Looking to Break Into Finance (Economics/International Relations Major with Little Finance Experience)
Hello everyone, I am a 2013 grad who is trying to learn more about the financial industry and how my skills may help me find a suitable niche. The reason I am so late to the game is that I initially had a different career path in mind throughout school and am looking to change direction. I am a double major in economics and international relations at a target school with a 3.5 cumulative. My original ambition was to work for either the federal government or World Bank as an economist. Junior year, I secured an internship in the US Department of State dealing with foreign investment, a prestigious one for the field. While there, however, I began to have doubts about that path due to the bureaucracy and pay.
I have a strong interest in emerging markets and macroeconomics. Last year, I spent a semester at the major business school in Singapore and will be part of a language intensive program in China next year. I know that these skills can translate into the financial world because I interviewed with a foreign currency hedging firm. While interviewing with them, I became very interested in that line of work but was unable to find similar firms. I was hoping that someone could direct me to segments of the finance industry that would require analysts to study the economic policies of other countries. I realize that "globalization" is the buzzword of the 21st century and that all jobs have to do with global markets but I am looking for areas that would really benefit from my macro background and overlook my non traditional background. I've read about find analyst positions but it is my impression that these are not generally entry level. Can anyone point me towards some relevant firms?
I actually just saw an entry-level economic research analyst role posting on Bridgewater. You seem to be well suited for a macro hedge fund or some type of economic research role. Do you speak any other languages?
Thank you for getting back to me! Do you mind sending me the link to that posting? I couldn't find anything with those keywords on the Brodgewater site. It seems like a good company from what I've read.
So it is possible to get into a hedge fund as a recent grad? Do you have any advice on things I can read to really understand the industry, or even a resource I can use to find ones that specifically deal with EM? In response to your question, I will be spending the upcoming August - June in China, 2/3 of the time teaching English grammar and 1/3 in Chinese classes. I have been told I can expect to be business proficient by the time I get back. It also means that I am looking for jobs for Fall 2014, which gives me some breathing room (although I wouldn't turn down a job if I got one now!).
Are there areas other than hedge funds that utilize macro knowledge or would you say my best bet is to concentrate on that area?
I have the exact same background as you do in terms of degrees (BS Economics, BA Intl Poli) and a way worse GPA(just above a 3.0). And I had no “real” finance internship experience.
In short, you can definitely break into finance with your current setup. With my unbelievably bad resume I was still able to interview for a fair amount of finance positions, and I’m not talking about financial advisor or any sales crap either. I noticed a lot of groups that focus on commodities/derivatives were very interested in my economic background for entry level Research Analyst roles. With exception to one, all of the firms I interviewed at for positions were small(ie. less than 200 people). The entry level positions do exist, but it’s just tedious to find them since the firms that are hiring are so small. I found a lot on my school’s job/career website. Also, all of them without fail wanted me to do a case study. I noticed entry research roles are big on those since they have nothing else to really judge your skills off of. When I get home I’ll see if I can’t get a short list together for you of firms that focus on what you are talking about. I kept a spreadsheet of all the jobs I applied/interviewed to, so I can pull some names off of that.
You may want to consider staying in a Federal government role for a few years though, a lot of private sector employers look positively on the time you spent at a central bank or working on national research projects, you develop a lot of skills that are useful in finance (ie. statitiscal modeling experience). This experience will help you qualify for more analyst roles in the long run, even if you only stay in federal government for a few years, you can also take that time to network.
I actually ended up working in the private sector in a management position (only 50K annually, plus bonus) before going the Federal government route. I recently left my private sector job and took a job as an Economist. I plan on jumping back to private after a few years if the pay is good. Right now I get good pay, less than 40 hour work week in reality, and 100% tuition reimbursement. Can’t beat it.
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