Getting a job without an internship?
Hi guys,
New to this forum, and I've read around to see but couldn't find anything when I searched the question in a couple of different variations, so thought I'd post here.
I graduated from my degree program last summer, with a second class honours from the University of East Anglia in Business Management, and stayed on at the university to pursue a Masters degree in Finance immediately after. Now unfortunately, during my undergraduate program I spent a lot of my summer breaks travelling, or working for a local company, and (very stupidly) didn't obtain any internships during my time there. The job I worked here was an administrative job, which handled basic administration tasks and bookkeeping for a group of local contractors.
I'm going to be leaving university in about 6 months time, and I've applied for hundreds of jobs in financial services companies and finance schemes, and haven't had much luck. I thought that the addition of a Masters degree would help make me stand out from the crowd, but doesn't seem this is now the case.
Am I screwed because I was stupid when I was younger and didn't get an internship?
Many thanks,
Ben
Nah, you're never screwed. The reality is that most peeps need to hustle for good internships. Now you'll just need to hustle that much harder to get in somewhere without the internship experience.
If you're literally applied to hundreds of jobs, you're doing it wrong. It's like poker, you gotta be "selective aggressive". You gotta get your hustle on, turn that networking dial up and get some pre-interview facetime with the decision makers of the firms you want to get into BEFORE you apply.
Last week I spent a couple days figuring out the email layouts for 25 of the smaller companies in London and sent individual emails to each of the HR directors or most appropriate people I could find, as it was Christmas week I've not heard back from all yet but mostly the responses I've had have been positive!
So you recommend that taking face to face visits with companies first, talking to them and trying to create some sort of connection with them prior to applying? I assume this will only really apply more to the smaller finance houses rather than the big firms?
Thanks very much for the response!
If I were in your shoes, I would figure out what kind of job I want in finance. Browsing the web and networking with different people to get a feel for how they broke in, what they do on a day to day basis, and etc. Then figure out how to go about getting that job ie knowledge and skills needed for that particular field.
use your school's resources (career page, alumni contacts). 6 months is a good amount of time.
I hope those positive replies materialize into interviews!
My recommendation is: 1. Figure out the position and firm you want, then 2. Find someone one level up from that position from that same firm on Linkedin (one level up means that they won't be intimidated by you and have more pull in the office; thus more likely to help). Cold msg that person and invite them for a coffee as close as possible to their office. Explain that you're trying to break into the industry and would like some first hand insight as to the process, etc. Once you've met with a couple people from that office, and if you feel like things are going well with those contacts, you may ask for a plug. Or, you can then message the HR director and name drop your new contacts. (That's how I got my current job.)
The goal is to be memorable in the recruiting process, and the above will help you stand out.
Would you recommend that it's suitable to upgrade to the premium copy of LinkedIn? Lots of those people seem to be restricted if you don't have a premium membership.
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