Military to Finance - Transition Advice During a Pandemic
I did the damn thing (see my intro post from ~6 years ago) and transition time is coming. My military experience has been extremely rewarding and I even got a short combat deployment in. Currently trying to set myself up to make an unaided (no recruiting firm) transition into finance before applying to top b-school in 2-3 years.
Currently topping my list is ER at MM, but still open to opportunities particularly if they are interesting and can get hands-on experience I won’t get somewhere else, and (selfishly) enhance a b-school app. Reasons for not going straight to MBA or shooting higher on the banking side are my need to be in a particular, non-Chicago, Midwest location for 2-3 years.
I’ve got your typical JMO experiences and jobs were related to critical thinking, assessment making, and analysis with a heavy emphasis on presentations and product building (guess my MOS). I would say recall from my UG finance experiences is about 50-60% without brush-up. Excel ability is about average right now with a lot of room for improvement.
Looking for some advice on how to prep over the next year or so. Interested in value, experience, and ROI on the following:
1. Financial modeling courses (WSO, Wall Street Prep, Wharton [coursera], etc.) If high value, would appreciate some reviews.
2. Studying for & taking the GRE now-ish vs. later for b-school apps
3. CFA worth it to get back into financial literacy currency?
4. Using a recruiting firm, looking at anyone with experience here.
Other topics I’m interested in experience with…
5. Most military friendly MMs
6. Best fields for non-finance “experienced hires” (comp, work/life, culture, etc)
7. Worth it to invest some time into coding? (thinking VBA)
Let's hear it! PM me if you want to talk specifics.
Glad the green weenie didn't fuck you.
1. Financial modeling courses are a plenty but good ones are few and far between. I would say it depends on what specifically you're looking to learn to model. I was self taught in a similar way and did so through a mix of textbooks on the basics, more textbooks on advanced modeling specifically (not in excel but underlying equations and analysis), then some stochastic calc and math refreshers and basically trying to apply those equations in excel. Depending on what you want to model, there are great websites that provide very high quality sample models to use or learn from.
2. GRE is good, like any standardized test just get the Kaplan book or something, but I wouldn't prioritize it unless its an absolute necessity. An MBA is great to have, but since your time horizon is 3+ years I wouldn't worry about it yet. Studying for something for 3 years is a recipe for disaster.
3. Instead of a CFA (time suck imo) take the SIE exam, it'll show better financial literacy and can be a good intellectual stepping stone to a CFA.
4. Re-recruiting firms, not sure of value there as I am in CRE. Other members will speak to that better.
5. Not sure
6. Also not sure
7. Learn Python, SQL. Python is widely used for modeling, even inside excel (Python has a library called Pandas that we use to store data in spreadsheets). If you can demonstrate proficiency in Python you're matching 1st year applicants. I understand the want of an MBA and a more "standard" finance career, but being a quant is a good career too. Frequently, less hours, significantly more pay. No degree really required for smaller firms as long as you're advanced Python/SQL etc. and they'll pay six figures easily. Quants are in very high demand. But yes, VBA is good to know too.
Anyways, best of luck. LMK if you have other questions. Yut.
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