I Know Nothing
Hello,
I'm currently a junior at a non target. Luckily I was able to secure an internship at an investment firm this summer. I recently had a meeting with a VP and he asked me things about finance that I just didn't know the answer to. Ex. I blanked when he asked about Glass-Steagall act. Wasn't taught in any of my classes. I'm fairly new to the finance world as I have a pre-med background. My questions are: What do I need to know to be competitive? and How do I go about learning these things? I felt really incompetent after that meeting
Any help is appreciated!
You need to put yourself in a position to learn as much as possible. This could include the following:
1) changing your major (a bit unlikely given that you're a junior) 2) surrounding yourself with people interested in finance (classes, extracurricular activities, networking with alumni, shadowing people, etc.) 3) learning about the industry (reading news, industry reports occasionally, just talking to people, looking up terms you don't know on Investopedia) 4) most importantly, you have to actually be interested to learn so that you'll want to do the above
Thank you! I changed my major to Econ a while ago and I've been working on getting myself acclimated. It's just hard knowing what you don't know
Sounds like we're in a similar boat. I'm entering my senior year at a large non target as well and am interning at branch BB. I have learned so much through various mediums in the office and outside of it as well:
WSO - The community on here is awesome. Such a wide variety of topics covered, but the most valuable asset this website provides is the constant learning. What I mean is every member feeds off of one another in a (usually) constructive way. There are so many members that are knowledgeable in every industry you could possibly be interested in that it's hard not to learn something or remain motivated every time you log on.
University Clubs/Groups - I'm a member of our university investment club and while sometimes it is very basic, I still learn something new every time I go. While getting started in finance there is no such things as too much exposure. The perspective you can gain from hearing other attendees questions and how they think always motivates me to research unfamiliar topics on my own time and question everything discussed. Through this I've developed an addiction to the process and has put me in the best environment for learning.
Find a mentor - I can't put enough emphasis on this. It doesn't have to be your VP or MD, but maybe someone on a different team or desk that understands your intellectual level and can relate. Alumni are also a great resource as they have actually done what you are trying to do. I'm lucky enough to keep in constant communication with a few alumni which is actually how I got my internship...
I'm still very young as well but I already know that the learning never stops and welcome any new opportunity to grow. You shouldn't feel "incompetent" after talking to your VP who has probably been in the industry >30 years. All you can do is continue to learn and remain curious. Good luck!
Appreciate the words! I try to spend as much time as I can on this site. I'll def try to find a mentor. Good luck to you as well
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