I had the opportunity to interview a professional who is an assistant manager in stockbrokerage firm. This individual is a colleague of one of my relatives. For purposes of abiding to privacy and confidentiality, the professional would be identified as Ms. VBM. She had been an assistant manager for four years. She disclosed that she graduated from a reputable university with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree. After working as a research associate for two years with the College of Business from the same university, she immediately pursued a Master of Business Administration degree. As such, she assumed the assistant manager position two years after her graduation.
Ms. VBM revealed that she found her job challenging and rewarding. It is challenging in terms of the need to oversee different facets of managing the stockbrokerage firm. The firm was identified to be a small organization where trading is the focal endeavor. Other divisions, such as accounting, human resources, and operations, have one or two personnel. She said that she reports directly to the Operations Manager, as well as to the President of the organization. Her responsibilities include analysis of financial reports, forecasting of trends for diverse stocks held by the company, and overseeing day-to-day operations.
As disclosed, the main challenges faced by the firm is the volatility of the industry. Some external factors allegedly contribute to the volatility of the industry including the economic condition of the country, rates of unemployment, buoyancy in foreign investments, and the erratic movements in foreign currency. Likewise, Ms. VBM also indicated that urgent and pressing current events, especially political factors, impact on the volatile nature of the firm’s operations and trading. Therefore, clients invest or divest according to perceived risks and returns in specific stocks which they hold or which they plan to trade.
The skills that were noted to contribute to the success of a person who is in this particular field of endeavor were diverse. The professional should possess an educational background in the field of business and a master’s degree is a plus factor. Knowledge of stocks trading and brokerage is gained through training and experience. In addition, the contender should exemplify core competencies in exhibiting leadership skills, strong communication skills in both written and verbal communication, as well as in problem solving. The master’s degree gained by Ms. VBM was emphasized to be instrumental in gaining the advanced theoretical frameworks for knowledge in motivation, conflict management, change management, group dynamics, and human resources management. Due to the volatility nature of the stocks brokerage firm and the industry, professionals in this endeavor must assume a proactive stance to anticipate factors that could impinge on the firm’s operations and performance. The skills needed here include market research, regular updates on current and future trends in the business sector, as well as acumen in technological applications.
Overall, Ms.VBM acknowledged that the career path chosen is consistent with her professional goal of becoming actively involved in capturing and managing investment opportunities for various clients, and for the organization. She selected the stocks brokering industry for its dynamism and the excitement that is exhibited, especially in times of peaks and bulls. She encourages potential candidates to pursue higher education to enable the establishment of appropriate theoretical frameworks and hone the essential skills for an exciting career.
Works Cited
M, VB. Career Profile Paper <Your Name>. 25 June 2014. Interview.
