At the recent Distinguish Speaker Series (DSS) event hosted by NHC, the audience had the opportunity to hear from professionals from a variety of backgrounds including equity research, trading, data science, and the buy-side.
The first topic that was discussed was soft skills. Panelists spoke about the importance of both verbal and non-verbal communication in the interview process. For a trading position, panelists accentuated the importance of passion, which is the characteristic they look for in their hires.According to the panelists, one of the best ways interviewees can show passion is by having a clear idea of why they want to work in the role they are seeking. Other soft skills that are looked favorably upon are cultural fit, open-mindedness, listening skills, and teamwork skills.Soft skills are very important in working with clients as well as coordinating with internal departments to get work done efficiently. It is a foundational skill for every aspiring young professional, but is often overlooked.To conclude this segment of the discussion, panelists pointed out that even if someone had superior technical skills, they are unlikely to go far in an organization or department without the soft skills and cultural fit.
Subsequently, panelists were asked about whether it was better to be a “cookie-cutter” or an extreme individualist. For many panelists, the answer was somewhere in the middle – you do not want to be a push-over. Rather, you should express your views and opinions in a polite and measured way so as not to upset the other party. The significance of picking up on non-verbal cues was also emphasized here. Notably different from other lines of work, trading requires more individualism and voicing one’s views because these professionals constantly make tough decisions and must maintain accountability.
At the end of the first panel, panelists offered attendees some advice that they got from others which they found very useful.
Among the gems were:
- Find things you like about yourself and project them to the world
- Dress for the job you want, not the one you have
- If you are too big for the small jobs then you are too small for the big jobs
- Don’t be insecure – trust in your abilities
After a networking session, a second set of panelists were introduced and spoke about technical skills in equity research. It was revealed that the most important skills you need to be an equity research professional are Excel, modelling skills, and knowing the valuation methods. On the buy-side, it is also important that you are passionate about the markets and can form your own view on a company. The panelists also emphasized the importance of having conviction in your ideas even if the stock starts to trend in the other direction. However, they also spoke about the importance of humility and taking risks into consideration when making decisions.
Echoing the first set of panelists, they look for excellent communicators, team players, and people with passion as well as technical expertise when screening for candidates. Finally, taking questions from the audience, the panelists spoke about the importance of self-learning skills and leveraging your strengths.
Thank you for all the speakers Kevin, Alexandra, Jennifer, Fred, Armando, Bill, and Joey for trenmendous great insights to the audience and speacial thank you to Jin being a great moderator! Welcome young professionals who want to develop their career to NHC speaker series in the future!
