Terrible undergrad, no exp - what are my options...

Same boat with a bit higher GPA and different details. I plan on taking the CFA as well. I also plan on taking the GMAT to have it on my resume and then considering MSF or MBA based on the advice I've received here. In my free time I've been studying advance excel uses so I can get temp. jobs and get used to being around the industry. Maybe I'll get the Microsoft specialist certification as well. Basically I'm just aiming on getting skills that I didn't get in my undergraduate career hoping it will help me get some entry level roles.

I also invest on my own and work on creating my own research reports as I learn new things. Can't hurt to create a track record of your work besides certifications and degrees?

I'll be very interested in hearing what advice everyone gives you!

Same boat, looking for answers.

Go do some real humanitarian type of work that's soo unrelated from business it's not even funny... then take the gmat in about 3 years and get a 740+ and put together a real good story for how you had issues as an undergrad and wanted to help others immediately following graduation and after a few years of service you were looking to continue your education and leave nothing on the table this go-around. The low GPA is a killer.

anything is possible but you're 99% screwed.

You should probably talk to a career counselor at your school, it's going to be a bit difficult for you to find work in these realms. The CFA is an incredibly rigorous series of tests, my roommate is currently studying for it and he has spent around 40 hours a week since january on top of his work schedule (9-5 commercial bank analyst)., with an undergrad degree in finance and he's still not comfortable with where he's at. You have to realize that the CFA is not something anyone can cram, it takes months of dedication for preparation as there are thousands of pages of material you have to know.

I think level 1 has a passing rate of 20%, level 2 40% and level 3 60%. I apologize if you are indeed doing the proper preparations for it, but the way you casually threw it out there made me feel like you were implying you could graduate in mid-may and spend the next 2 weeks studying to get it done - which is not possible.

In the finance arena your best shot is to find work as a financial planner - which is to say that it is something that you have to go and create work for yourself to accomplish. I am not really looking at grad school yet but I think that is going to be a whole new monkey to wrangle for you.

My advice, talk to your career counselor, do some networking, but consider working at some jobs that don't take close looks at your college records after they see you have the degree. Although the jobs discussed on this website have very rigorous background checking, there are many great jobs out there that just want that degree. But graduate schools are going to look at your transcripts and will be reluctant to accept you unless you have done something outstanding in your career.

Outside of corporate finance (but within the finance realm), you probably don't have any real choices, barring any kind of exceptional things that I cannot see. If you make a lot of money or have a lot of family money to kick around, you could probably set up your own investment fund of some sort, but if you did something like that I would advise you to surround yourself with people who know what they are doing from experience.

You can also do the temp agencies, headhunting firms, etc. and see what's out there. But don't beat yourself up over college grades, you don't have to be an MD at Goldman Sachs to have a successful career and make shit tons of money, you just have to be able to analyze your strengths and see what options are out there and work your ass off, and have a bit of luck on your side. But the most important thing is to try to make a plan of what you want to do and how you want to do it, and make adjustments as things change, but that is an important thing for you to possess.

With that said, there are tons of jobs that will just look to see that you graduated, that don't care if you were a rhodes' scholar. But many of the jobs posted about on this forum will be out of reach at least initially. But it doesn't hurt to try your hardest to apply to them, the worst thing that anyone will tell you is No. Look at jobs in small businesses to start out with, like bookkeepers or payroll clerks, and use that to get you into a big corporation after a couple of years, then move around internally.

Well, yes, I realize I'm somewhat 99% screwed as ChobaniMonki put it (nice name btw), but I'm trying my best to not let anything get me down. The worst thing that can happen is I receive no as an answer as Tiger90 said.

The one interview I had so far - I got it after seeing a job listing, looking at the company's site, and replying to one of the founder's blog posts. What I wrote and my assertiveness went a long way with them I was told in the initial interview. I interviewed for two different positions, and I thought I did well for the most part. Unfortunately, they have been somewhat slow in their decision process, and I was told that they are waiting to fill one position first before they fill the position that I am being considered for.

I just don't know what other jobs to look at that are related and could eventually either help my transition in multiple steps to either finance or business school. That's why I asked if perhaps a financial software consulting job would be an okay place to start for 2-3 years (would also help network). I also have a friend who says he can almost guarantee a job in ERP software consulting, but I'm afraid of being pigeonholed.

Thank you everyone for the comments so far., especially Tiger90.

The problem is signaling. You have "signaled" to future employers the sorts of future outcomes they can expect from you based on your past performance. At this point just network and try and get people to like you.

The job you want has 10,000 other applications coming in the door from kids with near 4.0 gpa's and ivy educations. Look at it from the employer's perspective - what makes you a better choice than one of those they might pick? If you can come up with something, you have an angle to work with.

That's tough - I'd go with what traveler said and follow the humanitarian route for a year so you seem more interesting to employers.

Try to get into sales...doesn't really matter where. You can make a ton of money and academic background isn't that important. Another place to look is commercial real estate, you can start in brokerage and later move into asset management and investing. Neither of these roles would be true finance, but they are places that people can make a ton of money if they are good and ambitious.

edit: When I say sales, I don't mean S&T.

TechBanking pretty much nailed it. Choose an industry such as commercial banking or healthcare and get a job as a broker or medical device sales. Do that for 2 or 3 years, and then go to the best business school possible. You should be able to make the jump then.

Or network incredibly hard/save a MD's life.
Family or family friend connections make all these problems disappear.

do audit.

Thanks again for all the replies.

Regardless what job I end up getting, do you guys think it is a good idea to self-study certain things in finance (aside from continuing with the CFA)?

I came across Aswath Damodaran's website and Chandan Sengupta's "Financial Modeling Using Excel and VBA", and I was wondering if it was worth the time. And if so, any other recommendations or seminal works that I should study?

Get a job and start working. After a year or two maybe look at doing a masters or keep growing within your company.

Study for the CFA in your free time. If you can pass a couple levels you might be able to get something else. Your GPA sucks and you need to prove to someone you can handle it.

Honestly your best bet might be to try and get in with a smaller company or a startup. If you do well working for them in whatever position, there's a much higher likelihood that you can jump to something you want to do and actually have an impact in that area.