Career Switch from Premed (Target School)
Hi, I attend Columbia, graduating this year but I unfortunately stayed focused on premed/biology and didn't consider other options. I don't really have any financial experience, been focused on working in (scientific) research and I'm not sure if I have any hope. I know some people just attend med school and then make switches but that seems excessive. I know some hedge funds are still hiring and I saw that Citi still has some positions but I'm really unsure of my position in this and where I should go.
I would greatly appreciate any advice, thank you in advance!
1) scout to see if employers are still holding info sessions at your school 2) apply to anything and everything online, you should get a lot of bites coming from columbia 3) your options are limited though, would say there are few remaining positions, especially in the front office at "blue chip" or "name brand" companies, boutiques are your best bet at this point. 4) if you know people who work at citi or those HFs, network with them and get the inside scoop on those open roles ASAP, they could be filled any day now
I was a premed at a semi target, currently in a role at a reputable firm that got me started but isn't something I want to make a career out of. PM me if you'd like more info
Hi, I'm sorry for replying so late, I had some personal stuff going on and then I remembered posting here lol. I'll keep an eye out for info sessions for sure. Regarding your second point, there are a number of jobs that show up but for some I don't have the correct major - would you still say it's worth applying? It's a good idea to ask my friends if they know anything, I will do that, though most of my friends going into IB are heading to elite boutiques while the ones going to BB are more in middle office. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
More context would be helpful, but the main question is why you want to into finance now and why are you no longer interested is staying on the medicine path? As you mentioned, you don't have any finance experience so what is pushing you to switch?
Relatedly, do you know what area of finance you are interested in pursuing? You mentioned hedge funds, but it doesn't seem like you're totally sure? Finance is a huge field with a lot of varying jobs and career paths.
imsurance is probably right in that front office positions with brand name companies are probably going to be hard to come by at this point. I think your best bet may be to look for finance roles with that have a healthcare/biology spin to it (i.e. boutique healthcare advisory or equity research shops or smaller biotech VCs, etc)
Hi orangemarker, I want to apologize for my delayed response - I had some personal issues and a massive amount of work come up. You ask some very valid questions and I must admit that much of my interest is due to my discontent with medicine and the popularity of finance as a field at my school and even within my friend groups. My issue with medicine is two fold - firstly, I would be applying for MD/PhD programs which are ~12 more years of schooling after a taxing undergrad, and even before undergrad, I worked pretty long hours in the lab as a high school student. In the end, the path is long, the renumeration isn't that high, there is a lot of shady science, and I want to work on more immediately relevant problems and issues.
I think my ultimate ambition is to work in venture capital in the life sciences and gain enough experience and connections so that I can start my own healthcare or biotech company. I want to learn about valuations and buyouts etc. The medical science subject matter still interests me but I think I want to do more the academic research that barely touches industry. I have heard that the best way to get into VC is through IB or ER, hence my interest. I didn't know that smaller VCs would be interested in my work; I think I'll definitely seek out those as well in addition to the advisory roles I've been seeing. On my school's job site, there are some front end roles with name companies but I don't meet the qualifications for some and haven't applied to those, but judging from what people have written, it looks like I should go for it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts; they have been really helpful to me!
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