Target --> Homeless --> HF? How
Well the title explains it. I got into a target school on a scholarship, and then my parents went bankrupt. Both of them were in the hospital within 8 months, one with a life threatening condition, one with a psychotic episode. I went through a period of transitional homelessness, since I didn't have any family that could help; I mainly ended up staying in random Airbnbs and on friends couches or floors. To get by, I dropped out of college and got a job coding because that was something I knew how to do and could get paid for. I helped my parents get back on their feet while saving money for the huge tuition bill. I've worked full time - fullstack dev and data science - about 60-80 hours a week while finishing college. I've also done a lot of work in algo trading on my own.
Now, I am entering my final year, and due to the workload I dealt with while attending college, my GPA is weak - about 2.9-3.0 depending on how my summer courses finish. I feel like I am in a place where I could out perform, or outwork, many who are getting similar jobs I want, but I've had no luck so far. It's been a struggle because I think I am just getting filtered out due to my GPA and the fact that my experience is not at a BB. My dream job is working in a macro hedge fund, but on paper my skills lean toward quant work. I realize I need to network more, but I am looking for guidance on two things:
1) how do I even present my circumstance to people I would network with? When would I bring this up with them? I don't want to appear to be making excuses for myself, but I need to get a foot in the door.
2) My goal is to work in the macro space, it's what I'm most passionate about, and I have a lot of life goals focused around it. I say that as someone who has worked in a wide range of fields compared to most 21 year olds. Knowing this, how should I optimize my time, do I reach out to hedge funds at all? Or should I try for something lower and then lateral?
Thanks for any advice
I think you have to network hard and get on the phone with people (in normal situations I’d say coffee chats but that’s not an option right now)and figure out the best way to present your situation where it doesn’t sound like you are complaining about your circumstances but you are still presenting the very real challenges you have had that impacted your GPA. Your story shows you work hard and if you can talk markets/investment ideas I think people would be very receptive to you.
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