Significant Career Lesson From a Financial Consultant at Raftelis
Erik, a Financial Consultant, learned that "it's okay to not make your career everything," prioritizing work-life balance over relentless career advancement. The pandemic reinforced this lesson, enabling a hybrid work schedule that allows for time with family and personal values, highlighting that "you work to live, you don't live to work," a crucial distinction often overlooked in career expectations.
Work-Life Balance, Financial Consulting, Hybrid Work, Career Priorities, Professional Fulfillment
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Erik Milde
Financial Consultant
Raftelis Financial Consulting
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
N/A
Engineering - Civil
Consulting & Related Professional Services, Energy & Utilities, Government & Public Sector
Finance
Disabled, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. It's okay to not make your career everything. Prioritize work-life balance and define what is valuable to you, not necessarily what society dictates.
2. The pandemic highlighted that much work can be done remotely, offering flexibility and the ability to prioritize family and personal life.
3. Don't live to work; work to live. Challenge the cultural norm of sacrificing personal life for career advancement and define your own success.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
One of the major lessons I've learned is that it's okay to not make your career everything. You'll reach a point, perhaps during a midlife crisis, where you realize you don't want to work in an office or in your current capacity for the rest of your life.
You might find yourself working extra hours, more than 40 a week. If your answer is no, and you don't find that valuable, there's nothing wrong with that. Even if the world or people in powerful positions tell you it's bad, it's not.
The pandemic, for all its hardship, did highlight that a lot of our work doesn't require us to leave our families or homes. And that's okay.
I currently work a hybrid schedule, going into the office two or three days a week, and the rest of the time I work from home. I find this arrangement valuable.
Would I trade that for working in the office every day, commuting, and dealing with later hours just to potentially move into a powerful position? No. I don't know if that's as valuable, and I think that's okay.
It's important to learn or hear that not everyone has to spend their entire lives away from their families or what they consider valuable. You work to live, you don't live to work.
As a culture, we don't teach our students this. We graduate having grinded through tests and papers, and then expect that to be the norm. It doesn't necessarily have to be.