By Brent Pritchard

How many times have you heard someone say, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Do you really believe that?!

Since we’re one-third the way there, let’s continue with the 5 W and 1 H (questions). How well do you know the Mathematics of Finance? Why did you pick this line of work? And the question you hope to hear: When do you want to start?

Here’s an excerpt from my book Would Your Boomerang Return? What Birds, Hurdlers, and Boomerangs Can Teach Us About the Time Value of Money (2023):

I mean it when I tell my students that I wouldn’t hire a finance professional who doesn’t understand the Time Value of Money like the back of their hand. Trent Farley, who is one of my favorite people and the only person I’ve ever worked with who could finish my sentences—we were that much on the same wavelength—can attest that my go-to interview question is, “How do you describe the Time Value of Money in your own words?”

If you’re an aspiring finance professional, there’s no question you’ve worked with a timeline.

But “Where do you draw the gig line?” is a question you may want to answer before stepping into an interview?

(And if you’re worried about AI replacing you, in addition to a timeline, at least you can actually “draw” a gig line!)

Brent Pritchard is an author and college finance lecturer with over two decades of industry experience and cofounder of Boxholm Press, LLC, a family-owned-and-operated publishing company providing educational content, products, and services. He pioneers an innovative and approachable new way of learning and teaching the Time Value of Money as well as thought leadership in other business topics. His most recent book is Would Your Boomerang Return? You can contact him on his website here.