Angie Liu on legal career planning: not limited to self-definition

When it comes to careers, of course, you can plan ahead, but many times there are accidents. Talk about how I came to this industry by mistake.

"It's a shame that I didn't study law in my life."

I am a science of finance, the major is still more special, finance (futures and securities direction), I remember that the class was particularly exciting. Every time the teacher did not talk about the courseware in class, directly displayed the recent market, once asked me, "What stocks did you buy?" "I said I bought Sinopec." Which day did you buy it? Why buy? "After I answered, the teacher said I was blindfolded." Sit down and fail. "The teachers are all highly educated, have worked in the capital market, and have spoken very well, and my four years of classroom time have been wonderful. However, at that time, under the influence of court dramas and so on, he had the idea of studying law, and later went to the University of International Business and Economics to study for a master's degree in law.

"The financial industry does law, and the legal industry does finance."

In the second year of my master's degree, I was thinking, what should I do in the future? Back in the financial industry, it is not as good as people who have studied finance for 7 years, to the law industry, undergraduate is not a law student, and the foundation is not as good as many people.

I found my mentor, and I still remember the words I communicated at that time. "You either go to the legal industry to do finance, or you go to the financial industry to do law, and you are better than everyone else."

When I heard this sentence, I felt very mysterious. The mentor explained that the financial industry to do law, is to find securities companies, large banks, insurance asset management, trust companies, go to their headquarters institutions or branches above the institution, do risk control posts or compliance posts, this is better than pure legal people; the legal industry to do finance, is to find a big firm, have a financial team, do RPO, do bond issuance, etc., go here is better than pure law. I felt that this was a sword that went sideways, and the instructor said that this was to promote the strengths and avoid the weaknesses.

Later, I listened to the tutor, and the resumes I cast were all compliance risk control positions in securities companies and financial companies, and the financial team of the institute.

Fortunately, at that time, the brokerage written test, although it was a legal post, but there were problems in Western economics and logic, which we were doing! So I mistakenly hit and bumped into the broker. By the way, I was already lecturing outside. Then I worked as an investment manager for 6 years.

Later, I began to think and find problems, all these "auras" have nothing to do with me, who will do it, do it for a few years will be so bad or bad. Fortunately, I never lost the work of lecturing at that time. That time was really hard, Monday to Friday brokerage side of the work, weekend flying to lecture.

In 16 years, the legal examination training institution began to expand, and was persuaded by friends to give a lecture, and when he was impulsive, the brokerage side resigned. In 2017, he also began to work as a lawyer and became a lawyer + lecturer. The current state is that the institution lectures when it has a class, and does business without a class.

"My mother said I don't do serious work"

Seeing this, you will think that my career is quite chaotic. But I personally think it's ok too. For today's young people, there is no need to define themselves as "who I am and what I do".

I am from Shandong, my mother is a party school teacher, a civil servant proposition person, until now she thinks that I have no serious job. But this is not the case in today's society, and my body feels very good at the moment. Compared with our lawyers, I have turned my back on the latest laws and judicial interpretations, and my previous experience as a broker has given me some advantages in other aspects. Talk to financial institutions, do not understand some finance, you do not talk deeply; dealing with Internet companies, do not understand the Internet, it is not very good. Of course, doing law purely is particularly good and especially professional. But in this day and age, there needs to be a bit of cross-border awareness.

I think that the future legal person may be different, and the legal person will increasingly enter the non-legal profession, and the non-legal profession will also enter the legal profession. Sometimes crossing boundaries makes you see more thoroughly. In the future, you will have the opportunity to "intersperse" back and forth several times in various trades, and this experience will be special. If you become barristers in the future, I think it will become important to understand the law and understand the business.

"Don't be limited by what I have to do, only what I can do"

Look for a job before graduation and don't be so anxious. Standing at the door of life, no one knows where the next ten years will go. But as long as you go sincerely in this decade, it will always be bad. Over the past few years, I have struggled to move forward, everything I have seriously "desperately" to do, I think it is okay to do, but also hope that I can be better, live longer, after the age of 50 can also brag, bragging bigger cattle, that is also very wonderful.

So guys, you can definitely write a better chapter, no matter what industry you do, don't be self-limited, limited by what I have to do, I can only do. Times have changed.

In another 10 years, maybe I will talk to my mother and say: You see my non-serious industry, doing a good job ~ ~