Incoming Senior Stressing About Finding a Job

Hi all,

I'm an incoming senior studying at a non-target school majoring in Finance with minors in Economics in Information Systems. I'm really lost in regards to what I want to do after college because I feel like my past work experience hasn't prepared me for choosing a career. I started my own LLC website in middle school and did that for five years, worked as a salesman at a motorsports company my Freshman year, worked at Facebook in a contractor position, sales at a digital services company, and worked at Adobe as a financial analyst intern. My work experience is all over the place and although I have a relatively high GPA (3.8), I really feel discouraged from interviewing at a BB because I have no real work experience doing financial models, forecasts, analysis, etc.

I have a couple friends who are in investment banking right now and it's a path that's recently enticed me because of how it prepares you for a career in finance going forward. I don't think it's something I see myself doing long-term, but I can make the short-term sacrifice for the long-term benefit. I thought most BBs were done recruiting mid-August, but I recently saw Deutsche Bank was still looking for IB analysts. I've done no interview preparation, but am pretty discouraged for a couple reasons, mainly lack of relevant work experience and little time to prepare for the interview process. I had a few thoughts/questions that I was hoping to get answered here:

  1. When is it "too late" to get into investment banking at a reputable firm?
  2. Is it even worth pursuing investment banking right now or should I try to gain some more relevant work experience before I apply?
  3. What are other high-paying fields that would prepare me for working in finance (not too interested in consulting)?

So, I'm stressing out right now as most of the big companies in the Silicon Valley and banks have done their recruiting or are in the process of doing their recruiting. I'm really not sure what the best career is to prepare me for the future--I don't want to work in corporate finance for 25-years and just continue pushing my way up the ladder. I'm a first-time user (I've browsed WSO in the past) and was hoping to gain some clarity here.

I realize I should have gone through this process last year when BBs were recruiting for interns, but I was studying abroad in London and wasn't even that aware of what investment banking was. Even just writing this post is stressing me out about the future--I just want to make the right decision and be able to live with whatever that decision is.

Appreciate any helpful comments or insights.

Thanks.

 

hey, it's a small world so you probably shouldnt be using so many specifics. A quick search found you on linkedin. i would suggest finding a small boutique bank and work there as an analyst for 2 years then move elsewhere. use your school alumni for help

 
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