry, it should be the service attribute first, and the financial attribute last, but in actual work, many people will reverse the order, such as recommending financial products and financial solutions to customers when they do not do any service and do not understand customer needs. Nor is this the talent that the financial industry will need in the future.
What kind of services do financial customers need? The first is altruism, which does not need to be able to speak well, but always considers the problem from the perspective of the customer and meets the needs of the customer. The second is professional knowledge, which can give solutions to problems.
For example, in the case of the insurance industry, in the eyes of some people, insurance may be at the bottom of the chain of financial contempt, because in the stereotype, insurance practitioners mostly sell insurance policies through ** or door-to-door sales. But what makes me happy is that in the past five years, I have seen a lot of young insurance people using "service" to create value for customers, in fact, the new generation of young people has long been rid of the traditional business model of the past, and their work process is to establish a relationship of trust with customers - understand customer information, dig out needs - analyze customers' financial and family situations and give solutions - provide after-sales service after closing. The whole process is from the customer's point of view, discovering their real needs and giving professional solutions.
Of course, this workflow requires expertise and competence to support it. For example, the ability to manage risks, how to organize insurance policies, how to do product portfolio; The ability of asset management requires not only understanding basic cash flow planning, but also understanding higher-level asset allocation logic and trust structure design; Customer service capabilities, including preservation claims, dispute resolution, financing claims, etc.
Consistently, in the context of high-quality financial development, what the industry needs is this kind of young team with a sense of service and excellent professional quality.
Therefore, young people should be prepared to step into the financial industry, which is not the end, but the beginning, the beginning of continuous learning, the beginning of continuous encountering new problems and solving new problems, and the beginning of continuous improvement of professional skills.
Get ready for growth
Looking back on the past 2023, the financial industry has ushered in a number of reforms, such as the first financial work conference was held, and the goal of building a financial power was clarified; The State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration was established, and the financial regulatory structure was changed from "one bank, two sessions" to "one bank, one general administration and one meeting"; * The reform of the issuance and registration system has been fully implemented, and so on. This year's symposium once again emphasized "promoting the high-quality development of China's finance".
These "big events" may not have a direct impact on us individually, but everyone plays a different role in the development of the general trend and jointly promotes the development of the industry. What is certain is that we are already at a critical juncture in the rapid development of finance, and young people in finance are ready to meet the development.
What exactly do you need to prepare?
First of all, the most basic thing is to respect the law and stick to the bottom line. **The general secretary emphasized the "five nos" at the opening ceremony: honesty and trustworthiness, not exceeding the bottom line; Profit by righteousness, not profit; Steady and prudent, not eager for quick success; Integrity and innovation, not from the real to the virtual; Comply with laws and regulations, and do not act arbitrarily.
The financial industry needs to deal directly with money, and it is necessary to stick to the bottom line of the law and the bottom line of the profession, and say no to **.
The second is to accept new things and understand how to use various tools. For example, some financial practitioners have begun to use AI to achieve portfolio and financial analysis, and the application of AI will be wider in the future, and young people should keep up with the trend of the times.
Also, maintain a lifelong learning attitude, improve your skills, and arm yourself. In terms of basic skills, it is necessary to think positively, study carefully, and especially have good communication skills, writing and language skills, and adaptability. The service industry needs to establish direct contact with the outside world through communication and expression, and at the same time, it is difficult to make progress if you cannot adapt to the changes in the industry and the company. In terms of professional skills, different positions have different requirements for professional skills, such as insurance companies need to understand customer management, insurance products, and risk planning.
At any time, a more professional self is the best reliance, compared to the uncertainty of industry changes, improving yourself is the only certainty that can be grasped.
Finally, as a "veteran" in the financial industry, I would like to nag the youth again, the future of the financial industry, may not continue to write the story of "wealth freedom", please dispel the idea of making a lot of money in the financial industry, steadily and steadily improve your professionalism, really serve the people, I believe that this industry will eventually give you everything you want.
The author is the initiator of IFA Independent Financial Advisors Association in China, the founding partner of Shengrui Investment, the manager of the APP Logical Thinking Financial Management column, and the producer of the "Fortune Talk" column of Wu Xiaobo Channel).Producer: Pi JunFinal review: Chen MinReviewer: Liu Xiao, Liu BowenEditor: Zhang SixuYang Yingkai (intern).