Analyst vs associate entry
I go to a cheap, online, non-target school. Getting my B.S in finance. Ultimate goal of getting into AM/IM and perhaps hedge funds at some point. I'm 28 years old with 3 years of school left. A better school is out of the question. All my experience is customer service. I'll have a 3.7+ GPA. I'm fairly sure I can network at my current F50 company for an internship and probably full time corpfin job. Then attain my M.S. My question is this: Will I have a better chance breaking into investment management at the associate level? With corpfin experience? Or would that be just as hard as getting in as an analyst right out of undergrad school? I can do 1-3 internships and I'm afraid to shoot for investments and miss corpfin opportunities that might more realistically be expected to get me a job. I hope that all makes sense. I understand the "what are my chances" questions are BS. I just want to know if my logic above could benefit me.
You better be getting your MSF from MIT.
You've mostly missed the bandwagon... You go to a cheap, online, non-target school (hopefully not a for profit non-accredited), and that 3.7+ GPA is highly speculative considering you have 3 years of school left. I hope at least you've made management at your current company and have continuously been moving up the ranks.
I'd lower my expectations considerably. You should focus on getting internships at your current workplace for corpfin or anything really. Finish school and get a FT position at your current place or a competitor.
Then worry about taking the GMAT or GRE and apply to a MS or MBA depending on where life takes you.
Thank you for the honesty! No, not an idiot they're definitely accredited, haha.
haha I had to be sure! But yeah I think you should focus on corpfin internships for now, get yourself a nice corpfin FT position and see where that takes you. Good luck!
Would recommend doing Corp fin or strategy at your current company. It would be a great way to break into investment management if you have industry knowledge. Don’t worry about the graduate degree if you can get relevant experience now. And if you have trouble moving to investments after 2-3 years of industry experience, look for a masters.
Wonderful! I thought that might be smart. Seems like I might want to pursue purely corpfin internships until later. Thank you!
Good on you for setting long-term goals. But I think you're right to be wary of doing anything that may jeopardize your chance of getting a job after graduation. You're doing a non-traditional route, which means you need to focus 100% on the next step forward before you divert any of your energy. In all likelihood, if it weren't for your ability to network internally, your resume wouldn't get past an initial screening for a F50 corpfin job. That means you need to leverage this one opportunity as much as you're able. If this is your foot in the door, make sure you get it.
If all goes as well as hoped, you can start to work on pivoting once you're working full-time. A CFA might be a decent option for asset management, but that's a decision for way down the road. A top corpfin job is a worthy goal on its own, even if you never transition to asset management. It's gotta beat customer service, right?
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