Choosing a job v/s choosing a stock

Is it really that different?

Since the time I have started to understand stock markets, I see a lot of similarities between choosing jobs and stocks. The process remains the same, you need to try things out, you may not get it right the first time, and there is no point dwelling on our past!

What works for you does not work for someone else and vice versa.

The entire stock market is based on the premise that if you have a stock to sell, there is someone to buy your stock. Unless you are in need to liquidate your portfolio, the reason to sell is that you don’t see any further upside potential. But what is it that you can‘t see that someone else can, why is somebody bidding to buy your stock when you think you will lose money?

Jobs are very similar. You stayed invested in a job because it helped you grow, make money, maybe your job was interesting. But when you don’t see any reason to stay (no hikes, bad boss, the job gets boring), you decide to move on. That leaves a spot for someone else to take and what did not seem attractive to you just might, to someone else.

Owning Winners — Wish that was easy

Anyone who has remotely been into financial investments knows that in an ideal world, you would want to own winners and hold on to them for a very long time. Tracking and balancing one’s portfolio regularly is a tedious task (some do enjoy), but for most — buy and keep is the preference. In reality, however, due to changing situations, one would exit the stock, and enter another stock multiple times.

That’s the reality of our careers as well. As much as most of us want to stay in one place and enjoy a long and satisfying career, that is not always possible. Bosses change, company situations change, peers change, hikes are not as good as expected, work is not stimulating enough and you no longer feel like it is worth staying there. That’s the reason why some folks end up switching jobs frequently. Can’t expect everyone to understand that.

When going against popular opinion is a smart thing to do

Let’s just say you decided to hold on to a stock for a very long time, no matter what happens. You read something like this on the internet or a book —

where there is fear, there is an opportunity

and stick to see your stock value go spiraling downwards, everyone exits the stock — but you. Your conviction could get rewarded finally, staying put during the tough times can help you reap benefits when the company does well, provided the fundamentals of the company are really great and the tough times were temporary or you just got lucky.

Being in a job is very similar, when the company is not doing well, but you decide to commit and back your management, things could turn around and end up being extremely rewarding. It takes guts to stick around when your peers have left the place, they seem happy elsewhere and are advising you to do the same. But your decision to stay could be the difference-maker.

When going against popular opinion is a stupid thing to do

And then there is the sunk-cost fallacy. You see the stock value go down every single day. But you don’t exit the stock since you want to recover losses. And you stay put when everyone exits. But the break-even never happens and look who is hurt now.

Stick around at a job long enough waiting for things to turn around because you have put in so much time and effort and are expecting (almost feeling privileged) to enjoy the rewards — in a toxic environment that drives you crazy, working for a management that you can’t trust anymore, doing a job that doesn’t excite you, already thinking about Friday when it is just Monday — isn’t it better to exit from there?

Yes, it is frustrating and exhausting to start over with interviews and preparations and yes, you may not be able to enjoy the rewards for your commitment to the organization, but who said life is fair? While you would want things to work in your favor, we can’t control all the external factors — what we can control are the decisions we make, put aside your emotion with the job or the stock — start over, hoping things will be better this time and your next job could be like a stock you can hold on to forever.

When you rely on your understanding, your learning, your gut

The journey to identifying winning stocks for most is through losing. You burn your pockets, learn from it, let go of the fear, and now there is more clarity. No one can guess why you chose the stock, what kind of risk you are taking — No one but You.

The journey to identifying the right job is similar, there is a risk appetite — early age startup or a slow-moving giant to join? is this the right domain to work in? Do I enjoy my work? Can I enjoy my work a year later if I do the groundwork now? Can I afford to stay away from my family for a better opportunity and a fat pay-cheque? No one can answer these questions for you. And don’t worry, the answers take time to come.

So what’s the bottom line?

Want to know what is free on the internet? Opinions/advice lots and lots of them (this included), relying very much on others’ opinion/ recommendations will make us lose our own identity, the only way to go forward is to build your own perspective of your reality, your world.

Draft your strategy, stick to them, make decisions, take ownership of those decisions, learn from them, revisit your strategies, don’t feel obliged to explain yourself to every other person, don’t compare yourself with someone else, live it your way. Stocks, Careers, or Life.

As long as YOU know why you choose a stock or a job or decide to sell or leave, nothing else matters.

Closing out with Frank Sinatra’s My Way

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself then he has naught

Not to say the things that he truly feels
And not the words of someone who kneels
The record shows I took all the blows and did it my way

Yes, the post started with similarities between choosing careers and stocks, and ends on a different tone, but who said you will get what you expected!