Advice for young female looking to start career in finance?

So I recently discovered my desire to get into the finance industry. I just graduated Fordham with an arts related major but double minor in business & mktg. I'm starting my MBA in the fall and concentrating in financial management. I live in NYC and was wondering how I can get my start in finance, investing, etc. I'm currently working in business development but would like to transition to finance. Any advice is appreciated!

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The first step is deciding in what area of finance (IB, PE, etc.) you’d like to work in. 

Regardless, all these areas rely on the same information but you may use it differently. You’ll probably want to start with a textbook to learn financial concepts. Investment Banking 3rd edition would be a good source along with Valuation by McKinsey, etc. Other people will chime in and give you their recommendations. Macabus.com is a good option as well. Go to “Learn Finance” at the bottom of the page.

Lastly, not sure how many years you’ve been working, but Credit Suisse has a Pivot Program targeting working professionals looking to transition into the industry. CS may not appear as attractive right now given recent events, but depending on how you look at it - could have a lower barrier for entry. 

 

Reach out to alumni that went to Fordham and work in the industry (LinkedIn is a good place to start or school alumni chapter). Send them an email or LinkedIn saying basically what you said in this post and ask them to meet up for coffee to learn more about the industry and what they do. You will likely learn enough in your MBA to be fine starting out and supplement that with reading books about the industry. Also get a WSJ subscription and read that regularly. It is a good way to learn and get into the newsflow.  

Browse this forum, it is a great resource in many ways. Good luck!

Also I would say the industry is really looking to be more diverse and increase female interest, so use that to your advantage!

 

Typed up a bunch but wanted to ask a few clarifying questions first. You said you just graduated Fordham, do you mean literally just graduated, like in May? And you're doing a part time MBA or something while working in biz dev? Or did you graduate a few years ago and have been doing biz dev since then? 

Edit: Also where are you getting your MBA from? If you don't want to be specific, let us know the tier (M7, T10, T15, etc)

 

Do not do the MBA. IBs won't even look at you for summer associate without 2+ years of full-time work experience, and you won't be able to go back for another MBA.

Stay in biz dev for 2-3 years and then go to an M7. It sounds like your business school application and scores are already pretty good. M7, biz dev, female basically means you will have your pick of IB roles but you need some work experience first.

 

haha very funny guys

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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