Breaking in Tips
Hello everyone,
I am a Canadian non-target junior year finance student, and recently decided I want to pursue a career in high finance. I have some extracurriculars with leadership experience, but they are not directly finance-related. I have a decent GPA (3.98/4 when I convert it from Ontario GPA to USA GPA), and I've had a few internships, but they are government finance roles, not banking. Because of my course schedule I have two internships left, one in fall, and one in the summer, and I'm hoping to get better ones. Are my chances of landing a high-finance role pretty much none because I decided to pursue it so late, or do I still have a shot?
What should my next steps be? I would appreciate any honest and practical advice.
Thank you!
How non-target are we talking here?
Quite non-target. Think Carleton/uOttawa/UdeM.
Are you fluent in French? You could try to go for Montreal roles since you’d be competing against a smaller pool of applicants. Still going to be hard.
I am fluent in French. Are Montreal roles really less competitive though? There are less applicants, but also less opportunities.
Your school isn't doing you any favors, but you could be in a worse place.
Pros: Excellent GPA, lots of work experience that is somewhat related
Cons: School isn't doing you any favors, in your 3rd year already, and your internships are government roles.
Landing a high-finance role right out of school is likely not going to happen, but landing one in the next 5 years is very doable.
The tough part is that lots of recruiting for summer '25 is already complete. Otherwise I would recommend you laser focus on networking to land a gig at that, and then slow down your pace in school to delay graduation by a year.
I'd recommend taking a stab at trying to get a middle office role at a B5 or anything better (corporate / commercial banking). Then after you land that you can work to move over to a front-office role a year or two after graduation. Keep that GPA where it's at and network well and I don't see why you couldn't make it.
Thanks for your advice, super appreciated!
Nihil sed voluptatum aliquid in maxime consectetur impedit. Aut ipsam illo excepturi qui modi officia tempora. Dolor totam velit voluptate est autem ut. Veniam dolorum optio voluptatem est doloribus.
Asperiores voluptatem voluptas enim unde eos. Itaque officia earum accusantium ut laudantium natus excepturi. Et aliquam aut dolorem nemo rerum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...