We spend around a third of our lives at work. For those stuck in a job that doesn’t inspire them, that sounds like an awfully long time – and many are deciding enough is enough.
In what’s been called the ‘Great Resignation’, around a quarter of UK workers are planning a job change. It’s not just a British phenomenon either, with a record 4.3m Americans quitting their job in August alone. This collective career re-evaluation is hardly surprising after such an eye-opening two years.
People want a career with meaning and purpose. Fintech can provide both. If you’re a problem solver, fintech is one of the most innovative, dynamic, and exciting industries to work in.
How fintech fulfills you
For a time, there was a cliché that fintech was a bit less serious than traditional finance: think ping-pong tables and hoodies in the office. This is a misconception.
Fintech is not inherently anti-establishment, but about using technology to improve the delivery of financial services. It is not a movement or revolution, but an evolution. Technology has enabled a new and different way of doing things – things that traditional banks are often unable to do themselves.
It’s this belief that we can use technology to create a better financial system that makes a career in fintech so compelling. Fintechs tap into what the author Dan Pink describes as ‘intrinsic motivation’, meaning motivation driven by a kind of internal longing. More often than not, for people who thrive in fintech, this intrinsic motivation is solving problems with technology.
To succeed in fintech, you need to be a problem-solver; driven either by solving a particular problem you are passionate about (such as making remittances more cost-effective for families) or a love for the autonomy to spend time cracking problems and finding neat solutions.
The best fintech companies have harnessed these motivations and created environments where people can master their problem-solving skills. This leads to high levels of motivation and productivity that, ultimately, benefit all.
How fintech has evolved – and continues to do so
Fintech is often described as a disruptive sector, but this is another misconception. Fintech, especially when it comes to scale-ups like Currencycloud, isn’t all about moving fast and breaking things.
The key for a successful fintech is balancing pace and dignity: pace means you have to innovate and tackle long-standing problems with fresh thinking, dignity means you understand the institutions that are already in place and recognise that rules aren’t always made to be broken (at least not in a hurry).
Financial services are heavily regulated, and one of the challenges many fintechs face is navigating this complex environment. For scale-ups, recruiting talent from traditional financial institutions can bring a deeper understanding of regulations and experience of how to operate within them.
Wanted: problem-solvers in search of purpose
Fintech welcomes many different skillsets: from institutional bankers to creative marketers. The key is that you’re a problem-solver. If you are, then a career in fintech can offer endless challenges. While the industry has come far in remoulding the world’s financial plumbing, empowering consumers, and encouraging businesses to flourish – we still have so much more to do. The only limit is our creativity.
Richard Arundel is Chief Evangelist at London-headquartered fintech Currencycloud
Photo by Mario de Zafra on Unsplash
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