Seeking advice as a graduate (Canada)
Hello everyone,
first post on this forum, and I really hope I can find some constructive advice and insights to my current situation.
I'm a newly graduate from U of T BBA program with a finance specialist. My current situation is common to most graduate, which is looking for employment. To be honest, as of now i don't have any relevant experience as i tried every year but yet never had the opportunity of being employed in the financial sector. So i end up working at no frills, some administrative jobs, labour etc. Even though i was set behind with experience, I realize that i can't slack in my studying and my academics if i ever want a fighting chance. Thus, i studied hard in my final 2 years (first 2 years were bad) and pulled my cgpa to achieving distinction and 4th year honour roll. Average of my upper yr finance marks is around 85. Thus I was able to become a TA for third-yr intro to derivative market, and also research assistant for my university.
I've been looking desperately at the beginning of my final year, but no luck. I've been consistently applying through my school board career site, talentegg, kijiji etc. I was looking for mainly entry level jobs, am i aiming to high? Should i start with intern, volunteer, or CSR in the financial sector? I have no idea what's the outlook for me in terms of employment opportunity for me. I really hope I can get some experiences in boutique firms, thus I've been actively seeking. I am also enrolled in December's level 1 CFA.
I personally really have strong interest in derivative market, and risk management as i got mid 90s in both course.
I look forward to your feedbacks. Thank you.
have you tried applying to recent graduate programs?
get on linkedin and start browsing the job postings and follow companies. You should also try reaching out to profs that you've TA'd for and ask if they have any recent grads that they can connect you with that have made it in to areas that interest you.
"Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of life. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing." - Ed Seykota
I'm still a undergraduate student so take everything I say with a grain of salt.
UofT has a large network on Bay street from the MBA program and some as well from their undergrad (B.Com, engineering, etc). Use all of those alumni and cold email them by using LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, join the UofT alumni groups and search for alumni at all of the Canadian big 5, boutiques (here's a decent list of boutiques in Toronto: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/toronto-boutiques-0) and any firm that is finance related. Even if they didn't go to UTSC, both of you still went to UofT and some should still help. I would read this post about the LinkedIn stuff (//www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/how-i-used-linkedin-to-get-interviews-an…). I wouldn't suggest asking for a job/interview. Instead ask the alumni for career advice and try to build a relationship with them. A lot of people will not answer you but keep on sending out emails.
I would not suggest doing your CFA unless you want to end up in ER, asset management, etc and even if you want to end there I think networking is still way more important/helpful to get a job. You need to study a fair bit for the CFA and you can use that time for networking instead. You can try out some F500 programs that they have in Canada as well. Aim for internships and entry level positions.
Do you play hockey?
Thanks for the advice, I know networking is key nowadays. Yeah I register at my school graduate career posting.
How do you guys feel about finance recruiting agency
I don't really have any experience on those recruiting agencies, so I'm not really sure. Recruiting agencies could probably help you get exposure to some areas though it really all depends where you want to end up. You mentioned you were interested in RM, which I don't think you could get that through a recruiting agency. What area of finance do you want to get into?
To be honest, im not absolutely sure, i just want to get exposure to anything in the financial field. From what i studied so far, it seems like hedging instruments and risk management is what captures my interest.
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