Five reasons to get a job in investor relations

1. It’s exciting

A job in IR will develop a set of professional skills that is both broad and rare. ‘An investor relations officer must be very financially literate, but also able to develop a strong narrative,’ says Claudia Mair from recruitment specialist Taylor Bennett. ‘You must provide counsel to the most senior company executives and buy-side and sell-side professionals, yet also be ready to jump into action if a taxi fails to show up. Relationship building is crucial, internally and externally, and you need the emotional intelligence to read a room and discern what questions are really being asked.’

IROs can expect their daily job to be challenging – but never monotonous. ‘There is a lot to get to grips with even when considering just the ‘transferable skills’ element of the job, let alone the ins and outs of the specific business you are representing,’ Mair adds. ‘Of course, any number of corporate events could quickly change your job, whether a takeover, profit warning or rights issue.’

2. It’s strategic

Gone are the days when IR was considered a silo function: its strategic importance is becoming more and more recognized. ‘An IR role provides an excellent opportunity to acquire a bird’s-eye view of the company, giving real insight into the decision-making processes of the senior executive team as well as the pressures it is under to deliver performance and meet market expectations,’ says Gillian Karran-Cumberledge from executive search firm Fidelio Partners.

IROs understand how a quoted company engages with its shareholders and how the market values the company, an experience that ‘cannot be learnt from a textbook,’ Karran-Cumberledge continues. ‘For a smart IR director, this insight into the whole process of guidance and market expectations is invaluable. In our view, companies would benefit if more board directors had some of this experience on their CV.’

3. It’s a must for aspiring CFOs

IR experience is more and more viewed as a prerequisite for well-rounded finance professionals, especially aspiring CFOs. In an interview with IR Magazine in 2014, Jonathan Atack, former head of IR at AkzoNobel, recalled that early in his IR career, he was approached by a senior finance colleague who was interviewing externally for a CFO role and needed a briefing on IR tasks.

‘IR is an excellent professional step within finance,’ agrees Karran-Cumberledge, while reminding that ambitious IROs aiming to become CFO also need to broaden their experience: ‘IR alone is hugely interesting but seldom a direct stepping stone to the management team.’

4. It will help you see the world

Get ready to clock up the air miles: 90 percent of IROs travel on roadshows, spending nearly 17 days on the road on average each year, according to the latest IR Magazine Global Roadshow Report. IR teams regularly visit main financial centers such as London, New York, Boston and Hong Kong, but a job in IR will also take you to many great cities, with Paris, Amsterdam, Montreal and Stockholm all making the top 20 destinations list.

5. It’s well paid

Finally, a career in IR can be highly rewarding – financially speaking. Research from IR Magazine reveals that while the median average pay for IROs is in the $100,000 to $150,000 range, heads of IR are most likely to be paid between $200,000 and $250,000, with 5 percent reporting remuneration above $350,000. Overall, 94 percent of IR heads and 79 percent of IR managers received a bonus in 2015 – with nearly half of them reporting an increase in bonus from the previous year – averaging 29 percent and 21 percent of their base salary, respectively.