Finding a job and finding purpose

Part 1

During my 2nd year of University I began looking into careers within Investment Banking. In all honesty I was hugely underprepared with no work experience and no knowledge of finance, however I asked for God’s guidance in the process. In my final 2 years of study I applied to 20 internships and received 20 rejections. Not only did this hurt my confidence but also my ability to take up my place on a Masters’ degree at Oxford, something I had hoped to attain for many years.

At the last minute I got a small internship in a finance company in Edinburgh; it was not the most prestigious of companies or jobs and so I considered my chances of getting a full-time job in a top Investment Bank as close to zero. At the end of the internship I followed protocol and began to apply for a job in Edinburgh however I felt the Lord say to me, “Stop. Go back to London and apply for a full time job in the top Investment Banks. I will bless you”.

So, with no banking experience on my CV, a suit that didn’t fit and a mother worried how on earth I would repay my loans, I sent 7 job applications to these top companies. I received just one job offer. Yet this one happened to be from my dream company and I found myself as the only new graduate in the department who was offered a job with no prior work experience.

God in His kindness gave me the very degree, job and employer I prayed for and every day in the office, amidst the routine and frustrations of working life, I try to remind myself that I am living in the reality of what my 22 year old self was dreaming of.

Part 2

Though incredibly happy with how my career had begun there was a small part of me that was spiritually disappointed. Before and during my days at University I had engaged in a lot of Christian ministry and evangelism; preaching in churches, debating publicly with atheists and speaking on TV programmes about faith. It now felt like I was resigned to sitting behind a desk with no opportunity to serve God – surely God could use me for more than this!

Yet the Holy Spirit showed me there is no spiritual / secular divide (Col. 3:23) but that my faith needed to be as real, if not more so, on a Monday morning than on Sunday morning. Since then my workplace has become my mission field. I distinctly remember arriving on my first day and walking to my new desk with that sense of spiritual disappointment, yet I felt the Lord tell me how proud He was of me and grant me a peace about the new life I was embarking on.

Since then I have joined an amazing community of Christians within the Investment Bank and God placed a sincere passion in our hearts to seek revival in our workplace and extend God’s kingdom. Within the last 2 years we have witnessed the most incredible growth: over 200 new people have signed up to the Christian Fellowship group, we have held evenings of worship in the office, evangelistic talks during lunch, bible studies for people exploring faith, generosity groups to benefit the work of charities and prayer groups across the organisation.

I’ve now come to see a little more of what Christ meant when he sent us “into all the world” and though this job was all I worked towards for 3 years, I rejoice much more in seeing God’s will being done and His kingdom being extended day by day in the workplace.

A small aside: In the eyes of the world I was able to achieve the very highest of educational and workplace success and yet I found it insufficient as a foundation for happiness, contentment or a yardstick to measure my spirituality. At times I paid a heavy price for passionately pursuing earthly treasures above pursuit of Him alone, even when I believed such treasures were within His plan for me.

When Paul writes “I count all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ” this is not a contingency theology for when our earthly plans disappoint, but a secure and firm foundation for life such that “whether living in plenty or in want I am content in any and every situation”. No money, status, qualification or relationship will replace the joy of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8).

I’m gradually learning to live in this truth.