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Live chat: Rebuilding Wall Street

Thomson Reuters, Evercore Partners, and Korn/Ferry, the world’s largest executive search firm, have teamed up to deliver a live online forum that discusses where Wall Street is headed. Will it return to its former self or has the landscape changed forever? If you’re a financial services professional, join us here on Feb. 3 at 10 am. The panel is waiting for your questions. Leave them in the comments below and we’ll answer them on the day.

Our panel includes: Jane Gladstone, senior managing director, Evercore Partners; Alan Guarino, global sector leader, fintech & electronic trading, Korn/Ferry; and Dan Wilchins – editor-in-charge of Reuters’ coverage of U.S. banks and insurance companies.

Read this before you take that new job

It might seem like a no-brainer to jump at any opportunity that snaps your unemployment streak. But the Business Pundit blog gently urges you to think twice — or even five times — before accepting new work, by asking yourself a series of questions:

1) Can I handle it?

I love a good challenge, so it’s sometimes hard to say no. But I have learned to choose projects that are within or just beyond my skill level, so that I grow sustainably rather than get frustrated and overworked on something that either doesn’t interest me at all or is so far outside my scope of knowledge that I burn myself out catching up on the topic itself. 2) Do I have time for it?

In my field, work tends to either appear in droves, or disappear entirely. This “feast or famine” setup sometimes leads me to take on more work than I have time to handle. I’m committed to doing a good job on everything I turn in. When I have too much to do, I sacrifice sleep and free time. I get tired and frustrated, a state which comes across both in my work and to my clients. Everybody loses when I take on too much—even if the money looks good.

3) Does it pay well? This question could also be stated as: Is it worth my time? This question is tricky. Some clients don’t want to pay a lot, but could be excellent contacts in the future. Others pay well for work that isn’t particularly interesting. Answering this question requires having a sense of overall goals. For example, if my goal is to make $60,000 this year after taxes, I’m likely to prioritize pay, not excitement. If my goal is to establish myself in a certain field, I might prioritize projects and contacts over pay. 4) Who am I building a relationship with? This is the crucial question I didn’t ask myself when I took on the copy job I mentioned in the introduction. When the client offered the job, I asked myself questions #1, 2, and 3—and utterly overlooked the fact that I primarily valued my relationship with my referrer, and was far more interested in building it than forming a relationship with the client, whose work is rather tangential to my field.When I overlooked this question, I ended up sabotaging both relationships. This question will definitely be on my list from now on. 5) Do I want to work with this person/organization? This question is also crucial. It doesn’t relate directly to income or time commitment, but has a strong influence on both topics. If you take on a job you love for a client you don’t trust, is the experience worth it? Does getting paid feel good?

What’s on your list of questions to ask before you accept a job? Leave your answer in the comments section.