Today’s blog is going to look at a question that is looming in everyone’s mind as we get closer to the end of the year and start to look with anticipation of next year. So many times during the last quarter of the year I get the same type of call, “I am either thinking about entering the public finance space,” or, “I’m actually re-entering after a hiatus for whatever reason.” Or on the converse, “I am thinking about exiting the space.” What transferable skills will either help you get into public finance or make an easier exit to some other position? That sounds like a great question, doesn’t it?
The Factors Of Transferable Skills
For the first time in over 150 blogs, I am not going to answer the question because honestly, I cannot. I do not know what you do on a day-to-day basis. I do know what I did as a public finance banker or as an attorney; however, what I did in the eighties is guaranteed to be more different than what you are currently doing. So, why do I raise this question then? I raise it in a macro sense. I want you to think in general about what skills you have. Everything falls into one or two categories or a hybrid of both. You are either revenue-producing or expense-protecting. These are the categories that you must examine when you are looking at your transferable skills. Let’s break them down in the remainder of this blog. With the sole purpose of helping, you compartmentalize where you fit into the spectrum, and then you are able to craft either your resume, executive summary, and/or business plan. With this as your guideline, you will be able to present yourself much more concisely in any document you share with a prospective hiring manager or in the actual interview.
Revenue Producing
First, revenue producing. This is the category of transferable skills that will get you hired quickly. If you can clearly demonstrate you are on the revenue side of the equation, firms will beat a path to your door. If you are recognized as a producer that has their own relationships which will move with them to a new firm, you will have no problem finding a new home. Chances are you won’t even have to market yourself if you are a top producer in public finance or any field for that matter as your reputation will speak for itself. However, if you are a “quiet” producer this will have to be elaborated upon as well as quantified in any format you feel best fits your particular situation. Be mindful that you need to cover your true numbers as well as what you think realistically you could produce for a new firm
Expense Protecting
Our second area of expense protection is much harder to quantify for transferable skills. As there will not be any spreadsheet that can share how much money you have protected from loss with your current firm. Here you will have to be able to draw from examples of where you indeed saved your current firm from losing money. If for instance, you are on the compliance side, did you prevent a lawsuit that would have been costly for your firm? If you were in the administration, did you streamline an operation that saved countless hours of lack of productivity? If you were on the credit side, did you save your company from funding a deal that wound up being a losing proposition for another financial institution? The list goes on and on, thus my reasoning that I cannot tell you what transferable skills you must have and demonstrate.
The Hybrid Of These Transferable Skills
Obviously, if you are both revenue-producing and expense-protecting, this is the best of both worlds. You would think that this would be the easiest of the other categories to get hired. But in fact, this is the most difficult and will take the most amount of creativity, effort, and demonstrable skills. The individual who falls into this category is usually a generalist, a very qualified generalist but one still indeed. We would be delighted to help you meet your transitional goal in 2023. Please reach out to us for a confidential conversation whether you are revenue-producing, expense-protecting, or a hybrid of the two.
Conclusion
If you would like to discuss your options, please reach out for a confidential conversation at 760-477-1284 or email at [email protected]. He can also be reached on LinkedIn. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here, which is a compilation of our weekly blogs, so you never miss one. You can find our listing in the “supplier and services” section of the Red Book under the title of “executive recruiting.”
About Harlan Friedman, JD & Founding Member, H. Friedman Search LLC. Harlan is a thirty-year veteran Public Finance Banker turned recruiter who specializes in the placement of all levels Public Finance Bankers, Healthcare Bankers, Municipal Advisors, Compliance Officers, Issuers, and Bond Counsels.