Desperately Need Career Guidance

I'm in a similar situation, and also made the switch from a non-traditional background. PM me if you need anyone to talk to.

You are a senior on college, so by default you are not supposed to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. I've been out of school for a couple of years and if you ask my peer group of friends - whom if you look at from a superficial level would all be considered "successful" - they would tell you they are still not sure what they want to do.

So what to do? The idea is to get the best job possible - and when I say "best", I mean the job that traditionally leads to the broadest range of exit opportunities - and see if you like it. What most likely will wind up happening during those couple of years is that you will start to see what you like about work and what you don't like as much.

I hope this perspective helps you out.

^^This. Also, you may not like accounting but make sure you understand it. I can say I'm in the same boat somewhat. I graduated last December and have been working for a fortune 5 company as a financial analyst. I can say this job has helped me understand what it is that I want to do in the near future.

I do a lot of number cruching and can say that I think this job can potentially lead me to my desired career path. Just make sure you're happy with your decisions.

Good luck..

It's like reading my own biography - parents, orgo, & pre-med dropout. Luckily, I landed a WM internship at ML without any finance experience my senior year which gave me a resume boost and landed me an internship at a boutique and later on became a FT job (which is another LONG story) that lasted a year. Even though there was so much drama and politics involved, I stuck it out because I needed the one year IB experience on my resume. It was the two most depressing months of my life after applying to jobs and being rejected. Luckily, I landed a FT starting this summer.
Although I was a 2010 graduate and I still don't know what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to stay in finance so I chose to go after general IBD positions which would give me a broad exposure to everything.
What I'm trying to say is, if you like finance, don't give up! I had a REALLY late start (senior year in college) but I managed to find an FT IBD analyst position at a MM. Apply everywhere! Not just the BB and well known firms. Check out school career websites. Don't turn down a job just because it's an unpaid internship - it'll be worth it in the long run. My internship at ML was unpaid and the IB internship was just above minimum wage. And stay positive!

Good luck!!!

Thanks for the comments everyone! I appreciate all the advice. I just thought that college would help me decide what path I wanted to pursue but apparently it didn't so I was frustrated that I spent four years without really knowing what I wanted to do.

Any advice as to what job has the best "exit" opportunities?

Thanks again for all the comments! I am graduating with an Economics major since UC Davis does not have finance or accounting majors. Not that I regret since I like the subject.

Would it be bad to start as a credit analyst at a bank and move onto finance from there? Or are the skills not really transferable? I apologize if it seems like a dumb question, I am still learning about this industry on my own since I don't know anyone that is familiar with this industry.

I also recently applied for a Fund Accountant position, but I hear that you don't really learn much about finance in that position. Is that true?

Also, I was among the majority who believe that college would help us find ourselves only realizing now that it's completely untrue. I wish I took some time in college to learn more about myself but I will have plenty of time after college, it's just that I am starting late.

This board tends to discount the credit analyst/commercial banking path. But in reality, it's a very good place to be at the beggining of your career if you are interested in pursuring finance. You will learn a lot of transferable skills. If you can get in a good credit training and/or rotatiaionl training program at a bank, I'd jump on it.

I can't speak as much to fund accountant positions, but from my understanding they are much more limiting than commercial banking.

I just received an offer for the Fund Accountant position at State Street but then I read Dr. Joe's article about the exit opportunities for this position which don't sound good at all. Should I take it up anyway to get a feel for it?

I'm still looking for a credit analyst training program for recent graduates but I think I might have missed the deadline for some of the applications since it is almost June now, but approximately when is the best time to apply for these? Or are some still available?

Thanks again.

Try to delay the decision for as long as possible, but at the end of the day, a job is better than no job. Plus, you can always continue to look during the time you accept and the time you start. If you find something more attractive during that period, reneg.

Generally speaking, recruiting happens in the Fall and Winter for a lot of the more competitive programs. But there are always spots opening up (for example, if someone renegs last minute). But I'd focus on some of the smaller, regional banks right now.

Thanks for the advice, tan86.

What about a job as a bank teller? Does it ever lead to other opportunities within the bank or is it a dead end? The pay may be lower but if it can lead to something else, I would be willing to work really hard to advance.

Are there "easier" ways to break into commercial banking?

Thank you very much.

One thing at a time.

1. The info you provided is not nearly sufficient to ask questions like "what should I do with my life". What are you interested in? What would you be good at? Soft skills or hard skills? Math or writing? What is your goal? What are your qualification (school, GPA, experience, etc..)

2. As a graduating senior, I would recommend looking at boutiques for internships. Depending on your grades/school/past experience, this may or may not work out.

3. FO > Commercial banking >= Industry > SS > Bank teller > Unemployment line.

4. Don't disregard State Street if you have nothing else coming your way. It beats not having a job.

Oh Wow, I just commented on your article on Fund Accounting Dr. Joe. I feel a little redundant now posting twice to ask for your help. I apologize for that. Thank you for posting on the thread I created.

