Linda Qian is a finance professional turned content creator, sharing career insights, corporate life tips, and financial knowledge. She helps young professionals navigate work, productivity, and industry trends while building her own path beyond traditional finance.

Connect with Linda!

https://www.instagram.com/quarter.lifediaries

https://www.tiktok.com/@quarter.lifediaries

CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Introduction

0:54 - Meet Linda Qian

1:21 - Linda shares how long she was off from work, for the New Year break and whether she feels recharged

1:45 - Andy shares his challenge of balancing work and personal time

3:01 - Andy asks if Linda ever feels truly recharged after the weekend off

5:29 - Linda discusses her work in leveraged/acquisition finance

5:20 - Linda explains leveraged finance and private equity to Andy

8:12 - Banking in Australia: How the government "prints money"

11:52 - Linda shares how banks are focusing on lending to renewable companies

12:37 - Interest-only vs. interest + principal: How loans work for solar farms and large projects

13:58 - Linda explains how companies refinance debt every five years

16:09 - Linda shares why businesses continue to take on debt instead of paying it off

18:22 - Linda explains the tax benefits of keeping debt in a business

18:54 - Linda discusses why banks lend to big companies like steel and airline corporations despite their growing debt

20:45 - Linda explains what happens if Andy only pays the minimum amount on his American Express credit card

22:22 - Linda shares the difference between corporate and personal loan interest rates

24:23 - Sydney's property investment: Can interest-only loans lead to being positively geared?

28:36 - Linda explains why banks compete to offer loans to high-quality companies

30:53 - Linda shares how she got into the content creation world

34:43 - Does Linda see herself in the corporate world for the next 20 years?

35:32 - Linda shares what catalyzed her decision to work in the corporate sector

38:39 - Linda shares her experience following the traditional Asian school route

40:48 - What motivated Linda to move out early from her parents' house?

43:35 - Can Linda get a more relaxed corporate job with the same pay?

46:59 - Big 4 accounting firms: Becoming a partner by 35 and earning $400K-$500K per year

47:19 - Linda explains the salary differences between different tiers of management consulting firms

49:24 - Linda shares insights on top investment banking firms and how they operate

51:48 - Linda explains the differences between investment banking and management consulting

53:21 - Linda discusses how competitive investment banking jobs are

55:22 - Linda shares how investment banking firms interview job applicants

56:48 - Linda explains how she prepared for job interviews when applying to investment banking or consulting firms

57:34 - Andy asks Linda to role-play a typical finance interview question

59:04 - Linda shares why it is important to understand market trends before interviewing at a finance firm

1:01:44 - Linda's recent life discoveries: How setting structured habits improves efficiency

1:04:15 - Linda’s personal goals for the next six months

1:05:12 - Linda shares tips on how she grew her following to 50K followers

1:07:56 - Linda explains the key to delivering value through content creation

1:13:50 - Connect with Linda

1:14:24 - Outro