Hello all. I was wondering if I could get some career advice according to my current situation. I am going to be a senior this fall at a top business school in the Midwest. I am involved in school, decent grades but not great (3.3 but 3.6 finance GPA), consider myself a social person (Greek life and multiple campus orgs) and I have a real passion for finance (multiple investment clubs, read numerous books on the subject, manage my own portfolio, studying for CFA level 1 in December). I would have killed to have a ER or AM internship this summer but unfortunately I was only able to secure something in PWM (still a large, reputable bank though.) I am at a crossroads for this fall. I want to work in the investments industry (preferably in AM/ER) but I realize this goal might be unrealistic due to intense competition and small amount of jobs for undergrads in these fields. I could continue working at the firm I am now, but as everyone knows PWM is all about building a book, not actually analyzing investments. My question is, what other industries would help me establish the expertise and network to eventually break into ER/AM? I realize corporate finance could be decent depending on the industry, but I'm just not sure how interested I am in it. If I stuck with PWM but ended up obtaining CFA eventually, would that transition be easier into the AM world? I realize I still have a small chance at obtaining the type of job I want right out of graduation, I just want experienced people's opinions on back up plans/what I should do to increase my chances of entering my choice industry. Thanks!
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A lot of people work in banking first before making the jump. In order of priority, you should be looking at:
Buy side ER Sell side ER Investment banking Valuation / advisory work - preferably at a Big 4 firm Wealth management
After that there isn't necessarily a clear route. You could work in corporate finance or event accounting and eventually find your way into ER. Keep in mind a lot of people in the industry work in an entirely different field before making the switch at some point, i.e. during their MBA program.
Thanks for the timely response... If you don't mind me asking - what industry are you currently working in and how much importance do you weigh on CFA?
nevermind about your industry, saw your description
I used to intern in ER, and they really value the CFA. Almost everyone in my firm had it, and basically all the senior people did.
Buy side ER.
The CFA designation is highly respected if you're working on either side of equity research. It isn't valued as highly outside of ER but still carries some weight. Definitely a good investment if you aspire to be in ER.
One more question and I promise I'm done: does your firm hire through a structured OCR process? Or would you also consider someone who reached out to you through a different platform (linkedin, found you on company website and emailed you, etc...). Basically I am trying to figure out the best way to get interviews, or at least get some contacts, at AM firms. My school doesn't have a ton of job openings for AM, the ones that are on our campus recruiting website are mainly all large sell-side firms, and as you can imagine those interviews are very difficult to get because so many students apply.
Critique this rough plan I have on networking with AM firms: 1.) assemble list of firms and contact info for either recruiter or analyst depending on which is available 2.) send brief email explaining my story, also asking if they would be willing to chat on the phone (if geographically possible I would also offer to take them to lunch/coffee/etc.) 3.) continue this process until I land some interviews
I have faith that if I'm able to have a legitimate conversation with someone, then they will see I have a genuine passion. Just a matter of establishing some contacts and landing some interviews (hopefully). Thanks again models_and_bottles
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