Best Master's to Get to Weather the Storm
I interned in banking last summer and am graduating this year. I wasn't able to secure a full-time offer and instead of taking a job I don't want, I'm thinking of doing a 1 yr master's program. I'm on good terms with my summer firm and can possibly talk to them about joining the next year as an analyst.
I think a year in grad school would be fun but want it to be useful in the future. Given the state of Wall Street, are Financial Engineering master's still useful? I'm an engineer by training so I'm also considering computational mathematics, economics or statistics. What about an engineering master's if I plan to work in a coverage group (e.g. technology, energy, industrials, etc.)?
How are the programs abroad viewed such as LSE, Oxford, etc.? Could any of these programs actually get me job on Wall Street in the U.S.?
Or is the master's completely useless and I could be doing something like Teach for America instead?
Your input is appreciated, just looking for something to fill the time next year.
i have several friends that are doing a masters' in finance this year that are having serious trouble finding a job. This is because companies are usually set on hiring undergrads for the analyst position and MBAs for the associate position. You'd be somewhere in between, which could actually make you less desirable. I know this doesn't make sense, but I've been talking to the director of the masters in finance program at my school and it's an uphill battle for them to convince companies to recruit from their ranks. Maybe it's different for financial engineering, so I can't say anything about that. Did you look at positions that might feed into a banking job? Something like transaction services or valuation perhaps?
It's all about how "prestigious" your master's is. If you're getting a masters at Ullinois it's just a reality that you'll be in an awkward spot by not being an undergrad, in that case delaying graduation might be a better option. LSE, Wharton, or Princeton are different ballgames in terms of how they place.
you're right. Fortunately, I'm not getting my masters here, just the undergrad
It may be hard to get a job regardless even next year -- the next 6-12 months is about shedding jobs (Citi's announcement this weekend), and like most cycles banks won't be hiring much for the next 12-24 months at least. I hate to sound pessimistic, but we're in the early cycle of a downturn. The general rule of thumb for labor markets: quick to fire, slow to hire.
If you want to get job at a bank, whether you try for it this year or next isn't really going to make a huge difference -- you still have to knock on a lot of doors to get that job.
If you really really want to have a finance career, by all means stick to it. Don't give up. Continue plugging away - do whatever you can now to see if you can secure the job you want (even in downturns, there is still hiring going on, but it's just devishly hard to get one).
But if finance is just one of many things you'd like to do, you may want to look at other career paths at this point.
Alex Chu
Hey Alex if one cant get into finance now, is it best to just give up
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