Help me make a career plan

I am 28 year old, never been to college. Right after school I joined my fathers business steel manufacturing company in Bangladesh where I have worked for 10 years now. He made me work hard, 10-12 hrs a day. Now it is time for my father to retire (sell the business) and time for me to move on with my life.

I have been granted admission at University of Buckingham ( 2 year fast track degree
) and I have few choices to make.

Ideally I want to pursue a career in Trading on stock Market. I have been reading the Financial newspapers and watching Bloomberg in my spare time and I like to invest small amount ($5,000) in shares, stocks, gold etc and have been growing at an average of 13% since 2002.

If I am unable to break into trading than I would my second and third preference will be IB and Management Consulting respectively.

I would also like to follow a CFA route.

I understand that University of Buckingham may not be a target school for investment banks yet but I could do a Masters degree in Finance from a Target School.

The choices I have to make are
1) A&F or Business Economics

http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/humanities/bscecon/bu… economics

This is a link to Business Economics page of UB

I prefer Business Economics but A&F is a more safe bet in terms of job prospects. I do not want to go back to Bangladesh I want to work in the UK or EU for the next 10-15 years.
Also only 4 subjects are different between A&F and Business Economics. 4 hard core Accounting courses like Auditing are replaces by microeconomics etc.

2) Is two year degree sufficient to learn and understand undergraduate level Business economics?
Note that the curriculum is same as any 3 year degree but here at UB they do not have 3+1 month holiday instead they hold a semester in that time.
It has been ranked among top 20 since past 3-4 years now. I
It has tutorial type teaching with much more contact hours with the faculty, the faculty is in general very well qualified
Will universities outside UK have trouble understanding the two year degree?

3) Is college level accounting more about crunching and Economics more about understanding?
I am good at understanding concepts but I find it hard to mug them.

4) Is it possible to get into Ox-bridge/ LSE/HEC (Msc Finance/Financial Economics) after graduating with a first class degree and a good gmat score?

5) Will I be too old to get into trading even after MSc Finance from a Target School?

Please make suggestions, send links, point out errors in my plan and help me make a choices.

 
Best Response
bhootnath:

2) Is two year degree sufficient to learn and understand undergraduate level Business economics? Note that the curriculum is same as any 3 year degree but here at UB they do not have 3+1 month holiday instead they hold a semester in that time. It has been ranked among top 20 since past 3-4 years now. I It has tutorial type teaching with much more contact hours with the faculty, the faculty is in general very well qualified Will universities outside UK have trouble understanding the two year degree?

I'll take a shot at this part very quickly. Two years is more than enough to learn finance and basic accounting necessary for Equity Research or Investment Banking. Honestly, you could probably learn it yourself in about 6months in front of a PC (thats what I did).

Unfortunately, you need a degree to get a job in finance these days. But I suggest doing a ton of self-study outside of your useless curriculum. Further, I doubt anyone will be impressed by a 2year degree. In the US, we call that an Associate's Degree. Historically, those degrees have been reserved for underachieving blacks, mexicans, and women (seriously, how many of those have you seen in finance). Not sure how the UK will view it, but I'm sure their outlook won't be far-departed from what I just told you.

Of course, I could be wrong. That could be the most prestigious 2year degree in the world, but I still wouldnt read past the 3rd line on your resume - simply because I've never heard of someone with an associates degree who got into high finance.

Array
 

Thank you for your prompt response, Cries .

This is NOT an associates degree, this is a BSc degree recognized by the UK Govt. All colleges in UK including Ox-bridge, LSE (except Scotland) has 3 year degree. The degree I am looking to pursue is considered equivalent to the degrees offered by any other prestigious institutes. The only difference is that instead of having 4 months break (Christmas, Summer, Winter) The university holds a semester in that time. The course content is exactly the same as any other UK institute.

Also I get your point that the USA views even a 3 year normal degree from UK as short so they will have a real hard time understanding that this is the same as a Bachelors degree and not an Associates degree.

But all over UK it is recognized. What I want to know is that if 2 years time is sufficient to grasp the basic concepts of Economics is detail.

 
Cries:

Historically, those degrees have been reserved for underachieving blacks, mexicans, and women (seriously, how many of those have you seen in finance).

I feel like most people would've read right past this, but it's hilarious.

 
prospie:
Cries:

Historically, those degrees have been reserved for underachieving blacks, mexicans, and women (seriously, how many of those have you seen in finance).

I feel like most people would've read right past this, but it's hilarious.

It is in fact Hilarious. But it is a hard core truth. IB is White Male Dominant.

 
prospie:
Cries:

Historically, those degrees have been reserved for underachieving blacks, mexicans, and women (seriously, how many of those have you seen in finance).

I feel like most people would've read right past this, but it's hilarious.

I try.
Array
 

This thread is turning to be a discussion of "Racial Profile of IB's" someone please help me make the choices and get back to the original topic of the thread. By the I do not mean to undermine non- white population in any which way. lol I am an Asian myself. All I mean is that there are few women and Black on the IB circle.

 

Use the above Serious advice and leverage yourself towards positions in the industry you're in. For what it's worth, I worked in restaurants for years and got my first internship based on my experience in that industry. Use what you have to get what you want.

PM'd you.

Get busy living
 

PM'd you back UFO. I agree with you but I am no more a young adult, also I am in a decent job position at present and I am looking for a career change. I have already done my part of the struggle 10 years ago. I cannot start from 0 again and waste what I have done since past 10 years.

 
R5A7B:
Ever consider equity research based on your industry expertise?

Yes I have considered equity research and I think it would be very interesting to get a position as a equity analyst. What is the general route to get into Equity Research? I want to take a break and go to college first since I always wanted to go to college but was never able to do so due certain circumstances. Right now I am planning to a BSc either in A&F or Business Economics , try to get a first and than go to oxford for MSc Financial Economics. Which of the two do you think will help me most for a position as an equity analyst, A&F or Business Economics?

 

Personally, I would go A&F. Will provide skills needed for ER.

Do some searching on the site and see if you can find anything related to specific industry focus and a transition into ER. Paths vary getting into ER from what I have seen and heard from others.

I would highly recommend heavy networking while in school because of your unusual (not to say bad) path. I think earning the degree on top of the industry focus will position you fairly well, assuming you perform when it comes to school work.

Also consider taking the CFA.

 
R5A7B:
Personally, I would go A&F. Will provide skills needed for ER.

Do some searching on the site and see if you can find anything related to specific industry focus and a transition into ER. Paths vary getting into ER from what I have seen and heard from others.

I would highly recommend heavy networking while in school because of your unusual (not to say bad) path. I think earning the degree on top of the industry focus will position you fairly well, assuming you perform when it comes to school work.

Also consider taking the CFA.

This is exactly my plan BSc+MSc (from top 5) + CFA + Heavy Networking

Thank you for validating my thoughts. I have been researching about it throughout the internet and will keep doing it. But internet can be only trusted so much after that I need to meet people in real to convince my self.

 

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