Sital Ruparelia

The US government stepped in to save Bear Stearns, Freddie & Fannie and AIG.
Then last week they stepped in to save the banking system by bailing out the banks of their sub-prime debt.

The UK government stepped in to save Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley.
Then this week, they stepped into protect the large UK banks through a part nationalisation.

I keep seeing interviews with politicians saying “It’s about protecting savers and getting the mortgage market moving once again” to “ensure normal, hard-working people don’t get penalised by the irresponsible behaviour of the banks.”  They want to ensure that “small businesses can borrow and survive so that regular people don’t lose jobs.”

But who is stepping in to bail YOU out?

Who is saying “We must do what we can to minimise the distress caused to the people working in the banking sector” or “We must try and minimise job losses across financial services.”

Oh, how naïve of me, I forgot. They can’t do that as everyone in financial services these days is classed as a “Greedy Banker,” aren’t they….?!

The ‘Greedy Bankers’ 

The wider public who have been following the ‘financial crises’ on the mainstream news channels (or worse – in the tabloid press), could be forgiven for thinking that everyone who works in the City is a greedy trader who has been gambling away so that they can pocket millions in bonus payments.

As you and I know, not everyone in the industry is a trader and not everyone has been pocketing millions in bonus payments each year. Only a tiny percentage earns the kind of numbers quoted in the press. 

The reality is that you’ve probably spent the last few years working your socks off whilst having a Blackberry permanently strapped to you 7 days a week. You’ve probably made huge sacrifices in order to fulfil your professional commitments – your health, well-being and personal relationships may well have suffered.

Far from being completely selfish, many people in the industry have put their employers, teams and clients ahead of themselves.

But that’s the nature of working in this industry – it’s demanding, stressful and a huge commitment. You were prepared to accept these things in exchange for the obvious rewards that came with them.

But all that has changed. 

It’s Time For YOU

Over the next couple of years, the bonuses across the industry will be a far cry from what people have been used to (unless you go and work for smaller boutique houses as I suggested in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago).

Whether you’re a job searcher, career changer or someone who is looking to protect your role and move up internally – the time has come to make you the priority.

The markets and financial institutions are likely to be in a state of flux for some time still.   If you want to come out of these events with your career still going forward, then start looking after your own interests.

So decide what is important to you, decide what you want to do – and make time for it to happen. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Choose how use those hours and ensure that you and your career are a priority instead of just being focussed on the needs of your employers, your teams and your clients.  
 
Book a window of time in your diary for yourself this week to do what you know you need to do for yourself and your career. Whether it’s time to update your resume, time to reconnect with some old contacts, time to speak with your boss or simply time to switch off and spend time with yourself away from distractions.
 
If that means you need to cancel a meeting or conference call to create the time – so be it. If it means you need to rearrange a social event – then do it. If you are not prepared to make your career a priority then why should anyone else?
 
You understand this industry and you know that the ‘financial crisis’ is far from over. You know that the face of financial services has changed forever.

You also know that no one is going to step in to bail your career out – so make sure you make time for yourself on a regular basis so that you have greater control over your own destiny.