I graduated in 2009 with a degree in Civil Engineering, then went back for an Econ major because the economy was so bad I couldn't find a job, with which I graduated in 2010. Since then I have worked in both engineering and finance roles. The finance job I worked involved FINRA 6 and 63 certification, but was not very amazing to talk about. I can dress it up fairly well, but to be honest it was a call center job dealing with employees and their retirement accounts.
Anyways, I've been working as an engineer for about a year now and am realizing that it's just not something I'm interested in. I'd like to make a career change into finance, particularly investment banking, because I think it fits my personality and interests very well and it's practical, to an extent, for me to do so.
Now, I'm taking courses this fall/spring as a nondegree student to satisfy prerequisites for getting into MBA programs, and also hoping it boosts my 3.02 GPA a bit.
I'm trying to set up informational interviews with people at RW Baird, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo right now (located in Milwaukee, WI) to get more information.
But specifically, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to improve my chances of getting into an investment bank. I'm hoping that maybe I can get a job in finance ASAP, keep going to school to boost my GPA and participate in student orgs to put on my resume, then maybe go to a top school for an MBA program (1- or 2-year) and following that end up in a top tier bank.
But this is really a massive uphill battle IMO. I have a lot of reservations because of my poor GPA at a no-name school (UW-Milwaukee), my lack of outstanding things to put on my resume (no varsity sports, no leadership roles in school clubs - though this could change, etc.).
What can I do to improve my chances? Would retaking 3 classes to get my GPA up to 3.2 make any difference whatsoever? I'd have to retake 11 courses to get my GPA up to 3.5, I already did the math. :(
Any suggestions? I really would just like to break into a boutique and following that I'd feel a lot more comfortable because I could just build a reputation then.
Thanks for the help!
At your school does taking classes as a non-degree student factor into your undergrad GPA???
I thought it was a seperate grade altogether.
Also consider costs of taking classes in both salary forgone and skills forgone you could have built at work.
If you do get into an MBA or w.e. program - you do realize you still might not get a job. There is no magic tablet that says people that graduate any school automatically get jobs. If you give up your job your costs might be much larger than you realize.
I'm going to have to look into that. It doesn't really play into this semester's courses because I'm not doing that this semester, I"m taking MBA prereq's, but it's something I came up with as a possible idea to look into going forward. You could be right, though.
I wouldn't get an MBA until I was employed with a company that would subsidize it, I think, so I'd like to find a job in finance right now that could go towards that. I think I just need to use my university career center to review my resume, though the school doesn't have much to do with IB so I don't know how helpful it will be specifically.
Companies really don't subsidize MBA's anymore. For what its worth, I think leaving a career that is fairly renumerated for a hail-mary shot at a 'dream career' is sort of impractical in this economy. If you're going to do it though, be realistic. You'll have to consider boutiques, Back Office roles, and moving (geographically).
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