Should I turn to the Dark Side?

I'm pretty much losing my mind at this point. Countless applications and cold calls & emails. I haven't received a FT offer yet. College graduate.

I'm currently doing an internship at a healthcare investment bank in which all I do is cold calling. I've asked the MD upon several occasions to teach me something else or to let me do something else and he'll simply shrug his shoulders and tell me that he'll "follow-up" with me about it. I've got another month left for the internship and he doesn't seem to give a crap.

How I'd love to have a position as an investment banking analyst or even a position within a PE or HF. But the world isn't that way. We've got spoiled rich kids here on WSO complaining about how competitive the industry is http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/depressed-and-re-considering-ibd-… , I wish I could slap this kid. Yet here I am sitting on my hands, a college graduate with nothing.

I've considered going to the dark side, i.e. stock broker/financial advisor/money manager route. At this point I've got nothing else to look forward to. I've got several years in retail and all this cold calling experience. I'm wondering is it possible to go this route and then later on find oneself within the HF industry or into IB? What are your thoughts? I need some way of making money otherwise I don't know what will happen.

Post something, even if its only a good word to keep the spirits up.

 

Just keep trying man. You might have to compensate a little, however it is possible to get a FO role (though perhaps not as illustrious one as you'd like to imagine). Just have to look in more unorthodox places and network like hell.

If you are not a target grad with top grades and internships, then a lot of it just comes down to luck. I just graduated non target and somehow managed to land a research position in AM on the last day before I graduated. Was through a 3rd degree connection on Linkedin and things just somehow fell into place, even though more likely chances had failed for me in the past.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for freedom of thought which they seldom use.
 

One thing that I was told when I was doing the same thing... applying to job postings like crazy that I saw.. was to stop as I was wasting my time. If you want something you have to go out there and talk to people. network network network. You have cold calling experience so you already know how to face rejection. Email and cold call firms asking just to talk, then after some conversation talk about another internship or a FT position.

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 
Best Response

You're not going to like my advice OP, but you're too passive and entitled. Why do you rely on the MD to teach you somehting? Why don't you used the down time to go through old pitches, models, teach yourself stuff from all the resources out there. It's further reflected in your asking the other poster to message you the details when in fact you're the one seeking advice. You're a college graduate- so what? Someone elese has it easer- who cares? If you did a little legwork you'd realize there are a ton of opportunities between IB/PE/HF and boiler rooms. You'd also know it's harder to get PE/HF slots than IB so they're not throwawy positions. I'll give you a headstart but you should be thinking about private banking, credit risk, investment consulting, F500 corp fin, fund of funds etc. They aren't the sexiest but they are far better than FA cold calling and open oppurtunities down the road.

 

+1 SB. Gave me the cold hard truth.

Well the fact of the matter is the MD initially gave voice to teaching other aspects of the business when he interviewed me and yet decided not to pull through with that. I am self teaching myself everything that I can, although I won't be able to write anything on my resume about my time here except that I've cold called.

But a college degree doesn't entitle me to anything. I'm not trying to sound as if I'm entitled to anything (I don't wanna sound like some spoiled kid). I'll definitely look into private banking though and see if it can lead to something.

 
Vagabond85:

You're not going to like my advice OP, but you're too passive and entitled. Why do you rely on the MD to teach you somehting? Why don't you used the down time to go through old pitches, models, teach yourself stuff from all the resources out there. It's further reflected in your asking the other poster to message you the details when in fact you're the one seeking advice. You're a college graduate- so what? Someone elese has it easer- who cares? If you did a little legwork you'd realize there are a ton of opportunities between IB/PE/HF and boiler rooms. You'd also know it's harder to get PE/HF slots than IB so they're not throwawy positions. I'll give you a headstart but you should be thinking about private banking, credit risk, investment consulting, F500 corp fin, fund of funds etc. They aren't the sexiest but they are far better than FA cold calling and open oppurtunities down the road.

Too passive is fair here, but I'm not sure about entitled.

He asked the guy to PM him. He could have asked "do you mind if I PM you about this?" and initiated the PM but that's a minor nitpick. Then from his perspective he gets "attacked" by FailedPrayer. FailedPrayer would argue he was trying to help but the post reads a little frustrated at the very least- and could read as nasty from praetor's perspective.

Looking at praetor's post history, he's probably not a troll. There may be some passiveness issues and/or passive-aggressiveness, but I'd like to help him.

 
IlliniProgrammer:
Vagabond85:

You're not going to like my advice OP, but you're too passive and entitled. Why do you rely on the MD to teach you somehting? Why don't you used the down time to go through old pitches, models, teach yourself stuff from all the resources out there. It's further reflected in your asking the other poster to message you the details when in fact you're the one seeking advice. You're a college graduate- so what? Someone elese has it easer- who cares? If you did a little legwork you'd realize there are a ton of opportunities between IB/PE/HF and boiler rooms. You'd also know it's harder to get PE/HF slots than IB so they're not throwawy positions. I'll give you a headstart but you should be thinking about private banking, credit risk, investment consulting, F500 corp fin, fund of funds etc. They aren't the sexiest but they are far better than FA cold calling and open oppurtunities down the road.

Too passive is fair here, but I'm not sure about entitled.

He asked the guy to PM him. He could have asked "do you mind if I PM you about this?" and initiated the PM but that's a minor nitpick. Then from his perspective he gets "attacked" by FailedPrayer. FailedPrayer would argue he was trying to help but the post reads a little frustrated at the very least- and could read as nasty from praetor's perspective.

Looking at praetor's post history, he's probably not a troll. There may be some passiveness issues and/or passive-aggressiveness, but I'd like to help him.

It's more of a hardening of a shell than being aggressive. People can be serious A-holes at times. I'm not here to tell a sad story of how I'm entitled to anything. I'm trying to scope what my options are. UFOInsider mentioned going for a Master's which isn't a bad idea. However I need to get my feet wet and get some good experience.

 
  1. rethink your approach...YOU need to go out and hunt down your opportunity
  2. start networking NOW, 'craft' your resume, and be agressive
  3. If you don't get anywhere in a year, get a masters
Get busy living
 

I'm probably just gonna start cold calling firms like crazy. Starting with all of these Wall St. firms and see where it leads me.

"Networking". A starred word of WSO. Now I'm wondering, I come from a school of engineers, physicists and biologists. The alumni aren't of too much use. Is "networking" for me just narrowed down to cold calling and cold emailing?

 

Crappy O' Daniel that sucks. I do feel depressed at times but you must have balls of steel to continue after that. But I'm definitely going to continue. Hopefully something will come soon

 

What Vagabond85 said - if you're just stuck with cold calling, then use the extra time to go through old pitches, comps and models.

Are there no other analysts/associates/VPs in this team - I find it odd you're asking the MD directly and not someone more junior. If you want to get some work, I'm sure some analyst or associate would be glad to unload some comps on you, or some research work.

And if they really have nothing for you. Go through the old models/comps and try and ask an analyst or associate for some of their time to ask questions. Like "Hey - I went through some old deals and tried to put together my own model, I have a few questions, do you have a few mins?" This will allow you to 1) gain some experience/knowledge, 2) demonstrate interest/initiative to the team and encourage them to give you more tasks.

 

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