Lost in the Dark and trying to find some light

hey everyone, I graduated with a history degree Feburary 2009. I feel coming out of college everything would be great. The recession hit, and now i am targeting a job in the financial sector. Anything to gain experience. Even finding internship is tough, unpaid. I think because of the history major i m lost. I m thinking about going back to college and getting a BS in finance. Right now i m trying to find a position in the financial field anything just to gain experience and take it from there. Any advice and direction would be great. Thanks

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Best Response

Start by reaching out to your alumni network. Plenty of history majors make it into banking, or at least finance, so your major alone shouldn't keep you out of the field (of course, if you attend a complete non-target you will have a much tougher time breaking into finance as a history major - if for no other reason than because there is less visibility and less alumni connections).

The first plan of attack should be to reach out to alumni in finance and craft your intro letters according to their positions - in other words, don't tell a contact in ops that you really want to get into banking - not much he's going to do for you. Next take a look at your career services center for alumni to see what's being posted there; check efinancialcareers, craigslist, etc. In terms of things you can actively work on - make sure your resume is punched up and ready to go (try to showcase some analytical experiences, skills, etc - considering you don't have finance internship experience), brush up on your financial knowledge (or learn some material) - at least some basics on accounting and finance (if you don't know it already) so that you can talk to some technical questions if you are questioned on them. As a graduate it won't be easy, but work on the accounting and finance skill set, work the alumni contacts and reach out to small shops, boutiques, etc across all roles to get your foot in the door.

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