Wooing My Dream Job (Part 2)

Continuing on with a recent job listing for my potential dream job:

The Jr. Investment Analyst will be responsible for collecting and managing performance and market data used for reporting on portfolio performance.

In this role, the Jr. Investment Analyst is expected to:

• Work collaboratively the Board of Directors, the Investment Committee, the Executive Director, and Director of Finance
• Work collaboratively with the Chief Investment Officer… investment managers, service providers and custodial banks
• Compile investment materials for quarterly board meetings with investment committee
• Manage programs based on scope of work for new initiatives
• Gather and analyze data, facilitate meetings, and produce reports as required
• Conduct quantitative analysis to support efforts
• Manage Key Performance Indicators by capturing data and reporting on a timely basis
• Identify opportunities to improve quality of reporting and metrics

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
The candidate will be early in their career and will have served as a junior investment or finance analyst with experience in managing investment portfolios, evaluating strategies, assessing portfolio performance, coordinating resources, and reporting. The candidate should be very familiar with investment concepts, asset allocations, and have experience using a variety of tools and data sources with experience in a foundation, pension, or endowment.

Critical competencies and experiences:

• A College or University degree
• Strong analytical skills and ability to deal with large amounts of data with attention to detail
• Strong quantitative skills with expertise in financial modeling and statistical analysis
• Knowledge of investments and completion or pursuit of CFA certification
• No more than 3-5 years of experience in finance
• Team player: collaborative and flexible
• Very high proficiency with Office and expertise with Excel and PowerPoint
• Knowledge and experience in computational modeling, programming, statistics, and state of the art reporting tools
• Ability to learn new systems and databases

I can fast forward and tell you that I did not get a call back for this position. To be sure, I was overreaching in some areas:

• Although I started preparing for CFA Level 1 in 2012, I did not complete the process nor take the exam
• I am still very early in my Python journey, which may or may not be considered sufficient programming experience
• I have no experience with reporting tools

Finally, I have worked as a full-time option trader for over 12 years, which exceeds their desire for no more than 3-5 years in finance. I have trouble understanding why this would be a deterrent, though. I would imagine this—perhaps more than anything else—is what made me unique compared to most other applicants.

This was my first job application in over 19 years. It was not meant to be.

On to the next one!