What the fuck to do now....

Been reading WSO for a long time now, and that recent "Coffee is for Closers" post is what prompted me to make an account. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. It's a really cozy read.

In any case, I'm 23, just graduated from LMU with a bachelors in finance three weeks ago, and got a job offer as an entry-level analyst at a shitty hard money lending company for commercial property investors (won't say which one). Being that I'll take what I can get at this point, I accepted the position and I start in a week. Regrettably, I never actually took up an internship with an IB firm while I was in college, though I'd very much like to. I was too busy ramming through sales jobs and countless failed startups with my roommate. I get that bachelors doesn't really teach you shit, and that I still have a lot of polishing to do as far as financial modeling goes, but it's nothing I can't pick up in a short amount of time. I take the LSAT in September and ultimately I want to go to law school and eventually do international arbitration for cross-border financial institutions (who knows, maybe Morgan Stanley or Deutsche).

What I'm really asking here is how do I get my foot in the door where the realm of investment banking is concerned? What skills should I work on? What should I read? Most importantly, what do firms look for in a candidate? For those of you with experience, your two cents would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance and feel free to tear me a new one.

4 Comments
 

I've been considering CFA. I may be comparing apples and oranges here, but I had the Series 7 and 66 (before they expired around last year), so I don't imagine CFA would be too hard. Don't know how similar the material is though.

As far as the layoffs go, for once I'm glad I don't work at a big firm. But working for what is essentially a legitimate loan shark doesn't look like it'll be much fun either.

 

Don't have any actual advice you are looking for and also don't wish to put you off. To me you seem like an entrepreneurial person whose active and like to get stuff done. You seem like the kinda guy who would be going to IB's just so they can tell you where to put your billions.

Absolute truths don't exist... celebrated opinions do.
 

Corrupti distinctio sed esse delectus expedita voluptatem distinctio. Pariatur harum deserunt possimus hic debitis quidem.

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