Is it too late to break into Finance?
I am a rising Junior at Baruch College with a 3.2 GPA. Currently I am working at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) as a Programmer Analyst III. NYP is the most prestigious hospital in the NYC area is ranked by U.S. News as the #1 Hospital in the NYC area and the #6 in the country. Since graduating high school I've worked IT jobs full time while also going to school full time. I understand that my GPA isn't the highest, but I think that taking 5 classes a semester, maintaining a decent GPA and working at a prestigious organization isn't something to sneeze at. I have also been very active in my organization in that I have moved up to more higher positions since I began. Everyone within my organization has been working here for decades, come from prestigious schools and have high level degrees. Just the fact of me working here as a full time employee is a pretty big achievement as I have proved my worth by my work ethic. Although I have no finance related experience, I am doing much more than just presentations or data entry like an intern would. In my contemporary day to day activities I am leading and designing projects/implementation as well as the maintenance of our current information systems.
Many people throw at me the same advice in that I should stay within IT. This is something that I never pictured myself in because I only worked in IT as a means of paying for school and putting food on the table. Unfortunately, I am a first generation student with parents who can't afford to enroll me in school, so the responsibility laid on my shoulders. So, I please ask not to give me this advice.
My dream job is to get into an S&T Role. In particular, I would like to land a role at a fixed income trading desk. I believe that my IT background, proximity to the NYC area and work ethic should be major selling points to market myself as a potential candidate for an internship role. I am asking for any help or tips that can help me break into a finance internship at a reputable organization.
Bump
It's never too late. It's great to see you have a goal and you want to work for it. The question is, how far are you willing to go?
For S&T, you don't necessarily need finance experience per se, but you sure will need a good story to explain why someone with your background wants to break into that field. If you want to land a S&T gig at a BB firm, you'll probably want to prioritize raising your GPA up a bit.
I recommend the following: this summer, try to learn more about the field and become familiar with the jargon. Study up on some macroeconomics, start keeping up with financial news, and figure out a way to become more knowledgeable about trading as a whole (you mentioned you want to do fixed income. If I ask you to describe to me what a CDO is right now, could you?) Try and get a sense of how the industry works. I literally spent half of one of my summers learning the ins and outs about the trading world.
At worst case scenario, you might want to consider checking out the Baruch MFE program. Probably rated the best program in the country (at least to my knowledge), and will definitely shape you up into that realm.
Best of luck
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