How do I break in? What are the realities? Low GPA, Non-Target.
Hi Monkeys
I don't know if IB is the right forum but I had to start somewhere. Long story short I'm wondering my prospects and some guidance. I used to live in New York as a kid so I want to move back. Academically I'm not as strong as I wish I would be but I was dealt a rather tough hand prior to college but now am on track.
SCHOOL
Wisconsin Non-Target | Accounting & Finance Major | GPA 3-Cum 3.3-3.6 Major - Probably will get Cumulative up to 3.1-2 | on 5th & Final Year
EXPERIENCE
Operations/Administration Job at a small business (w/ big clients Apple, JCI, Phillips), PE "Internship" (Visited and was given run down, a family member is in it) ( I could possibly get more substantive work from there and spin it), and I have an accounting internship coming up (PWM, Tax, Financial Valuation & Reporting).
CONTACTS
I have a teacher who I am good friends with who did the ringer in M&A (Lehman, NYC, became a CEO of a bank, etc), friends with a teacher who practiced law in M&A, Uncle is in Real Estate-PE used to work for GS, and dad is a President in a F500. Uncles are in a plethora of different financial positions.
CURRENT PLAN
I am currently reading a lot of literature about the topics, learning excel in depth, learning a program similar to VBA and potentially VBA and polishing appearances. Fighting hard to improve GPA. If I upkick in seriousness I will do extensive networking and drill technicals.
May also start an IB club as a sister school has it, and may with the help of a teacher get a business book published within the school.
QUESTIONS
Really I just want to what my chances are. What should I go for?
If I do commit how should I do it?
What are the realities and how do I work around them/with them?
Any help is appreciated, have a good day.
My dude, you gotta Han Solo this shit or go home("Never tell me the odds"). Your situation isn't glamorous, so I'm going to share a bit about mine to help your mindset, which is what really matters.
I started in community college(also dealt a tough hand and was being practical with living expenses and core reqs). I took 6 years for undergrad(delayed for a finance minor since I was starting an MSF in the fall anyway). I was in music performance on a scholarship at a university and all of a sudden got a prohibitive injury. I pivoted to finance very late (end of 4th year). I had zero business connections of any kind. What I had was passion and a respectable level of intelligence.
I took out debt to buy a ton of books, bootlegged analyst training manuals, cold emailed, tested out of prereqs for finance courses, aced the courses, got into a local nontarget MSF, got a technical (not IB) internship, got a couple buyside internships, and now I'm on the buy side FT in my preferred asset class (Lev/Distressed debt).
I didn't ask for odds. I had a vision and tried to realize it. The unsolicited odds I received from people were not good. I didn't care. The next thing on my passion list after music performance was financial markets, so it wasn't about someone's odds. It was about the fact that in the next hundred years I'm certainly going to be six feet under, and dammit, this is what I want.
If this is really what you want, you will do what you have to do to find a way. Yes, you will have to bust your ass and take more time. Yes, you will be an outlier. But if that was your concern, then you were toast before you started this thread. If you actually want to be in the industry for healthy, sane reasons, then I can definitely try to help with any specifics you may have.
My route (Wouldn't recommend it) - Respected school in the state but little known outside the Midwest. - Similar GPA in Undergrad. Worked a shitty job out of school (2009 Grad) - Acquired MBA & CFA and finally got in at 29 (Associate)
If you can't get a good internship or break in through networking, find a gig that will pay for your grad school or a good portion of it that has a similar skill set role (corp dev at a small company, CorpFin, Treasury, ETC.) mainly emphasizing your spreadsheet/modeling skills and improving your powerpoint & writing skills. Cant hurt to get CFA/CPA depending on your education/work. From there its just getting in front of people. At some point someone will see a skill set that is worth bringing in.
My two cents anyways as someone who got in late.