What's Left?

I'd take Hopeless people for 400, Alex

"What is a common name for reaching out to family, friends and alumni?"

What is Networking? Tah dah

Everybody knows somebody. You might not start out as an analyst at McKinsey, Bain or MS M&A. It is better have a job than not having a job.

Internships -- volunteer to work for free.

Keep plugging. Always.

Careerbuilder, Efinancialcareers, Albournevillage, Indeed, Linkedin, Alumni, the list goes on.

Call friends who already work in finance and ask them to meet up for a beer. Meet their friends.

The list goes on.

Network.

i'd kill for an internship...i can't even get an unpaid one...the thing is I went to a non-target, but still a top 40 school with a huge alumni base in nyc....my career center is bullsh*t though i have dreams off cursing out every employee there...

as for networking, my father had his own business and thus not many connections in finance or consulting...this is just getting to be so tough i'm losing hope....

one thing i haven't done is contact random alumni via linkedin....is this an appropriate thing to do or is it pointless...at this point I have no need to ask people for more advice...i am only interested in jobs and internships..how should i ask alumni to direct me to jobs they know to be open?

Get an MSF dude

Follow your fucking bliss

StoudeMelo I'm pretty sure we went to the same school and I just graduated... I know I'm going to an MSF program so I picked up an internship at a mezz fund down in NYC for a few months. It was that easy I literally blasted a few select Alumni and got the internship. Granted I've interned in PE before, have a high GPA, etc. etc. I've read through your post history and you don't seem to know what you want/aren't that focused. Coming from our school you need to step it up.

I'm available to talk offline about this.

Especially in this market you shouldn't narrow your field. Look into F500s and just keep applying/networking. I would only get an MSF as a last resort. I'm an 09 graduate and had friends that went that route. All it did was get them an extra 30k of debt when entering the shitty 2010 market.

Get a job. Any job. Gaps in your employment record are killer.

Try calling local Asset Managers / Wealth advisers and see if they could use an office bitch. Probably one of your best bets finance related. Working 2-3 days a week for one of those guys is far better than nothing.

would volunteering for say...mitt romney be something worth putting on my resume if i were to get involved?

^^ Absolutely yes. And do as much as you can while your still unemployed. You just need shit to talk about so it doesn't sound like you've been sitting on your ass.

Think about it, your probably going to get a question like "what have you been doing since graduation" during the job interview. How are you going to answer that if all you've been doing is job hunting? "Uhhh, been looking for a job with no success?"

Volunteer for Romney. Join young republicans. Try and get 1-3 days a week of steady work somewhere. Work on your Spanish (seriously). You can be fuzzy on the dates, but make sure you have some ammo to answer that question with. Otherwise you are DOA

Probably not applicable but if you are part of a fraternity or have close friends that are part of a fraternities, they might have some connections you could tap into.

great advice...yeah I haven't had a real job per se since i graduated seven months ago...but I've worked on finding a tenant for one of my family's buildings...worked on my father's campaign for local office...spent some time out of the country..

but yes i agree my window for acceptable unemployment is closing very quickly...i've got three options the way i see it....get a finance internship (not pwm) while concurrently studying for the gmat/applying to MSF programs...get a full time job....or get a bullshit job doing shifts at a catering place etc., while studying for the gmat...preferably one of the first 2.

You're searching for a job but haven't utilized LinkedIn yet? I'm sorry, what?

I graduated in May from a non-target as well, though if I'm guessing correctly, much more of a non-target than your school. I didn't decide to go into finance until around September, and my main focus was cold emailing alumni from my school. I had a form letter, and edited it to fit different jobs (S&T, banking, etc). My response rate was around 80%, I had phone convos with 50%, and had info interviews on trading floors around 6-8 times. Got a job by mid November.

Granted, I used name recognition from being a former athlete to my advantage, but alumni are always willing to help if you come across as sincere and hard working. Get on LinkedIn immediately, PM me if you need guidance.

i have used linkedin...but considering an alumni from my fraternity, that actually was on campus for a year that i was there, wouldnt even give me a response...even to just say "i cant help", i've sort of been uncertain of what to say....I've actually just finished compiling a list of alumni i have found on linkedin that i want to reach out to and plan on starting today...

but career services always advises us not to ask for a job...what am i supposed to say though? like i get that building a network is extremely important, but its obvious that I just need help getting a job at this point.

What do you think of sending a note that sound like this: "I did a search on alumni that are in fields of interest to me...I am interested in learning how you were able to secure your current position since we share a common background..."....something like that? or can I be more direct?

sorry for not really using any punctuation, I'm just writing as I am thinking at the moment.

also, any advice on the i-banking vs. mgmt. consulting dilemma? anyone else find themselves on the fence regarding which direction to start in?

i'll be honest: the prestige and money of investment banking has certainly influenced my interest in becoming an analyst in IBD...but I've always been interested in the topic

on the other hand, consulting is more of a passion, and i eventually see myself getting into it down the road. but I was very much planning to go through the 2-3 year stint as an analyst to begin....becoming less and less certain though.

Dude, you can talk yourself into or out of anything in life...figure out what you want and then hammer away at it.

Just a repeat of what most of these guys/gals said above: get any job right now since youll be getting some kind of experience. And keep networking with whoever, whether its with the telemarketers who call your house to your dentist to the 5th cousin you've never met before. Keep your head up man.

You're wording it all wrong. Introduce yourself, then "I wanted to reach out to you because I'm interested in breaking into X" Say a little about your background - mention anything notable. Do some research on his firm and position, drop a line about it. Ask for any help or guidance that he/she could offer you. Mention again that you're really hungry to break into the industry. Boom...

You gotta get a better attitude, I can see why you're still unemployed

StoudeMelo:

I need help!!

I graduated in May 2011 from a non-target and am still unemployed.

I've been on some really great interviews....made it two final rounds at large companies in banking and consulting...but am currently lost for what to do now.

I am still waiting to hear back from a final round at a consulting firm but want to continue to apply...however, applying to corporate websites has been almost entirely useless except for these two instances...Craigslist yields very little....recruiters have very little for entry-level roles....

What else should I be doing?

I don't understand why going to a "non-target" is your excuse for not being willing to scrap and find a job. It may take you longer, you may have to take a job that you find less than ideal to start, and you may have some missteps along the way, but if you want it enough, you'll be able to break in.

You need to start networking. Applying to corporate websites and looking to entry-level headhunters is a complete waste of your time.

well i was actively looking for/negotiating with a potential tenant for my family's commercial property...worked on a political campaign...traveled a bit out of the country...not that any of this experience was substantial, but it is what I tell people in interviews..

I just got an internship in equity research that is starting next week...I'm actually very happy about it...going to continue to apply for full-time stuff and grow my network at the same time hopefully...thanks for the help everyone.

^^ good for you and good luck

.

UFOinsider>>>quoting is not working for me so I will just reply to you in a new post...

yes, that's what I've come to understand/hope to be the case....this firm was actually incorporated last year and is very small....it is actually listed as a wealth management firm..but the duties of the intern are not at all related to cold-calling and building a client base...my guess is that they are working on creating a selection of portfolios which they intend to market to potential clients in the future...does that seem feasible?

and as long as I work even half as hard as I've promised potential employers in interviews, I see a full-time offer as a distinct possibility...thanks for your nice wishes!