in college. IB possible?
Hello all, i am new to posting here. I have been reading random posts on here for a few weeks now. There appears to be a lot of knowledge here so i figured i would post and get some opinions on this.
Right now i am 20. I did 2 years at a community college and i am now in my first year of a normal non target school. I am majoring in a science right now with projected plans to do 2 mores years (total of 5) to get my B.S in my major. I have a 3.8 gpa at the CC and no grades for the 4 year school yet (first semester but looking good). I never took the ACT or SAT however that's not to say my school is garbage. Its public and has high rankings for the kind of things i was originally planing on doing there.
I have always been interested in finance but never really considered majoring in it until now. I was preoccupied with other things during my 2 years at CC to really figure out what i wanted to do. I always did well in science and math so i just transferred to this school with plans to get a B.S and go to graduate school of some kind.
I am really being turned off by this idea now because while at CC i did figure out what i wanted from a job. That is i want a job that the harder i work, the better i am, the more money i can make. I do not want a job where i have no chance to make a lot of money. I worked full time throughout high school. Then 2 jobs 65 hours a week during college until this year when i quit one because of the larger work load (probably should have kept it for this year). I now only work 40 hours a week. Work has been and more than likely will continue to be a very important part of my life.
After a lot of thinking and reading i came to the conclusion that a job in finance would fit me well. I have been reading about IB and trading. I have always had a interest in the markets and i can see my self doing one of these jobs.
So i come to my concerns and questions. Is it feasible for me to get into banking at this point? I am seriously considering switching to the schools business finance program next year. I do not see my current major making me happy in any way down the road. If i graduate at 24 is this going to stop me from getting my foot in the door?
I plan on hitting the ground running. Although i do not know exactly what that requires at this point besides that it is important to get internships. I do not have any extra curricular actives, im not part of any clubs. The only thing that makes me stand out at this point is my large amount of work hours in school, management position at my job for going on 3 years, and my extreme sports (which i have been told look good for trading?). What i was doing for 2 years while at community college was concentrating on my hobby of road racing motorcycles (think 170 mph speeds and leaned over so far your head is maybe 2 feet from the ground.) I started a racing team and ran that for 2 years to try and make it to the pro's. It dint happen but was more fun than anything in the world and its time to move on.
So i guess i am just asking what do you think are positive and negatives to switching majors this late? i am not worried about the extra time it takes to graduate if it pays off. What are my chances of getting internships at a non target school? What could i do to improve said chances? please post anything you feel is relevant to getting in to banking or trading.
Thank you
So you will be doing 3 years at your school now? Since it is your first semester I would change to economics or a business major if your school has a business school. Try to get involved in some finance clubs and start networking now to try to get some sort of internship for this summer. Whether it is in PWM or at a small boutique investment bank which would obviously be preferable.
I would also figure out if you want to do S&T or banking as they are very different and banking doesn't really involve the markets.
Definitely change majors. Yes, get as many internships as you can. You'll probably have to work for free in a wealth management internship to get yourself started.
Of course, nothings impossible, but you are LONG shot. I'm going to go ahead and say if you want to go into trading, it is impossible. Maybe IB if you start right now and work your ass off. You never know.
I want to do one more semester on my current track. This will allow me to think about it for a while before just making the leap.
I do not think its going to be possible to get an internship this summer. Even if i was able to switch over to the business school this soon before the next semester i would only be taking low level business classes. I feel like i would be competing angst much more qualified students. I as of now do not even know where to begin in networking. I have much to learn. If i did get an internship i would have no income unless its paid. Having no income at this point is not an option but it will be next summer.
Why do you say its impossible? could you please elaborate?
Thanks for the input
A PWM internship is very possible. Start reading the WSJ and try to start following the markets. Join a finance club and you will be fine to get a PWM internship this summer.
PWM internship is very possibly with no experience. Of course you won't get much out of the internship but it will be a start for your resume since it will be finance related/well known name.
How much of a non-target are we talking here? Montana Tech or a place with some alums in finance but that doesn't have great on-campus recruiting?
its a top research school. like top 10 or something like that. i have not looked into it to much but it could be a target school for local banks. i know that there have been recent alumnis who got the president internship at usb and some went to BB
Nothing is impossible. Don't let anyone tell you that. I know of people with less than stellar qualities that are doing trading at BBs. If you get the right internships and make the right contacts, its not impossible to get into trading. I'd consider reading up finance blogs, following the financial press and deciding on which side you want to be on - corporate finance (IB) or Markets (sales, trading etc). If I were you, I'd definitely try to get internships at a PWM or a small brokerage to start off with.
Hit the ground running with finance stuff to put on your resume. Here are some possibilities:
1) Paid/Unpaid Internships. Others here mentioned PWM. I've seen many transfer kids start with unpaid Merrill Lynch PWM (too many ;)), but it's a great start. Not sure about your location, but inquire about the possibilities. You need to start getting finance experience, so concentrate on getting your first finance-related job ASAP, either paid or unpaid. Also, if you're somewhere in North Dakota with no financial companies around, you should consider looking for a full summer internship in an area that does (SF, Chicago, etc.).
2) Get a self-study certification course in financial modeling. The certification is B.S. but it can be used on a resume. If you have some cash laying around, maybe consider a 3-4 day bootcamp from the likes of Wall Street Prep or something; this course will be lecture-based (i.e. easier to learn) and will give you a whole section with a couple of bullet points on the resume. But I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty expensive for a college student.
3) On-premise financial-related clubs. I'd advise you to join 1 and take it seriously. If your school doesn't have any, create one. It's better to have 1 strong extracurricular on your resume that you actually did stuff for, as opposed to naming 20 clubs you tangentially were related to. 90% of people B.S. their extracurriculars like crazy, but if you actually do something for yours, that might set you apart in this dept.
4) Keep your grades HIGH. Between your mountain biking and all this new finance-related stuff, you might get off track as many people would. But keep in mind that a high GPA is a great way for people to not throw your resume away. I'd recommend to NOT take any extra classes where you think you might get a "challenge", unless it's finance-related and helpful. Course load is not as big of a consideration. If you still can, switch your major to finance / business, or econ.
5) Start networking. Get to know people. You'll meet many nice people who might understand that you're still in your early stages, but will keep you in mind until you become ready to apply. Unless you're a complete tool who still needs time to mature (it's not insinuative, just hypothetical), it's NEVER too early to start networking. Go to your school's recruiting events; if your school doesn't have any, see if you can crash other neighboring schools' events, get business cards, and then start following up. Be well-composed, not overly aggressive, and people will like you.
And keep filling out that resume. You still got time, I wouldn't say IBD / S&T is necessarily impossible to get if you start early.
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