Recent May 2010 Grad New Extreme Help!!

Hey guys I am in an extreme hole. I recently graduated this May from SUNY Plattsburgh with a B.S in Finance and Business and Minors in Accounting and Economics' in New York, it's also a non target school. There alumni database is nonexistent and I had only one internship at insurance company when I went to school there because there networking and career office is nonexistent also. I'm trying to break into a BB as an analyst or operations or any type of investment bank such as a Boutique bank. I currently work at JP Morgan Chase as a personal banker in the retail end and to shift to the analyst side is brutal because my qualifications as a banker won't meet that of an analyst. I previously worked for Wells Fargo Financial as a Credit Manager until they downgraded. I currently hold a NYS Life/Health/Accident and my Series 63 and plan on sitting in for CFA level 1 June 11' and my going back for an MBA is my last resort because I don't have enough work experience to qualify for a decent program yet. I'm looking for any advice on what to do?? Where I should start I feel as if going in to dead end street!!! Please Help..Thanks

13 Comments
 
Best Response
New YorkerYou're career in banking is not going to happen. Start your own business.

For someone that asks a lot of questions and starts a lot of threads yourself, you probably shouldn't be so quick to simply shit on someone asking for help.

To the original poster -- I don't necessarily have any sort of career advice for you, but you would do yourself a big service by proofreading and thinking critically before posting. People here would have a greater desire to give you advice if you presented yourself a bit more professionally and left some of the run on sentences and block paragraphs at home.

 
mjali001There alumni database is nonexistent and I had only one internship at insurance company when I went to school there because there networking and career office is nonexistent also.

If you knew this, then why would you still attend the school? Wouldn't that be doing yourself a major disservice?

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

I regret going to that school till this day. I didn't know it had just a horrible alumni database. Above all else I didn't know I that the name of school matter in IB till my senior year when it was too late. I got accepted to penn state for my undergrad and didn't have the money at the time to go. I won't make the same mistake for my MBA that i may do next year if I get in.

 

Did you always know you wanted to be in finance?

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

You need a lot more work experience for a top MBA, make sure to only go to the top 10 or else don't bother. Keep looking for small boutiques and also for any financial related role, even accounting. You can make the switch to a bigger bank later down the road.

 

I'm by no means an elitist and made it to banking out of a non-target state university, but I tend to agree with New Yorker on this one--unless you meet or know someone or can get on at a super boutique, you really have no shot at investment banking. None. My advice is to seek out other career interests.

Array
 

Mjali, I won't say you have 0% chance at IBD but it will be tough. At this point I agree with Virgina Tech when he says you'll have to know someone. With that said, the key here for you is NETWORK. With enough effort you should be able to land something (whether it's BB or not)

 

I know its probably too late to start studying now, but if you wanted to do your CFA you should have written Level 1 in December and Level 2 in June. That may have helped your career prospects at your current firm.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. I refuse to give up on investment banking. I know I probaley won't make it into FO but I'm going to try MO, BO and even asset management like hell. I'm acually going to sit in for the first part of the CFA in June. How should I go about networking? I have a few friends in IB but their all fresh out of college and have no real pull yet.

 

As a CFA level 3 candidate and recent graduate (09), CFA will not help you at all when it comes to investment banking. You better spend your time on networking, networking, networking..., rather than reading CFA books. Good luck.

 

Will taking the IB training at the analyst exhange or Investment banking institute help my chances in getting into the banking world?

 

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