If you are looking to kick start a career in Finance (Investment Banking, Private Equity, Venture Capital):
You need to build BOTH your numbers and people skills.
Most of these firms tend to check for 2 questions:
(1) Can we present this person in front of clients?
- So you need to be a people's person, communicate effectively and hold conversations.
- This skill sounds rudimentary, but takes years to build.
(2) Can this person get the job done? (i.e core skills)
- This can be communicated via your ability with numbers AND
- Displaying that you have the requisite core skills for the job: number crunching, market research and other aspects outlined on the job description.
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While folks focus a lot on #2, most miss out on #1.
In fact, even BEFORE you get an official interview invite, you would need to network with your target firms.
During these chats, you have to tell your personal and professional stories (in a memorable manner).
If you don't do that, you are unlikely to get an interview invite. So don't discount the value of developing people skills.