Hey guys, I'm relatively new to the IB world, but throughout my two years at school, I've been pretty interested, and doing what I can to gain knowledge. But back to the question at hand, is there no shot for 'guys like me'? I attend a small private university in South Carolina. I am a pursuing a BS in Economics, and a BA in Finance. None of my professors seem to have any connections to the IB world, being that we are a small university. I have a below average GPA (3.2), especially as IB is considered, I have won the school wide Stock Market Challenge, twice, organized fundraisers, and have participated in the College Fed Challenge, it will be twice come the 4th of November. So with those not so solid credentials, and not so solid connections, are the chances for 'guys like me' breaking into the IB workforce slim to none?
I guess this answer seems to be common sense, but who knows, maybe there is a chance, or has been instances where 'guys like me' slip into the system.
No reason you can't make it in, it's still early in your school career and you have time. It will be much, much more difficult for you than for others, and you only really stand a shot if you network extensively (and raise your GPA). Unlikely given your information to date, but that doesn't mean it can't happen if you make a drastic effort from here on out.
GPA and lack of connections (what's your work experience like?) are by far the biggest things holding you back right now. Both can be fixed/improved.
GPA will be tough to overcome with no alumni network. Think about transferring to reset GPA (maybe an extra year is necessary) and/or start cold-calling all of wall st.
never impossible, but you've got your work cut out for you.
Just start networking man. It doesn't matter if they're alumni or not. I've started to exhaust my alumni network, so I've been targeting guys who have similar non-target backgrounds, and alumni from rival schools or cities to mine. You'd be surprised by the amount of responses I get from the latter of the two.
start cold e-mailing/linkedining bro, its fun!
What he said. Seriously. You'd be surprised.
You have a shot. It's about what YOU do to make it happen. You can transfer to a target, raise your GPA, start a company/charitable organization, and, like everyone else said, network like crazy. Any combination of these things will raise your chances. But the best advice I can give you:
Learn everything you can about IB. If you really want it, then you will put everything into making it, and you will get there. If you want it that bad, people will see it in you, and you'll make it.
Why not try AM if you won the Stock Market Challenge? Your best bet will be MM firms; they recruit more students from nontargets.
GPA will be an issue, but not enough of an issue to bar you from entry.
Don't be the loser that the title of your thread implies you are and you'll do just fine.
All the "rules" people throw around here... like a minimum GPA cut off etc. are only applicable to the conventional methods of getting a banking job (i.e., on campus recruiting). If you're coming from a non-traditional background, success will be dependent on how resourceful and persistent you are.
That being said, get your GPA up. Its just one more thing you've got working against you. Like someone else said though, its not bad enough to be a brick wall.
Meh... he's just trying to figure out if it's even plausible. I was in the same boat a few years ago.
OP, keep truckin', brah. If I were you, I would focus most specifically on regional opportunities in Charlotte. Keep working hard but also be strategic in padding your GPA. Think about things that may help you stand out or be interesting to talk about in interviews that you could also actually enjoy, like studying abroad. If you go to CoC, try to find any sort of PWM or AM firms in the Charleston area that are looking to take interns part-time, possibly even unpaid. You still have time to get that GPA up. Get it as close to the 3.5 psychological barrier as possible, and then think about getting an affordable MsF somewhere if you need an extra year/summer.
small chance that you could get into a quality IB program right out of school, unless your GPA goes way up. When I have a pile of 100 resumes, the first thing I do is ditch the low gpas and non target schools. You might have more success doing a back door approach. First go into commercial banking or Big4 acccounting, then after a few years try to make the transition. The other thing I tell people all the time is learn a useful language - Chinese, Japanese, Portoguese, or Spanish. This is a huge distinguishing factor and will overshadow your low gpa or school name. Most people are too lazy to learn a language, but if you're hard working and driven, it will reap huge rewards in your career.
This is fucking retarded and I hope I never see your resume on my desk. Language skills? Unless you're in LatAm group, you don't need another language in banking.
This tells me you either don't work in banking at all or you're just an ugly ape.
Yea was just about to post something like this - what horrible advice, probably a wannabe troll. It's okay to troll but this guy actually needs quality advice, which you are not providing at all. No one cares what language you speak unless it's a requirement in the JD.
Can we get a limit on how many posts these HS kids can make in a day? Would really help a lot.
On an unrelated topic, this reminds me of the time someone recommended me to include rhydon in my starting lineup - sure the pokemon is big and intimidating and has impressive stats on paper, but once he's in battle you realize that he's weak versus just about every type and gets wrecked by every shellder and tentacool that knows a water-type move. Completely wrong advice and just plain stupid.
The only thing holding you back is your attitude. Go out there and make it happen!
Why not asset management?
Really appreciate this information guys. I've gotten a few hits on Wealth Management cold calls to local MS and ML offices for internships. They ask for my resume etc.. Is this a generally unheard of route? And asset management never actually came into my head, I'll definitely look into it!
Local Wealth Management office internships are very common stepping stones to better internships and eventually the FT opportunities you are looking for. My recommendation for you is to see if you can work for one during the school year. This will help you fit in more experience in your college years and build out your resume.
feel free to ignore my advice (back door approach and learning a language) - my opinion. At minimum have a backup plan. I've just rarely run into people with your background getting offers at I-banks.
For the peanut gallery - hey, it's my opinion. Save your anger for something worthwhile.
shut the fuck up clown
Agree.
Once again really appreciate the time you guys are taking to read and respond to this. I am gaining a ton of knowledge, just a quick request, any way someone could inform me on some of the lingo, or acronyms. I went to the Finance Dictionary, but still see a lot of acronyms that are not listed on there, Ive figured out a few of them, but a few of them have gotten past me, such as MM. I guessed money market, but sometimes I see it in a sentence, and think there is no way.
BB: Bulge Bracket MM: Middle Market EB: Elite Boutique
I'm assuming your at Furman or Presbyterian. If transferring is an option, Clemson would give you the connections needed to get your foot in the door at places like STRH (Atlanta) or WF (Charlotte).
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