Fighter pilot to finance

Hi guys, I'm new here with some questions...

I'm currently living a dream I had as a kid of flying jets in the military, but I've always wanted to work in finance as well. I told myself that if I loved doing this enough that I'd keep doing it, but for various reasons (none related to subpar performance), I'm going to be done after my initial commitment (5 years from now).

Thanks to graduating at the height of Iraq/Afghanistan, I was lucky to get to where I am considering I had a 2.5 GPA in Aeronautical Science. I'm working on a second undergrad degree in math through the University of Illinois distance learning, and will be able to finish it by the time I am free from my military contract.

My plan was to finish the math degree, get into a masters degree program (MBA, finance, maybe math), and then go for a job from there.

Am I on the right track? Are there other things that I should be doing in the mean time? My main concern is overcoming my lackluster performance in undergrad.

Thanks

 

F-18. I graduated when recruiting standards were at rock bottom; so long as you could fog a mirror you were given a shot at OCS and subsequent schools. I've done better than good at everything I've done in the military, my undergrad experience was an aberration. I should have a 4.0 in my second degree.

 
rage11:

F-18. I graduated when recruiting standards were at rock bottom; so long as you could fog a mirror you were given a shot at OCS and subsequent schools. I've done better than good at everything I've done in the military, my undergrad experience was an aberration. I should have a 4.0 in my second degree.

That's awesome dude. Best advice would be to kill the GPA with your current degree, and see if you can find any internships in your area that you could do while you finish up.

Do you know area of finance you're interested in? You should take getting your CFA into consideration if you're planning ahead for an MBA or MSF.

Flying F-18s will be a great story though. There are a lot of ex-military folks out there in finance, and from what I've seen they enjoy helping out ex-military guys.

 

I don't have anything to add except that flying jets was my childhood dream. I think with your 2nd degree, story and overseas service you should get a lot of looks from people. Good luck.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

Coming from someone with an identical background who is now a 2nd Year Associate, I can tell you a lot will come down to your GMAT score. Interested to hear why you have deciced to get out. 5 years is a long way from your commitment being finished, but it goes by faster than you think. I had decided I was 100% getting out about 6 1/2 years out. I never looked back and I can tell you that investment banking is about ten times better than being a navy pilot.

 

The flying obviously does not, but living on an aircraft carrier for seven or more months at a time is pretty bad. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have gone into the Air Force instead. Naval Aviation is not what it used to be. The forces of political correctness have done all they can to destroy it....

 

Thanks for the advice and optimism gents. I'll continue doing what I'm doing and look into the feasibility of the other things you have mentioned. I'd like to get into trading, but I realize my own relative level of ignorance on subjects like career tracks, compensation, etc, so I'll be looking to educate myself by hanging around here. I'm attracted to trading because it is my perception that it is the field where your contributions and success are the most quantifiable and you're compensated as such. I'm tired of being in an egalitarian, non-meritocratic organization that gives you minimal control over your career while having to put up with all the BS that you do.

HornetDriver is right in everything that he says. The guys that have it made are the reservists and guardsmen flying Vipers.

 

Interesting thread. My current boss used to fly P-3 Orion's in the Navy. I also had considered being a military pilot (via Air Force ROTC) before committing to finance. My old man flew up over Vietnam in the A-3 Skywarrior. One of my highlights as a kid was going on annual cruise day on my day's carrier and sit in the cockpits of the planes. Anyways, back to OP, agree with suggestion to pursue applicable internships and possibly a CFA, depending on which specific path in finance you choose.

All the world's indeed a stage, And we are merely players, Performers and portrayers, Each another's audience, Outside the gilded cage - Limelight (1981)
 
Best Response

If you obtain the second degree, carry the 4.0 as you think you can, and you know you have a five-year horizon before your enlistment is up, you can start maximizing your shot at the role you want.

Realistically, your most likely transition is going to be into banking. For that, you'll need an MBA. There is one guy who used to be an active (and meaningful) poster on here who managed to skip the MBA, but he hasn't been active lately. He applied and was accepted to an M7 program, but luck was in his favor and in the summer before he was scheduled to attend, he had the opportunity to join a MM PE firm directly with no prior experience. That is an aberration, however.

