Advice regarding finance and uni
Hello everyone,
Just been reading through the forum, what a brilliant resource. I hope my post is allowed and I apologise for question I asked which is probably very common in here.
To keep things short, my school results were definitely impacted by COVID so I’d say I underachieved somewhat. Didn’t attend university, but considering doing a foundation year and doing a degree in something finance based, maybe at semi-target unis such as Uni Of Liverpool or Uni Of Manchester.
Obviously, im not expecting to break into IB (nor do I really want to) but could you break into other avenues, such as PE, RE, AM, or MC through a foundation year then doing a degree at a semi-target uni? I have a deep interest + understanding in finance and technology and intend to pursue one or the other as a career, just seeking some advice.
Tl;dr: curious on possibility of breaking into finance (NOT IB) by doing a foundation year then degree at semi-target uni (Manchester, Liverpool, Durham).
Please let me know if this at all possible or not, I appreciate your time
Many thanks,
J
Bumping this!
Hi, and sorry that COVID impacted your results - was an awful time.
To be direct, you'd absolutely have a chance, depending on your abilities and grades. I'd suggest maybe:
(A) Get yourself qualified as an accountant after university. Join the Audit teams of one of the Big 4 (or other practices) and do three boring and unsexy years of Audit. After that, and again if you're good, you might be able to pivot into FDD or Transaction Services or similar. From there you have a good amount of optionality; I've a couple of friends who moved into PE (and IB) from here
(B) Corporate Banking is a route you could look at. It tends to be less competitive than IB, and involves a lot of the same characteristics (client-focused, involves highlighting and selling certain products, etc). It also has a lot less of the hours (and admittedly pay).
(C) Corporates. You could (particularly with a finance degree or even better, as a qualified accountant) join one of the big corporates (think Diageo, Unilever, Haleon, BAE, whoever) ideally in their finance or corporate development teams. These firms often have rotation programs or allow employees to rotate between divisions (if you're not already aware, the largest corporate have their own internal M&A divisions)
This is wrote from the perspective of a IBer, so I might be missing a lot of information about AM, RE, etc.
Thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate your time.
My grades aren’t the best but they aren’t exactly terrible, I think I could make up for these with skills and personality. I’ve applied for various apprenticeships at Big 4 firms, so that could be a good way in via point (A).
But thank you so much. This is exciting, I thought finance wouldn’t be possible for me. Also, DM me (if that’s possible on here), I have something that might interest you! :)
what school do you go to?
I’ve left school now.
The advice you got above was really good and I'd echo it but just to caution you that PE, AM, MC, aren't necessarily any less competitive than IB. Also FYI Liverpool and Manchester aren't considered semi targets really. They're non targets with Manchester being the better of the two easily. Some might argue it's more of a low semi. Durham's great.
Big 4 is probably your best bet from a Liverpool. Manchester can aim higher but Big 4 will be a median outcome. Lots of options from there once you get qualified.
Lots of tier 2-3 consulting firms too (e.g. Accenture) have people ultimately exit to MBB or tier 1s.
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