New to finance - Recently transferred to a new Uni
Hi guys, I am new to WSO and recently to Finance. A little about myself, I recently transfered to the University of Saint Thomas a Private college found in the Twin Cities. I came to Saint Thomas interested in pursuing marketing but after talking to some profs and friends I have started to begin an interest in learning about Finance and what it is all about. I transfered from a community college locally, and took a couple of accounting classes finding the material fairly easy for me to understand. I do not however want to pursue a degree in Accounting and would like to learn more about Finance. I was wondering if there are great websites for the basics/101 on finance, or if there are basic entry level jobs that I can try to get that would help me gain valuable finance experience. Again, I have zero finance experience, and have worked as a Supervisor in a Cafe for the past 3 years. I really want learn more about the subject, and see if it is right for me. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Hello and welcome! If you are just looking for a bit of a primer, WSO has some great stuff on their FAQ section. Stuff ranges from lifestyle in finance to ibanking and recruiting so that is possibly a great place to start poking around. I would also suggest Mergers and Inquisitions and the Life on the Buy Side websites if you're interested at other stuff.
I would highly recommend starting BIG picture... so many college age kids learn about finance theory, methodologies, etc throughout college but they can't articulate how the different players in the industry function and what products/services they provide because it isn't really taught in depth in Finance 101 ... i.e. compare and contrast an investment bank, private equity firm, asset management company, commercial bank, wealth management firm, etc etc etc
are there part times jobs that would be helpful to gain experience in finance? Also how do you gain insight into those topics you were talking about pat? Do you read an books or wall street journal type sources?
Both, really. Books are going to give you the foundation and academic side of it and then when you read the WSJ you will be able to connect the dots to the real world. google finance and yahoo finance will aggregate news from a lot of sources that can be helpful so that you don't have to bookmark a bunch of different sites. i'd read bloomberg too. khan academy has stuff in video form that is pretty good for a beginner.
Are there any entry level jobs that I could look at to have as part-time during school that would be valuable for gaining finance experience?
When I was a freshmen (18 years old), I went to a local insurance company and just told them I was a finance major looking for some experience in the industry. They scheduled me for an interview and a week later I was getting my life insurance licence and selling term coverage.
While I didn't break any sales records I learned an immense amount about the insurance, mortgage, and healthcare industries while also learning how to talk and maintain clients.
Commission work is a good opportunity because for the firm, they aren't spending too much money on you if you fail. I would never recommend the job for your Jr/Senior internships, but its a good start until then.
Depends on what you're looking for. If you think you can swing a finance unpaid internship during the semester, then I would really try and do that. Look for any places in your area and start cold calling/networking like mad to see if you can swing that.
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