Should I interview for these positions, or would it be a waste of time?

I graduated with a BS in Finance in '09, and due to a combination of poor networking, the state of the industry at the time, and bad luck, I was never able to land an internship while in undergrad nor a banking job upon graduation. Despite decent grades I was never even able to land an interview.

I decided to contact a recruiting company a few weeks ago, and they found two positions for me that I qualify for with no experience. Here are the job descriptions from the email they sent me

First one, reconciling transfers from investment accounts to DDA accounts for the Wachovia/Wells conversion. This is a high risk position and ideal candidate must have extreme attention to detail. Some CS assisting with transfers, but do not need retirement experience. Candidate does need reconciliation experience, or be a very smart new grad. Long term position, but not definite time of contract. 8-5 M-F, may have to work weekends and OT.

Second one: Customer service based, dealing directly with the clients and their 401k questions.

The pay is $13.50/hr, which is disappointing, but I can manage. It sounds like the positions are in a retail bank branch, not a corporate banking environment, but Im not sure. The commute to work would be horrendous, and I despise commuting and have no intention on moving to where the job would be located.

If my goal is to excel and impress my superiors and eventually leverage my experience into a corporate finance, or any higher-paying banking position, and obtain a masters or MBA, do you think taking either of these jobs would be a waste of time? Would I be better-off abandoning my banking aspirations and focusing on another venture, such as going into business for myself? The recruiters call this a 'foot-in-the-door' opportunity, but I feel like this is probably standard hyperbole to get positions filled for the client (hiring company) and I'll either end up being let go once the work is done, or stuck in a low-paying, dead-end position forever.

Apologies for the ignorance, but I have no first-hand experience with the banking industry and traditional career trajectories, and the fact that Im using a recruiting company confounds the uncertainty even further.

Thanks in advance.

8 Comments
 

How bad do you want it? It being your end goal.... Your goal being unattainable unless you start somewhere

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.
 
Corneliuswe all gotta start somewhere..

Very true. I'm only hope that this is a solid opportunity and I'm not wasting my time.

blackfinancierHow bad do you want it? It being your end goal.... Your goal being unattainable unless you start somewhere

Badly enough.

Mmmm BeefyGo for it

I'm thinking about it.

dongeissGo get an MBA if you want a second shot.

Do you mean after I get some experience? Because everything I've read leads me to believe that any MBA program worth attending won't accept you without a good bit of experience, which I don't have.

 
Scope
dongeissGo get an MBA if you want a second shot.

Do you mean after I get some experience? Because everything I've read leads me to believe that any MBA program worth attending won't accept you without a good bit of experience, which I don't have.

Are you currently unemployed? You'd be applying for entry in 2012 so you'd get 2yrs under your belt. What are you doing now? The jobs you listed aren't going to give you any meaningful experience so if you have a few years under your belt doing something decent lob in some applications. Otherwise try to find better gigs than what you listed.

 
Best Response
dongeiss
Scope
dongeissGo get an MBA if you want a second shot.

Do you mean after I get some experience? Because everything I've read leads me to believe that any MBA program worth attending won't accept you without a good bit of experience, which I don't have.

Are you currently unemployed? You'd be applying for entry in 2012 so you'd get 2yrs under your belt. What are you doing now? The jobs you listed aren't going to give you any meaningful experience so if you have a few years under your belt doing something decent lob in some applications. Otherwise try to find better gigs than what you listed.

Yes, currently unemployed. I was recently laid off from the dead-end job I landed when I graduated. I have a few years of phone sales under my belt, but that is hardly business-school-worthy experience.

 

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