Getting into the world of Finance/Banking after military

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on this forum and it seems like a good place to get my questions answered! I am currently 20 years old and in the United States Air Force (1 yr in 3 to go). I've been doing a lot of research and "soul searching" if you will, and I have made the conclusion that I want to get into Finance and pursue IB, AM, or PE. I've noticed there is a lot of talk about needing to be enrolled into a Tier 1 University to even land an Internship/jobs in one of these fields. I guess my question is, where am I going to stand on getting jobs due to my background(posted below), or how are different banks going to look at me? Am I behind the curve since i'm not going to a Top Undergrad School?

BACKGROUND: As soon as I turned 18 I took a management roll for two local chain establishments, overseeing an average of 28 employees - 14 each store - and total net profit and loss of an estimated 2.32 million dollars throughout the two years I was Manager. During this time I did not go to school and I was waiting on my application for the military to get finalized. The at the end of 2018, I resigned my management position to go into the Air Force. My AFGSC is 5J051, which is Paralegal. So now I work with over 17 Attorneys, including 4 Senior Supervising Staff Judge Advocates, spread out through our Military Justice, Civil & Operational Law, and Legal Assistance sections. My key role within this sector is that I am a Case Paralegal working on cases that go to trial in the Air Force. I also assist attorneys in providing advice to over 25 Units and 25 Commanders on laws and rules regarding the Military Justice System. On top of these duties, I run the Article 15 Non Judicial Punishment Program across the installation which oversees over 2000 individuals subjected to the UCMJ. I have to brief my bosses on a Bi-weekly basis and pull numbers to track any patterns of misconduct within the Article 15 Program.

PRESENT: Now that I am a year in my Air Force career I have started attending Purdue University for my Undergrad in Corporate Finance. Since I am planning on only doing 4 years in the military, I am going to school more than full time to finish out exactly one month before my separation date (assuming all goes well of course). I also have a 3.9 GPA all while doing this. I am hoping to be able to find an internship around the time I separate but I don't know hard it will be coming from my background. I know they say to try to get internships in sophomore and Junior year of college, but due to the military I cannot due this. I am wondering if this is going to effect me when looking for a job / internship. Also the fact that I am only going to do 4 years in the military, I'm not sure if this will be perceived as a bad thing. But of course I am not coming out of the service empty handed. Racking and stacking myself against other competitors, where do you guys think I stand and what opportunities will I be able to create for myself with my background? Do I have any chances of getting my foot in the door in IB, AM, PE?

Honest answers would be appreciated!

V/r, DeVante E.

1 Comments
 

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