Dear all,
Thanks for checking this post.
A brief self-introduction: Currently management trainee in a well-known BB, mainly focus in wholesale banking, client fulfillment and service. It is a position in commercial banking.
I obtained my B.A.(humanity) in a state university; average GPA 3.7/4.0; CFA and AICPA can be obtained in two years. Highly social networking with seniors and executives in banking industry, and it is expected to get nice reference letters from them.
My plan: In 3-4 years, I am gonna apply for my MBA degree in US, hopefully Magic 7 :)
My dream job: asset/portfolio management, private equity, or corporate finance
My question: 1.Based on my profile above, is there ANY POINTS I can get a timely fix and any advice for my final landing in Asset Management/ investment industry?
2.Do I need some quantitative background(choose more optional courses in Quant) if I want to get myself an edge? What courses are recommended?
Many thanks for you guys!!!
On that same note, you're "highly social networking with senior execs" means little to nothing. Do your job at a very high level, and get strong recs from your managers. That will go much farther than some random MD that barely knows you sending a letter to an M7 school.
Last on this one, and I'm assuming that you just didn't mention stuff as opposed to haven't done anything, is extras. I don't necessarily mean saving the world or even community service, but what did you do in college? What do you want to get involved in now? Hobbies? Community? Other? Think about who you are and what you want to be from a personal standpoint, and then do something interesting.
If you pass the CFA, that will more than check the box for quant skills. I would focus on that first and foremost (and well ahead of the CPA). I wouldn't do the CPA unless you need to or want to for some reason. Getting branded as an accountant, while certainly not a kiss of death, is probably not what you want to do from an admissions standpoint or from an AM recruiting standpoint.
Take the GMAT while you have time and energy. Good score there is probably more important than anything written above (or more likely that a bad score will knock you out).
Thanks BGP for your great advice. It really refreashes some of my thoughts before. And as for your first piece of advice, I am gonna crush my work and impress my supervisors, but I am a little worried about my work experiences as a non-premier finance job as a client service advisor, even if it is in BB. Besides getting a CFA title, do I need some other ways to mitigate my brand as a Middle Office employee, and bring more edges for a position in portfolio management? Does CFA+Top MBA enough?
get the best possible score you can on the GMAT
make sure you have experience managing people not just learning the theory behind it
extracurriculars: in my opinion the ultimate trifecta is something helping children, something in the community (charity), and one other. volunteer your time and money, attend the events, not only will it have meaningful business impact but it will contribute something to society
if your goal is AM/HF, CFA plus a top MBA should be more than enough. it's my assumption that the top schools will have plenty of classes to fill in your knowledge gaps (modelling, accounting, etc.)
overall you've got a strong profile and the right attitude, keep this up and you should be golden, keep us posted on how it goes.
Thanks thebrofessor for your insight! and the same doubt as BGP, how could I mitigate my brand as a MIddle Office employee, a non-premier position, even in a BB?(The condition is that I am gonna try all my best to get promoted , good scores on GMAT and CFA, and devote my time and energy to our community) ;)
read posts by OpsDude, he was back/middle office and got into Kellogg (had a great GMAT by the way), I remember reading somewhere that it's more about your "story" and less about if you're front office or not.
"CFA and AICPA can be obtained in two years"
Really?
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