To get into a great MBA program, you need a couple things: work experience (military, for you), extracurriculars that demonstrate well-roundedness + leadership + initiative + your passions, strong undergrad grades, a great GMAT, and enthusiastic recommendations.

MBA adcoms tend to 'bucket' applicants, i.e. all the investment banking guys are looked at as a pool, all the consultants are another pool, all the engineers, the military guys, the marketing people are each a separate pool unto themselves. Your experience will separate you from the pack within your pool. From what I have read and heard friends currently attending or alumni of these programs say, the special forces, submarine, and pilot guys really seem to be the bulk of the military classmates they have.

If you get the 4.0, that checks the box for undergrad performance. The GMAT, as mentioned already, will be huge for you. They want to see how well you stack up on a standardized scale versus everyone else. Your score is good for five years, meaning if you know today that you intend to apply for an MBA and attend immediately after you leave the service, you could take the exam this year, apply in four years (for intake the following year), and the score would still be valid. Therefore, I'd recommend beginning to study for that immediately. See if you can spend 5 hours a week for three months, hell, more if you can. There are enough resources out there (even on here) outlining how to most effectively prepare for the test. Follow their instruction and do your best to score astronomically high. If you cracked the 99th percentile (760+), you'd be golden.

Make sure you keep your eyes open for opportunities to demonstrate initiative, whether it's proposing some kind of new training or procedure that streamlines things, tutoring your peers in the service in personal finance, or any endeavor that shows you are observant and attuned to the needs of a collective larger than yourself. Then, get people above you who have noticed or been impacted by your initiative to really write you some glowing recommendations. Do this in your penultimate year of service so that you have the most time to make an impact.

Together, this will all be a compelling, airtight narrative. Check all the boxes: great experience, grades, scores, leadership, and recs. You'd have an amazing shot at the best programs, and that positions you well for banking.

If you know you'd like to go beyond banking, you'll have a harder sell. Most funds (PE or HF) don't often take people who entered finance at the MBA level. When they can get someone who did banking out of undergrad, two years of private equity, and then rolled off to HBS or Wharton, there is little appeal in the candidate with no pre-MBA experience who says he has a passion for investing.

To quell those concerns, do anything you can to demonstrate a passion for investing (if that's where your heart lies). Trade a personal account, finish the CFA, or for VC, follow an industry as closely as you can. If you came out of your enlistment with a 4.0 in math, a 760+ GMAT, and all three levels of the CFA done, you would look like a rockstar and do very well in both the MBA admissions process and in recruiting. I don't know if or how military people can take the CFA given the sponsorship requirement, but if it's possible and you know you don't intend to make a career out of banking, you would do very well to pursue it.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or I can help further. Thank you for your service. I have an immense respect for our servicepeople and a tremendous debt of gratitude. My brother is in the Air Force, also a pilot. Godspeed.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

RE11, I'm applying to MBA programs for next year and made the decision to transition at about the 6 year mark. I suggest you get started on your GMAT studies earlier rather than later and ensure that your shore tour allows you the opportunity to study for the GMAT and visit schools.

If you know what schools you are interested in, you can contact their admissions departments and ask about the benefits of an alternative transcript. Each school varies, but they will give you honest answers, and reaching out can help your cause.

If you're at NTU I'll be happy to meet up and share some of the info I wish I had earlier on.

 

Get as high of a GPA as possible in your current degree. Then under you experience section write stories about all of the cool bombing missions you did. Bankers will love that shit and will interview you just get get a break from their boring jobs.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

I was under the impression a person had to be in some type of finance position to qualify for CFA test taking eligibility, i.e. you cant just sign up you essentially have to be sponsored. Is this incorrect?

"Not me. Im in my prime"
 

All - thanks again for the help, there's some things I didn't think of that I'll be taking into account and dedicating time to.

wannabe - I'm a west coast bro. Thanks for the offer.

 

Does trading interest you? If you finish your degree in math and learn about the markets, I don't think an F-18 pilot is gonna have trouble getting interviews for trading jobs on WS...

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

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