Wealth is power and election time is proof of that. Building wealth some would say is one part of their religious duties. I have just returned from Malaysia where in parts of the Indian community for years have been concerned about the treatment of Indians and Hindus.
One reason has been lack of political influence. I have often said it is vitally important given what happened to Indians in Uganda not to take our own self-image as hard working, low crime, peaceful community as something admired by all. There are jealousies.
We must use our wealth creation abilities for good, good for our own and the native community. So let’s get building. I am asked each week by students for advice on their careers in finance. Don’t do what I did. Don’t go into hedge funds. It was fine when I did it, 20 years ago. But now, like most industries, you will be replaced by a robot. My own fund has produced a very lucrative trading robot for private investors. The aim is to make fund managers redundant.
So do not go into industries you associate with money, but are shrinking in hiring humans. Technology is changing everything. My advice? Maybe a fintech company. I write from Singapore, where at the Fintech festival there were 65,000 people. That will tell you where the jobs in finance are going.
And it’s in technology companies, online banks, and the big giants like Amazon and Google moving into tech and tech based consultancies like Deloitte.
Tech skills, working at a tech bank (you can now have a regulated bank built for you) all will make your CV transferable and future proof. It’s about skills you’ve acquired and the qualifications will evidence these. As an employer I want people who are keen, and can prove skills. I can test you for skills – ability to learn is key. So often the tests we give are to within 24 hours, give us a solution to a problem. It doesn’t matter that it was not something you learnt at school or University; I need to know you can do it.
Here’s one we give some apprentices: how would you install MT4 trading signals form our indicator onto Telegram? Would you need a VPS? Which one? Why?
Now to most people this would be gobbledygook. That’s the point. You go away and write your interview answer to us. Then we will question you over it the next day. The reason is, it’s your ability to find the answer (it’s not as easy as cut and paste from Google), your ability to sift good from bad answers and solutions and know why and understand why our company may want to do this, so fit a solution to a bigger purpose, not just answering the question – ie show intelligence not just technical know-how.
Alpesh Patel
