Advice for a Recent Graduate?
I just graduated last week with a Bachelors in Business from Ohio University. I worked (internship) at Merrill Lynch as an analyst under some financial advisors last year, and was offered a job, however I didn't really want to work for Merrill. A financial advisor position there seemed to be more like a glorified car salesman, and I was not interested in that. I have been applying to a lot of internship programs in Chicago at various hedge funds and the CME. I have received a few emails back implying interest and suggesting interviews, and was just interested in any advice some more experienced people out there might have for me.
This is my first time on this site so go easy on me. Thanks in advance!
Best,
Dale
You have't got a big name on your CV as far as undergrad is concerned.
I would networking like groupie. Applying to internships isn't enough when you have no rapport with the firm/person on the other side of the application.
Leverage your FA experience and reach out to some local boutiques and hf's with a brief intro and the possibility of interning unpaid. Attach your CV and follow up with a phone call a few days later. Hound them until you get a firm no/rejection.
How long can you last (in months) without a job? Saving / Average Monthly Expense = Months (on Job Search). You need to be strategic in term of how long are you going to hold out until you get a job that you want? Once you have a time frame in mind, everything else will be much clearer for you.
I could probably last a year or so without being paid living in chicago. I want to start immediately though. I hate wasting time doing a job I don't want, even if Im getting paid.
Beggars can't be choosers..cliche but applies here.
What about using your university's career center?
I would say take the wealth management job at Merrill. A job is better than no job. You can then apply for jobs in Chicago in your free time.
Thanks for your reply. Yes I thought about that, however, today I was emailed by one of the partners at a big mergers and acquisitions firm in chicago. He told me it was an unpaid internship, however, this didn't concern me. I know its not a hedge fund or trading company, however, this is another area of business I have a decent amount of experience and interest in. I have a lot of saved money, so I could live for about a year without being paid in chicago. I think I might rather do this, unless anyone thinks its a bad idea.
What kind of financial adviser hires an analyst for an internship? What kind of skills did you gain with this experience? At some point you will realize you might not have the skills to land the job of your dreams and you will have to take a different job and work your way up.
From experience I can tell you, unless you have some sort of connection that can get you in the door do not apply to the big places. You are just wasting your time.
what are you looking to do? banking? consulting?
consulting is probably more up my alley in terms of interest and skill set
1) have you thought of working for a company (in the industry that you want to do consulting)? if you were looking to do consulting for tech company, it might be beneficial to work in corporate finance dept at a tech firm.
2) you can even try to get a gig at http://www.sba.gov/, where they help small businesses, you would still be consulting for small businesses and you can probably spin that experience to get the job that you want
3) ask people around you especially consultants whether you can do a few months of work for them for free to build up your resume and work experience
4) seek business owners to work for them for free, help them run their businesses better
*basically what I am trying to say is that look at what is the job description of a consultant is, and read all the responsibilities line by line and see whether you can do take alternative routes or do jobs that can satisfy those requirements
the point is that you want to stick to positions that can nurture your core skill sets. i dont work in consulting but for most front office jobs, you are valued on a few things: 1) knowing something about the industry 2) having basic skill sets to analyze industry trends 3) producing something tangible for the clients (tangible in a sense of pitch book, industry report, financial models). for an entry level front office job, you are not expected to bring in clients and run the show, you are judged mostly on your technical skills, and that's why you want to get any job experience that you can to demonstrate to future employers that you can do these basic technical skills
what you don't want is stuck in positions like compliance, auditing, tax, IT
hope it helps. best of luck.
Thanks a lot. That all seems like really good advice. On a side note, I was asked in for an interview at a fairly large mergers and acquisitions firm in Chicago. Like you said, I offered to work for free just to gain some knowledge and experience and he was all about that. Do you have any knowledge on what an interview might be like for this position? I want to make sure I am as prepared as possible next week. Again, thanks for your advice.
Dale
I would start off with doing informational interview with consulting people to give you specific advice on how to interview for those positions. Informational interview, for starters, don't need to be too serious. It is just introducing yourself and getting to know what the other person do on a daily basis.
Your focus on informational interview should always be asking for advice and "never" ask for a job directly. Your main goal in every informational interview is for the guy to like you enough to 1) take his time to mentor you, even better 2) look at your resume and fix it for you, and even better 3) forward it to HR and 4) vouch for you to get a job at his company. For me I see each step as getting on a base in baseball.
Your goal is "not to get multiple home runs" straight off the bet; your mission is to learn how to move up bases faster. What you learned from how to move to 1st base from talking to person A will help you to get to 1st base faster when you met person B. And then you focus on how to move from 1st base to 2nd base faster and then from 2nd to 3rd and then from 3rd to home run. It's a learning curve. There is no particular right or wrong in networking.
You need to learn what style works for you, how you can relate to other people, how you can establish rapport with people. Those things take time. My best advice to you is don't be afraid to fail. Don't be afraid to look stupid. Don't be afraid to try new things. If you kept failing, take time to look at why you are failing. Then, establish a new plan of attack. Try it out. Make adjustments. And do it again.
I think that's what you should be focusing on.
Here is just a sample cold emailing letter to start off with.
Dear Mr. (John Doe),
Hope you are having a great week so far. I graduated from (XYZ college) and have been working (interning) at (XYZ role at XYZ department). I am very interested in learning more about your perspectives on (particular sector that he covers within consulting).
If it's not too much trouble, I would like to speak to you to learn more about your experience so far at (the group - internally, if externally put company name). Thank you for your time and for your consideration.
Warmest regards, First Name Last Name
P.S. I have attached a copy of my resume as a quick summary of my background and work experience.
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