As for your questions:

1. I'm not sure what I am interested in, but I have always leaned towards learning more about how things work inside and out. I want to help people and earn money at the same time. I've always been better at math than writing but I can write pretty well if I need to. I don't have a goal in finance except to make a lot of money (which isn't really one). I go to University of California, Davis. I have a low overall gpa of 2.92 (includes pre-med classes) and a major gpa of 3.52 in economics (which will go even higher after this quarter). I have worked as a server in restaurants and my job while in school was working as a student assistant at the law library. I worked in the stacks shelving books, cataloging new books and some data entry. I interned at Morgan Stanley for their financial training program which is a taste of what financial advisors do and it didn't interest that much.

2. I am in contact with a professor who used to work for UBS and he is trying to get me an internship there for the summer and it's nonpaid. However, I don't think I can do the internship and the job at State Street so I have to choose one. In addition, the internship may not lead to a full-time position.

3. You are right, Dr. Joe. If I had to choose between being unemployed and being at State Street, I would choose State Street.

Thank you again for your advice.

HI vhunter,

My apologies for the delayed response. As you certainly understand, there is no magic answer to your question of what you should do for a career. However, since you seem to be interested in finance (in some shape or form), I would suggest following the most traditional path - banking until you figure out what to do. Given your GPA, that is pretty much out of the question. Sounds like you are money hungry - good for you. Good way to get there (made much more difficult by your GPA) is via MBA recruiting. However, getting into a good b-school will be tough for you, not only because of your GPA but also because of your work experience being limited by that same damn GPA. I would suggest looking specifically for those careers that have minimal requirements for GPA - corporate finance comes to mind. Networking with corporate finance (FP&A) individuals is extremely easy, for one main reason - no one does it. I worked for a year in a FP&A type role (before moving on to a strategy role) and not one person there has ever been contacted for networking. I would suggest trying that route, and taking some classes to show business schools that you have matured since your undergrad. Assuming you get somewhere in FP&A, you might make a decent candidate for a top-20 school, maybe top 15 if you nail your GMAT. (are you a good test-taker?) If you get in, you will be able to do whatever you want upon graduation.

One more thing - in your instance, I think listing only your major GPA on your resume might be a good idea. Sure, people might think you have a bad cumulative, but they will likely assume something like a 3.2, which is a plus for you. Also, recruiters at F500 just look for a number and see if that meets their cut-off, if they even have a cut-off. GPA is really not that important to them.

Did you end up taking SS yet? If so, just don't get comfortable there, and keep looking.

PS just re-read your post, and you asked about internships for graduated seniors. The MM bank I am at makes it a habit to hire graduates for internships, and I think other MM/boutiques might as well. The thing is, we like to have interns year-round (much cheaper than analysts), and students can't be there year round... I would suggest focusing your search on those, but keeping in mind that your GPA is likely to keep you out of interviews. Networking might help.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

Hi Dr. Joe.

Thank you so much for your advice. I was planning on taking the GMAT this year and getting it out of the way (there is a new format to be added next year). I am a relatively good test-taker if I have prepared for it so if I can brush up on the subjects I should be fine.

Yes, I accepted State Street's offer, but I will continue to keep looking. Is there a list of boutique firms or middle market firms? Until I encountered this website I have never heard of such firms. Thank you again for the help.

There is a thread on here somewhere that has a list of regional boutiques by city. I think it is even bookmarked at the top of the IBanking forum.

Thank you, Dr. Joe. I found it through the search feature.

I came across some leadership development positions listed on my campus job site. These are are rotational two year programs and I was wondering if they are better than starting out as a credit analyst at a commercial bank.

Any thoughts on this?

Thank you very much.

I'm a recent graduate so I can't say for sure. I would think that the leadership development would be better because you get more exposure to positions. I assume it's a fortune 500 company?

Ironically I'd love to be a credit analyst for a commercial bank and I'm behind the 8-ball cause I had no internship experience and a 3.0 GPA when I graduated. But right now I'm interning for a start up investment company and I'm going to try to break into commercial banking once the internship is over.

Depends on the type of company and reputation of the rotational program. I would say (with a very low confidence level) that in terms of average career paths, they are about the same, perhaps with a slight edge to commercial banking. However, some of these rotational programs are phenomenal, so depends on the company.

So now, I am currently employed as a fund accountant at State Street Bank & Trust. To be completely honest, I don't think this is the right position for me. After going through a formal training program and getting to see all the different parts of the process, I am in a group that deals with only one part.

However, I do feel like my excel skills have gone up a notch though.

I am now interested in researching more about rotational programs that are associated with banks. Do they start recruiting in the fall? Where can I find these programs?

Thanks in advance.

You can start looking, but it's going to be hard to find a new job with only a few months of FT experience on your resume. Your best bet is to stick around for at least one year and then to start looking for experienced hire opportunities.

I would start to network heavily with people at places you are interested in working at. Start building meaningful relationships, so when an opportunity opens up, you can shoot your contact an e-mail and get an interview.

Good luck and keep in mind that any job is good in this hiring environment!