reflections

Although it has not been my personal experience as of yet, one thing that I've noticed about the banking field in general is that, while formal advancement may be tough, there seems to be a higher level of malleability in terms of creating/morphing positions. At my current bank there are a lot of people who've been here for a while, and rather than advancing into a higher-level position, have managed to make lateral or upward moves by carving out new positions for themselves. I don't know if this is good or bad; on the one hand it requires an extra amount of motivation and proactive-ness, and messes with the salary steps of an organization when nobody knows where these new positions fit in; on the other hand, it can provide opportunities that aren't available in any of the existing positions, or even fill in vital gaps.

My current thought process about being a banking professional - what does it mean to move up the ladder? Where would I go? As an banker, I want to always be in direct contact with people (teach school programs, lead tours, etc.). Unfortunately, to move up the ladder typically means more meetings and more desk time. Where is the perfect marriage of being a manger, having a good salary, and still doing what you love?

I have always thought that I am not one of those notorious job-hoppers to which human resource reps. Refers to. I started my professional life in Pittsburgh, PA in 1999. I am now in my 5th position in my 4th organization. Now, for those of you in the Pittsburgh area, you know that the average tenure in any position for thirty-some things is somewhere in the range of 9-12 months. My last two organizations have been more then three year stints (and counting). The reason for each move was for better pay, more responsibility.I certainly don't recommend this career path. With each new position it becomes more and more difficult to explain the numerous job moves, especially since I'm now in positions of greater responsibility and interviewing directly with those individuals who have been in their positions for decades. I seem to be rambling on here so let me just end this post here by saying this; Today begins a new week but it also begins the last week at the bank. I did not get fired, or laid off I am leaving on my own terms. I received an offer of employment with another financial services company, one that is not invested in the residential mortgage market. As I come to the end of my career with bank I realize I learned so much about banking, corporate finance and myself. There is a great deal I will miss after this week with the bank, there are people that I will miss and some especially specific auditors I will not miss. I am looking forwards to next week with a higher expectations because not only am I starting a new job that pays a good bit more then I am making now but I feel I have unlimited potential to grow - professionally with the new employer.