So I recently graduated from a business school with bachelors in finance in San Diego last May. 3.23 GPA, and within 2-3 months I took a job out of desperation at a financial advising firm.
Pay is pretty crap with no benefits,vacation,etc=$13/hr.
Mainly doing paperwork, client services, etc.
Recently got offered to take up the Series 6 and 63, 1 year contract, and to get an override on part of the commission.
However I am also currently studying for the CFA® level 1 to open some doors into Asset Management.
I have been looking for other jobs around the area, and it seems like San Diego is a bad place to be for finance.
But the girls and weather in San Diego is hard to leave haha.
However I feel like I need to move on and look for more opportunities either in LA, San Fran, Chicago, or New York.
What would you recommend I do? Right now I am thinking of just taking the CFA® level 1 results, and then look for better opportunities in Los Angeles which still has the girls and weather. Or actually move to SF or NY which has a higher abundance for finance related jobs that pays more obviously.
Are you able to network? Even if you get the CFA it won't help you as much as a solid effort in to networking, cold calling/email, etc..
Ya SD is much smaller but there are some opps. LA has more opps but still its really tough to do anything without knowing people.
There is no real finance in SD. To be honest, this is going to be an uphill battle that requires serious hustling so prepare for that. A 3.2 GPA from a no-name business school in a small city will put you at a severe disadvantage in comparison to your competition that went to USC/UCLA/Berkeley and got better grades. Furthermore, people in LA look down their noses at SD. If you're serious about working in LA I think your best shot would be to move there and begin networking aggressively. Be focused in your search (e.g. if you want to work at an asset manager, you need to have a thoughtful reason why Asset Management, be versed in the firm and the space they invest in, etc), have a solid looking resume (learn to spell advice correctly), and be very persistent. Good luck man
holy moly, $13/hr. Dang dude, that's rough
Get on google, linkedin, etc. and find every asset manager (with some legitimacy) within 30 or so miles and start cold -emailing/ cold-calling, etc. Something will turn up sooner or later.
MSF
thanks guys for your input. I took this job because well, I couldn't find anything else but still related to the industry I wanted to step a foot into. Got desperate not wanting to be unemployed. A lot of the jobs related to finance from my college career services was a lot of sales, and I did not want to go that route. Also did not want to go into the "corporate like HD supply" So while I am somewhat happy, I know I am not learning what I want to be learning. And to make up for this, am currently studying for the CFA.
Back office client service role, but I feel like if I do this for at least a year I can build some experience on my resume and transition later on to the same type of role but around 40-50k. $13/hrx40x52=$27000 salary? Anyone know the average salary of a non-target business school guy right out of college? I didn't plan to make 70k-120k right out of college. I'm definitely not in the same league but I probably would have been happy with 40k+.
I would say you are getting under paid big time. When I started in client relations back in 2007 I was getting 32K plus bonus and that was before I got my degree.
Average salary for finance from my non- target is $42k. You're getting very underpaid.
before or after tax?
Seriously, don't even bother with the CFA. Get a masters in finance and reset your recruiting options.
Similique similique cumque iste iste qui sint. Est ut reprehenderit corporis incidunt. Omnis eum quia magni est magni.
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