Breaking into ER but through an unliked sector

Hey Folks,

I have been hunting for ER jobs and given how scarce the openings are it's been tough. Recently I saw a posting for an opening on a team that I believe has some alumni that I can possibly email. It is for an up and coming sector in tech, but it is not something that I am overly passionate about. Does it make sense to break into the industry this way (if everything works out), and try to somehow switch into a different group from within after a year or so? I am planning on learning about the sector within a week and maybe send over a pitch or two. Thanks for the advice.

 
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Not to be a dick but it doesn't sound like you have better options right now and you said yourself openings are scarce. It's always easier to get into the industry and switch because at least you'll be building a basic skill set that you can apply to other sectors. And honestly, this is not usually an industry where you get to pick what you want to cover. Even if you start out covering a certain sector, the company could always reallocate resources and move you to something else.

Also if it helps as a data point, I started in a sector that I thought would be boring, but now can't imagine covering anything else.

 

Thanks for the reply. I guess my problem is not as much the interest level, but my lack of knowledge about the specific market. All the job openings say "Strong Passion for Industry/Sector X" and also require 1-3 years of experience for entry level roles. I have been trying to overcome my lack of experience through self-taught industry knowledge/stock pitches, so it's hard to become passionate about a new industry overnight. You think it makes sense to learn about a broad set of industries to not pigeon-hole myself?

 

It's rare for an analyst to be passionate about a sector before they cover it. How many people do you know that are passionate about lesser talked about sectors like materials, utilities, industrial, financials, etc.? Probably not many. You'll only know how interested you actually are once you start covering the space.

If you're saying you're having trouble breaking into niche sectors due to lack of industry knowledge/passion, I don't think they're looking for that at the entry level. Just show that you're passionate about public markets and have a desire to learn. Usually you'll spend your first year just ramping on the space anyways.

I don't think you'll get pigeonholed in something like tech. I've only really seen that happen in FIG and sometimes O&G. FYI, always easier to become a generalist than vice versa.

 

At the associate level its not "that" big of a deal. On the bright side, you'll learn about a different industry.

At the end of they day, it's all kinda the same. Yes, it's probably more fun in your head when you're building a model for NKE if you like consumer as opposed to a timber company, but models are models.

Sometimes you don't always get to choice "exactly" what you want to do. For example, if you wanted to be in movies, and loved action movies. Would you keep turning down roles that weren't action based, even if that was all you were getting?

 

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