Guys,
I am new to this forum and was looking for some advise on my career path. I am currently entering my Senior year at Boston College with a 3.75 Overall GPA, majoring in Finance and Accounting (major GPAs are higher). I am also interning at a Big 4 this summer in Audit, where I have been offered a full-time position; I also received a full-time offer for the Advisory division, specifically in Transactions Services with the same firm.
Don't want to make this any longer, so long story short, I learned that Audit is not only extremely boring, but also extremely easy. My biggest mistake was jumping the gun on signing up for internships in the fall semester, when Finance recruit in the Spring. I have also developed a great interest in Asset Management because that is the specific sector I was working on for the summer. So I have come to the conclusion that I should decline my offer with this firm and try to go for an AM entry-level position.
I was wondering what are my chances of actually landing an interview this upcoming semester. Most of experience have been in accounting but I do have some Finance experience.
If anyone wants to view my resume and critique it, I would gladly put it up.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Rolling the dice but I would accept job. Tough market and your passing on 100% job offer to apply for a job
hate to break it to you kids but you will not be doing the same thing 36 months out of college. Everyone seems to think the first job is everything and while its important its not the end of the road if you change your career after college
Appreciate the advice Monty...one of my reasons for the switch would also be compensation...since I will be starting full-time in NYC, with the starting salary with this Big4 and I'll basically be scraping by.
you are going to be "scraping by" in every entry level job
if your open to staying up in boston...take a look at places like fidelity, wellington, acadian, weiss etc... alot of smaller AM shops in boston
What do you guys think my overall chances are in getting an interview and hopefully a job with one of these firms? I agree with Monty that not accepting my offer at the current job market situation would be unadvised, but I would really want to try if I knew that I had a plausible shot. To Bean, Boston is definitely a possibility but I would rather be in NYC because I grew up in the city.
definitely accept -- try to get your CPA and then move on from there... CPA can be a great asset if you end up working in high yield shops or other fixed income... work on the CFA and CPA and in 2 years make a move to an AM shop.. security lockedi n
again, unless you are looking for a quant role (math/eng/cs/phys major) in AM, it is next to impossible to get a FO job right out of ugrad.
I am actually in the same boat as the OP. I am going to go ahead and get my CPA and then move onto the CFA and/or series 7, 65/66 exams. Btw where do these exams come into play? Is it standard to have these completed for an entry level position for AM, IB
You have a great chance to land a gig at an AM shop in Boston with a 3.8 from BC. There are a ton of BC alum in the Boston area, you need to start networking immediately (use linkedin, career services). Do not only target the big name shops mentioned above, look at the smaller places where you will have a much better chance. Also, focus on places outside of Boston (Wellesley, Newton, Waltham etc). I have a few friends who intended on doing Big 4 Audit for a year or two and wanted to jump ship to AM, IB, PE etc, however they have now realized it is next to impossible, and they are applying to BSchool to try and break in.....Take the Big 4 Offer, and renege after you land a job you are actually interested in.
Thanks for all the replies guys. I really appreciate all the advice.
To BSTN05: By your last line, do you mean that I should accept the offer and still interview for jobs this upcoming semester? I don't believe that is allowed, is it?
BSTN)%, you can absolutely accept one psotion and interview for others. I have literally done this countless times.
Just dont be tactless- dont let the firm you have signed with know and use discretion with how you talk about this with outside people.
YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY SIGN AND THEN GO THROUGH RECRUITING AND RENEGE LATER>
The only complication I could see is with OCR, but if you dont go through them for the other interviews than you should be fine.
So just sign with the BIG 4 and then do all the AM/IB/MBB recruiting your heart desires, see what you get and decide later!
Thanks for the idea BSTN...things are actually looking up for me as I just networked with a CFO of a AM firm in NYC who is an alma mater of Boston College, and he wanted to meet me and go over my resume...hoping for the best, if not I will try my chances this upcoming semester.
Can anyone help me with what I can expect from an AM interview? How do they compare to iBanking because I have prepped for that in the past? Are there more technical questions involved?
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