Breaking in and career change at 29

Hello WallStreetOasis,

I am a May 2019 non-target graduate (and a career changer) majoring in finance & economics trying to get into finance even though I am aware that all odds are against me. This is my first post in WSO and hopefully, at least someone can help me out because I really need it.

I will try to be as direct as possible since I know you all probably have better things to do... I am a 29-year-old male who immigrated to the U.S. 5 years ago with permission to work (permanent resident). Graduated from the 3-year college in Eastern Europe majoring in management at the very non-target school that no one gives a jack-squat here. For the last 4 years, I was working for a well established regional company in the Renewables sector as a PM. Completed projects for customers such as Tesla, GE, PPL Corporation, etc. Decided to pursue finance and economics degree at a non-target (Rutgers) and will graduate in May of this year with 3.7GPA (I took 2 years in total). I did not take upon any of the internships because 1) I didn't realize quickly enough how useful the internship is going to be for the rest of my career, 2) I financed my entire education through full-time employment. Last year I took an analyst role in the company (working mostly on project risk management, and compliance) to at least get some sense of finance-related activities.

In the short term, I just want to break in (I live in NYC btw)... and then move laterally inside the company to more satisfying roles. My question is what jobs should I target? I am open to literally anything; risk, compliance, corporate/commercial banking. In the long run, I would like to go the Equity research route and perhaps Corporate strategy.

Also, what do you think of my age (29) and how will this reflect on recruitment and my career in the long run. Needless to say, I am quite aware of my deficiencies but I am also a hard working man, I lived by myself and pushed myself pretty much since I was 18, and I am not afraid of change or challenges ....

1 Comments
 

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