Interview assessment #5
Name: Minesh Patel
Profession: Financial Analyst
Company: Fiduciary Networks
Date of Interview: 16 November 2017
On November 16, I successfully scheduled an interview with Mr. Minesh Patel, Financial Analyst of Fiduciary networks, who explained how his company worked, the values and skills he accepts in his business, and how financial analyzing works. Along with that, he also illustrated the benefits to an MBA, CFA, and CPA degree. From this interview, I hoped to gain more real world examples of financial life and the benefits to this career.
To begin, I was impressed with how his financial company worked. Fiduciary Networks was created by a partnership between three shareholders who hired Mr. Patel and several other professionals to help invest in other financial advising companies. I liked the idea of the company he worked for because they physically did no financial advising, but analyzed other companies to invest in. Although the company is small, Mr. Patel mentioned the benefits to seeing very few people walking in and out of his office. He emphasized the crucial role of developing ties with the professionals who helped him as he finished projects. Along with his position in the company, the shareholders had the mentality that I valued. Mr. Patel mentioned that his boss wants the work done, “Whether it be one day or ten days, we need to get the work done.” I agree with this statement as a value because laziness is the complete opposite of getting things done.
Mr. Patel also mentioned the flexibility of his job. His job could be done at home or in the office and this allowed him to spend more time with his family and complete other things. I value flexibility towards my future because I want to keep the relationship with my family and maintain my career as well. However, I do understand that starting from ground zero is when I will be hit with ridiculous hours, but I accept it as my training towards my future.
Finance is a field that requires several skills and characteristics that almost every company will look for. Mr. Minesh Patel strengthened the skill of familiarity in financial analyzing because professionals need to adapt to anything they are given. He mentioned that everyday he comes to work, there is always something different to look at. By that, he means that each day, he acquires difficult projects that strengthens his confidence. Familiarity is the ability to adapt to anything. By that he meant that professionals should adapt very quickly to whoever they work for and be familiar with anything that is handed to them.
Finally, we spoke about the three degrees of finance. Mr. Patel acquired his master in finance which is the CFA degree. He mentioned that there are three exams with low passing rates for all of them. He also advised me to split the study hours weekly through the months before the exam to successfully pass the exam. He also explained the difficulty of completing four years of background career for the exam and studying for his exam. For all three of these degrees, he mentioned that the only real way to choose which one to take is by developing a plan for the future. It all depends on what I want to be in the field.
